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.
One important aspect of this, I think, is the injection of new ideas into the mix: including the Battle of the DJs, the silent disco and the new names on the roster especially +Kevin Sambridge and Jon Gammon. These changes all added to a mix - a mix which is already rich with the talents of experienced and tested DJs, but I sensed they too were up for something different. Mustering these resources there was a variety of music I'd not heard before - but it was never variety for variety's sake. The dancers circulated between rooms, not desperate to find somewhere to settle, but sated and eager for more and different.
Then there are those dancers: my assessment that the general atmosphere at Southport is less self-conscious, less febrile and much less exhorted. Any cliquish tendency is quickly undercut. The mix of dancers, their confidence and positive attitude is more conducive to dancing than any other weekender. But it's also about the backgrounds of those dancers - immersed in dance, schooled in dance - they seem more at home here. They are - notably and on the whole - less precious and self-regarding than some you encounter. The dancers made it.
The attempt, in the early hours one morning, by some organisation to muscle in on the party with some ill-fated flyers on every car in the car park was a rather drab act. We all know that business is tough but this seemed rather desperate. To my mind the assumption that your consumer needs such guidance in how they spend their money is to under-estimate them. But also seems to me, and I maybe wrong, that leaflets under windscreen wipers as a form of promotion of high cost, high quality products is not popular. They were gone before anyone woke to see them.
The particulars of the rest of my Southport are much as everyone else's I suspect - only the chalet numbers differ - sunshine, chats over STRONG coffee, +Sheena Assiph's wonderful world of waffles, small chalets full of too much people, friends old and new and +David Miller
awesome gumbo, vintage shirts, avoiding the Cookie troll, sampling booze from the hedgerow, breakfast fire alarms, +Franck's hats, wrestling with quilts, sinister cat pictures, Tokai, dodging the rain and fighting the wind and, mostly, ".... just popping over to have a dance".
My dear friend +Hannah Lonsdale and her partner Julie won a competition. This was an upbeat kind of event. I'd also applaud the teachers and their demos, the crew and the site staff - not least because so much went right and so little disturb the mood.
There was one downside, my plan for an apparatus to make my dancing more graceful as I tired didn't bear fruit: there still remains the thorny problem of how to do a pretzel when one's arms and torso are secured to a Y shaped frame without hinges - that said it offers distinct advantages when spinning AND you can dry your towels on it!
Now I dare say there will be those who are sick and tired of my hero-worshipping, superlative-soaked codswallop. (Get your kicks elsewhere folks). They will have skipped over my unease or disapproval in writing about various events I've attended. I should tell them that the very bad or boring don't get mentioned generally - and just to keep proprietors on their toes - some of the really good ones don't get mentioned either. But there are some where I feel improvement could be coaxed out of the system so I drop a hint from a highly opinionated but sometimes wrong-headed perspective.
Not this time - if I sound as though I enjoyed it - its because I did, with gusto.
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 over three nights and two days. and it was achieved with GUSTO
One important aspect of this, I think, is the injection of new ideas into the mix: including the Battle of the DJs, the silent disco and the new names on the roster especially +Kevin Sambridge and Jon Gammon. These changes all added to a mix - a mix which is already rich with the talents of experienced and tested DJs, but I sensed they too were up for something different. Mustering these resources there was a variety of music I'd not heard before - but it was never variety for variety's sake. The dancers circulated between rooms, not desperate to find somewhere to settle, but sated and eager for more and different.
Then there are those dancers: my assessment that the general atmosphere at Southport is less self-conscious, less febrile and much less exhorted. Any cliquish tendency is quickly undercut. The mix of dancers, their confidence and positive attitude is more conducive to dancing than any other weekender. But it's also about the backgrounds of those dancers - immersed in dance, schooled in dance - they seem more at home here. They are - notably and on the whole - less precious and self-regarding than some you encounter. The dancers made it.
The attempt, in the early hours one morning, by some organisation to muscle in on the party with some ill-fated flyers on every car in the car park was a rather drab act. We all know that business is tough but this seemed rather desperate. To my mind the assumption that your consumer needs such guidance in how they spend their money is to under-estimate them. But also seems to me, and I maybe wrong, that leaflets under windscreen wipers as a form of promotion of high cost, high quality products is not popular. They were gone before anyone woke to see them.
The particulars of the rest of my Southport are much as everyone else's I suspect - only the chalet numbers differ - sunshine, chats over STRONG coffee, +Sheena Assiph's wonderful world of waffles, small chalets full of too much people, friends old and new and +David Miller
awesome gumbo, vintage shirts, avoiding the Cookie troll, sampling booze from the hedgerow, breakfast fire alarms, +Franck's hats, wrestling with quilts, sinister cat pictures, Tokai, dodging the rain and fighting the wind and, mostly, ".... just popping over to have a dance". My dear friend +Hannah Lonsdale and her partner Julie won a competition. This was an upbeat kind of event. I'd also applaud the teachers and their demos, the crew and the site staff - not least because so much went right and so little disturb the mood.
There was one downside, my plan for an apparatus to make my dancing more graceful as I tired didn't bear fruit: there still remains the thorny problem of how to do a pretzel when one's arms and torso are secured to a Y shaped frame without hinges - that said it offers distinct advantages when spinning AND you can dry your towels on it!
Now I dare say there will be those who are sick and tired of my hero-worshipping, superlative-soaked codswallop. (Get your kicks elsewhere folks). They will have skipped over my unease or disapproval in writing about various events I've attended. I should tell them that the very bad or boring don't get mentioned generally - and just to keep proprietors on their toes - some of the really good ones don't get mentioned either. But there are some where I feel improvement could be coaxed out of the system so I drop a hint from a highly opinionated but sometimes wrong-headed perspective.
Not this time - if I sound as though I enjoyed it - its because I did, with gusto.
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