May In Review

Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, and she did it backwards and in high heels."
- Faith Whittlesey

Again I've left this much to late to actually remember much about the classes. I did have some wonderful dances during them though.

Big Forum Gathering

My second BFG. This time I was staying a wee bit away from the site making it slightly difficult to get to and from however that didn't seem to stop me attending a big bunch of workshops.

Workshops

I started with Footwork and Body Movement which was basically a solo fixed routine. It was really interesting though as I don't really see myself as a solo dancer but I could see how to integrate some of the into partner dancing. Then I did one of the highlight classes for me Hi-Jack in Style. This had the woman hi-jacking part of the lead and doing her thing. When a follow hi-jacks it adds an unexpected change for the lead and I really enjoy it. Of course what was taught in the class really can only be done by followers (though I have tried a few of them, successfully, as a follower since). There is one that is initiated by the lead. I did a hi-jack class down at Storm but I hated that. I was a joy to do this class though. I also did the Musicality in Practice class though I thought it was alright I probably should have stayed for more of the tea dance (I'll get to that in a bit though).

On Sunday I did the Double Trouble workshop which was mostly the same as last time but I picked up a couple of new moves, it was good to revisit some of the stuff I had already been taught and Bill is always a fantastic teacher. I also attended Playing with the Connection which was interesting though not something you can put into practice with just one workshop. I didn't do any classes in the afternoon as I spent it at the tea dance.

Tea Dances

This BFG really hooked me on tea dances. They have an afternoon relaxed feel about them which is hard to explain. Both tea dances were great to be at with a big bunch of my favourite dancers there. Tiggerbabe really did a wonderful job with the playlist on the Sunday and I had so many wonderful dances I was in heaven.

Friday and Saturday Party

The Friday party might well have been good but I can't actually remember much about it. Oops.

The Saturday party was busy but enjoyable. I got there in time for the end of the class and to watch the Feeling Good routine. Afterwards freestyle got into full swing but a lack of energy kept me from dancing the whole night away.

Overall

There's no write-up for Sunday night's party because I hadn't drank enough water or gotten enough sleep so, by the end of the tea dance, I was feeling pretty bad so I decided to retreat back to Edinburgh.

I had a really great time there and meet some new favorite dancers along with having wonderful dances from existing favorites. The tea dances really had me hooked and I think that shows from my more recent tea dance attendance.

Edinburgh Party

This was a really interesting Edinburgh party for me. I finally managed to get a dance in with a teacher from Aberdeen and she was a truly wonderful dancer. It was a good night otherwise as well with lots of good dances from lots of lovely ladies. I also had a dance with The Tramp. He's an international Ceroc champion so I was interested in having a go dancing with such a proficient lead. It was really interesting following. Unlike most people I follow he was quite capable in leading me into ballroom drops and a somersault move (ok the exit on that didn't go great) and I spent most of the dance in a utter state of confusion. It was good fun though (even if we did have a semi circle of people watching which is a little more attention than I like).

Stirling Tea Dance and Slotted Dancing Workshop

The workshop was really interesting. Since I've been doing a bit of WCS then it was interesting to see how I could apply that slot technique to Ceroc. I try and practice slot techniques in the beginner classes (when I make it) and generally like the style.

Had a really good time at the Stirling Tea Dance. Lots of lovely dancers (many of which were at the party the night before) were there and Tiggerbabe's sets are always spot on. I also took advantage of the cake :D. To say something against it, the sunlight coming in through the large windows made the place even hotter. That mixed with me foolishly drinking coffee and not enough water made me feel faint at one stage. Sensibly I took a break though. Despite there being very few people there I still didn't get around to dancing with all the women :(.

Tags: Ceroc

April Review

Cutting a track short is like stealing a special moment of my life.
-Ducasi

I started off dancing in April early with the April Fools Party. There was some dress code about dressing up foolishly. Since I felt I didn't need much work to get to that state I just went in what I'd normally wear. The party was very quiet since there was another party going on in Glasgow at the same time. This meant:

• having two rooms felt a little excessive.


• it felt like there were more Edinburgh dancers there than Glasgow ones.

This wasn't bad though it did mean that I felt I wasn't really experiencing a Glasgow party. I had a reasonable night though I had a slightly sore knee so I was careful with the moves I did. Not having dips and drops isn't a huge thing but being careful means you have to add another layer on to leading to make sure you automatically don't just lead a move. They supplied Cream Eggs as well which I ate a lot of... and then felt ill :p.

