Southport September 2005: The Good and The Bad

[David Bailey]

To get the ball rolling nice and early...

The Rule is: For balance, you've got to put some "Bad" in - nothing's perfect, and everyone can be helped with positive criticism. If you want a "Woo-hoo, wasn't it GREAT!" thread, start your own.

So:

The Good
---------------
1. Organisation:
Truly superb; professional, reliable, unobtrusive and smooth. You know it's perfect when no-one notices how smoothly it's going. The tickets, the programme, the brochure, the systems - didn't spot any problems, anywhere. :clap: To John and Wes.
2. Journey up:
Despite the roadworks, the company of the deligtful girls Dizzy and CeeCee made the time fly by. Thanks, ladies.
3. Rumba class
:worthy: To Nicole Cutler for teaching a great Rumba class at 10.45am on Saturday morning, which not only included a decent routine, but style tips and timing advice, all in an hour. And, the "cop-a-feel" moment when she wiggled up was priceless, or at least worth the price of admission by itself.
4. Southport restaurants
Great value for money, lovely service - I can thoroughly recommend both the Cathay Garden and the Gourmet Kitchen, both on the corner of Leicester Street and Lord Street. Best meals I've had in months.

The Bad
---------------
1. Friday night Latin room music
Sorry, it just didn't work for me. I hung on waiting until 2.30 for it to gell, but it never really did. In hindsight, I should have been less stubborn and gone to one of the other rooms...
2. Rudeness
The cult of celebrity seems to have gone to some people's heads. A couple of examples:

1 minute into post-class practice of my newfound Rumba skills, Steve Lampert decided to interrupt, by stopping us and engaging my partner in conversation instead. Like, it would have killed you to wait 2 minutes, Mr Tramp?
A lovely but less-experienced dancer friend danced with Marc (or Marc & Rachel fame), and felt "3 inches tall" after the experience - he spent a large amount of the time dancing shines by himself and making her feel bad / useless. That's just rude.

3. Pontins "restaurants"
Don't use them unless you are starving to death. Even then, think carefully.
4. Floor in Blues room
Hard work - I know, it's not a proper dance floor, but it wasn't the best environment for several hours dancing-on.

Finally, I was told I was "nothing like I imagined you to be". Is that good? :innocent:

[djtrev]

Judging by the time you posted DJ,you either took your laptop with you or you left early.

[Tiggerbabe]

2. Rudeness
The cult of celebrity seems to have gone to some people's heads. A couple of examples:

1 minute into post-class practice of my newfound Rumba skills, Steve Lampert decided to interrupt, by stopping us and engaging my partner in conversation instead. Like, it would have killed you to wait 2 minutes, Mr Tramp?
A lovely but less-experienced dancer friend danced with Marc (of Marc & Rachel fame), and felt "3 inches tall" after the experience - he spent a large amount of the time dancing shines by himself and making her feel bad / useless. That's just rude.


I'll post my own Southport stuff later, and I'm sorry we didn't meet David, but ................ if Mr Tramp managed to engage your partner in conversation that suggests to me that she was happy to chat to him at the time, if you were practicing perhaps she could have mentioned that fact to him and he'd have happily waited to talk later.

I'm sure Marc will be very upset to read that your friend didn't enjoy her dance with him but I think it's quite unfair to suggest that he set out to make her feel bad/useless.

[Divissima]

Everyone can be helped with positive criticism.
Sorry, David - I'm struggling to see how you think your criticism was positive. I think it is particularly bad form to make the personal criticisms you made in your post - particularly as several of them had very little to do with the official side of the weekend.

[Andreas]

but ................ if Mr Tramp managed to engage your partner in conversation that suggests to me that she was happy to chat to him at the time, if you were practicing perhaps she could have mentioned that fact to him and he'd have happily waited to talk later.

There are two sides to that medal:

1) yes, she could have made a point that it was practice time
2) I personally would never be rude enough to walk on the floor to stop two people from dancing in order to have a chat with one of them. If that is how it was then it is RUDE!


I'm sure Marc will be very upset to read that your friend didn't enjoy her dance with him but I think it's quite unfair to suggest that he set out to make her feel bad/useless.

Potentially not. But shines are a means of self-presentation and have very little to do with the partner that you are dancing with. If you wish to participate in such an experience I am sure it will be not difficult to demonstrate to you that you will feel totally obsolete if a guy (or girl respectively) sets out to do a solo number while you as the less experienced party have trouble to look good for a longer time frame. Again, this is RUDE!

:flower:

[Piglet]

I'll post my own Southport stuff later, and I'm sorry we didn't meet David, but ................ if Mr Tramp managed to engage your partner in conversation that suggests to me that she was happy to chat to him at the time, if you were practicing perhaps she could have mentioned that fact to him and he'd have happily waited to talk later.

I'm sure Marc will be very upset to read that your friend didn't enjoy her dance with him but I think it's quite unfair to suggest that he set out to make her feel bad/useless.


:yeah: :yeah: Sorry David but I'm with Tiggerbabe on all of this.

[Piglet]

Sorry, David - I'm struggling to see how you think your criticism was positive. I think it is particularly bad form to make the personal criticisms you made in your post - particularly as several of them had very little to do with the official side of the weekend.

:yeah: too!

[Lou]

It's a shame that your friend didn't enjoy her dances with Marc. I've only ever had a couple of dances with him, and yes, he "shined" & played (but I actually enjoy it when people do that), however he was also thoughtful enough to modify his naturally "funky" style into something that more matched mine. (I'm lousy at "funky"!), From my experience he seems like a considerate dancer, and I'll agree with the others who have already posted to say that they're sure he would never have intended to make your friend feel bad about her dancing.

And as for that Tramp feller - he's always rude! I'll never forget the freestyle where I'd just had the most excellent dance with someone, connected for the first time, just enjoying some post-dance chitchat with this delightful chap (well, I didn't want him to get away) - when the wicked Trampie Boy kept dancing into us, and nudging me with his bum. And just 'cos we were nattering on the dancefloor! :wink:

[David Bailey]

2) I personally would never be rude enough to walk on the floor to stop two people from dancing in order to have a chat with one of them. If that is how it was then it is RUDE!

That's exactly how it happened - spooky, were you watching? :grin:


you will feel totally obsolete if a guy (or girl respectively) sets out to do a solo number while you as the less experienced party have trouble to look good for a longer time frame. Again, this is RUDE!
Ditto - you're beginning to scare me now...


I'm sure Marc will be very upset to read that your friend didn't enjoy her dance with him but I think it's quite unfair to suggest that he set out to make her feel bad/useless.
Err... I didn't suggest that, did I? But "Not meaning to cause offence" is not an excuse once you get to a certain level, surely? The fact is, he did cause upset, and he didn't have to, and he should be experienced enough to know this.


I'll agree with the others who have already posted to say that they're sure he would never have intended to make your friend feel bad about her dancing.
Hmmm... possibly, I wasn't there. I know she did feel bad, and that annoys me - someone at his level should be able to provide a connection to all dancers; the whole "partner dance" thing is a conversation, not a monologue.

I'm slightly surprised that my post has generated such controversy, as I was simply relaying facts. The only criticism is my opinion that these actions were rude - I was miffed by the first, my friend was upset by the second. Being a superstar DJ/teacher/whatever doesn't excuse you from consideration of others, IMO.

I enjoyed the weekend, it was fun. My comment about criticism was aimed at the organisers more than anything else - e.g. a decent floor in the Blues room would have helped.

Probably a good thing I'm not going to BFG now, I think I'd be lynched... :rofl:

[Andreas]

That's exactly how it happened - spooky, were you watching? :grin:


Ditto - you're beginning to scare me now...

I was the one who installed the surveillance system. :rofl:

[Paul F]

John + Wes - :cheers: You guys are awesome.

Its only the second time I have been to Southport but, as DJ alluded to, the whole weekend ran so smoothly. Thankyou both (and your team) so much.


As for the my viewpoint of the weekend :drool: :drool:

Cant really comment on the workshops as I didnt do any but the freestyle dancing was SO worth the painful (and I do mean painful) journey up there from Surrey.
Dancing all night on Friday, all day and night Saturday and all day Sunday was truly brilliant. I think I spent about 2 hours total dancing in the main hall or the latin room. The blues, or WCS room :nice: , just had me transfixed.

On that point can i just say

Mr Dance Demon you are an absolute god.

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

Other truly remarkable Djs too doing some sets in the blues/WCS room. A young lad called Carl from West Yorkshire did an impromptu set on the Saturday afternoon with some superb tunes in it. Not sure if he comes on this forum but just in case , thanks Carl.

I have to say I did feel a bit guilty though :( I seemed to spend most of my time dancing with just a handful of ladies in the blues room. One lady commented on this to me on the Sunday and it made me feel really bad. I didnt do it so as to avoid dancing with anyone else, I would never do that. It just kind of happened. Am I a bad person? :(

I also met a girl I danced with at the Scottish Champs...Emma, i think. She was simply superb and I am gutted as I forgot to ask her where she dances. I went into full salsa mode in the Latin room at on point with her and it was great. I would love to find out where she dances but I dont believe she has been converted to the dark (forumite) side. :tears:


Does anyone remember what you felt like when you were about 8. or whatever, years old. You may have gone on a trip with your family to visit grandparents. In my case I used to go to Anglesey in Wales for visits to my grandparents. It used to be so good (well I was 8!) and when I left I used to feel so devastated. I just never wanted my visits to end.
Thats how I felt on sunday when I left Southport. :tears:

I want to go back.

So all in all >

Good Points
Seamless flow of events
First rate music
Seemed like plenty of choice
I actually thought the restaurant (queen vic) was ok and well priced
Reasonable bar prices
Dancing into the morning

Bad Points
Erm,
Not sure really.
The accommodation I was in really required a public health warning but that was my fault for booking last last minute.


Once again, thanks John + Wes. Enjoy your sleep :wink:

[CJ]

DJ, you popped your head above the parapet, and were than shot at: it happens here!! :rolleyes: Don't take it too personally.

FWIW, I thought your post was refreshing, albeit the content unsurprising :wink: , and I respect your honesty. I hope this thread now continues with what people saw as the Good and Bad of Southport.

Also, FWIW IMHO: sorry tiggerbabe, but I thought you were wrong on both counts there. Still, :flower: , we can argue about it before our next dance :yum:

(Oh, and DJ: get your act together and attend the BFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[ChrisA]

Being a superstar DJ/teacher/whatever doesn't excuse you from consideration of others, IMO.

True. But there is a huge difference between saying in general terms that you found some people's behaviour rude, and not just naming them here, but going as far as to ascribe reasons to their behaviour with this "cult of celebrity seems to have gone to some people's heads" comment.

If you don't like someone's behaviour, take it up with them personally.

Complaining about specific, named people, in public like this is extremely bad form.

[El Salsero Gringo]

Complaining about specific, named people, in public like this is extremely bad form.It's a million times more honest than complaining about specific, unnamed people. ("A certain famous DJ.... A certain well known Ceroc teacher..")

[ducasi]

It's a million times more honest than complaining about specific, unnamed people. ("A certain famous DJ.... A certain well known Ceroc teacher..")
I can understand a preference for naming individuals rather leaving people guessing, but where does honesty come into it?

Would it be a lie to to say "a certain well-known ...." or even just "someone"?

[ChrisA]

It's a million times more honest than complaining about specific, unnamed people. ("A certain famous DJ.... A certain well known Ceroc teacher..")
That doesn't make it desirable.

The reason that "specific, unnamed" is also poor form (I do agree with you on that) is that it's so often easy to narrow it down to a very few possibles. So it's naming without naming, and additionally casting a shadow over the (sometimes very few) other people it might have been.

My view is that there is far too much whining on this forum. Whining about hotshots, whining about rudeness, whining about stinky dancers, whining about just about anything that someone feels in a bad mood about. To my shame, I've indulged in that a bit too, but that doesn't make it any less crap, and it's very different from engaging in a balanced debate.

If people have a gripe with an individual, they should take it up with the individual. Slagging someone specific off, named or unnamed, when that person isn't around to put the other side of the case, is just cheap.

[Lou]

My view is that there is far too much whining on this forum. Whining about hotshots, whining about rudeness, whining about stinky dancers, whining about just about anything that someone feels in a bad mood about. And there's far too much whining about whining! ;)

Ach - come on, Chris. Sometimes we all need a moan. And it does help. :)

I was very surprised to see David mention specific dancers. However, in a way it's a good thing, because I certainly have a different impression of Marc to the one that David's friend was left with. So I'm hoping that because of my reply, maybe David will go back to his friend & tell her that a number of other people have a different experience of Marc, and so maybe she'll go back & have another dance with him sometime - with a hopefully better outcome. :)

[WittyBird]

I can understand a preference for naming individuals rather leaving people guessing, but where does honesty come into it?

Would it be a lie to to say "a certain well-known ...." or even just "someone"?

Whats wrong with naming and shaming? if it was a problem with me I would first appreciate someone telling me what the problem is or was therefore giving me the opportunity to put it right.

As far as Marc is concerned I am a beginner and I have danced with him twice! I have never found him to be anything other than helpful and friendly. He never once made me feel awful. :grin: Infact i feel guilty for making him suffer me when I ask him to dance! :rofl:

[ChrisA]

And there's far too much whining about whining! ;)

I dunno... that was my first time for ages :wink:



Ach - come on, Chris. Sometimes we all need a moan. And it does help. :)

Sure. In small doses, I don't have a problem. But increasingly this place is a vehicle for the expression of people's neediness, at the expense of actually dealing with whatever the problem is.

And in this particular case, it went beyond "Person X did this, which I didn't like" (which is bad enough in public), into the realm of a wider accusation - this "cult of celebrity" nonsense, aimed explicitly at Marc.

In actual fact, neither DJ (who heard it all second hand), nor even his friend who actually danced with him, has any evidence to support such an allegation about attitude, even if it's true that Marc behaved in the way described, which I simply don't believe. I've watched Marc dancing on literally dozens of occasions and although he does bits on his own it's invariably with the music, and certainly not for "a large amount of the time".

He has an individual style which an inexperienced dancer might find unusual, but that's not the same thing at all.

[ducasi]

Whats wrong with naming and shaming? if it was a problem with me I would first appreciate someone telling me what the problem is or was therefore giving me the opportunity to put it right. Would you like to be named and shamed? When the someone didn't tell you before-hand and give you an opportunity to put it right? On a forum that you do not participate on?

If so, does anyone have any juicy gossip about you? I'm sure you won't mind it being shared... Don't worry – it won't be where you can see it and respond to it.

[Lou]

In actual fact, neither DJ (who heard it all second hand), nor even his friend who actually danced with him, has any evidence to support such an allegation about attitude, even if it's true that Marc behaved in the way described, which I simply don't believe. I've watched Marc dancing on literally dozens of occasions and although he does bits on his own it's invariably with the music, and certainly not for "a large amount of the time".
And so several of us have replied to David, to tell him that we think his impression of Marc is wrong. Surely this is a good thing, as it gives David the chance to review his thoughts & maybe change his opinion, based on the feedback from others? If he'd said nothing, both he and his friend would still be nursing bitter thoughts about the whole experience.

[El Salsero Gringo]

Both people are public figures in the Ceroc world, so it's inevitable that people are going to talk about them. I've never met Steve Lampert, but I have met Marc and he's always been very down to earth and not hotshottish at all.

I'm surprised about all the self-righteous hoo-ha about 'whining', and 'gossip'. (Actually I'm not surprised, this is the Forum, after all.)

[ChrisA]

If he'd said nothing, both he and his friend would still be nursing bitter thoughts about the whole experience.
And equally, if he had had a quiet word with Marc, they would have discovered that he would be horrified to have given that impression, and it would have been sorted out without the need for all this public laundry washing.

But no, the preference these days seems to be to slag someone off in front of (potentially, at any rate) upwards of 1000 strangers. I just don't get it, myself. :confused:

[WittyBird]

Would you like to be named and shamed? When the someone didn't tell you before-hand and give you an opportunity to put it right? On a forum that you do not participate on?

If so, does anyone have any juicy gossip about you? I'm sure you won't mind it being shared... Don't worry – it won't be where you can see it and respond to it.


Obviously i didnt make myself clear... I meant being given the opportunity to put it right first - if i then didnt put it right then name and shame but everyone should be given the opportunity to defend themselves.

Juicy gossip about me Im not sure but if you want to be anal about it go and find some. Good luck in your quest

[El Salsero Gringo]

And equally, if he had had a quiet word with Marc, they would have discovered that he would be horrified to have given that impression, and it would have been sorted out without the need for all this public laundry washing.I can't help but notice how no one has rushed to the defence of Steve Lampert.

[Dreadful Scathe]

The cult of celebrity seems to have gone to some people's heads. A couple of examples:
1 minute into post-class practice of my newfound Rumba skills, Steve Lampert decided to interrupt, by stopping us and engaging my partner in conversation instead. Like, it would have killed you to wait 2 minutes, Mr Tramp?

A lovely but less-experienced dancer friend danced with Marc (or Marc & Rachel fame), and felt "3 inches tall" after the experience - he spent a large amount of the time dancing shines by himself and making her feel bad / useless. That's just rude.


The only issue I would have with these statements (after everyone else has complained about them) is the possibility that Mark and Steve wont get to respond on the thread. Still, its just as bad for everyone to jump on the "bad DavidJames"* bandwagon thats started rolling down the hill :) Rather then criticise how someone says something we could all be a little more positive :).

Steve can often be oblivious, but then so can I - I once did something similar to Amir (i dunno I was starstruck i suppose ;) ). Doesnt make me a bad person but I can be as accidently rude as the next smurf.

As for Mark, he simply dances a certain way with certain people - I would imagine very few find this rude. If you really dislike a dance though - why not have a better one with someone you do like dancing with ?

Neither example sounds like the person was "rude" on purpose.



*DavidJames is a very very bad man

[Lou]

I can't help but notice how no one has rushed to the defence of Steve Lampert.Hmmm.... well, I hope most people realised that my post was meant somewhat tongue in cheek! :) (Despite the fact that he tried to get between me & a man in a very fetching fishnet top, which I shall forever hold against him :na: )

Besides, I think Steve's quite capable of standing up for himself on here. :whistle:

[Bill]

The good ................... well most of the weekend ( although I felt much better - and more relaxed later on Sunday). No roadworks for us on way down or back which really helped.

The bad ...... the music in the Blues room for some of the evening on Friday but was great when DD came on ( pity it had to be 3.00am!!)

The fact that we were so close to the venue ( right across from it) that poor Laura had almost no sleep because the music went on till about 6.00. At least she managed a snooze on Saturday afternoon.

Maybe I can stay till Monday next time :rolleyes: :grin:

[ChrisA]

I can't help but notice how no one has rushed to the defence of Steve Lampert.
You're just stirring now.

But for the record, I don't think Steve should be slagged off in public either.

[CJ]

Would you like to be named and shamed? When the someone didn't tell you before-hand and give you an opportunity to put it right? On a forum that you do not participate on?

If so, does anyone have any juicy gossip about you? I'm sure you won't mind it being shared... Don't worry – it won't be where you can see it and respond to it.

As far as I'm aware, both Marc and Tramp are on here.. they r both more than capable of replying for themselves.

In fact, because DJ was specific, people have been able to say that that was not their understanding/experience of Marc and would hopefully encourage his friend to try again...

Unfortunately, there hasn't been the same rush to defend Tramp.

