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Dance Season No 8 - Camber March 2013

I coughed and wheezed my way through this dance weekend and didn't make it to the end, surrendering to practicalities and the all too evident feeling of being at the limits of my scant energy most of the time  It's the ultimate frustration starting out a dance with an intention of giving your all and then finding the energy leaves you and the opportunity is lost.  I should start, therefore, with an apology to all those lovely dancers assembled on the South Coast that I didn't dance more and I didn't dance better.

That said I was glad I went because the highlights were considerable and the alternatives much less interesting. And to some extent one always feel a little better as one dances.

Early March is a tough time to hold an event like a weekender.  The weather was bad on arrival, calm on Saturday, cold on Sunday and snowy on Monday.  I was really impressed with the commitment of many of the people who work hard to make these weekenders.  Stu Bassie's ingenuity extending the dance floor in the pub made dancing there bearable for the first time in years.  Others laboured: one DJ endured the pain of toothache all weekend, others endured the icy winds and snow packing up 19 tons of equipment and coped with leaks into the main room as the deluge hit Camber on Friday.  Setting it up takes hard work and I'm grateful for what they do.

I should also add that some of the facilities in Camber have been spruced up as have many of the chalets.

I get the impression that Camber is most popular with dancers from Kent and Essex - two power house counties in the patchy spread of dancing across England - but not so much with Londoners. This Camber wasn't as busy as some I've attended.  This has many pluses not least that the main room and pub weren't rammed with people struggling to dance.  But there may also be signs dance habits are changing:  I'll write separately on the changing habits of dancers soon.

Certainly the age profile seems to be changing to me.  The trend is towards a higher proportion of older people attending and couples too.  In a recession where higher earners are more likely to be able to afford both travel and accommodation costs.  In terms of what they do when they get to the place - I think the overall trend is more about classes and workshops and less about dancing into the wee small hours and out the other side.  More couples seem to attend and much more socialising with people goes on and there is less overlap between Camber and Southport crowds.

As I said here the dancers at Camber are more conservative musically speaking than the Southport crowd.  That's not a criticism - they are paying customers and have every right to demand what they want to hear.  This works for me at times too - it was a joy to hear some golden, fast and furious Ceroc tracks from Paul Brooks this weekend.   But to find something a little different: I spend time listening and dancing to Sack the DJ slots.  These unpaid DJs have 30 minutes to show off their diverse tastes and are usually well worth hearing.  I caught some fantastic sets from Brett from Ceroc Dorset, Chloe Emma, Roger Brent, Tom Arkle and Simon Pius. Some might never get a slot in a main room but I wish the weekender model somehow allowed for more time for them.  Thanks to them for keeping me and others eager and on our toes.

There was an outbreak of loud, fast rock in the Chill Out room on Sunday morning which bucked the conservative trend, but was just what the room didn't need and it emptied. The Chill Out Room speakers were temperamental much of the weekend and the lighting too it seemed, the volume in the pub would drop randomly.  All of these were better than the overpowering volume last Autumn at this venue.  But not quite right yet.

I'll end with the Youtube highlights of the Saturday evening competition and teachers' showcases and the brilliant Ms Chivers.






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