Post Big Forum gathering

[Saxylady]

Or is it the 'lovely' drugs.


M

Who needs drugs when there's dancing?? (And chocolate)

[Night Owl]

Who needs drugs when there's dancing?? (And chocolate)

i was going to start a post on same lines

My head is on an all time high, buzzing so much so i had to buy a note book and I`ve been stopping in lay bys all the way up the road writing ditty`s as they come into my head ,which is some thing i`ve never done before in my life

ah, now ,reading them now i `m home is a different story such rubbish handwriting

great w/e my first ever dance w/e not to mention B F G and heh it won`t be my last
Zimmer frame allowing of course

[Lynn]

What a great weekend!

Lovely to meet so many forumites that I hadn't met before and catch up with familiar faces. Nice to take some time out from the dancing to chat and chill.

Big thanks to Drathzel for hospitality and driving. And Aleks for cooking!

The workshops were so good - I will be processing the things I've learned for a while I think.

The DJing was great, I was torn between which room to be in on Sat night (though as usual ended up in the blues room). Thanks guys!

And the dancing....took me a while to get on form (and apologies to anyone who danced with me on Sun afternoon as I couldn't get my brain and feet into gear at all ) I think I was processing a lot of stuff from the workshops, or thinking too much or something... Made up for it with lots of really lovely dances on Sun night.

And of course a big to Franck, Tiggerbabe and everyone who made it such a fab weekend!

[Night Owl]

well wow what can one say

my first venture out in the world wide ceroc dance world and what a w/e
A BIGthank you and congratulations on such a wonderfull w/e has to go to Franck and of course every one else behind, and in front,the scenes

I hope that tyre was the only flat spot in the whole w/e


I just hope brain ,when my head and body when they stop spinning.is a bit like my computer hard drive and at least some of the information got absorbed and is in there some where even tho its not finding its way on to the screen at the mo ,thanks guys for a BRILL w/e

[Night Owl]

Well thats it I`ve finally flipped

Had to go shopping on way home from the super dooper smashing great BFG

Thanks to Franck and Marc and their lead and follow/style tip workshops

I found myself totally oblivious to what i was actually doing
But there I am doing lead and follow and triple steps up the frozen food isle in Asda in Perth, with a shopping tolley
It must have been such a picture if any one had actually clocked me not just the dancing, but the fact I was in stitches , when I realised what i was doing,grinning from ear to ear with tears rolling down my cheeks

Thanks again guys for such a great w/e
just a pity it had to come to an end

full marks for the tolley it was a great follower,much better than the table we had in Marcs class

so Marc next work shop take a shopping trolley as a prop

[ShinyWeeStar]

there i am doing lead and follow and triple steps up the frozen food isle in Asda in Perth, with a shopping tolley

Wish I'd been there to see it!

[clevedonboy]

I was bopping in the Duty Free shop at Glagow airport last night before catching our flight to Bristol - Dancing In The Moonlight was playing, got a few looks from the assistant!

[Night Owl]

I was bopping in the Duty Free shop at Glagow airport last night before catching our flight to Bristol - Dancing In The Moonlight was playing, got a few looks from the assistant!

You should have got her in the isle for a dance

[Little Monkey]

Surely there must be some more photos by now???????????

[CJ]

Surely there must be some more photos by now???????????

They are on this thread...

One of you &the ass.
Dizzy as Tess...
Group photo..

can you not see them?!?

[Night Owl]

I`m sure there are threads on this some where on here already

But can I just say what a boost my confidence has taken with the BFG w/e

Thanks to all the lovely ladies i had the pleasure of dancing with too numerous to mention( ok read haven`t got a clue who i was dancing with)

Thanks for all the compliments on my dancing from both the girls i danced with and the guys who watched me on the dance floor

Just a pity my brain won`t work to get some more of instructions on the moves i

learnt over the w/e
to my feet and arms

[Night Owl]

Sad or what there i was sitting in Asda car park in Perth writing notes ( unheard of for me by the way)
Not only has my dancing improved well at least i think it has

But I feel 1oo% better in myself as a person it certainally was a real tonic / boost for me hope others feel the same,and i hope this fealing last a long time

Thanks again to all involved

[JL]

Great Weekend

Music, venue, workshops atmosphere brill.