[David Bailey]

I have to say I did feel a bit guilty though :( I seemed to spend most of my time dancing with just a handful of ladies in the blues room. One lady commented on this to me on the Sunday and it made me feel really bad. I didnt do it so as to avoid dancing with anyone else, I would never do that. It just kind of happened. Am I a bad person? :(

Possibly, but I did a similar thing, in the Latin room - I guess we just all get in our comfort zone and don't want to leave it. Or, in my case, stray too far from my massive rucksack full of water / clothes / towel / kitchen sink etc.

I did dance for a full, oooh, 15 minutes in the main ballroom though, just to show willing :)


I went into full salsa mode in the Latin room at on point
Really? Blimey, both me and ZW were on hyper-salsa-lookout mode; by our counts they only played about 3-4 salsa tracks each night. I've got a great memory of ZW barrelling over to the blues room on Sat night to grab me, shout "They're playing Yaye Boy!", then both of us ran full-tilt back to the Latin Room to catch the last few minutes.

How about an electronic "Playlist" somewhere central, so we can check out upcoming tracks in all three rooms? Or is that too geeky?


I actually thought the restaurant (queen vic) was ok and well priced
Honestly, those 2 restaurants in Southport were fantastic - great value and service, such a change from London. At the Queen Vic on Sunday lunchtime, they made a fuss about us sitting outside, then they got the order wrong - so I wasn't that impressed.


The accommodation I was in really required a public health warning but that was my fault for booking last last minute.
I quite liked my little chalet, it was much nicer than I'd thought it would be.

Once again, :worthy: to John and Wes for the superb organisation of the event, it sounds like the best-organised weekender around.

[El Salsero Gringo]

You're just stirring now.Only a little bit.

Everyone's done something rude at some point; just because someone else chooses to point it out doesn't make any more or less of it. Let's face it, getting carried away in your own footwork is hardly a capital offence is it? And if that's the worst that's ever said about me then I'd be quite disappointed.

[TiggsTours]

If its the Marc I'm thinking of, I've only danced with him a couple of times, and had a thoroughly enjoyable experience, that said, I'm an experienced a confident enough dancer to be able to use the break he's taken to shine to shine a fair bit myself, not everyone is confident enough to do that.

When we were children, were wo not all taught the common courtesys of "don't show off" "don't hog the limelight" and "don't interrupt while I'm talking"? Why should we not expect these common courtesys to extend to the dancefloor?

There's nothing wrong with "shining" its fun! But we've all danced with people who are less experienced than we are, and a truly good dancer dances to their ability. Once you realise that your "shining" is leaving your partner embarrassed (easy to spot, they just stand and watch) then you stop! If you don't, that's "showing off" and "hogging the limelight" and yes, it is rude!

As for Mr Lampert, sorry Steve, but "don't interrupt while I'm talking" really should have sunk in by the time you hit the age of 4!

[David Bailey]

Two similar points:


Would you like to be named and shamed? When the someone didn't tell you before-hand and give you an opportunity to put it right? On a forum that you do not participate on?
Surely that's the complaint of any celebrity? :devil:


Complaining about specific, named people, in public like this is extremely bad form.
I used to think this - and I used to complain privately and praise publicly, on that basis.

But there are two things which made me name and shame:
- if you're a professional / in the public eye, I think there can be different criteria, simply because you've made a choice to be in the public eye to an extent.
- ESG's point about "innuendos" a while back hit home; if you whine, you should do so publicly and honestly. So I did :)


Still, its just as bad for everyone to jump on the "bad DavidJames"* bandwagon thats started rolling down the hill

Actually I'm enjoying it, it feeds my sense of paranoia and martyrdom :innocent:

And this is still trivial on the sh*tstorm level, compared to the "Some teachers are cr*p" discussion...


Neither example sounds like the person was "rude" on purpose.
Well, sorry, but surely rude is rude - either from deliberate intent or lack of consideration? Both are bad.


*DavidJames is a very very bad man
I am, it's true...

[Dreadful Scathe]

Well, sorry, but surely rude is rude - either from deliberate intent or lack of consideration? Both are bad.



Very true - but "rude on purpose" is much worse.

Not nearly as bad as "rude on purpose whilst wielding pointy stick" is though!

:)

[CJ]

Not nearly as bad as "rude on purpose whilst wielding pointy stick" is though!


And you should know, you rude whilst weilding a pointy stick man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rofl:

[David Bailey]

Very true - but "rude on purpose" is much worse.

I dunno. It's the old Reagan Irangate excuse really - if he didn't know it was wrong, he should have... To me, they're both equally poor.

Although I agree on the pointy-stick comment :)

[Dreadful Scathe]

Back to an earlier comment...


Finally, I was told I was "nothing like I imagined you to be". Is that good? :innocent:

I imagine a Shirley Temple lookalike with blonde curls, little red ballet shoes, a goatee beard and a rather husky "gangster" voice with an "LA street gang" accent. Is that close? Other peoples ideas often differ from mine I find.

[David Bailey]

I imagine a Shirley Temple lookalike with blonde curls, little red ballet shoes, a goatee beard and a rather husky "gangster" voice with an "LA street gang" accent. Is that close?
:eek: You must be psychic. And I mean that.

[Bex]

But there are two things which made me name and shame:
- if you're a professional / in the public eye, I think there can be different criteria, simply because you've made a choice to be in the public eye to an extent.


I kind of understand your point on this but when do 'Teachers/Professionals' get a night off? If Marc was there in a 'teaching capacity' then he will have been paid to provide a service (so to speak), therefore he's almost public property like all Teachers are when they are there for the evening/weekend.

However, if Marc was a paying punter like you, then he can dance with who he likes, when he likes and how he likes really. I've had plenty of dances with Marc and I have no complaints, I can't imagine him making anyone feel awkward or intimidated. I've seen Marc dance with Beginners too and if anything he pitches his dancing to his partner.

Sounds to me like Marc was enjoying himself dancing with your friend otherwise you'd probably be slating him for 'going through the motions' to get the dance over with as quick as possible! Poor guy can't win!

[CJ]

:eek: You must be psychotic. And I mean that.

He is :wink:

[ElaineB]

In Marc's defence, I have danced with him a few times and yes, he did shine, but then I tried to outshine him! :whistle: The first time I danced with him, I asked him to dance and he apologised as he had to do something on stage. I automatically put him in the 'No' row. I was then very pleasantly suprised when 10 minutes later, he lept down from the stage and came running up to me, apologising for keeping me waiting!!

Re Chris's point that if you find someone to be rude, you should tell them personally, you must be braver than me then!! I have endured a couple of 'rude' dancers, but would not have the guts to tell them to their face. For a start, I only know them by seeing them dance, I have no idea of their personality - they may become angry and shout!!!!


Elaine

[ChrisA]

Re Chris's point that if you find someone to be rude, you should tell them personally, you must be braver than me then!! I have endured a couple of 'rude' dancers, but would not have the guts to tell them to their face. For a start, I only know them by seeing them dance, I have no idea of their personality - they may become angry and shout!!!!

Well I'd never advocate saying, "Oi, you rude git" to them... but if DJ's friend felt bad after dancing with him, DJ might have gone up to him and had a quiet word along the lines of "Er, I'm sure you didn't mean to upset her, but this happened, and now my friend feels really bad"... or something like it. From the response, you can at least confirm whether the intention was there - or whether they give a damn, even if it wasn't.

And for the most part, of course, the MJ crowd is quite nice, so it's a lot more likely for any offense to have been given unintentionally.

The "quiet word" doesn't have to be done confrontationally...

... although the time I had such a quiet word with a stinker, I did have my escape route pre-planned, in case I had to leg it :rofl:

[David Bailey]

Well I'd never advocate saying, "Oi, you rude git" to them
Hell, I would. Trouble was, this was relayed several hours after the fact, so I couldn't find the guy.


And for the most part, of course, the MJ crowd is quite nice
I'm not. I'm a Bad Man. Obviously.

[MartinHarper]

I see a lot of people here expressing their disapproval of specific dancers being criticised on the forum, whether they're being referenced by name, nickname, description, or whatever.

I shall miss our excruciatingly long threads debating whether "Shirtman" of Norwich is the same person as "Ug" of Hipsters, or whether that's actually "Lurch" of Southport. In particular, my inner voyeur will miss hearing the various groping incidents relayed in intimate detail.


He tried to get between me & a man in a very fetching fishnet top, which I shall forever hold against him

The man or the top?

[El Salsero Gringo]

...this was relayed several hours after the fact, so I couldn't find the guy.Must be some friend if the fact that *she* didn't enjoy a dance spoiled *your* weekend when told about it some hours later.

Are you even sure you have the right guy in mind, given the time delay? Much as I approve of the 'naming of names', don't you think it was her perogative to say something (here, or to him) and not yours?

[ChrisA]

I shall miss our excruciatingly long threads debating whether "Shirtman" of Norwich is the same person as "Ug" of Hipsters, or whether that's actually "Lurch" of Southport.
There's a slight difference.

In the cases of the known pervs, the tendency is for the behaviour to continue despite the fact that (usually on more than one occasion) private words have been had.

When people make it blatantly apparent that they aren't prepared to listen to feedback, particularly when they routinely target the (usually, though not always) young and inexperienced, there's a stronger case for raising public awareness of the things to look out for.

But in any case the vast majority of the "excruciatingly long threads" you refer to were about the behaviour and the counter-measures, not about the individuals.

[Dizzy]

Ok, this is so silly!!

It was me that danced with Marc and feel that I better post and defend both me and Marc.

I danced with him on Saturday having danced with him before at Ashtons. Coming away from this particular dance though made me feel "inexperienced" (for a better word) as he put a lot of his own style movements in the dance while I just stood there feeling a bit like a lemon. I am sure that he did not mean it in any way :flower:

I have to confess that I did feel a bit deflated but having talked to Rachel about the dance later, I felt a lot better and just used the experience to show me to be more forthcoming with my lady styling moves a bit more.

This dance has been taken completely out of context and I apologise to Marc (and Rachel) excessively for having caused any offence. :flower:

This is more about my own insecurities than anything that Marc has done and I hope to prove that the next time that I get a chance to dance with him. :D

[David Bailey]

Must be some friend if the fact that *she* didn't enjoy a dance spoiled *your* weekend when told about it some hours later.
It didn't spoil my weekend - I had a great time. What gave that impression?

I'm not the one making a big deal out of it, anyway, I mentioned it as one of the Bad Things, but it wasn't a Big Bad Thing. Not like, for example, the roadworks on the M-bloody-6 on the way back - now, that's annoying.

No, those two incidents were minor niggles. About the same level of annoyance as, say, hanging around for a minute listening to the "Ooh Kenobe" introduction. Oops... :devil:


Are you even sure you have the right guy in mind, given the time delay?
Yep.


Much as I approve of the 'naming of names', don't you think it was her perogative to say something (here, or to him) and not yours?
I know, I can feel myself turning into Gus "defender of the weak" even as I type. :devil:

But given the level of, ahem, response to these relatively minor critiques, it takes a particularly bloody-minded type of person (i.e. me) to state that in public. Or, Dizzy of course.

Maybe you could draw up some name-and-shame guidelines for us? :innocent:

[ducasi]

Surely that's the complaint of any celebrity? :devil: I'm not a believer in "celebrity". People are people. And just because some people get called a celebrity, it doesn't change the fact that they are still people.


I used to think this - and I used to complain privately and praise publicly, on that basis.

But there are two things which made me name and shame:
- if you're a professional / in the public eye, I think there can be different criteria, simply because you've made a choice to be in the public eye to an extent.
- ESG's point about "innuendos" a while back hit home; if you whine, you should do so publicly and honestly. So I did :) Taking these points in reverse order... I totally disagree with ESG's point. I think if you have to whine in public, you only do so in general terms. That way there's no innuendo, and no misunderstanding.

And when you do whine, make it positive – random attacks on people for what you think is a personal slight, but which may have just been a misunderstanding are not "helping" anyone.

On your other point... You have a very prominent profile on these forums, which in some ways puts you in the public eye, or even makes you a celebrity.

Was this a conscious choice? Do you realise the responsibility now on your shoulders to always behave, as you're now (to use the phrase the tabloids use) "fair game"?

Well, sorry, but surely rude is rude - either from deliberate intent or lack of consideration? Both are bad. Being rude to or about rude people doesn't make it any better.

[El Salsero Gringo]

Maybe you could draw up some name-and-shame guidelines for us? :innocent:Not my place, of course, and anyway, being commented on here isn't really 'shame' at all; My opinion of Marc (should he even care) hasn't changed a bit due to this thread, and it's mainly formed from what I've seen of him and his excellent teaching.

But don't you think there's a clear difference between saying that *you* are upset about someone or something, and reporting second-hand that someone else was upset about something? It's much easier to get or give the wrong end of the stick in the latter case.

[Paul F]

I really would love to hear about the pros and cons of everyones Southport weekend :rolleyes:

[El Salsero Gringo]

I totally disagree with ESG's point. I think if you have to whine in public, you only do so in general terms. That way there's no innuendo, and no misunderstanding.The basis for my opinion on this is that people should speak up honestly and clearly if they have something to say - good or bad. But one should also be accountable for what one says. Criticism that's honest, and not ill-intentioned, is not a thing to be ashamed of. If people are in the habit of stating who they're talking about and do so in the knowledge that that person may well read what they write - then they have an incentive to be fair and reasonable in what they say.

[David Bailey]

I'm not a believer in "celebrity". People are people. And just because some people get called a celebrity, it doesn't change the fact that they are still people.
Trouble is, it's the way people treat you that turns you from a normal human being into a celebrity.


I think if you have to whine in public, you only do so in general terms.
Not an unreasonable point.


And when you do whine, make it positive
Positive whining? How does that work then? :confused:


On your other point... You have a very prominent profile on these forums, which in some ways puts you in the public eye, or even makes you a celebrity.
Me? Me? Moi?

Does "posting lots of junk" make one a celebrity? Wa-hey!!


Was this a conscious choice? Do you realise the responsibility now on your shoulders to always behave, as you're now (to use the phrase the tabloids use) "fair game"?
If I were consciously teaching / DJ-ing / organising, maybe. But I'm not - I'm a punter, a consumer of dance rather than a producer of such. So I'm no more a celebrity than any other punter-poster, and much less than most. I certainly didn't notice any queue of autograph hunters at Southport, or indeed any willing groupies :tears:

[David Bailey]

I really would love to hear about the pros and cons of everyones Southport weekend :rolleyes:
I am sorry, that was my initial intention... :blush:

[David Bailey]

But don't you think there's a clear difference between saying that *you* are upset about someone or something, and reporting second-hand that someone else was upset about something? It's much easier to get or give the wrong end of the stick in the latter case.
Actually, I was reporting that I was upset about Dizzy being upset, but I suspect in all the excitement my point was somewhat confused. But yes, probably I should stick to saying, well, nothing. About anyone. Ever.

You ass.

[TiggsTours]

I see a lot of people here expressing their disapproval of specific dancers being criticised on the forum, whether they're being referenced by name, nickname, description, or whatever.

I shall miss our excruciatingly long threads debating whether "Shirtman" of Norwich is the same person as "Ug" of Hipsters, or whether that's actually "Lurch" of Southport. In particular, my inner voyeur will miss hearing the various groping incidents relayed in intimate detail.



The man or the top?
"Ug" and "Lurch" are indeed the same man, sometimes also know as "Neanderthal Man" or "Desperate Dan".

He's actually quite a sweetie, off the dance floor, but I can't remember his real name, isn't that terrible! :blush:

[LMC]

I am a horrible horrible person, but even I think this thread has got silly :mad:

Dizzy talked to me about her dance with Marc (and correct me if I'm wrong Diz :nice: :hug: ) but we were both agreed that we LOVE the challenge of dancing with Marc - it gives us something to aspire to :nice: :drool: . I personally love his passion for the music/dance (even to the extent of trusting me enough to shut his eyes!!). Enough already.


I really would love to hear about the pros and cons of everyones Southport weekend :rolleyes:

Too tired to be coherent so general :hug: x several million :kiss: ditto :worthy: ditto :drool: for a few, BIG thank yous to many for lovely dances, occasional compliments, encouragement, etc etc etc blah blah blah luvvie luvvie :kiss: :hug: :flower:

Bad: weekend too short, hard floor in blues room, my new shoes not turning up before the weekend :tears:

A special mention for killingtime for upping the ante on pure silliness - the aeroplane move WITH sound effects at 4.45 in the blues room this morning had me in fits of giggles for the rest of the track, and the memory is still making me smile now :D

(everyone else = smooth, smoochie, civilised, LMC & killingtime = acting shoe sizes rather than age. Actually both our feet are probably BIGGER than the behavioural age :rofl: )

[Mr Cool]

[QUOTE=Dizzy]Ok, this is so silly!!

It was me that danced with Marc and feel that I better post and defend both me and Marc.

I danced with him on Saturday having danced with him before at Ashtons. Coming away from this particular dance though made me feel "inexperienced" (for a better word) as he put a lot of his own style movements in the dance while I just stood there feeling a bit like a lemon. I am sure that he did not mean it in any way :flower:

I would defend the right of any dancer leader or follower to use breakaway steps.
I for one am certainly guillty I love them.
I personally always encourage ladies too add there own breakaway movments, it is great fun and adds a new dimension to the dance. Isnt that the greatest strength of MJ there are no rules.
I believe it is far more important for leader and follower to stay conected with eye contact and each party making an effort to dance well with each other and enjoy the dance.
I for one thought the best music of the weekend was played by the young guy on sat. afternoon brilliant :waycool: :waycool: :waycool: :waycool: :waycool:

[Dizzy]

I am a horrible horrible person, but even I think this thread has got silly :mad:

Dizzy talked to me about her dance with Marc (and correct me if I'm wrong Diz :nice: :hug: ) but we were both agreed that we LOVE the challenge of dancing with Marc - it gives us something to aspire to :nice: :drool: . I personally love his passion for the music/dance (even to the extent of trusting me enough to shut his eyes!!). Enough already.



:yeah:

Overall I had the BEST weekend and had some fabulous dances!! :clap:

Also was great to finally meet some of the forumites - Drathzel, Lynne, Little Monkey, Killingtime, Skippy, Jive Brummie, Filthycute (anyone else I have forgotten :flower: )

[QUOTE=LMC] A special mention for killingtime for upping the ante on pure silliness - the aeroplane move WITH sound effects at 4.45 in the blues room this morning had me in fits of giggles for the rest of the track, and the memory is still making me smile now [QUOTE]

A special :hug: to killingtime for having the courage to partner with me in the advanced links and drops workshop. :clap:

[David Bailey]

stuff
So where's the Bad? And don't give me this "there wasn't any" guff - like I said, start your own thread if you want to just praise everyone.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you live - they'd all think I was going soft" - Johnny Bates

[Lou]

The man or the top?The grudge! :na: Although I suspect Steve would look fetching in fishnet, too.


I really would love to hear about the pros and cons of everyones Southport weekendThere's always one, isn't there! :rolleyes:

[Feelingpink]

My first Southport ...

