Hyperreal

I’m rather ashamed that I have still yet to post the blog articles I wrote after my first visit to the Beach Ballroom last year.

For this visit, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen. (Update: I’ve made sure. )

So, I was up in Aberdeen for 24 hours (more or less) Saturday into Sunday. Here’s what I did…

The weekend’s format was two 2-hour workshops Saturday, and Sunday; Beach Ballroom party on the Saturday night; and smaller parties on both Friday and Sunday night. The workshops on Saturday were aimed towards intermediate dancers, the first workshop being smooth stylish moves, with the second on blues basics. The Sunday workshops were more advanced, the first one was about showcase/performance blues dancing, the second was some rather flashy moves.

I did the second workshop on the Saturday and the first one on Sunday, and, of course, went to the party on Saturday night.

Let’s talk about them in a sort-of reverse order…

Sunday’s workshop: performance blues. This is in the same territory as the “Feeling Good” routine I’ve been doing. The format was a routine of about 8 moves, including a couple of drops, a double sweep, some lassos, and a very nice shimmy. Oh, and the “Backbreaker”, a move which I’d like to get good at.

Initially I was faced with taking part in this class with rotating partners, which, to be frank would simply not have been possible with the drops. I’m a relatively small guy and there were quite a few bigger women who I didn’t stand a chance of being able to ballroom drop, without dropping them on the ballroom floor. Although there were only two drops in the routine (actually now I think, there were three, after they added another move in) they were the moves I was most concerned about. I don’t have good memories of the last time I was taught a ballroom drop…

Fortunately I found a good partner at the start with whom I was well-suited, and we agreed to stay as fixed partners, though ultimately everyone paired up and there was no rotation.

My partner was very good at providing feedback, helping me get the moves right and giving me encouragement when it was needed. I’m not sure how long she’s been dancing for, but she wasn’t very confident with the drops. I thought she did really well though – especially considering she had me as a partner! I’d be glad to have her as a partner any time. (No idea, but I hope she thinks the same!)

I liked all the moves… Naturally some more than others – this, I guess, must depend on how spectacular I think they look, how practical they are in non-performance dancing, and, of course, how good I was at them. Just need to practice them now… Hmm…

Afterwards I was surprised at how little soreness I felt – I had expected two rather tired arms at least. Maybe it was because of the ibuprofen I’d taken at the start… Today though, a day later, I definitely feel a bit stiff and sore – surprisingly, especially in my thighs…

Now let’s go back to Saturday’s workshop… Blues basics… This was primarily introducing the basic blues positions, showing some ways in and out of them, plus a couple of other bluesy moves, all with a blues style. In this class the majority of people took part in the rotation, which led to some interesting contrasts. In particular, how close different women are prepared to get (sometimes a surprise considering how well you know them or not), and how “up for it” they were – in that some came to the floor with a confidence that said “I can do this”, and beyond that, brought some of their own sass to spice up the learning of these moves, making them a whole lot more fun.

I did this workshop, not so much to learn new moves (though I did), but to increase my confidence in blues dancing. And I think it’s helping. I felt much more comfortable doing this class than some in the past. In freestyle though, it’s not so easy. There I’m on my own, without anyone telling me what to do, and I have to figure out what feels right and then lead it confidently. And as blues dancing is much more intimate than normal dancing, there’s always the concern that you’re going to do (or just over-do) something that your partner isn’t going to like.

But I’m getting there… Just give me a few more years…

I enjoyed these workshops. I also got a chance to see the routines taught in the workshops I missed, and was very impressed (though there’s no way I could have done the second workshop on Sunday. Especially that Corkscrew moves. Major yikes!

Val and Dave make a good teaching couple. Val seems to do most of the instruction, though Dave does contribute a fair amount - especially helpful “man to man” (or “leader to leader”) stuff which a follower teaching might not remember or pick up on.

Definitely worth coming, and I think I picked the right two workshops for me.

The other main thing was the party at the Beach Ballroom. This was a fabulous night. So many great dancers, so many great dances. I’m surprised I was still standing at the end.

There were two negatives to the night. 1. It was too hot on the floor under the lights. Maybe more fans are needed. 2. There was a period in the night when it seemed like it nothing but swing music was going to played.

It was good to see and dance with folks from Inverness, Aberdeen and Dundee that I hadn’t seen for a while, plus meeting one of two new friends… Was also good to dance with some of the visitors from England - even the ones who didn’t recognise me…

Val and Dave did a quick “cheeky” blues class, which included a bit where the girl pushes the guy down vertically, brings him back up by the chin, then pushes him away. I thought is was quite good, and just a bit of fun. One girl I talked to though thought it was a bit sleazy… I pointed out that it was the girl who was in charge at that point, and could make it as sleazy or not as she wanted. She agreed that might actually have been a factor which made it uncomfortable. No matter – no girl tried that out on me during the night.

I did experience some amount of hijacking from a few girls. They enjoyed taking control. I enjoyed them taking control, even if it was a bit of a surprise once or twice… But I like surprises.

I don’t know if this visit to the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom has changed my dancing very much. I felt quite good about my dancing on Saturday night again, but there wasn’t much new, and I can see myself getting bored of my recent change of style quite soon. Best compliment of the night was something like “wow, you’re becoming a fantastic dancer!” Slowly, surely, maybe I’ll get there…

The only other dance-related thing I did over the weekend was after the Sunday workshop when I got a chance to practice the Feeling Good routine with my partner. This is the first time we’ve had a chance to get together since the classes finished, and we were rusty to start. I had forgotten so much of the routine! Fortunately we had the video I’m made, plus our instructors close at hand to help out. I don’t think we got through the whole routine once without stopping so I could figure out what came next, but I was happy that we were able to do everything, and it’s all now fresher in my memory. Means we might stand a chance of looking half-decent at the revision workshop in a couple of weeks’ time…

Oh, the other fun thing was that I got to play DJ for a bit on Sunday morning before the workshop. A few folks got there before the main sound system was set up, but I had my iPod and portable speakers… It’s a great feeling watching people dance to music that you’ve chosen (with the help of my iPod’s shuffle feature which kept picking some nice slow tracks from my “Ceroc” playlist.)

The only other thing I want to talk about was hotel accommodation… I stayed at the Station Hotel – the same venue as the workshops, which was very convenient. But the place is a bit tatty and run-down. Can’t they even afford a tin of paint to re-paint a ceiling where watch has come in, or where a light fitting has been removed?

I was tempted to stay at the Patio Hotel. It’s a bit more pricey, but it’s a much nicer place, right next to the Beach Ballroom, and it’s where the after-party party takes place. I was invited along anyway, but I just don’t think I could party till 4 or 5 in the morning, have a couple of hours’ sleep and get up and do a workshop.

Maybe I’m just a light-weight…

And that was it.

As usual, big thanks to everyone for the dances and in the workshops. There wasn’t a dance I didn’t enjoy. Cheers to Franck, Sheena and helpers. Thank you to Val & Dave for a great set of workshops. And also thanks to all my friends and others who helped make it a really great weekend.

See you all in June for Amir, if not before.