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Little Em
10th-January-2006, 02:05 PM
Thought i would ask who is going to this weekender? seen as this one is a bit closer! :wink:

I will b there!
:D

TheTramp
10th-January-2006, 02:11 PM
Thought i would ask who is going to this weekender? seen as this one is a bit closer! :wink:

I will b there!
:D

:yeah:

Little Em
10th-January-2006, 02:15 PM
:yeah:


just me n you there then?? :eek:

:rofl:

TheTramp
10th-January-2006, 02:16 PM
just me n you there then?? :eek:

:rofl:

Sounds like a plan to me. You know that it's on Saturday 11th, don't you?? :whistle:

Little Em
10th-January-2006, 02:21 PM
Sounds like a plan to me. You know that it's on Saturday 11th, don't you?? :whistle:



:eek:

Gadget
10th-January-2006, 02:35 PM
I'm sure that I'll manage the odd dance or two :D

{... ok, perhaps more than one or two dances will be odd :rolleyes:}

ducasi
10th-January-2006, 02:43 PM
I'm thinking I might make it up... Have to see about transport and accommodation...

Little Em
10th-January-2006, 02:47 PM
I'm sure that I'll manage the odd dance or two :D

{... ok, perhaps more than one or two dances will be odd :rolleyes:}



dances with me please!? :flower:

Heather
10th-January-2006, 05:34 PM
Re post # 4

According to the Events/parties page on this website theFebruary Beach Ballroom Party is on the 18th February NOT 11th as quoted by Trampy?????
Are the Aberdeen parties not usually on the 3rd Saturday of the month ie the18th?
It says the Glasgow party is on the 11th.
Which is correct?
Confused !!!!!!!!
:hug: :kiss:
Heather,
xx

Cruella
10th-January-2006, 05:37 PM
Re post # 4

According to the Events/parties page on this website theFebruary Beach Ballroom Party is on the 18th February NOT 11th as quoted by Trampy?????
Are the Aberdeen parties not usually on the 3rd Saturday of the month ie the18th?
It says the Glasgow party is on the 11th.
Which is correct?
Confused !!!!!!!!
:hug: :kiss:
Heather,
xx
Trampys post was tongue in cheek. i.e tell littleem the wrong date :rolleyes:

Caro
10th-January-2006, 06:36 PM
Thought i would ask who is going to this weekender? seen as this one is a bit closer! :wink:

I will b there!
:D

I'll be there too, and looking forward to it. Anybody knows about the theme/workshops?

jammy
10th-January-2006, 09:05 PM
Thought i would ask who is going to this weekender? seen as this one is a bit closer! :wink:

I will b there!
:D
ill be there as i am demoin.
jammy

TheTramp
11th-January-2006, 01:25 AM
Trampys post was tongue in cheek. i.e tell littleem the wrong date :rolleyes:
:yeah:

Heather
11th-January-2006, 08:47 AM
Trampys post was tongue in cheek. i.e tell littleem the wrong date :rolleyes:


Sorry !!! Brain dead after a couple of days back at work with Primary 5 !!!!:sick:
In that case I'll probably be there as well !! (Franck, keep me a ticket :hug: )
:hug: :kiss:
Heather,
xx

ToeTrampler
11th-January-2006, 12:03 PM
ill be there as i am demoin.
jammyWhat, you're a small town in Iowa? Surely not. ;)

Piglet
12th-January-2006, 01:59 PM
I think I might be able to make it :whistle:

Rebecca
12th-January-2006, 02:09 PM
Thought i would ask who is going to this weekender? seen as this one is a bit closer! :wink:

I will b there!
:D

We'll miss you at Di's do in Daventry :sad: . Have fun with the scots though :wink:

Cruella
12th-January-2006, 05:39 PM
We'll miss you at Di's do in Daventry :sad: . Have fun with the scots though :wink:
Yes it's a shame you'll be missing my charity dance :tears: We're calling it The Polar Freezestyle. (due to the connection with the Polar Challenge) And not all the scots will be at the Beach Ballroom, as Lisa should be down here.:clap:

Rebecca
12th-January-2006, 05:57 PM
We're calling it The Polar Freezestyle.