The Good
The Scottish contingent (not just saying this because of which forum I'm on) - but most of my 'dream' dances were with lovely Scottish men and getting to meet forumites (Scottish and otherwise)
- A close second - dancing with the lovely people I'd met at two Rock Bottoms weekends in January and last November, who I hadn't seen since
- The blues room with its Aussie air conditioning (doors) (only danced in the big steam room once, and that was with Spice 'n' Easy, who refused to come out)
- Mr UP's unique take on '70s fancy dress (yes, I have lot of photos)
- During the forum reception, dancing with Jammy on the balcony in a slight drizzle, followed by a dance with Franck to the Pink Panther - somehow it was just a defining moment (or two)
- Dancing with Clive Long to a TWK 'country special' in hoedown style complete with do-si-dos, yeehas and our attempt at line dancing (and watching TWK's face!)
- Someone (again, Scottish) sharing their chocolate with me in the early hours (well above and beyond the call of duty)
- Chalet-mate Foxylady suggesting whisky & dry as a Sunday night drink

Bad
- Running out of dance partners in the early hours
- Not being able to sleep during the day AND manage workshops
- Wanting there to be bacon sarnies available at 5am

[Andy McGregor]

I came here because I thought I'd find a thread about Southport :confused:

[Clive Long]

I really would love to hear about the pros and cons of everyones Southport weekend :rolleyes:
You read my mind.

However, I like the idea of the GOOD / BAD opinions .. so hear are mine to share as I soak my feet (add to weekender list "foot soak").

These are obviously personal and not authoritative.

GOOD
Les Snell for all the driving and good company.

Been said before, but can be said many times again .. the organisation .. Jon & Wes :clap:
BIG signs on each venue to let you know what they were, BIG Poster outside the venues giving times and locations, 15 minutes between each class to freshen up and get to the venue, classes starting on time.

Walk on the beach Friday evening to calm down and give myself a good talking to.

Mr UP and Mrs UP winning the fancy dress. No judging quibbles on that choice.
1. Silver Fox and 2. Riyaz as 1. "The missing member of Village People" and 2. a cross between an English Dandy and a Black pimp.

Feeling Pink jumping into Ceilidh / hoe-down mode to a TWK number.

The slow dances in the Blues room - now I am no slow dancer - but after each dance I had to leave the floor in a daze because of the quality, inventiveness and sheer sexiness of my partners.

Viktor's management of the "move on" in his lesson. For the technically minded there were "feeders" at the top of each row. Now there must have been 500+ people in that class and how long did the change take? 20 seconds max? And you complain about the complexity of moving 10 people on?

Being told by two ladies I was gripping too hard in Friday night's class. Good feed-back

Agreeing with a woman in Latin Quarter that we weren't gelling and ending the dance (her suggestion) after a short while rather than enduring it.

The provision of and support of the 2 hour ballroom freestyle. Annie from Bradford who taught me the basic of Cha, cha, cha - and her endless smile, smile, smile.

The video and audio relay to the "extension" part of the main hall.

The show case with Nicole. Jaw still hitting floor. Made Ballroom Latin look exciting and sexy rather than silly.

Walking up to Lucy Locket on Sunday / Monday after just having danced with her, LL screaming, then explaining she had just said to Northants Girly she thought I had actually lost my mind (words to that effect) in the previous dance. She named and shamed.

Lee from the Midlands teaching the beginners Salsa class. He should be on the stage. Oh, he was .... well you know what I mean ... Funny, funny man. I bought his salsa DVD on the strength of that.

Some dances that will remain with me. Wooooof! There goes heart rate, 10 beats per minute up at the memory.

BAD

Feeling drenched in adrenalin on Friday night. Anxiety becoming fear. Wanting to be twice as good a dancer for my partners and knowing I still have to put in the work.

Scheduling ladies classes but NOT scheduling men's classes at the same time. However, it taught the men what it is like to stand in line and wait.

The p1llock who pushed me twice as we were circulating in a class. Now may be I was in the wrong just clarifying something for woman who asked, but don't push. You bluff Northern, "spade is a spade" git. Now, as most people know I am a moral and physical coward but I let him know he was being "rude". He didn't do it again.

Ventilation. Absence of. OK the cooling fans were amazing - but standing outside the Latin Quarter at 2am and feeling you were in the line of a hot air blower :( . All the venues need are big extractor fans near the roof line and the cooling air will roll in.

My feet at 4am Sunday / Monday - steam was rising from the shoes. Not being able to get to sleep for one hour because my foot pain was so intense

Not getting into Franck's class. :(

(Disappointment) Cancelling of the Tango class :tears:

NOT SURE

The temporary flooring to side of main hall. Very slippery - suited my current "slidey" style but a touch treachurous.

[Paul F]

Lee from the Midlands teaching the beginners Salsa class. He should be on the stage. Oh, he was .... well you know what I mean ... Funny, funny man. I bought his salsa DVD on the strength of that.
.

He really is superb :rofl: :rofl:

I watched his class and was laughing for most of it.

"I'll just turn the music off for those of you who weren't using it"

Classic Line :rofl:

He has such a Peter Kay style of humour. So inoffensive and yet so amusing. I can see why his salsa class is one of the few that gets 100+ people.

I tried to pay him some compliments later on in the blues room but he was so modest too. Top bloke.

[Feelingpink]

...Mr UP and Mrs UP winning the fancy dress. No judging quibbles on that choice.
1. Silver Fox and 2. Riyaz as 1. "The missing member of Village People" and 2. a cross between an English Dandy and a Black pimp.

....
Silverfox and Spice'n'Easy (in fancy dress)

[Little Em]

more photos please if anybody has them!!!

x :flower:

[Feelingpink]

more photos please if anybody has them!!!

x :flower:
Mrs UP (isn't she just so fab!)

[Little Em]

fab photo!!!! she looked so bloomin good!

i still want more photos - i took 5 photos all weekend - why? :sad:

Em

[fletch]

FAB FAB FAB
Firstly this reply is from the awesome foursome (the other three arn't on the forum)

Good
Meeting so many wonderful friendly people with good manners
Laughing and smiling all weekend (due to the company)
All the good dancers that helped us with moves we hadn't done before
Meeting Lyn from Northern Irland.
Fletch's most memorable dances
Steward 38 :wink:
Mr Cool :worthy:
Dave (jivevibe) Bedford :flower:
Les :hug:
Mark or Mike? dances at hipsters :drool:
Di's
Adam for his aerials
Kieth (who's wife is expecting)
Graham (from the abba set)
Lisa's
Mike (Bedford)
Dave (jivevibe)
Amanda's
Trevor (Ipswich)
Dave (jivevibe)
Little Dave (Bham)

Roll on Camber see you there guy's

Bad
Having a bad cold
The music in the main room on Friday
:flower:

[Feelingpink]

fab photo!!!! she looked so bloomin good!

i still want more photos - i took 5 photos all weekend - why? :sad:

EmShe did! Mr UP

[fletch]

more photos please if anybody has them!!!

x :flower:
I have some fab photo's but dont know how to post them, can somone PM me with instructions :blush: :sad: :flower:

[Feelingpink]

I have some fab photo's but dont know how to post them, can somone PM me with instructions :blush: :sad: :flower:If you go into the Reading and Posting Messages section of the FAQ at the top of any page, you'll find instructions.

[Cruella]

Lee from the Midlands teaching the beginners Salsa class. He should be on the stage. Oh, he was .... well you know what I mean ... Funny, funny man. I bought his salsa DVD on the strength of that.


This was the only class i did all weekend and only because i got dragged in to it whilst walking through the restaurant by someone wanting a fixed partner. But i was glad because Lee was so entertaining, he reminded me of Freddie Star! Hilariously funny.(You youngsters will have to ask your parents who he is)
Good points. Wasn't as hot as June so didn't get through quite so many changes of clothing.
Everything else, as you'd expect from Southport. Great social event. With the dancing going on till 7am means there is enough time to sit and chat as well as getting your fill of dancing.
Thanks to Dave Hancock and Tom for soooo many dances over the weekend.
Steve Lampert playing my requested track of "Bring Me Sunshine" which i danced to with Franck at 7am, so glad a DJ has finally been brave enough to play it for me. So you obviously are still visiting us on the Forum Trampy, otherwise how did you know to go and buy it before going to Southport?
Bad points Sorry Steve, but i thought you were extremely rude to UnderPar, cutting in as we were about to dance, and Paul i was very embarrassed but was rather taken aback i should have just refused my dance with him and danced as promised with you. (i don't mind naming, as i know Steve is pretty thick skinned and would freely admit doing this)
Missed not having the forum BBQ, but probably wouldn't have been great as it was very cold.
Only getting 3 hours sleep per night!
Only having Paul f for one dance all weekend :tears:
Need Sleep now :sad:

[Little Em]

ok good points: :D

the whole weekend was fab, the organisation, the people, the dances i had, the atmosphere, EVERYTHING!!!!

however the one low moment i had was......... :sad:

in the one class i managed to do... i asked a guy onto the dance floor the class (not fixed partners) and the teacher was halfway thru demo-ing his routine, and the guy mumbles 'dont want to do this'.................and left me in the middle of the class on my own looking like a pleb!! :really:

i dont mind if somebody doesn want to do a class, but he could at least of told me!!!
from a partnerless dancer......

Em x :flower:

[MartinHarper]

...the teacher was halfway thru demo-ing his routine, and the guy mumbles 'dont want to do this'

he could at least of told me!
Was there some element of "don't want to do this" that was unclear?
Often I find it hard to tell from the description of a class (eg, "Buzzword Jive" or "Jhumba") what it's going to be like. The advance demo normally clarifies this.

[Cruella]

ok good points: :D

the whole weekend was fab, the organisation, the people, the dances i had, the atmosphere, EVERYTHING!!!!

however the one low moment i had was......... :sad:

in the one class i managed to do... i asked a guy onto the dance floor the class (not fixed partners) and the teacher was halfway thru demo-ing his routine, and the guy mumbles 'dont want to do this'.................and left me in the middle of the class on my own looking like a pleb!! :really:

i dont mind if somebody doesn want to do a class, but he could at least of told me!!!
from a partnerless dancer......

Em x :flower:
Are you sure you asked him onto the floor? knowing you it was probably more of an order than a request. :whistle:

[Lucy Locket]

Finally, I was told I was "nothing like I imagined you to be". Is that good?

that was me!!!!! You've put it in the "bad" slot & you know i never meant anything by it, coz i said so. You probably thought the same of me as it was the first time we had met. we all put imaginery faces to names on the forum & when we meet they are nothing as we imagine them to be.

No-one else took offence!!! It was nice to finally put real faces to names.

[David Bailey]

in the one class i managed to do... i asked a guy onto the dance floor the class (not fixed partners) and the teacher was halfway thru demo-ing his routine, and the guy mumbles 'dont want to do this'.................and left me in the middle of the class on my own looking like a pleb!! :really:
:eek: Well, I'd say that's rude, but I'm scared of expressing any opinions now. :whistle:

More Good
----------
- Northants Girlie's costume; the only one that managed to be both stylish and 1970s, a feat I never thought I'd live to see
- Latin music on Sat night - made up for Friday night
- 25 minutes of freestyle after the advanced Latin Jive class, very smooth
- Being led by Clive and teaching him how to follow the first move
- Dancing with the awesome Plum, it just got better every time

More Bad
---------
- Bloody motorway roadworks all over the place
- As mentioned, the sauna effect in the Latin Room
- err...

And

that was me!!!!! You've put it in the "bad" slot & you know i never meant anything by it, coz i said so.
Actually I put it in the invisibly-marked "I'm confused" slot. Sorry if I gave offence. (Now there's a first)


You probably thought the same of me as it was the first time we had met. we all put imaginery faces to names on the forum & when we meet they are nothing as we imagine them to be.
Actually, I don't really have any vision of how anyone will look (I'm probably too right-brained). So I'm not usually surprised. Or, indeed, sociable.

[Minnie M]

more photos photos photos please

[Dizzy]

So where's the Bad? And don't give me this "there wasn't any" guff - like I said, start your own thread if you want to just praise everyone.



Ok. Fair enough:

Bad Points of the Southport Weekend:

Air Conditioning - The main ballroom being so hot even with all the fans and half the people gone in the wee hours of the morning that I had to keep swapping rooms every few dances to get some air.

Flooring: The floor in the ballroom was v. sticky in places and the temporary flooring was too slippy that I nearly lost my balance a few times.

Having to choose between dong classes and sleeping in the day. Most of the time I chose classes.

The food was not the best in the world but I could survive it for a weekend. I was on my own so there was no point in cooking.

Satisfied DJ. Overall, hardly worth mentioning compared to the weekend I have had. :clap:

[jammy]

southport was amazin so much fun.
good
seein faces from june and rememberin half of the name( but the 1s i couldnt remember the names the rememberd mine.
all the fab dances
meetin a lot of new faces
the music
all the complements
doubble trouble
new combats from kingdom of dance
havin a laugh in the blues room with my new puppet( some people will know what im on about)
last in here being asked 2 demo for some 1 in the bfg

bad
lack of sleep
sore feet
queen vic food was really bad
elbowing some1 in the face i felt so guilty dont know who i mandged it but dont think shes gonna dance with me ever again.

but all in all i had the time of my life

[Lucy Locket]

Walking up to Lucy Locket on Sunday / Monday after just having danced with her, LL screaming, then explaining she had just said to Northants Girly she thought I had actually lost my mind (words to that effect) in the previous dance. She named and shamed.

To clarify: Clive & I had just had the most silliest of dances, it was just so funny, so silly, so good. I was telling Northants Girly i'd had a silly dance with Clive & Clive just happened to walk up to us. I thought that was funny too. So then told Clive that i was telling Northants Girly i'd had a silly dance with him. But it was meant in a very very nice way.

Thanks for the dance Clive i shall remember it for a long time, the silly moves & the funny faces. GOOD point!

[Little Monkey]

Oh god, where to start......

Good points:

Meeting so many looooovely forumites (and other people, too!). Now, how many can I remember: Lynn, David James, LMC, Angelique, Dizzy, Feelingpink, Clive (completely different from what I'd imagined!!), Jammy, Killingtime, Ness (?), Cruella, Mr. Cool, Lucy Locket (shame our chalets were so far apart!!! :tears: )..... Errr.... I know I've forgotten lots of names! Did I not meet CeeCee as well? Well, here's hugs for you all: :hug: :hug: :hug:

Big thanks to David Y for being my fixed partner in a few workshops, and for practicing WCS with me.

All the lovely, funny and (at times) quite frankly bizarre dances with Dave Hancock. And for being patient with me when I totally massacred our attempts at WCS.... :blush:

Finding out who my 'mystery dancer' from June was (Kurt), and dancing with him again. And dancing with Mr. Under Par again! Oh, and Mrs. Under Par - your dress last night was amazing..... And the effort the two of you put into your fancy dress costumes definitely deserved the prizes you received! :worthy:

The Blues Room...... The open doors and the music in there!!! :clap:

The 'extra' bit of dancefloor at the far end of the main room - super fast and wonderful! Woooooo! Wish they had that floor surface in the bluesroom!

Sharing chalet with Gail and Yvonne. Oh, and thanks to Roy for the wine and company for dinner on Saturday night.

And the highlight of the weekend: Watching a tango couple in the blues room on Sunday afternoon, and then working up courage to ask the guy for a dance. He kindly said yes, and the dance was wonderful, although I was far too tense and messed up one move (I even know what I should have done, but it took me slightly by surprise...). He also gave me some wonderful compliments for my dancing later on in the evening (both my jive and my tango!), which really made my day! :D :D :D

Thanks to all the wonderful guys who danced with me - and a special thanks for all the guys who came back for more! :D And :kiss: :hug: :flower: to Gail for driving and to Steve Lampert for 'entertaining' us :rolleyes: , and for carrying my bags up to my flat for me!!


Bad points:

The state of the chalet. Yuc. :sick:

The temperature and air quality in the latin room.

Finding out at 3.45am Saturday morning (when I went to bed - I know, no stamina!!!!) that my mattress was broken :mad: , so I had to haul it off the bed and swap it with a mattress from Yvonne's room.

The floor in the Blues room. But I still managed to enjoy my dances in there, just had to make sure to wear leather soles so I could spin!

The one and only guy who turned me down with a really snooty comment and then stalked off. Oh well, his los ( :rofl: ). HOTSHOT! :whistle:

And the worst thing about the weekend: My back! :tears: Saturday night (or rather Sunday morning), a nerve got trapped in my back, and it was incredibly painful and even more annoying, as it stopped me dancing! It was a tad better on Sunday after lots and lots of painkillers and some rest, but got really bad again Sunday night (ermmm, Monday morning) to the extent that I could hardly walk back to the chalet :( . And due to all the painkillers I had to take over the weekend, my balance and co-ordination was at times rather erratic! Sorry!!

But over all, I had a BLOODY GREAT TIME!!!! Already booked for June! :clap: Also hope to see lots of you again at the BFG!

Tired and Sore Little Monkey

[Lucy Locket]

Spice 'n' Easy said something this morning that made me smile.

The music kept playing & didn't stop till 7am this morning so he had to keep dancing. As long as the music played he had to stay & dance!! What a man!!! So brave!

[angelique]

Am back ...a shattered little cookie but oh..so...happy! :D

What a fab weekend, managed to do a couple of workshops and I did stay for a half hour or so of freestyle classes despite my iron willed determination to be sensible this time! :wink: :eek: :whistle: :rofl:

Too much to mention as have no energy left in the tanks as am absolutely bo***xed!
MANY thanks to my travel companion who probably saved both of our lives by keeping me awake despite the fact she just stayed in the car when I temporarily "lost" it in the petrol station and couldn't remeber which planet I was on, never mind what I actually needed/ was doing in there! :eek: The cashier's look of exasperation at me was priceless! :blush:

Good points: SOUTHPORT!!! :clap: :clap:

Bad points: Coming home to find out my youngest daughter is being assaulted in the class by a fellow pupil on a fairly regular basis, being ignored by the teachers when trying to alert them to it and being left to cry in the toilets by herself! Probably best that there was no answer from the school when I tried to ring them tonight although that now means will have to go in personally tomorrow to deal with it!!! The people who know me well know my temper and will probably be scrambling around ina frantic attempt to get them number in order to pre-warn the buggers! :mad: :angry:

Hope everyone got home safe and will post more as memories come flooding back! :cheers: :worthy: :kiss:

P.S sorry to rant above about nothing to do with dancing but am SOOOOOOOOO furious right now..and sad..and upset ...and blah blah blah :sick:

[Amir]

2. Rudeness
The cult of celebrity seems to have gone to some people's heads.


I would respectfully like to submit that this statement is complete...

Nonsense. I knew both those people before they were 'celebrities' and they act the same now as they did then. Like everyone else their behavior is sometimes perceived as 'rude'. What is 'rude' depends on your culture, frame of mind and countless other things anyway.

There is no use complaining about the 'cult of celebrity' and then exasperate it with comments like that... the supposedly 'celebrated' can not create this cult on their own...

DavidJames never used to say such things until his Forum celebrity went to his head, I am sure. (insert yet to be invented tongue in cheek emoticon here, and no, not the whistle or devil one - those just won't do.)

[Little Monkey]

Errr.... I know I've forgotten lots of names!

D'oh! Purple Sparkler, of course!!! We even had a wee Singletons Sofa moment in the Dance Den! Lovely to meet you at last, PS!!! :hug: :hug:

[Little Monkey]

havin a laugh in the blues room with my new puppet

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Very funny to watch - as I saw it from behind all I saw was Skippys head bobbing up and down (ooooh-er!), and occasionally disappearing!

[Lynn]

Good
Another extremely well organised event - :worthy: John and Wes!

Pacing myself - doing only 2 workshops (both WCS which I loved and feel I have learned stuff I can take away and build on). Pacing myself really came into effect this morning in the blues room as I was able to enjoy the dancing right to the end rather than sitting feeling tired ( :hug: to Azande and Dave Hancock for some lovely dances near the end :hug: )

The Sunday afternoon freestyle in the blues room - a lovely time to chat, chill and dance.