No truth in the rumour that the fire brigade were sent for to put out the candles on my birthday cake.

Thanks to all the ladies for the birthday dances.

Thanks also to Franck and all those who made it such a successful weekend.

[Night Owl]

weh heh JL next year I`m bringing my birthday forward a month

see you in Inv. again soon too I hope

[doc martin]

They are on this thread...

One of you &the ass.
Dizzy as Tess...
Group photo..

can you not see them?!?

Well I must have a paper bag on my head because I can't see them.

[CJ]

Well I must have a paper bag on my head because I can't see them.

Touche!!

[Night Owl]

Well Tiggerbabe
Great idea
Easy access with airport on doorstep

But a venue with the floors and the halls to match Glasgow uni mmmmmmmmmm may be not

But would be a great idea for some sort of week ender tho our own venue as you know would be a bit small ,thats of course assuming people would travel up here that is

But may be Franck and your self should pop in to The Drumossie Hotel one day
if you haven`t done so already that is
as theres a cracking dance floor/ hall there just a bit too big for thursday night , at the mo any way

Yet again tho ,can i say thanks to yourself and Franck and all those involved in making the BFG such a wonderfull w/e i loved it,heres to the next one

[Icey]

I've checked, and there's no truth in the rumours that it was the dancing in the blues room that set the fire alarm off. Apparently they already had to block-off the smoke detectors in that room due to the amount of steam being generated...

All I heard when being herded outside was cries of "My shoes!" and "I'm not walking on in that rain in my dance shoes - they cost too much"

I was one of the above so Peter tried to pick me up to carry me back so that I wouldn't wreak them futher my shoes did eventually recover.

Firefighters - always a nice addition to a good night (When they're not needed for actual emergencies of course!)

[Dizzy]

Firefighters - always a nice addition to a good night (When they're not needed for actual emergencies of course!)

but only 5 minutes AFTER the last dance of the night!!

[Gadget]

Great weekend. Can’t really think on any negatives: even the fire alarm going off on Saturday – there were only a couple of tracks left to play.

Too many people to thank everyone that danced with me, but even those I screwed up were great dances. I hope I didn’t miss anyone – I certainly tried to dance with everyone Thankyouthankyouthankyou for making it such a great event. (Oh, and thanks to Franck & team for hosting it )



The venue was stately, with the charm of having students inhabit it for years: worn. Like a comfey jumper. The floors were fast (“skitey”). There was a fresh/toasted sandwich bar right opposite the main hall we were dancing in with a bar open at night in one corner of it. Up the stone stair case were either side of the room set aside for massage and reflexology {I only heard good things ( ) from the attendees who chilled out in engulfing seats in the hall}. The smaller of the halls was lined with these red leather seats and had a bar in one corner. Some great blues was played with in here… just as well it was quite slow: the floor was like ice. The other side of the hallway had a large stage and balcony, the floor here was just about spot on, but drifted towards the stage.



The parties: Friday night was a good ice-breaker. A crowd of friends you knew, but had never met. Apologies for not socialising or introducing myself to many men: just not as pretty. Saturday was the main event. Some very nice people in some very nice dresses. Apologies again; this time for the left and right first move (– I happened to comment to Franck after one of his workshops that I got it to work once, but just couldn’t get it to work again... so he made it the ‘class’ ). The aerial show cases were impressive, and reinforce why I don’t like them – so many hearts in mouths. Probably not the best of floors to do it on.



And to the fancy dress. Personally, I found Alex particularly distracting as Chicklet . There was also Tiggerbabe as Lisa, several mini-mouses, zebra women, my Ceroc star and a couple of others (sorry: I was ‘distracted’ ). The stars of the show (who indecently won) were DS & CJ’s ESG and in 1st place, Little Monkey’s Ducasi. The rest of the awards I’m sure someone else will post.



The party continued in Latin, Blues and General rooms. I found that the music wasn’t really as polarised as that, and ended up drifting about having a dance or two in each room. I don’t know if that’s why I had a bit of trouble tracking down some forumites for more than one dance, or why I managed to track down some forumites for more than one dance .



