Scotland the Blaze, May 07: The aftermath

[tiger]

Off you go...

[Gus]

OK ... just got back to Manchester ... were its rain FAR harder than it ever was at Blaze. Still brain dead (yaeh ... I know ... the difference over usual would be? .... ) but here are some random thoughts ... will post a more considered, and possibly more balanced, review later.

Overall, enjpoyed it but unless there were some improvement provbably wouldn't go back. The real selling point is, as usual, the friendliness of our Scottish brethern However, the organisation and accoustics leave a lot to be desired. Also, there were far less people than I expected On the other hand, there were some really good dancers there.

Aside fomr meeting up with old friends and having a great social time, the revelkation for me were the workshops. Wihtout exception it was the BEST line up of workshops for MJ dancers EVER. It blew away Southport for workshops where you could learn something and incorporate it into your dancing. The musicality and Marc & Rachel's workshops especially stood out for me. To put it in perspective, in three visits to Southport I've done a total of 2 workshops, all at the first one. This weekend, despite a hangover, I did 4 workshops and observed another three. Well done for the quality and selection of teachers.

If the organisation could be sussed, and maybe more thought about the set up of the Blues room and the overall music strategy, then I think that Blaze could be a really succesfull prospect. (IMHO).

OK ... and now to bed....

[frodo]

... Aside fomr meeting up with old friends and having a great social time, the revelkation for me were the workshops. Wihtout exception it was the BEST line up of workshops for MJ dancers EVER. It blew away Southport for workshops where you could learn something and incorporate it into your dancing. The musicality and Marc & Rachel's workshops especially stood out for me. To put it in perspective, in three visits to Southport I've done a total of 2 workshops, all at the first one This weekend, despite a hangover, I did 4 workshops and observed another three. Well done for the quality and selection of teachers. ...

Nice to hear someone talking about the workshops. Other weekender threads have gone quite a long time without much mention.

I'm wondering if the longer classes were part of why it was good.


Two workshops at Southport does seem a bit of a thin basis for comparison. It would be nice to also see the classes compared from someone who habitually does do classes at Southport.

[Gus]

However, the organisation and accoustics leave a lot to be desired. Also, there were far less people than I expected

Just on way to work but this has been nagging me overnight so thought I'd clarify.

AFAIK, the orgnasiation re the events themselves was fine ... seems like all workshops and dance events happened when they should and where they should. The organisation comment was aimed at the reception of people on site. Whe we arrived there were misleading directions to where the Ceroc reception was, it was impossible to park and easy to get lost and then no directions to where the caravans were .... till the following morning when we found a map inside a list of events I happened to pick up.

[LMC]

Wihtout exception it was the BEST line up of workshops for MJ dancers EVER.

Since so many people know I'm a bit weird, I am going to stick my neck out and say that I have been wishing that my flu bug had hit SP, and not this weekender

[Gus]

Since so many people know I'm a bit weird, I am going to stick my neck out and say that I have been wishing that my flu bug had hit SP, and not this weekender

I have to say its a purely perosnal viewpioint. I fully understand how people can really go for the Southport approach. That, seems to me, to present a range of non-MJ workshops from headline instructors with little for pure MJers. Blaze did something that I have a passion about ... teaching good fundamentals. Musicality from Amir and Lorna, connection from Franck, smooth moves from "some Southern git with a funny accent who is named after a dog and has a gorgeous girlfriend " etc. These were wonderfully complimented by more technical workshops from Nicole & Simon, Marc & Rachel, Trampy etc etc. For those that wanted to push the envelope further the teaching from Amir and Carla & Ben were of the top level.