Meeting lots of other forumites for the first time - Little Monkey (who has wonderful taste in skirts :wink: ), LMC, Dizzy, Feeling Pink, Fletch, Clive Long, Mr Cool, Killingtime, Stewart38...(and probably others, but I'm still tired) and seeing other forumites again.

Getting over my being shy to ask guys for a dance - (though I was still a bit shy doing so in the blues room :blush: ). I said I would do it and I did!

All the lovely dances I had - especially in the blues room and especially the guys who let me play :flower: :hug:

And Dance Demon's last set this morning - :drool: :worthy: :hug:

Bad
Having to come back home again after such wonderful freestyle with great music and partners... to know I won't be experiencing that again for a good while :tears:

[jivecat]

.......relatively minor critiques.....

Well, maybe. The usual storm in a teacup kind of stuff. But I did find it quite a shock to start reading what I assumed would be a pleasantly lively thread about shared experiences only to find a direct and open slagging-off of two people who have both been in various ways, pleasant, helpful and friendly to myself.
In addition to the positive things already said about Marc I would add he spends far more time than many teachers dancing with a wide variety of people and it's obvious when he dances with beginners that he tones down his wonderful individual style, which probably isn't that easy for him to do.
And if you're reading this Steve, thanks for your kindness on Sunday Eve, greatly appreciated.

But anyway, naming and shaming about totally petty & subjective issues like whether whatever was rude or not (Well done Dizzy, for keeping a sense of proportion about the incident) is not IMO, the way the forum should be going. After all, who would they come for next....?

Oh yes, Southport. Seems a long time ago, already.

Good:
Loads of fab dances, mainly late evening blues room but also in the main room. Many, many thanks to forumites I knew, Stewart 38, Silver Fox, Riaz, Under Par etc, but I'm sure I danced with a few more without realising.
The belly dance class, again.
Chatting to various forumites.

Bad:
Nicole Cutler not turning up for the ladies' styling class, with no explanation/apology given, dropping poor Taina, who did a great replacement job, right in it.
Not being able to find people to dance with in the blues room in the afternoons.
Feeling tired all day and not getting the best out of the workshops.
Grimy apartment that stank of cigarettes. But maybe I should just fork out that extra 10 quid!

[fletch]

me and Stewart 38 if its worked, if not be patient :eek:

[Minnie M]

me and Stewart 38 if its worked, if not be patient :eek:
Nice photo :flower:
(BTW Is that smile on Stewart's face have anything to do with his hand on your backside)

[fletch]

Nice photo :flower:
(BTW Is that smile on Stewart's face have anything to do with his hand on your backside)
Could this be inappropriate :rolleyes: (just joking Stewart) :wink: :devil:

[fletch]

More photo's (looks like i'v craked it) :clap:
The awesome forsome :D

[fletch]

Me and loverly Emma who looked after me all weekend :cheers:
and
Sunday lunch with some of the gang :drool:

[Sandyone]

Absolutely brillant weekend, classes and organisation superb as usual, :) missed some of the old regulars but time moves on, so do forward thinking adaptable organisations, where was DJ Paul from Dorset, missed his slots always guarnteed to keep the floor full, and plays some different tracks

[Clive Long]

oooh, oooh, another one

Good

Introductory Blues lesson - very clear teaching - I have the smallest fragments of Blues now that I can use in that scary place known as The Blues Room. I was so lucky with my partner. Lovely connection with no "uneasy" feeling.

[Russell Saxby]

Are you sure you asked him onto the floor? knowing you it was probably more of an order than a request. :whistle:

That sounds just like our Emma :flower:

[Tiggerbabe]

I had a great time too :D

Highlights for me - judging the fancy dress competition, getting to dj in the blues room Sat and Sun afternoons, leading Marc, finally managing to get a couple of dances with Bill and Silver Fox, fab dances all weekend in the Blues room, Franck's waffles :wink: THAT dance with Cruella (about 6.30am Sun morning :clap: ) and finally Fran, who had me in stitches :hug:

Bad points - not getting to dance with Clive Long (at least I did get to meet him though DJ :na: ) only being allowed to pick 2 winners in the fancy dress competition, having to leave on Sunday :tears:

[Keith]

Ok now 3.00 am & only just reading the thread, cannot sleep & no Blues room insight!
Bad points first:
Got home at 2 am & slept till 6 pm, so lost most of Monday.
Good point: Had to then leave & teach Salsa, no problem, although knackered I left & taught Lee's class from Sunday, thank you Lee & thanks for the endless fun in the blues room until 7 am (Humour not just kept for the stage!)
Always sorry that I miss some great lessons from great teachers, but you do have to sleep at some point. Blues room is always my favourite bit & again proves you Scotts have fantastic DJ's, managing to keep the floor busy till around 7 am Sat & Mon mornings, no mean feet!
Thank you also to the ladies who made this dancing possible, without you we'd have ended up in bed by 3am, instead of the obligatory 6 & 7's! :flower:
Fantastic dances throughout the weekend, slight apologies to any ladies I declined, I'm sure we are all the same predicament & sometimes we (male or female) do need to leave the floor for a drink or even a rest, 9 or 10 hrs of constant dancing not good for anyone!
On Marc’s case I would like to say that I have never met a nicer more honest & compassionate guy, I'm sure nothing was deliberate & if anything he may even have got carried away with the music. One thing with this type of dance problem is that if someone asks a person to dance, they must have already seen their style & as I've said in the past, 'Dancing is like conversation, you may walk into a room with 100 people, you will only be able to converse happily with so many of them, others will be ok & will improve with time & effort, whilst some, you would not know where to start!’ Dancing is the same, some gel instantly; some take nurturing & some will never work.
No harm in trying any of these people, but be ready for the ones that don't gel, it's nobody's fault!
Great to see all you guys & thanks again for some great conversation & fab dancing, hope to see you in Scarborough. (We will be teaching there, not sure if any of you will see this as an incentive or not :blush: ), but it’s always a great pleasure & loads of fun with you guys.
Finally thank you to all the well wishers re Janey my wife, she also had a great time, although obviously quieter than normal, and all being well there will be the 3 of us at Scarborough. :wink:

[Dazzle]

I hope to post again once I have had my photos back on CD - not successful enough yet to afford a digital camera :tears: Maybe if I ever reach the status of teaching/DJ'ing at a weekender? :waycool:

Back on thread:

Good
Meeting even more Forumites than in June and having even more dances with them! (Angelique (Glad you weren't topless! and sorry about your probs when you got back!), Northants Girly, DianaS, Cruella (thanks for the chat, why don't you live nearer?), Drathzel, Lory (always a pleasure), Zebra Woman, Filthy Cute (thanks for not laughing as much as back in June :cheers: ), Jive Brummie, plus those I didn't identify as members)

Better accommodation - I was in a Club jobbie this time with Patio Doors, so everyone saw my sneaky foot massages! Who put that spy hole in the curtains?

Slicker Check-in at Reception.

Having plenty of b@*£*es (especially my special pregnant one!) when in fancy dress as an Orange Pimp! Pimp Dazzle!!! :clap:

Seeing and hearing in the workshops was a lot better than last time, well done John & Wes

Lots and lots of chats with people I haven't seen for a while!

Bad

Another cold/infection from the air con?

Hurt my hand! :tears: (not an individual incident, the ladies just wore me out! :rofl: )

Workshops were not as interesting (prsonally) as those in June

The music in the Blues and the Latin Rooms was great, but the Main Ballroom, was disappointing at times.

Not being as wound up about doing ALL the workshops. Did much more in the way of Freestyle.

The aerials workshop was in the Den :mad: ? Restricted numbers and class involvement and put additional pressure on David and Jaimie to please everyone, but they did marvelously, considering. :clap:

No DVD's from June on general sale. Reserved for orders only.

The floor didn't seem as even where boarding had been used over carpet and was breaking up in the Latin Quarter by the end. The Main Ballroom was quite sticky too.

Ugly?

I felt the atmosphere was a little flatter than June but that may have been the weather or because I hurt my hand and had to sit out a while. :tears: Although many others I spoke to felt the same.

Went to the trouble of posting my Weekend Workshop Agenda and then forgot to print off a copy for myself! ESG can I borrow an Ass picture?

ALREADY BOOKED FOR JUNE 2006 AND ORDERED THE DVD IN ADVANCE THIS TIME!

[Cruella]

I felt the atmosphere was a little flatter than June but that may have been the weather or because I hurt my hand and had to sit out a while. :tears: Although many others I spoke to felt the same.

ALREADY BOOKED FOR JUNE 2006 AND ORDERED THE DVD IN ADVANCE THIS TIME!
I had this feeling too as did alot of people i mentioned it to. But i couldn't put my finger on the reason why!! I think the weather and the lack of the forum BBQ was some of it for me. But i was happy to sit around chatting more this time, whereas in June i just wanted to dance, dance, dance. (Maybe age is catching up with me) :tears:

[Gill (Norwich)]

Hi Folks
Briefly looked in when I arrived home yesterday afternoon but too tired to post, then fell asleep on sofa, woke in early hours to scramble into bed and slept through until alarm at 7am this morning. Does that tell you what a good weekend I had?
Had a fantastic weekend, nothing to do with hooking up with someone of course :wink: , I am sure I danced with many of you but after asking the 10th person "are you on the forum" and getting a strange look I quitted asking :sad: . I have to award my best dance of the weekend award to Mr Cool, on the Friday evening we danced a Blues number followed by a fast jive, and this man had the ablity to take my dancing to a level I didn't know I was capable of, think that has to be my highlight, the realisation that there is a good dancer in my and that I just have to work on it and find the right partners. Another good was that my chalet was actually better than what I had expected after what had been said on here (not that I spent much time in it).
I felt the organisation of the whole weekend was fanatastic, I just loved the Blues room. Another memory will be around 6am in the Blues room on the first morning watching Marc, Raschel et al - you are such fun guys and I can't wait for the holiday in 2 weeks time :clap:
Could go on for ever but guess I am getting boring.
Bad - was the deflating feeling I have this morning now it is all over.
Roll on Camber, and I too have booked Sothport for next year and ordered the DVD.
:cheers: to all who made my first weekender so fab. :hug:

[BlueThreeFour]

Good: The people I shared with ( what a laugh we had). The nice ladies I met on Sunday during the freestyle in the Latin Quarter. :rofl:

Bad: Far too busy on the Saturday night to dance. I went home and then came back out to play at 1:30. The fancy dan dancer that stopped dancing with the beginner a quarter of the way throught dance. The six people who knocked back my pal Linda for a dance!! :angry: :mad:

Ugly: The guy who wore shorts all the time, showing off his diseased legs, and the guy who wore womans clothing all the time.(What was that all about?) :sick: :sick: :sick:

[Purple Sparkler]

Good:

Meeting the forumites that I hadn't met before (and I know I missed a lot more of them).

Franck's class- so good to get some useful pointers on musicality- and his demo was a fox (well, a tiger anyway... :wink: )

My dances with said Fearless Leader- he was better than Viktor. They were my highlight dances of the weekend (not that I didn't enjoy dancing with the other lovely forumite boys- especially Killingtime, who was very sweet)

Practicing musicality with Little Monkey when a Cha Cha was playing in the Blues Room (how's that halo looking?)

As everyone else has raved about DD, I'm going to nominate: Tiggerbabe's opening set in the main room on Friday, and TWK's sets (including Thunderbirds sample!).

Going to Tesco with LMC before arriving- the matching (not intentional) men's zip-up jumpers we bought were in constant use the whole weekend, and so were all the other tops I stocked up on.

Bill Foreman's teaching- he covered a lot of moves in a very short time. I was most impressed.

Bad:

Being so depressed that I left early all three nights because I decided I'd rather be asleep than awake and unhappy. And knowing that the depression and unhappiness was all my fault, so I couldn't even be angry with anyone else.

Missing out on the Blues classes because of being unable to find a fixed partner, and my reserve fixed partner disappearing (I don't do the Blues in rotation). Discovering that talking at cross-purposes meant that I do not, in fact, have a dance partner as I previously thought, which sucks as I now STILL have to find someone to start working with.

Someone has taught some guys to do an inescapable slow comb- they keep hold of the hand at their neck, and put their other arm round your waist, so you can't push away if you feel uncomfortable.

Not dancing more with Killingtime or the other forumites- I am sorry, I just wasn't feeling energetic in terms of grabbing lots of people and staying late.

Letting Les down by forgetting about our Double Trouble practice on Sunday night. Clive, would you pass on my apologies?

Not packing my moisturiser (dehydration-r-us) or waterproof mascara.

Why, yes, I AM still feeling sorry for myself, why do you ask?

[under par]

the good.


Southport....the blues room :clap: :clap: ..Mrs Par :kiss: ....organization a big :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: to John Wes and all the team ...winning the fancy dress :whistle: ... all the Djs wow you made the weekend BUzzzzzzzzzz :drool: ...all the fabulous dances with too many people to mention here...to Sparkles for my first following experience :clap: :hug:



the bad and the ugly and the nasty


The start of this thread ....... :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

[Lynn]

More good and bad

Bad - didn't enjoy the latin quarter as much as last time - I think mainly because I found it much harder to get dances in there. I went in looking for someone and had 3 nice dances - but apart from that I didn't seem to know anyone and spent more time than I would have liked standing at the edge either hoping to be asked or looking for someone to ask.

Not being able to get off the floor of the main ballroom when I was very hot and wanted a drink - I kept almost getting to the edge of the dance floor :rofl: (not really complaining though!)

Saying 'sorry' too much if I messed up a move. UP told me off and I stopped (mostly!)

Good

I didn't have a bad dance all weekend and had some yummy ones :drool:

UP's outfit :rofl: a worthy winner - and Mrs UP - well all her outfits were fab really!

The two workshops I went to - well taught, especially the second one as being smaller (in the dance den) the teacher was able to see how people were getting on and go over points to correct any common mistakes etc. (I would loved to have done more, but decided I wanted maximum freestyle time instead.) The guy from the rotation who asked me up for a WCS dance on Sun evening knowing I was a complete beginner and another who took some time to explain more about WCS.

I enjoyed eating the in Queen Victoria - I know others mightn't have - but for me it was the chance to catch up with the rest of the NI folk (none of us had a car so it was there or someone having to cook), with yummy music (where else can you have a dance while waiting to meet someone for dinner?) and I thought the food was fine.

Watching some amazing dancers in the blues room, realising how far I have to go, but feeling that I have made a start in the right direction.

Coming home and going out dancing last night! I was still on too much of a high to have an early night (plus I give someone a lift and they hadn't managed to arrange anything else). I didn't do the Lindy class (but did practice my WCS steps in the corner) but got a couple of dances at the end (not Lindy though - didn't have the concentration or energy for that!)

Coming back to work and finding that a colleague had left a box of chocolates for me as a thank you for some work I did last week.

And did I mention DD's last set in the blues room on Monday morning? :whistle:

[Wendy]

Other truly remarkable Djs too doing some sets in the blues/WCS room. A young lad called Carl from West Yorkshire did an impromptu set on the Saturday afternoon with some superb tunes in it. Not sure if he comes on this forum but just in case , thanks Carl.Yip !! Magic !!!! Hope someone books him for a blues session next time.. simply yummy !!!!

Wxxx

PS Not forgetting that DD is a God of course :hug:

[fletch]

More good and bad

Coming home and going out dancing last night! I was still on too much of a high to have an early night
:
good girl Lynn, respect. It was loverly to meet you and with that stamina you can be in our gang any time :flower:
see you at Camber :hug:

[Lynn]

Re the DJing - yes - lots of great DJing - I was highlighting DD as I just love his late night sets - its always the perfect mix for my taste - but there were lots of other fab sets daytime and evening.

[killingtime]

I'm actually posting before I've read the thread. I will read it after though. This was my first weekender so I don't have anything to base it on resulting in me having a very high opinion of the weekend.

Good Points
=========

The fab Rachel (of Marc and Rachel); for being such a lovely person and asking me to dance (twice!). Indeed a few of us decided to form a "We Love Rachel Club" because she is such a nice person.

Meeting lots of forum people and being able to put faces to names and chat to them in real life.

The workshops; freestyle and music.

Bad Points
========

My own writing off of Saturday on account of me not keeping hydrated enough or pacing myself well enough. It wasn't until around 2am Sunday morning before I felt more like I was myself again.

The room wasn't great. But it wasn't such a big deal. I didn't spend that much time in it anyway.

[Wendy]

Bad: The six people who knocked back my pal Linda for a dance!! :angry: :mad: Wonder if they are the same six who knocked me back !!!! Think I'll have to start a new thread on this one.... something like "The I'm too far up my own *rse to dance with someone like you awards".... and then there are people like Dale who was sooo tired and yet he still danced with me - thanks wee chum !!!! :kiss: :hug: :flower: :hug: :kiss:

Wxxx

[Franck]

Another great Southport week-ender and once again, I loved every minute of it.

The Good:

- Fabulous freestyle dances on the Friday, Saturday night but also during the afternoon on the Saturday and Sunday... I really loved dancing with everyone, and apologize if at any point I got lost in the music...

- Fab music all round, though admittedly I love all music, I was sometimes surprised by some of the music in the Blues room as it was decidedly not Blues, but since I didn't visit the other rooms so much, it gave me a bit of variety.

- Waffles on the Saturday and Sunday. I love fresh waffles, but above all, I love that everyone could and did turn up for a chat. We had a great laugh, and some good chats too... If you missed the waffles this year, then make sure you turn up next year, no need to be invited, just find out which chalet I'm in, and tuck in.

- Teaching the slow jive class. Despite a couple of technical issues at the start, I got a real buzz from the sheer numbers and loved teaching a more technical (rather than moves focused) class.

- The accommodation and food. Whilst it might not have been luxury, or indeed very clean, I had a bed, a shower and clean sheets, as well as a large table and enough chairs for anyone turning up. No issues / complaints from me. The food at the Queen Vic was fine, as long as you picked well, their salad (chicken and bacon) was very good and so was the lasagna (the beef baguette less so though :wink: )

- John and Wes, always on hand, and happy to have a friendly chat, despite having so much on their mind. Well done guys, it's not easy to organize big events and you still manage to improve every time.

- The Fancy dress competition. Some incredible costumes, and very tough to judge... I was really impressed by some of the Scottish girls and would have liked to pick more of you but was worried that I would be called biases. Extra points to Mrs Under Par whom I didn't recognize when I selected her for the short list. Mr Under Par 'nuff said! Brave man!

- The weather, despite the odd drizzle on the Friday, the weather was ideal for the full week-end.

- All the women (and men) I danced with, you were all incredible and really made my week-end, I won't list any of you as I would definitely forget some names, but WOW! Inspiring, beautiful, fun, sexy... :worthy:

- Trampy's set last thing on the Saturday morning. The tone was just right, and really made me wish we could stay dancing after 7.00am... also Tiggerbabe's set on the Friday night, really got me in the mood for the whole week-end and allowed me to have great dances with some new forumites (you know who you are).

- Nachos, Pizza and Champagne at 4.00am, especially Fran's hilarious comments :wink:

The Bad:

- The heat in the main and Latin room. Probably the reason I stayed in the Bluesroom most of the week-end (just by the patio doors). The wall of steam hit you as you entered the room. Not really a complaint, as I know there were fans, and that providing any kind of effective air-conditioning is prohibitive.