I didn't really attend that many other parties in April. Red Hot and Blue was good from what I recall. I've totally forgotten about classes. This is what you get for writing things up so late. I didn't do to much West Coast Swing this month as most weeks it wasn't running.

My big weekender for the month was Perth ran by Boogie Nights. It's not a Modern Jive event though there was a lot of Modern Jivers there. It made it interesting as you couldn't guarantee that the person who was following had a clue about even the most basic of move. It also means the weekend wasn't necessarily tailored to MJ music though it did end up taking that focus.

The workshops were a bit mixed. I enjoyed the Line Dancing workshop; it was a silly and a fun way to get into the mood for dancing. I enjoyed the WCS workshops though the mix of ability meant that they kept it a little simpler than I was expecting. However it was Keith and Janey's classes that were really the highlights workshop wise. They focused on some really interesting moves and frame theory which was all really interesting stuff. One issue with these classes is the lack of a definitive level of the classes and the fact that there were only two workshops on at the same time meant that people who really weren't ready for those classes attended them.

Friday night party was good and I certainly had a few really enjoyable dances. It was quite warm (indeed this apparently affected the DJ's equipment) but, as it turns out, cool compared to Saturday night. Saturday night was a much shorter evening for me as I didn't get to the party until late and then went up to the hotel room to get a change and fell asleep! So I got about 2 hours of freestyle in (maybe a little less). The atmosphere did seem good but it was very warm and humid making it difficult to have a dance without feeling like you were melting.

However beyond the workshops and the freestyle the hotel, meals and the really pretty city that is Perth made it a really enjoyable weekend for me to spend with my girlfriend. I had a really good and relaxing time.

Ah well that's April's summary done. May and June should hopefully be soon and then I'll try and stay up to date on posting a summary at least at the end of the month if not at the end of a week.

March in Review

Well since I've failed to keep up with my blogging I thought I'd do a few months in review to cover what I've been up to. March was so long ago that I've almost forgotten what happened during it. As I recall there wasn't much in the way of parties in March. There was Red Hot and Blue and the Edinburgh party but beyond that there was the big event: Storm.

Storm

After getting up very early on Friday for the flight and a lift down there I thought I'd call it a short night on Friday night. I did the Funky Jive class; which was a fixed routine to Do Your Thing by Basment Jaxx. It was good fun and was a good way to remove a lot of self conscious feeling you have when in a new dance environment. A few of the things taught, like body rolls, certainly could be used later. I danced 'til 2ish before getting a (relatively) early night. It was good dancing with some people I've met before again and also getting a chance to dance with new people.

Saturday I started of going for pancakes at the chalet of the person who gave me a lift from London. They were lovely :). That gave me the energy to get to a Jango class. This was my first introduction to Jango and Amir as a teacher. People have said a lot of good things about his teaching style and for good reason; he's a fab teacher with good advice and a pleasant and amusing teaching style. Loved the concepts of Jango and the smooth feel of the moves to the degree that I was sold on the DVD. I also did the WCS class which was all stuff I had done before; however it was good to get a different perspective on it. I also did a Dance Psychology class which was like being on the forum except trapped in a room instead. Amir's musicality class was also very good. I'd really glad I fixed partner with Dizzy as my concentration was beginning to wane and I made a lot of stupid mistakes... plus she was a great laugh. I didn't stick with the Waltz, Men Style or Sabotage class possibly because I was too tired and they weren't really gripping me.

Saturday evening didn't start out great for me. I certainly had a few enjoyable dances but nothing wonderful. I thought maybe I had burnt myself out during the day. Anyway I went back to the room to go get changed and back to the dancing but then I fell asleep! It all could have gone horribly wrong if it hadn't been for someone woke me up with a text about how Blackpool was. I promptly left my room to go dancing again and had a really wonderful night including a bit of following, some double trouble with the "D" sisters and some simply divine dances with some of the best dancers from around the UK. I pretty much spent the whole night in the blues room but didn't regret that for a minute.

Did some good classes on Sunday including West Coast Swing 2 and Up Close And Personal along with Cuban Blues which, given the teachers were at the post-party party that I was at was surprised how well we all did.