Genius :worthy:

TheTramp
13th-January-2006, 04:12 PM
Getting back to the Beach Ballroom weekend....

There's a rumour that Senorita will be coming along :clap: :flower:

senorita
13th-January-2006, 04:21 PM
Getting back to the Beach Ballroom weekend....

There's a rumour that Senorita will be coming along :clap: :flower:

YEPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!
Cant wait.....going off now to buy some tropical coconut tanning oil, deck chair, snorkels and a beach towel :D

Did someone say something about dancing?? :blush:

TheTramp
13th-January-2006, 04:23 PM
Hmmm. You do have the right idea for Aberdeen in February there! :what:

Gadget
14th-January-2006, 12:53 AM
Hmmm. You do have the right idea for Aberdeen in February there! :what:
It's the Aberdeen here (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-30,151.066667&spn=0.1,0.1&t=k) she wants to go to.

Little Em
14th-January-2006, 04:16 PM
I'll be there too, and looking forward to it. Anybody knows about the theme/workshops?


well..... i believe Mark Harding may be teaching? :waycool:
im doing a couple of classes too...:D


x x

Gadget
31st-January-2006, 10:57 PM
So... the liner has bearthed... what's the program looking like then??

Piglet
1st-February-2006, 12:34 AM
So... the liner has bearthed... what's the program looking like then??
:yeah: :clap: :hug:

Tiggerbabe
1st-February-2006, 12:59 AM
So... the liner has bearthed... what's the program looking like then??

2/5 *** FEBRUARY BEACH BALLROOM WEEK-END ***
The first Beach Ballroom week-end of the year with the perfect combination of workshops and parties. SPECIAL GUEST TEACHERS: Mark Harding from Australia, teaching Style & connection and Musicality & Choreography, and Emma Sabin from Ceroc Central teaching Funky Jive + Changing the speed of your dancing for effect.

Copied from the front page :wink:

ducasi
1st-February-2006, 01:17 AM
Copied from the front page :wink: The main Beach Ballroom page (http://www.cerocscotland.com/Beach.htm) suggests there'll be a Jango class taught by Amir at the party. For some reason, I don't believe it... :whistle:

It's also be good to know where the Saturday workshops are... :flower:

Tiggerbabe
1st-February-2006, 08:30 AM
The main Beach Ballroom page (http://www.cerocscotland.com/Beach.htm) suggests there'll be a Jango class taught by Amir at the party. For some reason, I don't believe it... :whistle:
I think you just might be correct there, Duncan :rofl:


It's also be good to know where the Saturday workshops are... :flower:
ehrm - Franck? :whistle:

Gadget
20th-February-2006, 10:46 PM
Feedback on Beach Ballroom weekend:

Saturday workshops.
Taught by Mark Harding and his georgeous wife Simone, of Ceroc Australia. There were two workshops, but both seemed to blur into one; rather than focusing on X or Y, it seemed to be a "shotgun" approach - imparting lots of information and teaching lots of stuff, but no particular focus.

From what I remember, these were what was covered: Trying to define and separate both 'style' and 'musicality' verbally before looking at some styling options like ronde's, hip wiggles and stylistic arms. Showing some 'stylistic' points that were more an indication of lack of style. Feeling and increasing the resistance in the connection. Footwork and taking smaller steps. Showing the 'frame'/'posture' and how to settle into it. Keeping a 'smooth' frame. Techniques for spins. A some focus on the 'merengue' style of moving - lots of hips. Listening to music and marking where it changed. Body rolls and isolation. Dips & drops. Buy our DVDs {:wink:}.