- having to leave on the Sunday afternoon, I would have loved to stay and dance the afternoon, evening and night away...

- not finding the time to do any of the classes I had hoped to attend.

- failing to meet / be introduced to DavidJames? Where were you hiding?

- Wishing I had had a chance to test the sound properly before my class, to make sure I could control the music better and possibly use my own radio-mike.

- and finally, the start of this thread... I don't like personal attacks on public forum, especially when neither will be able to respond. Marc isn't on the Forum and Steve gave it up months ago following personal attacks. I am sure we are all perceived as rude at some point or other, and whilst a thread discussing the rudeness of being interrupted during a dance would have been interesting, a public attack isn't. Many people have already defended Marc's good character and I agree with them. I would also add that whilst interrupting your practise might have been rude, there might have been extenuating circumstances as Steve was only just back from Australia, and no doubt really keen to catch up with as many people as possible. As there were so many people, it was difficult to find anyone at any time, so I might have been quite rude myself when I saw someone I really wanted to see / chat to / dance with, and interrupted someone's chat in case I didn't find them later...

Overall, a great week-end and I hope I can make it back next June!!! :clap:

[DavidY]

In a very random order: Good: In the workshops, high stages and video cameras/sound systems worked meant you could see/hear except: Bad: In the last WCS class, the radio mike failed which was unhelpful. Good: It's probably not cool to say it, but some of my best dances were in the main ballroom after it had thinned out a bit. Bad: I find when I was in the blues room I was constantly looking all around me to work out who was coming at me from which direction- I'm not good enough at this and I feel I can never relax - but in the main ballroom the extra space meant I could relax and have fun Good: Big cooling fans Bad: People kept aiming the fans upward :sad: . I assume it was to give themselves a personal blast of air - but they then left them pointing upward so they were ineffectually cooling the ceiling (or blowing the flags around) and not doing much good on the dancefloor. Good:James and Melanie's workshop :clap: :cheers: at 10:45 on Sunday morning. Bad:James and Melanie's workshop at 10:45:what: on Sunday morning. Good:Most workshops did a demo at the start showing us what to expect Bad: Some workshops had no demo (or other clue what the workshop would be about) at the start so it took ages to find out what the workshop would be about. I think this is unhelpful on a weekender when people have a choice of workshops and aren't sure which to choose, especially when it isn't always easy to tell from the titles. Good: I danced quite a few workshops with a selection of lovely partners. Thanks :flower: to Lucy Locket & Little Monkey and a few others (who I believe aren't forumites) Bad: I didn't feel I got to know many more people. I think I only found one new forumite (that I know of) who I hadn't met before. Good: dancing with lots & lots of lovely people who I did already know Bad: Not being able to keep dancing long enough - I'd stayed up past the point when I would have been unsafe to drive, but when I was actually starting to wobble on my feet on Sunday morning I figured it was time to quit. I was also wandering round in a bit of a daze on Monday morning trying to stay up while three-quarters asleep so apologies :flower: to anyone who danced with a bemused-looking person in an orange top at that point. Good: There are some dancers (not naming names :wink: ) who I can highly recommend dancing with when I do find myself in this state Bad: Southport-Lag. Like Jet Lag you've still been in a different time zone, but mode of transport is less 747 and more M6. Good: Janis Ian: At Seventeen :tears: :tears: (I think played by Marc?)Overall it was good, well organised, lovely dancers, good workshops. I still had a very good time, but for some reason I can't put my finger on, I didn't have the abso-blooming-lutely wonderful time I did in June. This isn't a criticism of John and Wes - couldn't fault the organisation - probably just me/other things beyond our control. :blush:

[David Bailey]

- failing to meet / be introduced to DavidJames? Where were you hiding?
Sorry, I was too busy skulking around, gathering evidence of minor slights, which I could then blow up to make into major international incidents, and then ensure that everyone could attack me for so doing. Didn't have time to dance, really.

I'm not going to comment on this one further ("good", everyone shouts).

[Rachel]

....2. Rudeness
The cult of celebrity seems to have gone to some people's heads. A couple of examples:

A lovely but less-experienced dancer friend danced with Marc (or Marc & Rachel fame), and felt "3 inches tall" after the experience - he spent a large amount of the time dancing shines by himself and making her feel bad / useless. That's just rude.
Feedback is good – even when it’s not what you’d want to hear. I would have preferred it to have been said personally to Marc himself, but I accept that you couldn’t find him to speak to at the time.

Marc isn’t on the forum and has no internet access (we don’t have a home pc) so can’t really reply for himself. But I sincerely hope he gets to see Dizzy again very soon to talk to her and give her a dance she’ll really enjoy.

I did speak to Dizzy over the weekend. She’s a lovely person and I enjoyed having a chance to chat to her. Yes, she mentioned feeling 3 inches tall after the dance with Marc, but was not really condemning Marc, more being way too modest about her own abilities. I have no doubt she will forgive Marc for not being more sensitive and will give him a chance to make it up to her. (Thanks very much for your posting on this thread, Dizzy!)

Marc is not a celebrity – he is simply someone who adores music and dance – no more, no less – and wants everyone to enjoy it as much as he does. It’s a fun activity (for most of us) and, yes, Marc does play around sometimes. But if he ever thought that any of his partners were feeling ignored during a dance, he would be absolutely gutted. That’s never his intention.

If I could just explain – Marc teaches 2, 3 or 4 nights a week, every week. Anybody who has ever seen him during his class nights knows that he makes every effort to dance with as many people as possible right up to the end of the night, including all the beginner ladies that he can find. Unless anyone stops him to ask for advice, he dances to every single song. At all his Ceroc nights, he does adapt to suit the ability of his partner, although he will sometimes challenge them to play around with the music, if he thinks they’re up to that.

However, things are a little different at a weekender, even though he was there as a teacher/dj. This Southport, he taught 4 classes and had 4 dj slots – he also danced to the end of the night for all 3 nights, although he was only getting 2 hours sleep a day because of his morning classes. He had also been teaching the previous 3 nights and had to drive out to dj last night, too.

As DavidB said of weekenders on another thread:

The social side is not all that good when you are teaching. Every 1 hour workshop also takes up to an hour to prepare, another half-hour afterwards answering questions, and up to an hour waiting for it to get videoed. [snip] … The ability to dance until 6:00am doesn't mean that much when your body has given up at 2:00 because you have been on your feet all day. I know Marc was absolutely shattered at Southport, but was loving every single minute and tried to dance with everyone he could possibly find. His dance with Dizzy was, I believe, fairly late on Sunday night. Understandably by that time, he was in ‘relax’ mode, wanting to have a bit of fun and create a light-hearted atmosphere for everyone.

Sunday nights at Southport are traditionally the most amazing ‘play around’ times and I believe that people’s best dancing often comes when they are tired, less inhibited, and more willing just to go for it and mess about to the music. That’s all Marc was doing - if he ever felt he had made someone feel inadequate, he would feel awful.

Finally, thank you very much to everyone who posted such lovely positive comments.

I had hoped to come on this thread and write about what a wonderful time I had at Southport - unfortunately my lunch break has run out .. maybe tomorrow.

Rachel

[Rachel]

I'm actually posting before I've read the thread. I will read it after though. This was my first weekender so I don't have anything to base it on resulting in me having a very high opinion of the weekend.

Good Points .... [snip]
=========
Killingtime, I have absolutely no idea what I did to deserve this, but you made my weekend by saying this!!! :flower: I loved dancing with you - so smooth ... You have amazing ability considering how long you've been dancing. I want more dances, and soon!!
Rachel xx

[LMC]

What Rachel said (and I'm not biased :wink: ) :hug: for both you guys

Bad:

Coming back with a horrible cold which means I probably won't be able to dance until at least Friday :tears:

Nicole Cutler not doing the style workshop or the waltz workshop. Since she did the showcase and (I think?) the rumba workshop, I would be interested to know why she "bailed" on these two, apparently at fairly last minute.


Some slightly more coherent "Good" things:

Fabulous dances with so many people, but the highlights were definitely Franck, Bill Foreman, the guy who hung onto me for three very fast tracks in the main room (sorry I never got his name, too much spinning left me a bit dazed!)

The style workshop - Taina did a *fantastic* job of stepping in (I heard with only a week's warning). Really good fun and some very useful tips.

Double trouble workshop - like, wow! - also really good fun, wish I hadn't been so knackered :blush:

Saturday night's cabaret - Abba Antics were great fun. And Nicole - well, she must have sold her soul to the devil to be able to move that fast - awesome :worthy:

Chats and laughs with lots and lots of you guys :flower: - lovely to meet so many of you.

[David Bailey]

Nicole Cutler not doing the style workshop or the waltz workshop. Since she did the showcase and (I think?) the rumba workshop, I would be interested to know why she "bailed" on these two, apparently at fairly last minute.
She did indeed teach the rumba - very well, too, I learnt a lot.

Another Good Thing: watching a guy, post-waltz class, in the area outside the Queen Vic, practicing the steps with utmost seriousness. I tried not to laugh cruelly, honest I did, but it did look funny. Am I still Evil?

[Keith]

She did indeed teach the rumba - very well, too, I learnt a lot.

Another Good Thing: watching a guy, post-waltz class, in the area outside the Queen Vic, practicing the steps with utmost seriousness. I tried not to laugh cruelly, honest I did, but it did look funny. Am I still Evil?

Only evil if you'd named him :whistle:

[Little Monkey]

Another Good Thing: watching a guy, post-waltz class, in the area outside the Queen Vic, practicing the steps with utmost seriousness. I tried not to laugh cruelly, honest I did, but it did look funny. Am I still Evil?

Now, now, Mr.DJ. Do stick to your policy of naming and shaming - go on, who was it??? :devil:

[Zebra Woman]

Well said Rachel :hug: ...I know Marc loves to play, and long may that continue. The blues room just wouldn't be the same without him in it, he really knows how to have fun. He is also the most diligent teacher I have ever seen when it comes to dancing with beginners, he will do it all night and do it very considerately too. :clap: :hug:

I had a great weekend :grin: , not quite as intoxicating as June but I wasn't expecting it to be. I was tired before I came away on the weekend so any pre-dancing socialising was out. Each day I had a mega siesta from 4PM- 8PM. I didn't plan it that way but the soporific effect of a roast dinner at 3PM should never be underestimated.....


Good points

-Great organisation again by John and Wes :cheers: .
-Awesome DJ's and loads of them. Particularly loved Greg, Twk, DD, Marc, Sheena and Jon Baker.
-DD's music on Sunday afternoon, and watching Paul F dance to it.
-Being able to eat a roast dinner, dance, eat more roast dinner, dance....
-The coolness of the blues room.
-Bill BTC's double class, brilliant class full of great moves well taught.
-Fab dances with the Scottish guys and Forumites and strangers, thank you all.
-Miss Conduct's footspa.


Bad Points:

-Shortage of men to dance with. I don't know if the numbers were different but I found it quite hard to keep dancing this time.
-Choosing between my fave DJs.
-The Blues room floor surface was very hard on my feet.
-No tango class.
-Not knowing that Nicole would not be teaching the ladies styling class in advance.
-Not enough phone signal (O2).
-Latin Room was too hot for me.


Funniest moments:

-SilverFox putting Miss Conduct and I into a double ladies layback during Bill's class....then losing his balance :eek: , letting us fall gently back on to the floor and then 'accidentally' falling forwards on top of us :really: :devil: :drool: . The whole room seemed to hear the bump look round and then gasp, before laughing !! Definitely cried laughing at that moment. Yeah Bill, there's always one... :rolleyes:

-DD's face when he rushed up to ask Greg the name of the stupendous track he had just danced to. I have never seen anything like it - he was hot hot hot!!! :devil:

ZW :flower:

[Dizzy]

But I sincerely hope he gets to see Dizzy again very soon to talk to her and give her a dance she’ll really enjoy.

I did speak to Dizzy over the weekend. She’s a lovely person and I enjoyed having a chance to chat to her. I have no doubt she will forgive Marc for not being more sensitive and will give him a chance to make it up to her.




There really is nothing to forgive!! . It was just a matter of me misinterpreting the dance.

This thread really has taken on a mind of its own and I don't even know where it has foundations.

I am really really looking forward to my next dance with Marc. :clap:



GOOD POINTS:
The workshop especially the street jive and hip hop classes. :drool:

The Belly dancing class

The freestyle - all of it!!


BAD POINTS:

This thread!! :mad:

[pawplay]

The good
Without a doubt the blues room.....amaizing! any one know of WCS or blues classes/workshops in peterborough area? I'm totally addicted now....

The Bad
God my feet hurt any tips on reducing the i can't stand on them for another second feeling despite fab sexy men asking me to dance!!

[Northants Girly]

Northants Girlie's costume; the only one that managed to be both stylish and 1970s, a feat I never thought I'd live to seeThankyou David :flower:

If only I could find someone who has a photo of me in it! :(

I didn't take many pics this time at all - but here's what I have . . . .

[Northants Girly]

and 2 more . . .

[Purple Sparkler]

Northants Girlie's costume; the only one that managed to be both stylish and 1970s, a feat I never thought I'd live to see

Humph. I got a vintage 70s dress SPECIALLY, and thought I was looking quite stylish.

But I do concede that NG looked fabulous.

[killingtime]

A special :hug: to killingtime for having the courage to partner with me in the advanced links and drops workshop. :clap:

You think I had courage? You were the one prepared to be dipped and dropped with someone who had been dancing less than 3 months in an Intermediate/Advanced class. That's for being persuaded about the value of some moves as well :wink:.

[Wendy]

Funniest moments:

-DD's face when he rushed up to ask Greg the name of the stupendous track he had just danced to. I have never seen anything like it - he was hot hot hot!!! :devil:

ZW :flower:If that was the one he danced to with me I can see why !!! It was yummy !!!! (The track AND the dance !!!! :flower: ) Bet DD plays it at Route 66 some time soon...

Wxxx

[Purple Sparkler]

Bad: I threw away my Southport brochure- so I can't remember the URL for the website with the photos on it- can someone enlighten me, please?

[Paul F]

The good
Without a doubt the blues room.....amaizing! any one know of WCS or blues classes/workshops in peterborough area? I'm totally addicted now....

The Bad
God my feet hurt any tips on reducing the i can't stand on them for another second feeling despite fab sexy men asking me to dance!!

Im afraid I dont know of any classes in that area but if I were you I would email Cat (cat@westcoastswing.co.uk) to see if she knows of anything.

You could even beg her to come up for a few workshops :grin:

Will you be coming down for the WCS T-Jive? I think its the 2nd October in hammersmith?

Paul and Cat also do some pretty intensive workshops on a sunday. Think they have one in Oxford in November. Well worth the drive. They also do Bisley in surrey but i guess thats stretching the driving a little too far :wink:

If nothing else I would send cat an email just to get onto the mailing list.

[David Bailey]

Now, now, Mr.DJ. Do stick to your policy of naming and shaming - go on, who was it??? :devil:
Dunno, I didn't ask his name. I can give a detailed description if you want? :devil:

[drathzel]

Bad: I threw away my Southport brochure- so I can't remember the URL for the website with the photos on it- can someone enlighten me, please?

:yeah:

[azande]

http://www.jiveaddiction.com

[Little Monkey]

Dunno, I didn't ask his name. I can give a detailed description if you want? :devil:

Well, I guess that would do...... :rolleyes:

[Claire S]

www.photoboxgallery.com/southportsept2005
is the website given in the booklet.... although it doesn't seem to be working at the moment :tears:

[drathzel]

www.photoboxgallery.com/southportsept2005


page not found!

[Lynn]

Meeting lots of other forumites for the first time - snip list - and probably others, but I'm still tired... Forgot to mention Tattie, in the Sun afternoon blues room chilling time.

[fletch]

www.photoboxgallery.com/southportsept2005
is the website given in the booklet.... although it doesn't seem to be working at the moment :tears:
Its probably me, but car'n get into it? :blush: anyone else? :sick:

[under par]

Its probably me, but car'n get into it? :blush: anyone else? :sick:
Just had a reply from Danielle to a message and she thinks photos will be on the photobox site tomorrow evening or Thursday morning latest. Sure she will post when they're on.


Anything like June they will be FAB :clap: :worthy:

[Danielle]

Just had a reply from Danielle to a message and she thinks photos will be on the photobox site tomorrow evening or Thursday morning latest. Sure she will post when they're on.


Anything like June they will be FAB :clap: :worthy:

thank you :flower:

yes i hope to have them on for tomo morning - will post as soon as they're up!!!

thanks to everyone i danced with that made it such a great weekend! Special thanks to Adam for teaching me the Samba movements and his fab cocktails at our sunday night party!!!!

[JonD]

The Bad
God my feet hurt any tips on reducing the i can't stand on them for another second feeling despite fab sexy men asking me to dance!!
Julie's chiropodist sold her a bottle of tea-tree gel last Thursday. It is fantastic - cools your sore and burning feet as you put it on at 6.30am and when you wake up at 11.30am your feet feel fine. Amazing stuff. Remember it's a gel rather than oil and has only a very slight smell of tea-tree.

[Northants Girly]

My brain is still abit mushy after the weekend but here goes anyway - still got jet-lag! Found myself falling asleep at 8.30 pm last night - then waking up at 1.30 am extremely hungry so sat watching TV eating cold left-over pasta! (yuk)

This was my 6th or 7th dance weekender and was the best one yet :clap: :clap: :clap:

Apologies to everyone in the same chalet block as me if they were trying to get some kip Friday tea time. After unpacking I checked out the chalet kitchen and while starring out of the window noticed that I was being stared back at from the chalet kitchen window opposite - by Drathzel! :rofl: I think I may have screamed a tad loudly :whistle:

I did 5 classes over the course of the weekend which is more than double what I managed in June :na: and I loved every one of them :D

It was lovely to meet all my old forum friends again - some of whom I only get to catch up with on weekenders. And I was fortunate to meet some lovely new ones too including Azande, killingtime, Skippy, Jive Brummie and Little Monkey! There are loads of you I know I missed though - we will have to remember to organise name badges in future like we did at the forum get-together in June!

My only regret is going back to my chalet at 2.30 am on Saturday (I mean Sunday) to have a snack and then accidentally falling asleep! I never made it back to the dance floor :sad:

As usual I came away with a new tune stuck in my head and I havn't a clue who/what it is :confused:

It goes something like this:
Laa, la la laa, la la laa, la la. . . . . . and the DJ pays his(?) favourite tune . . . .

Please can anyone help me find what is as its driving me mad! :mad:

[tattie]

Forgot to mention Tattie, in the Sun afternoon blues room chilling time.

I really enjoyed chatting to you too Lynn - lovely to meet you. I'm more of a lurker than a poster on here, but it was great to put faces to names of people whose lives I have been spying on :blush:

Thank you to everyone I danced with - I had a completely amazing time. My feet, knees and right thigh (why not the left?!) might take a while to recover, but worth every pulled muscle... And a special thanks to Killingtime for propping me up for my very last dance of the whole week end :hug:

[Sparkles]

Humph. I got a vintage 70s dress SPECIALLY, and thought I was looking quite stylish.

But I do concede that NG looked fabulous.
I was just going to let this go, but I can't.
If someone doesn't say 'Purple Sparkler looked amazing' then I'm afraid you have to live with it. Sorry.

There were plenty of people there who looked fantastic in their 70's gear not all of them will get mentioned; but personally I thought Miss Conduct had the most beautiful dress(es) and looked absolutely stunning :flower:.

