June Review

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.
-Japanese Proverb

Aberdeen Beach Ballroom

I really enjoyed my trip to Aberdeen, the workshops and the parties. Amir has such a good teaching style and I've taken away a lot from the workshops (though still need to practice all of it).

The Saturday party was good, though very busy, and the chocolate and ice cream were wonderful touches. Dance Demon's later, bluesy set, was fab and I had a lot of good dances mostly with people I don't know.

However I preferred Sunday for the wonderful atmosphere and I had my best dances there. At the end of the night I took some advice and closed my eyes while dancing with my partner and it felt wonderful. It made me much more aware of the position of her body and our weight shifting. Another obvious result of this is it required a constant connection. Sending her out into a spin meant that I couldn't be certain of her position or anything. I definitely need to experiment more.

Stirling Tea Dance

I had lots of lovely dances at this tea dance; some very memorable ones from a lovely lady from Aberdeen. I'm hooked on Tea Dances. They seem the best atmosphere for me. I had a really fun four person dance where we constantly gave or stole the lead from the other couple. It was really interesting because it was a challenge invading another couple's space and attempting to disrupt them without actually crashing into them. I shall definitely find some people I can do that with again.

Edinburgh Party

It was a good set at the Edinburgh party and I had a good time. I seem to have a lot of two dances with people from Edinburgh and Glasgow. It worries me that this means that I don't get around to dancing with anywhere near as many people but then I very much enjoyed the dances with the people I had dances with.

Classes and Such

Unfortunately the end of term arrived at West Coast Swing. Which is more of a shame because I finally felt I was really getting the hang of it. I'll see what the next term brings.

A friend I haven't seen for a while came back to the Edinburgh venue and it was amazing seeing how much she had improved. It was really wonderful dancing with her and I think there is a really lovely surprise in seeing people after a few months and see how much they have come on (she is a better dancer than I am, but her style and such were notably more her).

Well that's it for now. I've got a sort of end of June to talk about and the poor months that represent July and the beginning of August. But in time...