Over all I took away a couple of very good things from it;
Posture. This has been a fault of mine for a long time. I've always found it hard and 'tense' to try to maintain a decent posture. The main reason was that my idea of 'good posture' was wrong.
I know your pelvis should have a slight tilt forward. Abdominals quite tense below the rib cage. Torso slightly 'inflated'. Head up. But I had always thought that the shoulders should be 'back'. Which they should. But no-one had pointed out the they should also be dropped. Where I was almost holding a pen between my shoulder-blades instead of letting them fall. No-wonder I found it hard to maintain good posture. Perhaps there will be some improvement now.:clap: (...If I can also stop my head from coming forward and drooping :rolleyes: )

Frame/Facing Mike pointed out and reinforced a stylistic point in my dancing that Lorna had initially picked up on: I tend to face sideways a lot in dancing with my partner. OK if we are both facing the same way, but if they are turned towards me (as they should be really) then I am dancing presenting my side to them rather than my front. Another way I end up like this is by collapsing my own 'frame' (* see notes on Franck's workshops later) and rotating out. This should tighten up with the posture work.

No solutions provided, but the problem has been highlighted again. I've spent a long time developing an awareness of my orientation on the floor and trying to move my partner in a fairly controlled way at compass points to me. I don't want to loose this by simply rotating to suit. I think I may start adding in an extra travelling turn to position the follower infront of me... I'll need to see what works

Stepping. Occasionally I have been known to don my seven league boots and travel about the floor :whistle: Generally it's forward and I know I'm doing it. But I did pickup a really good tip for stopping stepping too far back: step back placing your hip rather than your foot.

Dips/Drops As a lead, a lot of the skill and ability to lead comes from an awareness of your partner's position on the floor and in relation to you. Positioning yourself to lead better and guide the follower. In general, followers don't need to know a lot of this because the leads do it for them. However... just as a lead learns how to position themselves and move to execute a 'perfect' man-spin {yo-yo,catapult, first move...} so a follower needs to learn how to position themselves to get the best from a dip/drop.
The difficulty in this is that as leads, we are not reliant on anything other than ourselves and can learn from 'nothing' to lead almost any follower. Followers learning dips/drops need a solid and consistent 'backdrop' to learn against - with the variety of leads, I am amazed that any follower learns how. :worthy::flower:

{* personally, I didn't like the dips/drops part of the workshops - little safety spiel; some people in the workshop only been dancing a very short time; folding out/open at the end of a drop; more focus on hold and stability rather than position to make it stable; no 'only for those it's been practiced with' warnings.
I think that they were only inserted to add some 'moves' into a fairly technical workshop. I think I would have preferred the time spent on more 'musicality' and 'choreography' stuff as billed (and I know they have great understanding of) rather than drops that were not.}

Over all, good workshops taught by excellent teachers/dancers with a lot of information imparted. Special :worthy: for the little one and his lack of contribution to the workshops :) {and Simone for managing to look so graceful and stylish while being stuffed with the cold.}

<hr>
Saturday Party
Beach Ballroom; As usual, brilliant venue. The numbers were enough that it was intimate and the floor was never too busy. Great to see a lot of travellers and folk I haven't danced with for a while. Iced water on the tables with scrummy chocolate. Loved some of the dresses, loved some of the dances, the rest were... fantastic :drool::clap:.
Eric's music was good - for someone who likes to wind-down towards the end of the night, he kept me on my toes :)

Thanks to all who danced with me, and as usual, the lights went up and I spotted a few people I missed. :( next time :flower:

<hr>
Sunday Workshop
Franck, standing in for Emma (although not as pretty) tried to keep to the same syllabus of changing tempo and inserting contrast into the dance.
As anyone who has been to Francks' workshops knows, (and this is not a criticism) "Connection is King". From this, everything else can be conveyed. So it was really a workshop in 'frame' and 'connection' with a side-note of how this is used to alter speeds and convey to your partner what you are intending to do before you actually do it.