Will post more about Southport when I have more time.

S. x

[Lee]

'Purple Sparkler looked amazing'

[Sparkles]

'Purple Sparkler looked amazing'
Thank goodness for that.

[Lee]

Thank goodness for that.

Damm computers.....

Purple Sparkler looked amazing, i hear, as i was not there to see :rofl:

Lee

[Graham W]

Good - the dancing, excellent throughout..

Bad - The Jive Aces, fortunatley they were optional..(a friend had a brush with scientolgy as a teenager..)

David, better think b4 u leap (as i've learnt on the other forum), neither Mark Or Tramp fit into the trying to be a celebrity, that usually falls to lesser abled dancers but that's another story..

G

[Sparkles]

Purple Sparkler looked amazing, i hear, as i was not there to see :rofl:

Oh dear :sad:

[under par]

-DD's face when he rushed up to ask Greg the name of the stupendous track he had just danced to. I have never seen anything like it - he was hot hot hot!!! :devil:

ZW :flower:


Definitely a moment to cherish...I was there too....the hair on John's neck was stood up with excitement at the track which was something rather special.. :drool: :drool:

[stewart38]

The good

Always the people and dances too many to mention

Did feel like others that something was missing cf June

The bad

Some workshops were bad (40 extra men) and some i just walked out but thats more to do with me I guess , some were great.

The heat again in the two rooms already specified (this has ro be a running joke now) The service in the blues area etc

I thought there was slightly too many men , some times i had to walk half a dance floor to find a lady :wink:

[Cruella]

The good

Always the people and dances too many to mention

Did feel like others that something was missing cf June

The bad

Some workshops were bad (40 extra men) and some i just walked out but thats more to do with me I guess , some were great.

The heat again in the two rooms already specified (this has ro be a running joke now) The service in the blues area etc

I thought there was slightly too many men , some times i had to walk half a dance floor to find a lady :wink:
Strange isn't it when some ladies were complaining about there being a lack of men!!! I guess you were just all not looking in the right places. :wink:

[Lory]

I'll start with ........the bad

On a personal note, my little girl left home to go to Uni on Thursday night and I felt ...... . erm ....weird. I didn't get hardly any sleep for the two nights BEFORE i'd even started :sick: Not an ideal way to start a weekender :rolleyes:

I got to the cabaret just slightly late and tried as best I could to see something/anything but I sadly had to give up as I soon realised I was going to faint from the heat and it wasn't quite worth it to just see an occasional hand in the air! :(

The blues room floor.... after loving the speed and the effortless dancing on the temporary floors, I found it a bit tiring on the old legs and feet

Missing Francks waffles :tears:

Not meeting Killingtime, from what i've read, he's everybody's hero! :waycool:

Lastly, I forgot to book up for next time! :blush:

The good...

The journey was very pleasant and trouble free.. :)

Our chalet was clean and in a nice position :nice:

The organisation was seamless and as has been said before, Jon and Wes are always available... for dances too! :worthy:

I didn't do any workshops, so I can't comment but I heard very good reports, especially Franck & Tiggerbabe's and Bill's Double trouble :D

I simply loved the ballroom sessions, I can't quite describe the atmosphere and I've been agonising over a word to describe it but I can't find ONE so here's many....I found it to be an oasis of civilised, courteous, chivalrous, tranquil and polite people. Old fashioned? Maybe? But I loved it nonetheless! :drool:

I spent more time in the latin room this time and had a really good time in there, yes it was hot but there was lot's of space to Cha Cha! :clap:

We had Sunday lunch in the Queen Vic, we all had the Carvery and it was fine! ;)

Meeting up with the Scots again was brilliant... your all such fun!!! :cheers: :flower: Dave Hancock..your a nutter! :devil: :hug:

The music was simply great............ there were only the odd couple of times when the music in one room or another didn't suit me, so I simply went to another! :clap:

DD's sets never fail to do it for me! :worthy:

I didn't suffer as badly from that deathly coldness that I usually get! A very kind person took it upon themselves to really look after me :flower: making sure I had a drink at all times. Therefore staying hydrated! You know who you are, a VERY VERY BIG thank you! :hug:

The walk on the beach :grin:

Plus ALL my dances, every single one was fabulous! :clap: :cheers: :worthy: :hug: :kiss: :yeah:

[Groovy Dancer]

Wonder if they are the same six who knocked me back !!!! Think I'll have to start a new thread on this one.... something like "The I'm too far up my own *rse to dance with someone like you awards".... and then there are people like Dale who was sooo tired and yet he still danced with me - thanks wee chum !!!! :kiss: :hug: :flower: :hug: :kiss:

Wxxx

:flower: :flower: :flower: :hug: :hug: :kiss: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
It was my pleasure.

[Little Monkey]

snip.

Aha! Now I know who you are, and I even danced with you (and a lovely dance it was, too!)!

Yet another forumite I now know the face and name of! Although you might still not have a clue who I am! :rofl:

LM :hug:

[Mr Cool]

Good - the dancing, excellent throughout..

Bad - The Jive Aces, fortunatley they were optional..(a friend had a brush with scientolgy as a teenager..)
Although the jive aces are challenging to dance too they play some real classic dance music extreamly well always on the beat and unlike many live bands they are worth the effort.

I had a wonderful weekend too.
Good points.

Well organised

Super dances with so many great dancers including Rebeca, foxy lady, little monkey, Fletch, Petra, Gill Norwich, Jive Cat, and not forgeting Beebee one of the many fantastic dancers with attitude from Scotland who I danced with.
The Scottish contingent are so important to the success of southport so many wonderful dancers .
The fact you can dance during the day in the blues room during the day is so good.
For me sat afternoon with Young carl playing classic dance music via his I-pod was a real highlight and shows Quality counts.
Also to the other great DJs who played a high percentage of good dance music with attitude that made me want too dance.

Bad points
I am sorry Guys the Dance demon who everybody loves and is a great bloke didnt do it for me, :flower:
I prefer classic dance tracks with attitude from whatever era. Contemporary easy listening music is fine for West coast but its a bit boring if musicality is your thing.

More dance floor required in the blues room.
No Tango class.

:waycool: :waycool: :waycool: :waycool:

[Dreadful Scathe]

I am sorry Guys the Dance demon who everybody loves and is a great bloke didnt do it for me, :flower:
I prefer classic dance tracks with attitude from whatever era. Contemporary easy listening music is fine for West coast...

Dance Demon played nothing but "Contemporary easy listening" I find that somewhat surprising :)

[Lory]

Dance Demon played nothing but "Contemporary easy listening" I find that somewhat surprising :)
:yeah: Erm I wouldn't exactly call " Don't you just know it" by Huey "Piano" Smith & the Clowns "Contemporary easy listening" :rofl:

I had one of the best laughs ever, dancing to this. It's fast, loud and very very silly! :cheers:

[angelique]

The good...
:clap: :cheers: :worthy: :hug: :kiss: :yeah:

:yeah:

S'cuse me...I was not mentioned in this part here...nor were my fruited teacakes, pringles OR the KitKats and endless cups of tea I slaved over! :eek:

T'sk T'sk...you get harder to please as the years go by :wink:

Nor was my "Meg Ryan "moment in the Blues Room mentioned when I did things to your legs.... :what:

:tears: :( :sad: :tears:

[Lynn]

The service in the blues area etc I found the service fine - maybe I hit at quiet times?

There was also an excellent forum waiter service in the blues room, bringing the drink right to my seat... :whistle: :wink:

[Northants Girly]

Almost forgot to say!

I had only one dance refusal all weekend :grin:



from SilverFox . . . . . . :whistle:

[Lory]

Nor was my "Meg Ryan "moment in the Blues Room mentioned when I did things to your legs.... :what:

:yeah: Sorry babe, your fruity baps were wonderful! :worthy: :wink:

and sorry, your Meg Ryan moment was truly memorable too! :whistle:

But 'I' didn't see any mention in YOUR post, of my very self sacrificing moment when you came back early in the morning, absolutely freezing and I warmed you up! :innocent: (I shall leave you to explain that one! :wink: )

[stewart38]

These are obviously personal and not authoritative.

GOOD


Been said before, but can be said many times again .. the organisation .. Jon & Wes :clap:


Scheduling ladies classes but NOT scheduling men's classes at the same time. However, it taught the men what it is like to stand in line and wait.




There was a change of course. 4pm check in, meant that. I think it was 3pm last time but with less rigidity. so 300 people queing like muppets and some rudeness.

yes why hav womens styling clashing with another main event = 40 men on :mad:

Waiting 20mins for food (burgers etc cooking to order i thought was odd but not major)

[stewart38]

Nice photo :flower:
(BTW Is that smile on Stewart's face have anything to do with his hand on your backside)


That has to be the worse photo of me ever. I look like ive had a double stroke

Moderator please remove me :sad:

[angelique]

:yeah: Sorry babe, your fruity baps were wonderful! :worthy: :wink:

and sorry, your Meg Ryan moment was truly memorable too! :whistle:

But 'I' didn't see any mention in YOUR post, of my very self sacrificing moment when you came back early in the morning, absolutely freezing and I warmed you up! :innocent: (I shall leave you to explain that one! :wink: )

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
and you are SO right about me not posting stuff you mentioned!
My only excuse is that when I wrote my post I was emotional , angry and suffering with Southport Jet-Lag! :blush:

The best of Southport.....Being warmed up by my room mate as was soooooooooooooo cold!
If you want any more details...PM me :wink:

May also post more as the memories come flooding back :cheers:

[Yogi_Bear]

Again everything seemed to run like clockwork, the inevitable missing chalet item was replaced without question (someone isa obviously attracted to liberating sharp knives), and the chalet was in better nick this time - even the bed settee was really comfortable.

Spent even more time in the blues room and even less in the main venue than usual - much appreciated bluesy/Latiny sets by TWK and DD in particular. Thank you for all the dances - not that I (knowingly) danced with more than one or two Forumites this time.

Workshops - why is it now seemingly necessary to take part as fixed partners if you want to have a chance of following the workshop properly? In the second blues class it was virtually impossible if rotating to walk through a move before having to dance it to music. Were people being encouraged to find fixed partners? Appreciated Howard and Nicole taking time to walk two of us through that sash lift.

Really enjoyed Marc and Rachel's Cuban blues class, and thanks to Janet who sat out the second half, as I did, and then paired up with me to work through the routine till we were both fully happy with it; thanks also for Marc for giving me details of one of the demo tracks afterwards when I expect he was itching to get away...

Both WCS classes were excellent too. Enjoyed the advanced Latin jive, though not the attitude of someone who complained about having to lead when dancing it with me (I didn't find the moves too complex, but sometimes I go blank (it's age) and can't remember which one comes next....if that means I can't do 'advanced' workshops, I'm sorry :whistle: )

I did find David and Jamie's class a let down, as they kept changing the routine, putting bits in, taking them out...and they overran badly too.

Out of interest, why was Argentine tango cancelled?

[LMC]

yes why hav womens styling clashing with another main event = 40 men on :mad:

Welcome to our world :rolleyes: (blues class on Friday springs to mind - no reflection on Howard and Nicola, just a ridiculously huge number of people wanting to do the class)

[Yogi_Bear]

I see a lot of people here expressing their disapproval of specific dancers being criticised on the forum, whether they're being referenced by name, nickname, description, or whatever.

I shall miss our excruciatingly long threads debating whether "Shirtman" of Norwich is the same person as "Ug" of Hipsters, or whether that's actually "Lurch" of Southport. In particular, my inner voyeur will miss hearing the various groping incidents relayed in intimate detail.



The man or the top?
Hmm, I would be interested to know more about Shirtman of Norwich. Are my shirts that bad?

[stewart38]

Again everything seemed to run like clockwork, the inevitable missing chalet item was replaced without question (someone isa obviously attracted to liberating sharp knives), and the chalet was in better nick this time - even the bed settee was really comfortable.



yes agree to that . extra coat hangers were there befoe I got back and it was new bed stuff not out of its packet

[jivegirl100]

Hi all

The good: fab dances and friendly people, catching up with old faces and meeting new (Dale & Gerard (very cool peeps :worthy: )

The bad: floor in the Latin Quarter way too slippery and the music didn't do much for me... spent nearly all my time in the Blues Room; the fancy dress competition (Can't see!!) those entering the fancy dress obscured the view for us at the back - could make out Mr P's head above the throng but no-one else :sad: ; cancelling the Tango class when I'd got up especially to go (why was that?)

Atmosphere lacked something compared to June, not sure why.. maybe the weather!

Oh and I lost my sunglasses... left them on a table outside on Sunday, never to be seen again :tears:

Roll on June :cheers:

Claire xx

[jivegirl100]

Nearly forgot - my first ever dance with Franck on Friday night - an absolute pleasure!

C :flower:

[Lynn]

Another bad – not about Southport, rather myself. I turned down a second dance on the Sun night. In my defence I had 5 dances with this guy already that evening. They weren’t bad dances, I just felt that if I kept saying yes he would keep asking and I had had enough dances with him. I said ‘maybe later’, he didn’t ask me again and I didn’t see him about (I didn’t see him dancing in the blues room with anyone else either).

And again about myself – feeling frustrated when I got things wrong, still having so far to go in blues room dancing… but balanced out with positive - doing double spins in the main ballroom and having more confidence to ‘play’ in the blues room.

[skippy]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Very funny to watch - as I saw it from behind all I saw was Skippys head bobbing up and down (ooooh-er!), and occasionally disappearing!

I know I make a good puppet!!!!!.... but my sides are still hurting from the laughter.. :rofl:
remember it was about 5am and sillyness was taking over the tired! :flower:

[SilverFox]

Almost forgot to say!

I had only one dance refusal all weekend :grin:



from SilverFox . . . . . . :whistle:Seeing as you appear to have taken lessons from DavidJames on matters of 'naming & shaming' I shall defend myself flippantly.....

In my little world there is a natural order when it comes to prioritising. Alcohol first, women and dancing soon after. :na: :devil:

PS. I was holding two full bottles..... :blush:

PPS. You only grassed me cos I nearly got your puppies out in the Jive Room. :drool:

[jammy]

I know I make a good puppet!!!!!.... but my sides are still hurting from the laughter.. :rofl:
remember it was about 5am and sillyness was taking over the tired! :flower:

u do make a good puppet but u can also be a bad puppet when u try and hit me in the face.
my sides are a bit better.

[skippy]

Good Points.....
What an amasing team of organisers. John and Wes you now got it down to a fine art. (thanks for my dances John) :flower: :kiss:
It is alot of organising and good planning. Occasionally human errors can occur . :tears:
Fab Aussie workshops and thanks to my fixed partners both Jive Brummie and Simon Gee. Simon Borland I want to book a dance at the BFG (little birdie tells me you are teaching!!!) :hug:
Also Funky Jive with Mel and James. So much fun and great moves (it was ashame it was so early, that there were lesser numbers) I realise that some teachers have a reputation but peolpe can some times learn more from the new kids on the block, so next time try and get to their class it great. :yeah:
Jammie for being a great puppet master :blush: :yum:
Both Little Monkey and Trampy for being there for me under difficult circumstances on Monday. Your comfort and support was very much appreciated.

Bad Points.... :tears: :tears:
Little hot in the Latin Room.
Classes not being what was advertised.
Being refused a few dances, which often takes lots of courage to go and ask in the first place.
The Restaurant running out of some dishes on Sunday afternoon.
Challet not in the best condition, this time arround.
Having to drive home after very little sleep.

[killingtime]

Not meeting Killingtime, from what i've read, he's everybody's hero! :waycool:


Awww... I feel all special. Just like my mama said I was :D. Sorry I didn't meet you, Lory, I do hope I get a chance in the future. BFG?

I'm not sure how this happened though; everyone is making me blush with all their lovely comments :blush: :blush: :blush:. Thanks you guys :hug:.

[Lory]

BFG?


:yeah: :cheers: :clap:

[Gojive]

Awww... I feel all special. Just like my mama said I was :D. Sorry I didn't meet you, Lory, I do hope I get a chance in the future. BFG?

I'm not sure how this happened though; everyone is making me blush with all their lovely comments :blush: :blush: :blush:. Thanks you guys :hug:.

You will certainly never forget Lory, once you've met and danced with her :waycool:

[jammy]

You will certainly never forget Lory, once you've met and danced with her :waycool:
that sounds good i wanna meet her :waycool:

[Dance Demon]

Well......finally found time to post....( just home from DJing in Stirling)......
Southport was,as always, a fantastic experience. It was well organised and catered for most tastes.....

good things;

meeting up with Mr & Mrs Under Par again....what a fab couple...well done for winning the fancy dress.
Meeting Toby & Divissima again.. Toby's a top bloke.....
Lots of fantastic dances, with lots of lovely ladies.......Angelique, Cruella, Lory, Mrs under Par, Wendy :drool: :drool: :drool: for that dance to THAT track, .
Actually getting to dance in some of the other rooms, rather than just the blues room......
Fab Music......Rob Ambridges set in the latin room, Roger Chin in the main hall on Friday night, Tiggerbabe Sunday lunchtime, Sheepman in the blues room Sunday night...and young Carls set Saturday afternoon......( I led the applause for that one :waycool: ).........and John Baker in the big hall on Sunday night....
Lee Hunters Waltz class on Sunday afternoon..........how he managed to teach so many people, at one go I'll never know...absolutely outstanding :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:
The ballroom freestyle in the dance den... hope it becomes a regular feature...
John & Wes, I take my hat off to you for all the hard work you put in to this event, and for always being around to deal with anything that crops up....real hands on management... :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

bad things....
the woman who told me to wind things up at 6.15am on monday morning, while there was still around 50 people dancing in the blues room....when I announced I only had 3 tracks to play, some people left. Then I told Wes what had happened, he assured me that I could play on for as long as I liked.......so finally called it a day at 7.10am.....but would probably have gone on longer if i hadn't lost half the crowd :mad:

Having done all our packing on Sunday night, so we could sleep as late as possible in the morning, and getting to bed at 7.30am....then some blimmin' cleaning lady woke us at 9.30am, to tell us to leave our door unlocked when we left :angry: :angry: ...so I got 2 hours kip, then had to drive home.....had to stop twice for a snooze......

Thanks for all the feedback and PMs re my sets in the blues room. Bearing in mind my earliest set started at 3am.. I tried to keep the music condusive to that time of the morning, which seems to have worked with the majority. the first half hour of my last set was a bit more uptempo, but as it gets to the 4 am mark, people are getting a bit too weary to dance to the faster stuff....it's sort of a " horses for courses kinda thing........
Mr cool......if you are ever in Edinburgh, give a look in to Route 66, and i'll play you a set filled with Roots RnB, doo wop, and good swingin ' blues :wink:

See y'all in June........do we really have to wait that long :tears: .....oh!!!...theres always Scarborough.........................

[Keith]

I tried to keep the music condusive to that time of the morning, which seems to have worked with the majority. the first half hour of my last set was a bit more uptempo, but as it gets to the 4 am mark, people are getting a bit too weary to dance to the faster stuff....it's sort of a " horses for courses kinda thing........
long :tears: .....oh!!!...theres always Scarborough.........................

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy: Once again a fantastic job & I second your thought pattern, it worked for me.
See you in Scarborough, for some more long nights :what: must buy you a drink or two.
Keith :cheers:

[under par]

:worthy: :worthy: :worthy: Once again a fantastic job & I second your thought pattern, it worked for me.
See you in Scarborough, for some more long nights :what: must buy you a drink or two.
Keith :cheers:

or 3 or 4 :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

[Groovy Dancer]

Aha! Now I know who you are, and I even danced with you (and a lovely dance it was, too!)!

