Swish 2007 - The Posh One. Feb 16th - 19th

[WittyBird]

I thought it was short for 'essential tit coverage' but then you wouldn't know about that, would you Witty.

Of course I do, If anyone asks where you are I tell them you've gone in the opposite direction, now if that aint ETC I don't know

[Cruella]

, now if that aint ETC I don't know

I already said you don't know.

[Yliander]

The only pics I took were of our room.

the room is nice - but your dress is beautiful

[CJ]

the room is nice - but your dress is beautiful

dress?!?!? I thought that was the drapings!!!

[djtrev]

I assumed Cruella was about to get into bed.

Seriously though I have always thought that Potters would be a brilliant place to have a MJ weekender.
If this becomes an annual affair I think it will develope into a similar style to all the other weekenders.All the extra activities will be an added bonus.

[StokeBloke]

Im not sure how many forumites are on here that went so I will post a review.

The SWISH weekender was absolutely fantastic.

Where do I start?
{SNIP}

Thanks for a thorough review. Sounds like you guys had a blast. You did seem to miss out a couple of points that would be deciding factors for some people (me) to book up next time though. Could you tell us....

What was the dancing like (room temp, floor sizes, refreshments in the rooms, seating, lighting, etc)?
What was the quality of the music that was played like?
What time did the dancing go on to?
What was the gender balance like?

The rooms do look amazing, but if you're dancing until sunrise how much use did they get

[Paul F]

Thanks for a thorough review. Sounds like you guys had a blast. You did seem to miss out a couple of points that would be deciding factors for some people (me) to book up next time though. Could you tell us....

What was the dancing like (room temp, floor sizes, refreshments in the rooms, seating, lighting, etc)?
What was the quality of the music that was played like?
What time did the dancing go on to?
What was the gender balance like?

The rooms do look amazing, but if you're dancing until sunrise how much use did they get

Never one to shirk from a request.....here goes

Floor sizes
Huge. This is a smaller (in dancer numbers) event than the other big ones which menat the large floor space was more then adequate. The main room was similar in size to Southport and Storm (without the extensions). The Garden Lounge is difficult to compare to something due to the shape. I would say its just about right for a blues room but i realise thats a vague answer.
The Atlas Theatre had floor space that could accommodate, say, 60 MJ'ers comfortably.
All this space did mean that, occassionally, the main room looked a little sparce but at peak times it was fine.

Room Temp
Due to the fact that it was never sardine like the temperature was perfect really. Remember that this is a high quality venue and, as such, has very good air flow systems anyway.

Refreshments
The main room had a well stocked bar as did the Atlas Theatre AND the Garden Lounge! In fact, thinking about it I am pretty amazed how they ran 3 full bars. I cant comment on free water or not as I never looked.

Seating and Lighting
Main room had 3 sided perimeter seating with an extra raised area near the bar at the opposite end to the stage. GL had big comfy sofas and big chairs while the Atlas theatre had cabaret style seating surrounding a slightly sunken dancefloor (nice and fast floor too!)

Music
As has been mentioned this weekender had a fair few newer people (and even non dancers) attending. As a result the music was not as you would find at S'port or Storm etc. For this comparison I am looking squarely at the blues room. It was much more mainstream 'smooth' music although there were some more challenging ones.
The main room and Atlas Theatre had pretty much the same as you would get elsewhere - a broad mix of Ceroc mainstream, latin, swing etc.


Time
The dancing finished, in the main rooms, at 1am and then in the Garden Lounge at around 3am. This, however, is quite good as it meant many people were up for breakfast and the other activites that were put on (as there were many).

Gender
Very difficult for me to judge being a guy. The first class that I taught had 30 women over but this happens even at gender balanced events. I cant really comment.


Hope this answers some more questions.

I DO sound like a marketing tool for Swish but I promise Im not. Contrary to what it says under my ID I am not a Ceroc teacher. I tell things as I see them so if there were any glaring errors I wouldnt hesitate to say so. Lord knows I have posted some, shall we say, 'opinionated' reviews before

[ALexyMiss]

Thought I'd throw in my twopence thoughts of Swish, although clearly Paul F has done a pretty comprehensive and accurate review

All in all, I had a fantastic weekend, albeit a VERY different feel from other weekenders I have done (Ceroc Camber, Jivetime Camber, Southport).

Best bits:
- Getting to know a few people much better, due to spending time eating, watching shows together & generally more intimate feel of weekender
- Having amazing dances with most of the teachers (Alex F, Dave R, Paul F, Mike, Howard, Tim), as well as some fantastic tango with Ian, some smooth tracks with SilverFox, some funky dances with Adam and with Dave, and loads of dances with my newly found comp partner Steve
- JACUZZI in the swimming complex, perfect for aching muscles!
- The Potters evening performances - truly outstanding, very professional
- The puddings, all delicious, often difficult to choose!

Areas for improvement:
- Arranging/allowing us to sit at a different table each meal would have been great for getting to know even more people
- They misjudged the relative popularity of some of the classes so there wasn't enough space in some of them
- Shutting the main big room at 1am was a bit too early IMO and meant the 'Blues' Garden lounge was a bit overcrowded for 30-45 mins. Also, peronsally I'd have liked the Garden Lounge to have stayed open an hour or so longer

Floor sizes
The Garden Lounge is difficult to compare to something due to the shape. I would say its just about right for a blues room but i realise thats a vague answer.

The Blues Garden Lounge had a similar feel to the Winning Post Utopia venue I felt, although the dancefloor was perhaps 2/3 the size.

Refreshments
I cant comment on free water or not as I never looked..

I can Free. Pints of iced tap water provided with a smile Also, found the wine very drinkable

Gender
Very difficult for me to judge being a guy. The first class that I taught had 30 women over but this happens even at gender balanced events. I cant really comment...

There were quite a few women over at most of the classes I went to, but I've found that's often the case at weekenders, even when gender-balanced booking.

So, in summary, I think Potters makes a really exellent dance weekender venue. The main thing lacking last weekend was a few more experienced dancers, but as I've said, the upside of that was that I got to know the ones that were there pretty well, and its an issue that can easily be rectified if a few more forumites come along to the next one!

[Paul F]

Thought I'd throw in my twopence thoughts of Swish, although clearly Paul F has done a pretty comprehensive and accurate review

Thanks but Im starting to feel bad now. I didnt realise that my posting War and Peace would stop other people from reviewing it too.

Maybe I should keep my posts a little more concise in future.

The only reason I went OTT on this one is because I genuinely felt like giving credit where credit was due.

[Lory]

Thanks but Im starting to feel bad now. I didnt realise that my posting War and Peace would stop other people from reviewing it too.

Maybe I should keep my posts a little more concise in future.

Please don't feel bad, personally I love reading 'everyone's' reviews, even if things are repeated, it just goes to show people share the same feelings.

Its one of the things I like most about the forum!

[Cruella]

Thanks but Im starting to feel bad now. I didnt realise that my posting War and Peace would stop other people from reviewing it too.

Maybe I should keep my posts a little more concise in future.

The only reason I went OTT on this one is because I genuinely felt like giving credit where credit was due.

Much as i like the thought of you feeling bad. As i said before i'm grateful for your review, as it saved me having to type it all out, as we tended to agree on most of the points mentioned.

[Paul F]

.....as we tended to agree on most of the points mentioned.

This is indeed a special day!



In order to rectify my enthusiasm though I will condense my review:



I thought the event was...................good.