Mindpoke dance

The great 18th Century essayist William Hazlitt defined gusto as  "Gusto in art is power or passion defining any object"   The key feature of this first Southport dance weekender was that of a defining power and passion.  And its no mean feat to maintain that force of enthusiasm for 60 hours on the dance floor or behind the decks.    So when I say this weekender was lifted beyond the bounds of the many others I attended, I don't do it lightly but I say it in the spirit of Hazlitt's Gusto.  It was awe-inspiring. In this age of austerity the investment we make in dance weekends must be rewarding at virtually every level and for many the impact must be immediate. This Southport - like no other in my memory - felt like the one where the music feed the dancer's enthusiasm and the dancers feed the DJs sense of adventure - passion was obvious, in surplus and building momentum and busting through to a festival of some of the finest dancing I've enjoyed ov...

At first glance Romney Marsh wouldn't be the first place that you'd guess jivers would assemble for dance weekenders.  The winding roads, ever present ditches, wind farms, sheep and acre after acre of fields would scarely indicate you were near a thriving dance venue.  And whom amongst the dancers there would venture beyond the wide expanses of teh Camber Sands themselves down to the spooky settlement of Dungeness where wooden houses nestle in the shingle bank.  In doing so there would pass not only a nuclear power station but also a fantastic nature reserve run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.   Venturing northward past Camber they would alit on the ancient town of Rye - its harbour home to 40 odd fishing boats and its tiny cobbled streets winding up hill replete with tower and 12th Century pub. But jivers assemble to do their thing at Pontins Camber Sands and one can hardly blame anyone as November's gloom descends for ignoring local history ...