Yet another forumite I now know the face and name of! Although you might still not have a clue who I am! :rofl:

LM :hug:
Well I was not at the forum reception as I arrived very late on friday night, so there are still many people I still do not know of.
So L M .......who were you? :confused: :flower:

[filthycute]

Yet another fantastic weekend for my and the Brummie......

The good... Great company! The usual suspects of course, Tony, Ang, Keith & Janie, and finally meeting Donna Van Roose and her husband Paul. (He does a rubbish Scots Accent :rofl: ) And of course our Scottish crowd.... :clap:

Fabulous dances!. Salsa & Cha Cha with Viktor (although i can't do either :o ) Tango-esk dance with Under Par ....although i was 3 feet off the ground! :eek: Finally catching up with the Sheepman :waycool: In The main ballroom with James....stunning dancing.

Meeting Adam & Taz. Lovely People. :flower:

Sharing with Mark & Rachel. Great fun.

Both our classes we taught...we had a ball.

Seeing our names on the Scarborough posters....we didn't know....what a great surprise :clap:


The Bad.....Thinking i was fired :eek: John you are a bad man....but good :rofl:

Having to leave at 3.30am on Sunday morning cause we were teaching at 10.45.

No annoucements to let people know that the posters and booklets were different. Our class slot was at 3.15, but everyone turned up to Slasa with Lee Hunter. Then of course people would have missed our class later. :(

i'm sure there was more but i'll need to get to work now.....i'll be back :cool:

fc x

[Lory]

You will certainly never forget Lory, once you've met and danced with her :waycool:

that sounds good i wanna meet her :waycool:


You DID! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :whistle:

[Dreadful Scathe]

Well I was not at the forum reception as I arrived very late on friday night, so there are still many people I still do not know of.
So L M .......who were you? :confused: :flower:

Shes the brunette cute Norwegian. There is also a blonde cute norwegian though :).
To find out who they are shout kysse meg very loudly as you walk round a venue. It means..er..'hello' they'll run up and greet you know doubt :)



Apologies if Ive spelt that wrong ;)

[Northants Girly]

Well I was not at the forum reception as I arrived very late on friday night, so there are still many people I still do not know of.
So L M .......who were you? :confused: :flower:See the pics I posted earlier - LM is dancing wth Under Par :D

[killingtime]

See the pics I posted earlier - LM is dancing wth Under Par :D

Oh... The Good:

Northants Girly turning out to be really nice and not an emu about to peck out my eyes as I had her pictured.

Northants Girly's avatar is the only one that actually scares me :eek:.

[Little Monkey]

Shes the brunette cute Norwegian. There is also a blonde cute norwegian though :).
To find out who they are shout kysse meg very loudly as you walk round a venue. It means..er..'hello' they'll run up and greet you know doubt :)



Apologies if Ive spelt that wrong ;)

You naughty Smurf, you!!! :rofl:
You spelt that almost right. It should be 'kyss meg!' Ooooh, and then just wait for the reaction! :wink:

But thanks for your kind words. However, the cute blonde Norwegian wasn't there. I might indeed have been the only Norwegian there! Woooo!

Groovy dancer, there's a picture of me (post 128) dancing with Mr. UP. You asked me to dance in the blues room (thanks! :flower: ), after you had danced with Skippy.

LM

[Northants Girly]

Northants Girly's avatar is the only one that actually scares me :eek:.I can be scary if you want me to be . . . . :devil:

[Dance Demon]

Fabulous dances!. Salsa & Cha Cha with Viktor (although i can't do either :o )

was great to watch melanie......especially the look of joy/awe on your face......and for someone who can't salsa or cha cha, you did a veeeery good impression :worthy: :worthy:

[Dance Demon]

:yeah: Sorry babe, your fruity baps were wonderful! :worthy: :wink:

and sorry, your Meg Ryan moment was truly memorable too! :whistle:

But 'I' didn't see any mention in YOUR post, of my very self sacrificing moment when you came back early in the morning, absolutely freezing and I warmed you up! :innocent: (I shall leave you to explain that one! :wink: )

Angeliques fruity baps.............Meg Ryan Moments............lory "warming up" Angelique.......I'm off for a cold shower........ :rofl: :rofl:

[Sheepman]

Good

My first dance of the weekend, which was also my first dance with Franck :worthy:

Hitting my "sweet spot" early in the weekend, initiated by fabulous dances with FilthyCute. (My dancing was mostly downhill from there on!)

Wonderful dances with so many people, familiar and new. Although I wasn't always on form, I didn't have one bad dance the whole weekend.

Sleeping till 1pm on Saturday :nice:

Great music, just so many awesome tracks, (about 95% of my time was in the blues room.)

Almost collapsing on the floor in hysterical laughter on Sunday evening when Mrs. UP "mistook" something I said. :rofl:

My unexpected chalet mates, Twk and Claire were fab company, and kept the laughter going and going!

Sunday evening, needing a meal, and despite being on my own, just turning up and finding plenty of people to natter with in the Queen Vic. (Apologies to those whom we bored with the DJ talk.) The food was also fine, and service prompt at the time I was there.

And yes, that moment when DD came up to ask me about that track on Sunday night, this man lurves his music, and to see him get that excited over something new was a hell of a moment!

Bad
Not dancing with Tiggerbabe, Little Monkey, and so many, many more.

Being asleep during waffle time :sad:

Not managing to go through the WCS with several people that had asked me to, time just disappeared. :blush:

Overcrowding at times, and the floor, in the blues room.

Not being able to see the cabaret properly.

Something I noticed in June, but it seemed worse this time around. When sitting anywhere behind the speakers in the blues room, hearing a cacaphonic mixture of the blues room and main room music, at times I just had to move, it was driving me nuts. It did seem that the main room was louder at times this time round, I couldn't stay in there for long due to being blasted by the volume.

We're not all still there NOW.

Greg

[Dance Demon]

Dance Demon played nothing but "Contemporary easy listening" I find that somewhat surprising :)

So do I............. :wink:

[Gill (Norwich)]

I think the worst thing about the weekend for me is realising how many forumites I didn't meet :tears:
We really do need badges or something next time.
:hug: to all I did meet, and dance with, and to those I didn't - see you at Camber :flower:

[Graham W]

..agree - some of my best dances were with forumites - Cruella, Z - Woman & maybe more..

G x

[Groovy Dancer]

Groovy dancer, there's a picture of me (post 128) dancing with Mr. UP. You asked me to dance in the blues room (thanks! :flower: ), after you had danced with Skippy.

LM
I see you!!!! :clap: :flower: :flower: :flower: :hug:

[Little Monkey]

Bad
Not dancing with Tiggerbabe, Little Monkey, and so many, many more.

Wow! I'm so flattered! Well next time we're at the same party, do make sure to ask me for a dance, Sheepy. Or I'll come and grab you! :hug: There were sooo many people I would have liked to dance with, but never got round to asking (or simply didn't feel confident enough..... :blush: ), including your lovely self, Marc, Victor (too intimidated to ask!!! :o ) etc etc.

You coming up for the BFG I hope??


Being asleep during waffle time :sad:

:yeah:
I was asleep or in class during both waffle-eating sessions! :tears:

LM

[drathzel]

I was asleep or in class during both waffle-eating sessions! :tears:


I was at both!!! :D

[jammy]

You DID! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :whistle:

oh well showz u how bad i am with names im so much better with faces. im sorry. :blush:
jammy

[Sheepman]

You coming up for the BFG I hope?? :tears: Sorry, not this time, a prior gig.
You coming down for Camber?
I'm rather looking forward to being grabbed! :whistle:

Maybe I should plan on a JoC style tour to the frozen north?

Greg

[Dizzy]

Being asleep during waffle time :sad:


I didn't even know there was a waffle time?

When and where was this?

I would have liked to have come as I was on my own. :tears:

[Dreadful Scathe]

I didn't even know there was a waffle time?

When and where was this?

Its at any event Franck is at in his chalet ;) Just knock and inquire when the waffles will be ready :)

[JoC]

I'm rather looking forward to being grabbed! :whistle:

Maybe I should plan on a JoC style tour to the frozen north?Venture north and you're guaranteed lots of grabbings - and will be kept nice and warm by the ladies (and maybe some men) of this ice clad land. :hug:

[Franck]

I didn't even know there was a waffle time?

When and where was this?

I would have liked to have come as I was on my own. :tears:It wasn't an organized gathering, more like a tradition at Southport. I take my industrial catering waffle irons and (as Dreadful Scathe says) anyone can turn up for breakfast (usually between 12.00 and 2.00pm in my chalet.
As I often come with my 2 boys, I tend to be in one of the chalets across from the Blues room... If I make it to the June week-end, you and anyone else is more than welcome to pop round (on the Saturday or the Sunday). :yum:

[Bill]

It wasn't an organized gathering, more like a tradition at Southport. I take my industrial catering waffle irons and (as Dreadful Scathe says) anyone can turn up for breakfast (usually between 12.00 and 2.00pm in my chalet.
:yum:


and some of us did and had wonderful service - including champagne in the evening ( morning - it's years since I drank anything at 5.00am !!!) and then waffles in the morning - especially when one guest was in her dressing gown and wondered if anyone would come in their clothes !! :whistle:

Thanks for the hospitality Franck and to Sheena for the lovley service :worthy: :flower:

[Dance Demon]

especially when one guest was in her dressing gown and wondered if anyone would come in their clothes !! :whistle:


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Little Monkey]

:tears: Sorry, not this time, a prior gig.
You coming down for Camber?
I'm rather looking forward to being grabbed! :whistle:

Maybe I should plan on a JoC style tour to the frozen north?

Greg

:tears: :tears: :tears: :tears:
Camber is just a wee bit too far away for a weekend. Oh well, I shall just have to be patient and wait until....... Next Southport? Unless you do decide to do a JoC-style tour of our lovely part of the world! You know all the lovely Scottish (ummm, and Norwegian ;) ) lassies will be queuing up to dance with you!

You not going to Scarborough by any chance, either? I could do a bit of grabbing there, you know.... :wink:

Cathrine

[drathzel]

You not going to Scarborough by any chance, either? I could do a bit of grabbing there, you know.... :wink:



If you are lucky she might even do a SilverFox!

SF, i have kept my mouh shut... how good am i!!!! :D

[Dreadful Scathe]

- especially when one guest was in her dressing gown and wondered if anyone would come in their clothes !! :

Was it a revealing dressing gown ? or is that not what you meant ;) :whistle:

[Cornish Pixie]

Meeting so many looooovely forumites (and other people, too!). Now, how many can I remember: Lynn, David James, LMC, Angelique, Dizzy, Feelingpink, Clive (completely different from what I'd imagined!!), Jammy, Killingtime, Ness (?), Cruella, Mr. Cool, Lucy Locket (shame our chalets were so far apart!!! :tears: )..... Errr.... I know I've forgotten lots of names! Did I not meet CeeCee as well? Well, here's hugs for you all: :hug: :hug: :hug:



What about me? :tears: :tears:

My back was playing up for the whole weekend.Could only dance fri and sat nite!Only did 3 classes :confused:

[Sparkles]

especially when one guest was in her dressing gown and wondered if anyone would come in their clothes !! :whistle:

I have to say though, it was much appreciated when (after breakfast) she went back to her chalet and then re-appeared and demonstrated to everyone that she was 'now fully clothed'! :rofl:

[djtrev]

One of several quotes about tracks
And yes, that moment when DD came up to ask me about that track on Sunday night, this man lurves his music, and to see him get that excited over something new was a hell of a moment
Please put me out of my misery and tell me what the track was.
Any of the DJ's from Southport care to give out a few of the tracks they played.

[Paul F]

Any of the DJ's from Southport care to give out a few of the tracks they played.

I hate to say it but I think I would prefer to live in the mystery. One day maybe to be revealed at another fantastic weekender :blush: :grin:

[djtrev]

Paul if I was just a dancer I probably would think the same as you but as a Dj first and foremost I would like my dancers to dance to the best tracks and people like DD,TWK,LL,Marc,Sheepman etc are the guys who always come up with the best tracks.

[Mr Cool]

Mr cool......if you are ever in Edinburgh, give a look in to Route 66, and i'll play you a set filled with Roots RnB, doo wop, and good swingin ' blues :wink:

Wonderful Look forward too it Scotland has so many good dancers i may well take you up on that soon stay Cool. :waycool: :waycool: :waycool: :waycool:

[Tiggerbabe]

Maybe I should plan on a JoC style tour to the frozen north?

Greg
What a fantastic idea :clap:

[ducasi]

Maybe I should plan on a JoC style tour to the frozen north? ... and once you've done that, you should visit Scotland. :wink:

[Petal]

The Bad
God my feet hurt any tips on reducing the i can't stand on them for another second feeling despite fab sexy men asking me to dance!!

Gel insoles for your shoes, the're like shock absorbers, and foot cool gel kept in the fridge, till you need to use it. :nice:

[Seahorse]

Finally I’m here! Having been repeatedly informed over the weekend that I don’t write enough… I’m posting to say it was an awesome weekend...

Travelled up with Spice n’ Easy and Lucy arriving at 11pm and jumped straight into the Blues class… again profound apologies to Feeling Pink for rushing past without saying Hi...

The Good?
The company!!! The friends and the opportunity to engage with new partners… it was such a treat. I seem to have a consistent theme of ladies from Scotland and North Yorkshire throughout the weekend.

Must mention my memorable moments with Feeling Pink, and Foxy lady (you’re gorgeous!) in the Latin Room… absolutely smashing dances on Sat (though apologies as I flaked out once the latin room had closed -3am- and we moved to main room). And the impromptu dance with Rebecca following an introduction from Spice n’E… you’re an absolute cracker and I’m kicking myself for not begging for another... and I can’t forget my sweet plum! I’m sure we’ll connect again at the next London freestyle.

Drinks party with Danielle, Adam, Toni, Silver Fox and Marie on Sunday night… Adam makes a mean TVR – kept me going for hours… and the trick with the chair… and what the hell was Silver Fox eating – it looked burnt!

Defining moment was meeting someone following a class on Sat… and then fixing with her for Simons Aussie thingy….. she was as light as a feather, dazzling with her ochos and salsa steps during freeestyle and left me speechless with the news of her having to return home on Sunday night. I can’t describe how wretched I felt… fortunately she had the wisdom to leave her email address with Spice and Co for me to collect!... and yep, I've mentioned the forum to her.

And finally…
Dancing till 7am in the blues rooms as the sun arose around us… it was magical! Before returning to chat with my ‘chaletmate’ Lucy for another 4 hrs…

Bad?
The chalet was filthy and pretty awful to eat in… another excuse to spend more time dancing… Poor toilet facilities etc within the main venue as well!

And the embarrassing...?
Approaching Feeling Pink having undertaken the West Coast Swing class and telling her how I thought I now understood where she was coming from when I dance with her… only to realise that she doesn’t do WCS!

Or maybe it was proudly striding into Danielles sunday night drinks party (it was lovely BTW) with the news that a partner had asked to meet me that night in the latin room… only for Silver Fox and Adam to crack up as they informed me that the latin room was in fact closed that evening…

Or being so tired on Monday morning that I was replying 'yes' to everything that was being said to me...

And the plain stupid…
Finally arriving home at 2030 monday night, having a shower and then going dancing in Clapham for the remainder of the ceroc freestyle!…

[Monika]

Shes the brunette cute Norwegian. There is also a blonde cute norwegian though :).
To find out who they are shout kysse meg very loudly as you walk round a venue. It means..er..'hello' they'll run up and greet you know doubt :)

Apologies if Ive spelt that wrong ;)

DS... There's another blonde Norwegian on the Forum??? :confused:
...or was that a compliment.. :blush: :confused: :blush: :flower:
This Norwegian lass made Southport in June and loved every second of it and would have loved to be there for this one except Auntie duties called in Norway as my niece celebrated her 5th Birthday and I wouldn't miss it for the world :nice: Can't wait for BFG, BB, next years Southport events etc
Take care
Mon x :hug:

[Feelingpink]

... profound apologies to Feeling Pink for rushing past without saying Hi...You did say hello, it's just that your eyes were glazed over at the time, so perhaps you don't remember.


...
Must mention my memorable moments with Feeling Pink, and Foxy lady (you’re gorgeous!) Have I told you recently how intelligent and what a man of taste I think you are? :wink: When are you next at Jango?



... in the Latin Room…Why were you wearing so much black and hiding in the darkest corner? Camoflage is an understatement ... or is that where you captured your favourite partners?


and what the hell was Silver Fox eating – it looked burnt!I suggest with the greatest of respect that you don't give a moment's thought to where SilverFox has had his mouth


Defining moment was meeting someone following a class on Sat… and then fixing with her for Simons Aussie thingy….. she was as light as a feather, dazzling with her ochos and salsa steps during freeestyle and left me speechless with the news of her having to return home on Sunday night. I can’t describe how wretched I felt… fortunately she had the wisdom to leave her email address with Spice and Co for me to collect!... and yep, I've mentioned the forum to her.I guess the issue now is matching all the women to the email addresses... :wink:


And the embarrassing...?
Approaching Feeling Pink having undertaken the West Coast Swing class and telling her how I thought I now understood where she was coming from when I dance with her… only to realise that she doesn’t do WCS!Well, I do a little WCS and want to do much more, so don't feel bad :hug: And no-one really knows where I'm 'coming from' dance-wise (or in many other ways), least of all me, so don't feel bad.


And the plain stupid…
Finally arriving home at 2030 monday night, having a shower and then going dancing in Clapham for the remainder of the ceroc freestyle!…Please explain - I don't understand how this is stupid.

It was lovely to see you there, I hope the sweet shop theme continues at your other weekenders :devil: and you don't hide yourself away so much.

[Cruella]

Or being so tired on Monday morning that I was replying 'yes' to everything that was being said to me...

!…
Perhaps i should have asked you for a dance on the monday morning then!!!

[Cruella]

Seeing as you appear to have taken lessons from DavidJames on matters of 'naming & shaming' I shall defend myself flippantly.....

In my little world there is a natural order when it comes to prioritising. Alcohol first, women and dancing soon after. :na: :devil:

PS. I was holding two full bottles..... :blush:

PPS. You only grassed me cos I nearly got your puppies out in the Jive Room. :drool:
Well i don't think NG should complain too much. You turned me down loads of times :tears:
Although you did make up for it in the early hours of Monday morning with a couple of fab dances :drool: Guess you were just too knackered to fight me anymore :wink:

[Wendy]

Good :

- that young chap in the grey t-shirt allowing me to control the musicality to "In These Shoes" and then asking me for dance later on :D Thanks !!!!

- Dale saying yes to a dance when he was almost asleep :hug:

- THAT track with DD :drool:

- that Santana track with Luca/Azande.. I think it was Santana.. I stopped listening afrer a while and was transported to a fantasy island... :wink:

- dancing with the guy who was sitting near the blues room bar.. white shirt (I think) and manicured eyebrows... I think he was royalty but he didn't make me feel like a numpty even although I danced like one

- all the people who asked for a second track - I love that !!!!

- catching up with Jim and Nicky

- Roger Chin - makes me smile EVERY time !!!!

- dancing with that gorgeous French-looking bloke and telling him he was too handsome for me to concentrate on my dancing (shaking head - that's the second time I've done that at Southport !!! - I know - horrendous !!! ) and then he asked me for another dance after that !!!!! :waycool:

- DD's music and Sheepman's too and that young bloke's music on Saturday afternoon...

