Mindpoke dance

So...what are the key components of a near perfect weekend of dancing:-   Franck stands on a chair in a kilt and calls the room to order. Sheena plays the Imperial March from Star Wars as the judges walk on.  Immediately the floor fills like I've never seen before here. Quality dancers here too. Competitors fly around all morning pinning numbers on their backs at speed because they've entered so many categories. Children in fancy dress play in a corner. Cakes are sold to add to the charities coffers.   The Autumn sun blazes into the room despite the chilly air outside.   Nerves of steel, audacious moves, laughs and mutual support amongst competitors. I blush - three very fine dancers asked me to partner them in competition - alas it's not in my make-up. A large red Dragon and large green Nessie embod y the nations and the fun. The winners are from Ceroc groups across the UK embrace and hug and cry. The represent ative from the childre...

Daventry - Cool, Blue and Funky I wish I could put my finger on the solution to the Daventry problem.   It’s run by good people, who work very hard, it’s a place to which many people love to go: but something has changed since I started going there and its not hitting the spot for me.   I will try and explain why. A lot of people enjoyed Daventry on that Saturday night, so what was my problem? I don’t know really but these are the things which I noticed were different:- When I started going to Daventry - it was daunting: two rooms full of the most accomplished dancers from across the country.  The Blues room was like the Roman colosseum: the competition for dancers was high and each dance occurred under the noses of one’s competitors.  The main room was a little more forgiving but it wasn’t for the self-conscious or reticent. But as financial pressures have applied to the pockets of dancers across the country so travel to dance distances have, I suspect,...

Southport Splash 2012 I was trying to remember the first time I went to a weekender at Southport - I do recall it was the last event that Jive Addiction held there.  I got the train up from London and the highlights for me are pretty sketchy - a blues room where there was a tranquil calm about the dancing which I found very appealing and the huge main room was staggering - so many dancers.  Also I recall a number of people saying how they would never go to a Ceroc event; its amusing now to see how many of them jumped ship.  I've enjoyed all the subsequent Southport's under the Ceroc banner: they have all had better administration than the other weekenders I've been to. And at Ceroc I've never been knowingly insulted by the owner in front of my fellow customers: a fate that has befallen one of my friends elsewhere. The layout is pretty much ideal: a large main room is connected by a remarkably sound-proofed glass door to a series of linked areas which comprise th...

Goole I'm undecided as to which venue is closest to my home but I think it is the Community Hall at Airmyn near Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire.  Its a village of around 750 people and yet the hall is usually full of dancers as it was when I went recently - I'd estimate that there were 160 plus attendees.  The car park is also usually full and a snake of cars parks up into the adjoining housing estate. Airmyn has a long history which can be found here Its a rather good venue and I think it attracts dancers from the East Riding and South Yorkshire: it maybe one of the most easterly big venues in Yorkshire. On my previous visit I really enjoyed a great mix of tracks virtually all of which I'd describe as fast - certainly not much below the pulse of your standard Ceroc night track.  Unfortunately this time the variety wasn't there and the night dragged as I struggled to get energy together to dance to music which was distinctly middle of the road.  Others ...

First published Sept 2012 Many hopes are raised at the beginning of the dancing season.  Summer dances although very nice have the disadvantages of irregular membership, heat and the inevitable feeling that summer there's a better party going on - usually with a considerable quantity of sausages. My dancing season has got off to a cracking start. Tadcaster - a two room venue with a grand main room floor taking a large body of dancers and a series of connected smaller rooms upstairs where blues, tango and WCS tunes were offered.  There were more super dancers than you could shake a stick at, and a wide variety of tunes.  I really enjoyed being able to buzz between the two rooms and find quality music to which I could dance. This venue is better than Berko thanks to the quality offerings in the main room. Northwich - Keith Davies' freestyles for Revolution Dance are very well attended.  So much so I was hardly surprised to bump into a couple I knew from Bourn...

My Top Dance Experiences First published 2010 & updated 2011 - 268 views to Jan 2013 New additions in italics Curly Wurly Sundays - I'm pretty sure that even if I sat here for a week I couldn't come up with a word or couple of words that sums up the Curly Wurly Sunday experience.  One might conclude that Lisa Garydon's ideas all contribute: social media discounts, the unique chocolate focus brings in some, the half time jelly is essential refreshment for others, the location in Huddersfield, midway between Manchester and civilisation, helps too.  Many will point to the music and I'd agree that Dave Graydon has the most astonishing talent for mixing music across the dance spectrum and finding tracks including obscure cover versions of unique quality.  He's certainly a DJ we want and need to hear at weekenders. The quality of the dancers there is special - brash show-offs would not find this venue conducive to their needs.  Good humour is a must, reticence wi...

It started with a perilously stupid idea that there was a way to combine dancing, birdwatching and photography in a few days break from work after Christmas. Scotland and indeed England had been griped in icy temperatures and snow feet thick for most of the fortnight before. I arrived at a even more perilous idea which involved driving to Scotland, and around Scotland, whilst I was here - it would allow me to take my pick of locations for all three activities. I started out on New Year's Eve with spectacular intent by leaving just before 10am after a hearty breakfast (these were to be a feature of my trip). The drive up was super smooth and I was able to take in Gromley's magnificent "Angel of the North" (no relation) though missed out on Durham and Berwick, which for reasons best known to their city fathers, don't allow the A1 to pass through their precincts. The approach to Edinburgh filled my heart - as though coming to an adopted home - in a way that the Ha...

Posted originally May 2008 The Saturday night Pavilion freestyle is a great thing: this one was particularly busy and at times the dance floor was really just too crowded. Of course, it provides me with an opportunity to dance with old friends some of whom I hadn't seen for months. My only quibble would be with the way the DJ moved from one track to the next - it was hard to change tempo and mood as the transitions were so sudden. And of course the fade out is the enemy of the big finish! The floor at the Pavilion is a joy - and I wish I could have gone on longer. With memories of dancing until 5am still fresh - it was hard to stop when the night felt young. There was good news on the night, but bad news too. In many ways I'm lucky, very lucky. The next Pav night is I think the White Ball: need some white trousers I suppose....

First posted 2006 A quick plug for a marvellous jiving track - Count Basie and his Orchestra playing "From Russia with Love" - big bold brass and nice solos in-between but a lovely tempo to dance to. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Basie-Meets-Bond-Count/dp/B0000647M1/ref=sr_1_1/026-1937011-5198054?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1182429592&sr=8-1