Lots of stuff reinforced. A few 'lapses' and lazy points that need to be straightened out:
My "frame" is a bit disconnected - it's real tricky holding the arms connected to the shoulders connected to the hips so that movement from one is conveyed through the rest and you are not ridged/tense/inflexible. A lot of it has to do with posture and those muscles between your shoulder-blades.
I am hoping that as I improve my posture, my frame will tighten up as well.

The increase in 'rigidity' of the frame only really needs to be done to highlight any changes in lead and provide a better support for the follower to balance on. I had (have) a tendency to lock up my back arm quite a bit firmer than is really needed - causes early fatigue and can't be that comfortable for the follower.
I also tend to simply equalise the contact pressure, relying on the follower to take what they need rather than prepare/brace before hand and give them fore warning with something to work from.

Practice with things turned up full, but turn them down when dancing normally. Use moves that you know inside and out (ie beginner moves) to practice on so that you don't need to think about them while practicing and can concentrate on what is going right/wrong. Get them right here and they will filter into the rest of your dancing.

Lots of other useful tips and advice passed on, "but there is another workshop that deals with this" :wink: I suppose it makes a change from the usual "there is a DVD available from the front desk..." from most other good teachers... *ping*
I think that once Franck has gone through his "Focus On" Sunday workshops (*) he should produce a DVD (or series of DVDs) with them.

(* He had to go down to Stirling to teach one on hand/head movement after the weekend of dancing, staying up late and teaching :worthy: )

<hr>
Sunday Party
Nice, relaxing, chilled-out and smooth evening with the occasional dramatic tune :wink: I was trying out some stuff and generally playing around more than I do normally; it's great to be able to do this - I've already danced with everyone a few times, so I don't feel so guilty if (when) I screw up.
{...not that this stops me normally - I just feel less guilty about it :devil:}


Great weekend as usual. Thank you to all who took part :waycool:

Piglet
20th-February-2006, 11:41 PM
Great weekend as usual. Thank you to all who took part :waycool:
:yeah: Hear, hear!

I missed Saturday's workshops cos I had a better offer :wink:

However, I loved Franck's workshop on Sunday and within 5-10 minutes at the most I already knew I'd got my money's worth from it. Big, huge, ginormous thanks to Franck and Sheena :worthy: :worthy: I now feel like Pandora's box has been opened (wide enough for me to take on and develop what was said and I'm well excited and motivated by it all).

Saturday and Sunday parties were excellent and on Sunday my dancing seemed to take me over completely - I began doing things with my arm I've never ever done before - not sure where that's come from, but it reminded me a lot of Lorna - so thank you big time Lorna! (Mind you, you probably wouldn't think I look anything like you when I dance :rofl: and that's fine too!)

I just had such a ball. Thanks to everyone who was there to help me have a great time! Some excellent scrummy dances, lots of it down to the type of music played too. (Don't feel so bad for missing Stirling now)

FXS N.Q
21st-February-2006, 12:07 PM
Had a good time at Aberdeen. It was my first time up to Aberdeen for a Ceroc weekend. All I managed to do was the workshops on the saturday which I enjoyed and helped with my style.
But due to my mate from Arborath coming up with a crowd for his 21st I had to miss the actual Beach Ballroom on the Saturday night. I did have a good night out anyway. Due to this I was a bit rired and hungover and missed Francks class on the Sunday morning.

Was able to go to the Sunday night party and had a good night there, was a nice laid back night and had a lot of good dances with a lot of nice people. It was also good to watch Steve (The Tramp) do a quadrouple-trouble, I especially liked the quad-seducer. Then one of the last tracks Steve put on was so hard to do dance to but I wasn't the only person struggling to catch the beat, which I caught about once if I was lucky. The only person I seen catch it was Steve, it's good sometimes just to watch him dance.

So next time the beach ballroom is on I'll need to try and get up to catch the Saturday party, but I did have a very good reason for missing Saturday past.