If I had the wherewithall I would deffo like to run regular workshops on the topics covered this weekend and would expect to see a real improvement in dancers ability. Mucho respect. I hope that this approach to workshop is followed by the other Ceroc weekenders ... oh, .... BUT THEY NEVER TELL YOU WHAT IS GOING ON IN ADVANCE DO THEY

[stewart38]

I have to say its a purely perosnal viewpioint. I fully understand how people can really go for the Southport approach. That, seems to me, to present a range of non-MJ workshops from headline instructors with little for pure MJers. Blaze did something that I have a passion about ... teaching good fundamentals. Musicality from Amir and Lorna, connection from Franck, smooth moves from "some Southern git with a funny accent who is named after a dog and has a gorgeous girlfriend " etc. These were wonderfully complimented by more technical workshops from Nicole & Simon, Marc & Rachel, Trampy etc etc. For those that wanted to push the envelope further the teaching from Amir and Carla & Ben were of the top level.

If I had the wherewithall I would deffo like to run regular workshops on the topics covered this weekend and would expect to see a real improvement in dancers ability. Mucho respect. I hope that this approach to workshop is followed by the other Ceroc weekenders ... oh, .... BUT THEY NEVER TELL YOU WHAT IS GOING ON IN ADVANCE DO THEY

Gus were you the only one there ? Or are all these Scots still asleep

[Gus]

Gus were you the only one there ? Or are all these Scots still asleep

It was a little quiet for a weekender but ....

Nah ... its just that most sensible people probably didn't have to be on the road by 7 this morning to get to work

Must admit though it does feel a little lonely here .... would REALLY prefer someone else to publish their views to balance whetever I may have thought of things. Paul F is lurking .... surely he can share in his usual reserved way?

[Paul F]

Really enjoyed the event.

Cant comment on the workshops as I unfortuantely slept through most of them.

Highlights for me were the Sat night after party and Sunday evening/night - really chilled and good fun. Nothing like a good group orgy

Billiant to meet other forumites that I STILL hadnt met.

Also, I have to give maximum kudos to Capt. Fantastic and Rebecca for Poi (is that how you spell it). I never thought I would be attempting to wave flags around my head at 6am

[Lory]

Gus were you the only one there ?

I was there too!

I've just got home and in desperate need of some sleep but just want to briefly say.... (much longer and unashamedly luvvy post to follow when my brain and fingers decide to co-operate with each other again!)

....I had a truly wonderful weekend!

Hopefully I'll be able to post the photos I took later this evening as well!

[Gus]

OK ... Good / Bad / Ugly etc

Good things

• The Scots!! Very friendly (when not scaling Hadrians Wall, wearing unstylish skirts and doing bad Mel Gibson impersonations..)
• Excellent range and content of workshops.
• Good collection of visiting dancers, , Roi Forbes, Jamie, ex-Jangoistas etc
• The lentil soup in the cafe

Not so Good Things

• Small stages, restricting what teachers could do and too low so that footwork wasn’t visible
• Lousy acoustics and often too loud
• No real atmosphere in the Blues room
• Variable music quality …. Not sufficiently different form a normal freestyle night
• No instructions in caravans for sorting out heating systems

The Ugly

• Booking in. Disaster zone. No idea where the caravans were, reception hidden, no marshals, not offered a map. Lighting on site was poor, not ideal for single lasses trying to find their way around.
• Dave Hancock being a frilly dressed girl and abjectly failing to make the Saturday night dancing because he’d had a few sherries to many

The Memorable

• Alexs proving she was wearing matching underwear in the packed cafe
• Mrs UnderPar’s smile after demoing with Amir
• Seeing Jamie’s solo dancing (OK ... now I know what all the fuss about this young man’s dancing is all about )
• Chicklet dressing as her avatar
• The great social scene in the cafe, especially when Danielle’s Irish posse were in there.
• Carla showing girls how to wrap their thighs round a guys neck while still dancing
• Aston Ellard making continuous attempts to dominate the dance floor every time Mrs Ceroc let him taste freedom

[Little Yellow Fish]

[*]Carla showing girls how to wrap their thighs round a guys neck while still dancing

How did I miss that???

I'm just back after being delivered safely home by my 'parents' for the weekend, Little Monkey and Sheepman.