- the Pink Panther cabaret .. I just adore that woman and hope she didn't mind me telling her !!!!!

Bad :

- already mentioned the guys who turned me down :whistle:

- missing the Friday party cos we missed our flight from Paris on Friday morning... traffic jam...

- missing all the workshops on Sunday cos I was hiding in my room.. had a horrible allergy to the lip gloss I wore on Saturday night and looked like Little Miss Trout Pout all day.. and only just made the party on Sunday night...

- missing meeting loads of forumites...

- sore feet and sore knee and thinking I wouldn't be able to get up after a drop... scary !!!! my knee just locked !!!! :eek:

- sticky dance floor in the blues room

- that double music thing when you sit in the blues room near the main hall :sick:

I'm sure I'll have a better time in June :D

Wxxx

[Dreadful Scathe]

DS... There's another blonde Norwegian on the Forum???

Not that I know of, i was indeed referring to you - not being in Southport doesnt change the fact that you're a cute blone Norwegian ;)

[Little Monkey]

What about me? :tears: :tears:

My back was playing up for the whole weekend.Could only dance fri and sat nite!Only did 3 classes :confused:

Aww, I'm sorry! Didn't mean to forget anyone, but met so many new people that it was difficult to remember all the names! But did we not dance in the Blues Room on Friday night??

Here's lots of :hug: :kiss: :hug: to make you feel better. My back is still sore - have just danced tango for two hours, and it's really not happy! Sorry to hear you could only dance two nights! :flower:

LM

[Miss Conduct]

I was just going to let this go, but I can't.
If someone doesn't say 'Purple Sparkler looked amazing' then I'm afraid you have to live with it. Sorry.

There were plenty of people there who looked fantastic in their 70's gear not all of them will get mentioned; but personally I thought Miss Conduct had the most beautiful dress(es) and looked absolutely stunning :flower:.

Will post more about Southport when I have more time.

S. x


Thank you so much :flower: what a lovely compliment. I'm so glad that I kept those dresses in my attic all this time, also that I haven't grown (upwards, outwards or in maturity) since I was a teenager...

Hope to see you for a dance on Sunday...?

[Miss Conduct]

No complaints about Southport, only praise.

Many thanks to John & Wes, can't wait for June 2006 to come around.

Well done Adam for the 'Advanced Latin Jive' class on Saturday :worthy: Shame it wasn't in the ballroom as it was very well attended.

As for Bill Foreman & Friends 'Double Trouble' on Sunday, thank you for the most fun I have ever had in a dance class and appologies for any disruption... Me :rofl: ZW :rofl: & SilverFox :rofl: (though SF was not actually on his back but on top of us... no smilie for that though!) Learnt some new moves too, always a bonus.

Fantastic dances all weekend and no refusals - not even from SilverFox!!!

[Minnie M]

.........SF was not actually on his back but on top of us... no smilie for that though!) Learnt some new moves too
very interesting ............. tell us more ............... :whistle:

[Seahorse]

Perhaps i should have asked you for a dance on the monday morning then!!!

I beg forgiveness... I remember you gliding past in the blues room waving your finger at me with the words ...'you haven't danced with me'... unfortunately I became attached to one particular partner and she wanted dance after dance after dance... as they didn't have that type of music in that part of the country...

i was just very flattered that she was interested... tho later that morning I suggested to Lucy and Spice n'Easy that in future we have a special signal that I can use which translates to the effect 'rescue me!!!'...

Anyway... it was smashing to finally meet you for a chat at Danielles... without the hat - much prettier without it!

[Sheepman]

And the plain stupid…
Finally arriving home at 2030 monday night, having a shower and then going dancing in Clapham Stupid?
Well maybe, 'cos there were plenty of Southport "refugees" gathering at Jango :drool:

Greg

[DianaS]

Almost forgot to say!

I had only one dance refusal all weekend :grin:



from SilverFox . . . . . . :whistle:
He ran away when I came to sit next to him :what:
.... But I was waiting for the guy on his right, 'cas I'd promised him a dance earlier!! :rofl:

[Sheepman]

You not going to Scarborough by any chance, either? I could do a bit of grabbing there, you know.... :wink: It wasn't on my plan (it's only a few weeks before Blackpool) but it does sound like it has numerous attractions! (So how could I refuse if I was asked to work there? :whistle: )

If you are lucky she might even do a SilverFox! I have no idea what you're on about, but I'm already weak at the knees!

and will be kept nice and warm by the ladies (and maybe some men) OK, now my adrenalin is pumping, :blush: but I do assume you mean I'm going to be kept busy on the dance floors! Seems I'd better check my diary, (and get the car fixed :sad: ).

Greg

[Bill]

Was it a revealing dressing gown ? or is that not what you meant ;) :whistle:


Erm....... not exactly - it wasn't really that kind of dressing gown - more the comment. But you really had to be there :rolleyes: :D

[Little Monkey]

It wasn't on my plan (it's only a few weeks before Blackpool) but it does sound like it has numerous attractions! (So how could I refuse if I was asked to work there? :whistle: )

Well, then. I shall have to start a 'get Sheepman to Scarborough' campaign!! :D (Come on, John and Wes - WE WANT SHEEPY!!!!!



OK, now my adrenalin is pumping, :blush: but I do assume you mean I'm going to be kept busy on the dance floors! Seems I'd better check my diary, (and get the car fixed :sad: ).

Greg

Oh, we'll keep you busy all right... :wink:

Get that car fixed! And now I'd better see if I can persuade someone to go to Scarborough with me..... JoC seems to think that a Caribbean cruise is more of an attraction than going to Scarborough with me. Wonder why???? :whistle: So - any Scots (or preferably Dundonians) going down, who could give Little Monkey a lift?? Or share hotel with me?? This should quite possibly be in the Scarborough thread....

LM

[Bill]

No complaints about Southport, only praise.

As for Bill Foreman & Friends 'Double Trouble' on Sunday, thank you for the most fun I have ever had in a dance class and appologies for any disruption... Me :rofl: ZW :rofl: & SilverFox :rofl: (though SF was not actually on his back but on top of us...


Can i just point out that I didn't teach the move that way :D :rolleyes: but I did say you could add your own style or interpretation and if the three of you were happy writhing around on the floor then that's fine. Maybe I'll keep that one for next time :whistle: :wink:

[drathzel]

Can i just point out that I didn't teach the move that way :D :rolleyes: but I did say you could add your own style or interpretation and if the three of you were happy writhing around on the floor then that's fine. Maybe I'll keep that one for next time :whistle: :wink:


oh oh, i want to be there for that one, but maybe i could be a woman tho! :devil:

[Seahorse]

Stupid?
Well maybe, 'cos there were plenty of Southport "refugees" gathering at Jango :drool:

Greg

yeah, but getting there would have added another 40mins to my travel time... and I needed a final fix before bedtime. I wasn't fussy where it was or who with.

[Feelingpink]

yeah, but getting there would have added another 40mins to my travel time... and I needed a final fix before bedtime. I wasn't fussy where it was or who with.You dance tart!

[Nursey Lou]

Hi, I'm new to the forum but felt it was necessary to write and say thankyou to all the new people I met at Southport. Especially the guys from Scotland BeeBee and Pretzalmeistor for making me so very welcome.

I had some great dances and managed a triple spin :D

The most enjoyable classes for me were the Dips, Drops and seducer class run by nelson and the belly dancing class! I think these classes have improved my dancing by making me understand the fundementals. E.g Isolation of different parts the body in the belly dancing class and the saftey ascepts of drops both for men and women.

The bad

Travelling back to manchester on sunday night and getting into bed at 245am! Than over sleeping big time for a course on monday morning!!!! I was meant to be there for 930am but woke up at 1010am! I dashed to the course only to find that my MANAGER was the facilator of the course :blush: How embrassing!!!!!

But overall worth it!!!!!!

[Northants Girly]

Welcome to the forum Lou :flower:

[Nursey Lou]

Thanks NG :flower:

[SilverFox]

oh oh, i want to be there for that one, but maybe i could be a woman tho! :devil:You mean I danced with a man at Southport. :eek:

No wonder the hair came out so easily....... :blush:

[DianaS]

it was scandalous Murielle :D

I've not enjoyed a weekender so much for AGES!!!

What can I say that can go in online in print. :devil:
Well at a risk of offending many and pleasing a few I had some damn fine good dances, spent time with some seriously good women and danced till five or later every night.. and no it was not enough :mad:
The classes were of a good standard and the teachers used the right proportion of instruction, entertainment and gentle tease within their routines to develop us quite rapidly...

I spent time with quite grounded people who focused on the entertainment and pleasure aspects of the weekend and were a total hoot (Lucy Locket what are you like?) and found that it was a lifetime in a weekend and was too quickly over. :tears:


Good points
I told Angelique how difficult I found Mark to dance with and she told me he leads with his head. I watched, he did. Then he asked ME to dance, we did, I still walk on air! Angelique babe thanks for sharing that with me :worthy: :yeah:

Made some good new friends. You know who you are, and we'll be in touch :flower:

The bad points
Some classes were just not set up right. The waltz\ interrupt was a shambles and aftger interrupting 6 coupkles who all swore blind they'd just moved on I moved on :(

and
The accomodation needed a damn good clean.
No duvet covers or pillow cases
Frying pan with the last persons fat in it Urrggghhh

[Kev F]

Many thanks to all the forumites who welcomed me with open arms to my first experience of Southport.

Good.
1.Angelique & Lorys exceptional hospitality to a lonely forumite for which I shall be eternally grateful
2.The earthmoving dances I had with both you girls :worthy:
3.Loved the contrast of the music rooms...loved the latin room.
4.Early hour blues was all my dance dreams were ever made of.
5.An exceptional thanks to Foxy Lady, Feeling Pink, LMC, Purple Sparkler, Drathzel, Miss Conduct, Diane S, Mrs Par, ZW, Sparkles and all the others whose names I have carelessly forgotten, who I've never met before but made me feel soooo welcome with their chat and dance.
6.Dancing with Lorys sister, Cruella, on the temporary floor in the main hall was a dream. Breathtaking red outfit :drool:
7.An exceptional good point was chatting with the guys in the bar prior to ballroom practise. A welcome break with Clive Long & Les was fab. :cheers:
7a.Ballroom practise was a welcome break from the MJ and was an excellent oportunity for Lory and I to actually dance outside of class for the first time.
8.It was bl**dy exciting to see Dizzys dancing get better every time we danced. :flower:
9.Standing in the bar, again, and watching in awe of Dale dancing with Paul Warden. Love your style Dale and can you bottle some of it for me please :worthy:
10.My carpet corridor chat with Angelique as we put the world to rights :hug:
11.Leading and being led by Franck/Sheena. Fantastic class Franck.
12.Sunday carvery :yum: Just what I needed to push on through til dawn.
13.Lory and I fumbling on the drizzly terrace with our argentine tango.
14. Last 'good' being having a dance partner there to encourage and push me to a level that would be impossible to achieve otherwise. :hug:

Bad

1.Being cabin boy to Angelique & Lory. Cooking, cleaning, manicuring etc :rofl:
I've put this in the bad section as I can't actually admit I enjoyed it.....or can I??? :D
2.No latin room on Sunday :tears:

Had the best time of my life and wish to thank everyone for making it so special. :worthy: :flower:

[under par]

Many thanks to all the forumites who welcomed me with open arms to my first experience of Southport.

Good.
1.Angelique & Lorys exceptional hospitality to a lonely forumite for which I shall be eternally grateful
2.The earthmoving dances I had with both you girls :worthy:
3.Loved the contrast of the music rooms...loved the latin room.
4.Early hour blues was all my dance dreams were ever made of.
5.An exceptional thanks to Foxy Lady, Feeling Pink, LMC, Purple Sparkler, Drathzel, Miss Conduct, Diane S, Mrs Par, ZW, Sparkles and all the others whose names I have carelessly forgotten, who I've never met before but made me feel soooo welcome with their chat and dance.
6.Dancing with Lorys sister, Cruella, on the temporary floor in the main hall was a dream. Breathtaking red outfit :drool:
7.An exceptional good point was chatting with the guys in the bar prior to ballroom practise. A welcome break with Clive Long & Les was fab. :cheers:
7a.Ballroom practise was a welcome break from the MJ and was an excellent oportunity for Lory and I to actually dance outside of class for the first time.
8.It was bl**dy exciting to see Dizzys dancing get better every time we danced. :flower:
9.Standing in the bar, again, and watching in awe of Dale dancing with Paul Warden. Love your style Dale and can you bottle some of it for me please :worthy:
10.My carpet corridor chat with Angelique as we put the world to rights :hug:
11.Leading and being led by Franck/Sheena?. Fantastic class Franck.
12.Sunday carvery :yum: Just what I needed to push on through til dawn.
13.Lory and I fumbling on the drizzly terrace with our argentine tango.
14. Last 'good' being having a dance partner there to encourage and push me to a level that would be impossible to achieve otherwise. :hug:

Bad

1.Being cabin boy to Angelique & Lory. Cooking, cleaning, manicuring etc :rofl:
I've put this in the bad section as I can't actually admit I enjoyed it.....or can I??? :D
2.No latin room on Sunday :tears:

Had the best time of my life and wish to thank everyone for making it so special. :worthy: :flower:

Kev welcome to modern jive anonymous... My name is Paul and I have a problem......... I can't stop dancing when the music is playing I know i need help :flower: :flower: :flower: :flower:

You certainly have, through your practicing, made Lory an even more enticing
relaxed dancer and for that you should praised IMHO. :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

Keep up the good work. :clap: :clap: :clap:

ps great post :flower:

[fletch]

Welcome to the forum Lou :flower:
:yeah: :yeah: :yeah:

As a newbee (well 3month in now) :clap:
just a few points if it helps

Dont post PM even if asked its not worth it :sad:
Dont be to out spoken at first :wink:
Say all the right things to the right people (who ever they are?) :whistle:
Don't make any spelling errors the will only remember that not the point you are making. :eek:

and most important

Dont take it to hart :na:

:flower:

[Dance Demon]

Don't make any spelling errors the will only remember that not the point you are making. :eek:

and most important

Dont take it to hart :na:

:flower:

Don't take it to heart either............. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: ...sorry fletch...couldn't resist :blush:

[stewart38]

who bought shoes on the saturday to hear they were reducing items by 25% on the sunday (Kingdom of dance)

[fletch]

Don't take it to heart either............. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: ...sorry fletch...couldn't resist :blush:
Well at least you know its me posting :rofl: :rofl:

I don't care :wink: :na:
:flower:

[Lynn]

who bought shoes on the saturday to hear they were reducing items by 25% on the sunday (Kingdom of dance)From what I heard it was the clothes that were reduced, not the shoes.

[killingtime]

From what I heard it was the clothes that were reduced, not the shoes.

That makes me feel better. I never knew about the sale but there was a fine pair of shoes I was eyeing up and 25% off would have certainly swayed me.

[Lory]

13.Lory and I fumbling on the drizzly terrace with our argentine tango.The big bonus being, we didn't kick anyone! :D



14. Last 'good' being having a dance partner there to encourage and push me to a level that would be impossible to achieve otherwise. :hug: :flower: And the same right back at ya! :hug:


Bad

1.Being cabin boy to Angelique & Lory. Cooking, cleaning, manicuring etc :rofl:
I think you mean pedicure but I get your drift :na:

Surely you must have read RULE 4a. in our partnership contract :rolleyes:

Rule 4a. Must look after partners feet and massage as needed (and that includes her chalet mates too ) :innocent:

And

Rule 6b, Provide, cook and prepare substantial breakfasts, including tea making and washing up ;) ............ I mean, don't ALL male partners do this :confused: :whistle:

You were a star and you know it! :cheers: :kiss:

[jivecat]

......who bought shoes on the saturday to hear they were reducing items by 25% on the sunday (Kingdom of dance)


Oh yeah, that reminds me, another bad thing. The over-priced Kingdom of Dance being given a huge sales opportunity, again. Their shoes can usually be bought far more cheaply from a number of online shops. I bought a pair of SoDanca cabaret type shoes for £28 from my local dance shop last week but were told that the KoD price for the same item was £46. Did the assistant make a mistake? I don't know, none of the merchandise seemed to be priced.
One advantage of Camber is that the company that sells shoes there has more variety and keener prices, and is very adaptable in terms of having/getting the size that you want.

How about having several shoe suppliers there to give each other some competition?

[Zebra Woman]

Oh yeah, that reminds me, another bad thing. The over-priced Kingdom of Dance being given a huge sales opportunity, again. Their shoes can usually be bought far more cheaply from a number of online shops. I bought a pair of SoDanca cabaret type shoes for £28 from my local dance shop last week but were told that the KoD price for the same item was £46. Did the assistant make a mistake? I don't know, none of the merchandise seemed to be priced.
One advantage of Camber is that the company that sells shoes there has more variety and keener prices, and is very adaptable in terms of having/getting the size that you want.

How about having several shoe suppliers there to give each other some competition?

:yeah: I was really keen for Heavenly Dance Shoes to have a stand as a lot of us are already wearing HDS shoes and we often compare out new shoes at Southport. Don't we Lynn, Lory, Miss Conduct andTiggerbabe? :drool:

At Southport this time, 10 women came up and asked me about my HDS Zebra shoes, and just as many did last time too. HDS are very reasonably priced and I find them utterly comfortable from the word go so IMO they would be ideal for flagging feet on a weekender. (so long as you don't choose 3.5 inch stilletto heels of course. :devil:)


For anyone who forgot what I said at SP , they're from :

www.heavenlydanceshoes.com

ZW :flower:

[Lynn]

:yeah: I was really keen for Heavenly Dance Shoes to have a stand as a lot of us are already wearing HDS shoes and we often compare out new shoes at Southport. Don't we Lynn, Lory, Miss Conduct andTiggerbabe? :drool: Who me? :innocent: Talk about dance shoes? :whistle:

I would love a pair of HDS... but I usually like to try on for size - what if you order online and they don't fit? (Of course once you had one pair... it would be easier to buy another pair!)

[Tiggerbabe]

Heavenly Dance Shoes *sigh* :wink:

[Zebra Woman]

Who me? :innocent: Talk about dance shoes? :whistle:

I would love a pair of HDS... but I usually like to try on for size - what if you order online and they don't fit? (Of course once you had one pair... it would be easier to buy another pair!)

I think the best way is to try someone else's before they get too smelly. Mine are size 5.5 standard width, I'm always happy to let people try them on, as many women did this weekend.

ISTR you have smaller feet than me Lynn. Maybe you could post on here and see if anyone with HDS shoes in your size is going to the next event you go to?

Just a thought.

ZW :flower:

[Lynn]

I think the best way is to try someone else's before they get too smelly. Mine are size 5.5 standard width, I'm always happy to let people try them on, as many women did this weekend.

ISTR you have smaller feet than me Lynn. Maybe you could post on here and see if anyone with HDS shoes in your size is going to the next event you go to?

Just a thought.

ZW :flower:I'm street size 4, though my Freed covered toe shoes are 3 1/2 - and I have quite narrow feet. I have tried on many pairs of dance shoes that looked lovely but were too wide etc. I've been looking at the HDS website - I do like the options of selecting colour, strap, heel etc. Though I think yours are especially :drool:

Of course technically I have enough pairs of dance shoes and don't need any more (but since when has that stopped me? :rofl: )