Sunday evening was just as good, if not better, than Saturday night. There was a woman, who I was introduced to (called Lucy), who I had some really lovely dances with and another woman who I had no idea who she was that I had a couple of fantastic dances with (that I still remember two months down the line). I'm not sure if it was the atmosphere or my mood but so many dances just seemed to work and I had a really, really, really, good time.

Jango

Since I was in London on Monday the person I was staying with kindly took me to Jango. I heard a lot about it before I'd been and I really enjoyed the class at Storm. The Jive/Tango blend appeals to me as I really enjoy Tango and the fusion of the styles sounded yummy. I did have a wonderful time. It was very quiet but there were a lot of fantastic dancers there and after Lily B complimented me on my footwork I was over-joyed.

Tags: Ceroc

February Round-Up

I've gotten very lazy at writing up posts. If my voice was a lot more exciting I might have just uploaded the discussions I've had on the dancing I've done. It's not though.

I've been recording my moves as audio which allows me to replay them on my iPod before going to a dance. This has benefits from having them written down (in the fact that I can listen to them while walking) but there is something about writing a move down that makes it easier to understand. I suppose video would be the best media; though saying that I've never really watched the BFG routines I have.

Who said I don't just write any thought that comes into my head down?

As with the previous few I'm not writing the moves I did down. If someone was actually interested in them let me know.

Tango on the 5^th

Started my first Tango class. It was quite different from the other dances I've currently been doing. A lot more focus on weight distribution (for obvious reasons) and we were taught some very basic things such as walking. The key element to Tango appears to be a very strong torso lead and, when walking, traveling through the centre point of your axis. It doesn't really feel like dancing yet so I'm hoping to progress to a stage where it feels it does.

Ceroc on the 7^th

Quite an average night at Ceroc; this one. The music was a little average and I had difficulty really getting into the dances. A shame after the delightful time I had on Thursday.

West Coast Swing on the 8^th

I had a wonderful night at WCS tonight. Really lovely music; lots of nice dances that though might have been simplistic really felt like they flowed. My brain began to do the steps without me needing to be actively aware of it. Certainly hoping for more nights like this one (unlike the next one).

Ceroc on the 9^th

Another fairly average night at Ceroc. It all started out quite well but I think I started losing energy towards the end which didn't help. Had a go at following which was good fun though I found it very difficult and it does imply that it might just be me anticipating my regular lead more; I'm not sure.

Valentine's Day Ceroc

Tonight was a little better than the last couple. I had quite a few good dances; it was good being a little selfish and getting quite a few dances with my girlfriend. Saying that the evening was quite quiet so I got to dance with most of the women there. One woman seemed a little surprised that I was asking her to dance; I'm a little worried that that's a sign I'm becoming a Hotshot but she didn't seem to imply it that way... it was more a pleasant surprise. I did some double trouble as well; which was a bit of a shame as I would have liked to dance with both women separately (well I did have quite a few dances with one of the women; but none with the other :'( ). At the request of the teacher I wore a pink T-shirt which she did comment on, from the stage, in front of the class, which got me a little embarrassed. The music tonight could have been better but it was alright. I was hauled up for Now That I Can Dance by someone before I could escape. On that note I've discovered I love Chains by, the same artist, Tina Arena; it's a divine WCS track.

West Coast Swing on the 15^th

Unfortunately not as good a night as last week. The music seemed a bit trickier, but I think I was just less on form, most of my dances didn't really flow and that was at no fault to my partners. It did feel like a bit of a step back and definitely not the week that I wanted to finally get a dance with the teacher. Still I'll definitely stick at it; I just need to be more in the zone. At the end of the class the music went a bit crazy and we had Ceroc, Cha-Cha and a variety of stuff that was interesting to dance to.

Tags: Ceroc, Tango, WCS

Thursday Night Wholesome Goodness

I had some utterly wonderful dances tonight. I felt I might have been a little selfish, as I had multiple dances with a few of the women I was really enjoying dancing with, but it was working so well that I didn't want to leave. I had a bit of practice on a few moves that I enjoy doing. Most of the time they worked; which was just fab. The intermediate routine was good as well; it had a lot of moves flowing from another which I think is good practice for freestyle showing how you can break down a move and chain one move straight on from another. I haven't written the moves (I did voice record them; but I'm not taking up Podcasting :p). If you are interested in the moves we did (or at least my scribble about them) let me know. I figure most people skip that stuff anyway.

Tags: Ceroc