There were lots of workshops, and the whole lot seem to be blurred in my head (no disrespect to the teachers - I think Tramp’s CD should help separate them). But this is my recollection of them:

Marc: Smooth Moves. Showing how to join and create moves by randomly selecting a basic move and adding in a ‘flourish’ to create a routine.

I had done a similar workshop with him in Aberdeen, of course the moves were different; but the concept behind it was still the same. A little bit further this time and made the moves split into 8-count segments so that it would all fit in with the track ‘smooth operator’.

I get why and how, but later in the afternoon David and Lily’s Musicality workshop clicked something into place that was obscured here: You don’t need it to be 8 counts. Just change the timing of the move to make it fit the music. (OK, normally 8 counts, but you don’t have to ‘pad’ a 5 count move with a 3 count flourish to make it fit.)



Marc: Cuban Blues Trying to bridge the gap between ‘close and smoochy’ blues and ‘open and livley’ MJ Slotted dance style primarily.

I’m not sure if I had seen this concept before – probably. But it seems to be how I dance normally; I’m not sure I got much more out of this, except to reinforce some of my own ideas. Personally I would add a couple more tips into this workshop: On moves where you would step back from the lady, step forward instead. And rotate the slot 90º on moves that fit it.



David & Lily: Adding Dimension Insert some contrast into the dance. Contrast only works when there is a ‘flat’ level to show it up against. It works betters when there is a ‘white’ next to a ‘black’. This contrast can be in spatial movement, close/open movements, vertical movements (dips/aerials) , or timing. 4 dimensions of dance.

More of a lecture style workshop with demonstrations of concepts. For me, it confirmed what I took from observation in Howard and Nicola’s workshops earlier in the year.



Franck: Using the lady’s left hand What it says on the tin. Double your repertoire and highlight any errors that may exist in your leading. Balance etc should be the same from one side to the other – why limit yourself?

I may catch or release the “wrong” hand on occasion or want to do something a bit different. This helps improvise on the spot and work out why a lead isn’t working quite the way it should.



David & Lilly: Instrumental Musicality A follow on from last year’s musicality workshop {was it only last year?} Another ‘lecture’ style workshop where they talked about being able to dance to every instrument in a track rather than just the drummer that most folk dance to. Don’t worry about making the moves fit the music – almost guaranteed that there will be something in the music that matches what you are doing.

Lily went over this, but the hardest part of actually using the music in your dancing is working out what bit of music your partner is actually dancing to. It was put over that it’s the follower’s responsibility to wait and listen for the lead to pick it up and dance to what they hear.

I hold with the opposite camp: I think that leads should ‘listen’ for what the follower hears and adapt to that.



Simon: Advanced Australian Jive Flowing moves together, double spins.

Why this makes it “Australian” is beyond me – the ‘advanced’ seemed to be that moves were thrown in one after another. Similar to Marc’s first workshop, but instead of one “move” at a time (and done on the fly), a pre-defined set of lots and lots, done at speed.

I found this hard just in memory terms, but so much brain power was used in that, there was little to say why this was different from any other routine.



Marc: Style tips for men as a lead, being aware of the connection to the music and the follower. The difference in solo dancing and partner dancing – isolating the lead hand from any styling.

I know that this was the first time that Marc & Rachel had done this workshop, but there seemed to be a lack of ‘game plan’; only a vague style should be in here somewhere. I think that there was too much to convey and peripheral things like leading/following and musicality sort of took over. (Although drawing a line is more than I would attempt.) I talked over a few ideas and feedback about the workshop with them and while there was a lot conveyed in this one, I think that the next one will be a lot better.



Emma: Funky Jive A ‘funked up’ routine with head-flicks, steps and poses.

Fun class, very ‘staccato’ in movements to tie in with the style. Not so much a “how to” more a “this is how we”. A few un lead-able bits (choreographed), but that wasn’t the point – it was learning a funky routine and perhaps getting some inspiration.

I decided to dance in the tea-dance rather than do either of the last couple of workshops – hopefully I’ll see what I missed on the CD. (I was torn, but cakes and cookies and music and dancing won me over.)


Over all a brilliant weekend, packed with fabulous dancers, top teachers, and good music. What could be done better? A definite lunch break during the workshops. Stickers/badges with forumites names/avatars. Other than that, I could have danced for another few hours.