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 the restaurant, bar and 3 dance floors, one area opens out onto decking which also has a temporary dance floor on it. Dancing in the sunshine or under the stars is a highlight of my visits to Southport. There's anther room with a substantial dance floor, low ceiling and intimate lighting where all manner of Tango, Blues and West Coast Swing breaks out - I seldom venture in there. The Chalets are arranged in concentric circles with a grassed area in the centre which for this visit was flooded most of the time. The Irish Sea pounds the beach - if you're in the right chalet you can go to sleep listening to the waves.
Southport is the premier Ceroc weekender - for the May extravaganza tickets are like gold dust and full attendance leads to full if not cramped dance floors . Its big and the dancing possibilities are literally endless in that only at Southport can one dance all day and all night. Incidentally the Classic Plus accommodation we were in was well refurbished - so much so that I won't be paying top whack for Club until those chalets are gold plated.
This Southport was, for me, memorable for a number of reasons:
1) The quality of the music was very high. The qualities of the DJs aside (and they were very good). The recent development of DJs setting a theme for their sets helped this, especially because some promoted them on Facebook beforehand. Expectation was set and then delivered for those who wanted it, and those who didn't could do something else. I especially enjoyed a series of sets from 1pm Sat lunchtime to about 7pm that night - it included new and established DJs and was just superbly balanced between the new and the familiar. In the main room there was a definite improvement on May Southport - again new people were tried but these were people with a track record. Hannah Lonsdale's Swingers Hour set which as an extended Sack the DJ spot last time out but this time was legit, tested both the idea that a modern jive weekend is a broad dance experience looking backwards to its roots as well as up wards to the giddy "heights" of Tango and WCS, and the idea that the regular dancer can sit and present a decent playlist. The floor was full and the music was a good mix of sub-genres, speeds and flavours. Garry Turner's effortless move from Swing to his world was perhaps more subtly impressive though - showing how the thinking DJ turns the mood of a room in his direction. I think Brett from Ceroc Dorset now needs a chance of a set to bring the dance right up to date with his brand of edgy dance tracks too.
2) There was space - the attendance was lower than it's May equivalent - its hard to know whether this was just another facet of the economic downturn or because there was competition that weekend and in the preceding weekends. There were fewer people doing West Coast Swing at Southport: many usual suspects were at the Midlands Swing but that wouldn't account for the lower numbers in the main room. But the space was well used. I plan to write soon about the precarious economics of this bit of the dance world, where there seem to be to be several opportunities and risks. If Southport in September is just busy - how will Brean in October and Camber in November fair? The impression I get is that the age profile of the weekenders is changing: and as it changes we can expect knock-on effects such as greater demand for the music which gave birth to jive rather than its modern successors in the social dancing ecosystem. More older people means more earlier nights, higher disposable income, greater interest in classes and obviously fewer young people...
I think there was a better gender balance due to the lower numbers. The mix was older but the range of dancers were still there. Also without the regular hot shots in their corner, the new hot shots were able to shine and some of them shine very brightly indeed. If the old guard don't turn up they rapidly become just the "old" and the new guard takes over. This pleases me: any arrogance is short-lived in dancing. A friend of mine tested the hot shots at this weekend - 5 out of 6 danced with her after she had asked. That may change over time, but its certainly - according to her research and improvement. But fewer people also meant that I got the chance to dance with more people I hadn't met before.
But there were also problems mostly caused by the torrential rain. Someone opened the folding doors of the chill out room to let some cool air in on a day when it was pouring with rain, the rain formed puddles on the dance floor, the rain also fell on a lighting stand and beneath it, a live extension cable. Live electricity in puddles: ladies and gentleman!
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