Mindpoke dance

Last night's CurlyWurly was astonishingly good. I'm not going to try and analyse all the factors which were at work here.  The likelihood is that others would chose different priorities to me.  What I will say is that I had a great time, as good a time as I had at any venue anywhere ever (my venue list has 101 names on it). The feeling exceeded the expectation I was feeling knowing the roster of super dancers I was about to encounter.  It was the kind of dance I enjoyed 3 years ago when CW first came onto my radar: all the more welcome because I thought that the kind of dance night was extinct.  I feared there was no demand for social dancing to nice music where dance style didn't matter, and that enjoyment of dance was the only goal.  Tango, WCS, blues and slow Ceroc co existed in harmony because no one form was carried for more than a couple of dancers.  More than a hundred people turned up I reckon. The first timers said they'd enjoyed it, those re...

I danced for 5 hours on Sunday night - the music at the CurlyWurly Sunday event in Huddersfield was wonderful, the dancers varied and considerate - except for a prat who danced like he was drunk (but sadly wasn't) and wandered across the floor (through the slots and in front of dancers) like he had no self-awareness (which unsurprisingly he didn't).  There was a gentleman who declined to dance with our host - how short-sighted is that? I danced the best I could but throughout I felt I should be giving more.  My energy was not sufficient to do my share - I had failed in my first task. A malaise sets in.   By Tuesday it hit a new low.  I gazed at the freestyle dance floor and it felt alien.  Three or four dances in it felt alien too.  What on earth was I doing there? But the time I was due to dance again I sensed the writing was on the wall for that night.  I didn't belong there. I left - heavy hearted at the change in me - assured it would change ...

Q: What would happen if real life ballet dancers dance to the music we regularly enjoy at modern jive dance venues? Well, I found out at an entertaining night out at the Peacock Theatre in Holborn a week or so ago. Ballet Revolución - a Cuba ballet company were in town for a two week run under the auspices of Sadler's Wells. They had enjoyed success last year and so the two week run was eagerly awaited though it was my first time in front of a proper ballet ensemble. In truth this was ballet-lite - classical ballet did figure in the first half and mightily impressive it looked. The remainder was a mix of dance styles and stylistic centre was the troop's response to the music of the company's homeland. A Cuban sound applied by the live band to popular tracks by Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Ricky Martin and the like - some already betraying latin roots but not all. There was some pre-recorded music too and in the first half a long instrumental track of heavy ...

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 in...

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 ...

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...