I had a really terrible friday night (recovering from a kidney infection and personal crap going on - who wants to question LM on who has become Violent Little Monkey??). Saturday more than made up for it though - had a fantastic day with my bodyguard Dazzler and a bloody brilliant night of boogying my little feet off! Sunday was also fabulous.

This was my first residential weekender so I can't compare it to Southport, but as long as there was dancing, and moonlight, and music I'm happy.

I went to one workshop and thought it was pants. We left and went off to Sack the DJ and had a fabulous time in my new shoes

And Gus - after telling me all about how happy I could make you... why didn't I get a dance??

Great to finally meet some forumites! I lost count of how many people asked me why I'm called Little Yellow Fish and why I have a blue butterfly tattoo and not a fish!!

Can't wait for my next weekender now

Vicki xxxx

[Gus]

And Gus - after telling me all about how happy I could make you... why didn't I get a dance??

What does "making me happy" have to be a dance related?

We left and went off to Sack the DJ and had a fabulous time in my new shoes

Never managed to find this event Rumour has it it was assimilated by a group of Westies for their own peverted pleasure.

[Gus]

• Carla showing girls how to wrap their thighs round a guys neck while still dancing

I'm NOT on commission ... but if you want to see how this was done you need to buy the DVD of the weekend.

[Little Yellow Fish]

What does "making me happy" have to be a dance related?

Never managed to find this event Rumour has it it was assimilated by a group of Westies for their own peverted pleasure.

Dance related because I say so

Sack the DJ was in that wee arcade bit where all the little gadgy kids were hanging around. We thought it was a bingo hall and walked past it several times!

A few of us arrived on sunday and there was no DJ there. We called up Sheepman and he and Zebrawoman came along and played a great set - a fabulous time was had by all

Cathrine and I even managed to inspire Dazzler to learn tango

[jivecat]

I've just got back after a 6 hour drive home. So what did I think?

Weekender-based issues:
Venue - fine, though some people were not happy with a somewhat sticky blues floor. People seemed to like the main room which was large, though still dark & intimate, with plenty of tables and seating. The site was also being used by other holiday makers which wasn't a problem. Lots of facilities in terms of shops and restaurants. Unlike Camber and Southport the prevailing atmosphere was of a bright, clean modern environment, rather than depressing 1960's decrepitude.
Water: Lots, free.
Cake: Ditto. Thanks, kind Scottish baking lady!
Environment -very nice, much nicer than SPort, clean, green, leafy, sea-views. As caravan sites go, this one was immaculately clean, orderly and well-kept. Ayr looked like a very pleasant town as well, definitely worth a stroll round.
Caravan - very pleasant indeed, comfortable, warm, (our own gas-fire!!) relaxing, hot shower, very large sofa unit. Bunks were a bit shelf-like but we coped. We may have been lucky, however, as some caravans were smaller and less luxurious.
Check-in: There seemed to be some problems there but no worse than ones I've encountered at other weekenders. The Craig Tara set-up is a bit different from the usual take-over-a-holiday-camp-for-a-weekend scenario so a few teething troubles are only to be expected.
Classes - brilliant emphasis on connection and musicality. As an unashamed dance fascist I think people should be encouraged as strongly as possible (at gunpoint if necessary) to attend Franck & Amir's excellent workshops on these topics. Ben & Carla were fun and thorough and, wisely, kept things very simple. Their showcase was jaw-droppingly brilliant. They spent loads of time dancing in the freestyles - double plus Brownie points. Simon & Nicole's classes were also pretty f^%*£@ good, you b*%£*+&s! Some classes had a lot of ladies over, but most seemed to be roughly equally balanced. The longer lesson time meant that teachers could really focus on teaching points without having to rush on to complete the moves in a given time frame - in fact, the best lessons weren't about moves anyway. Hurrah! Smaller numbers meant that classes didn't have that frantic scrum-like atmosphere that has me heading for the door in the larger weekenders.

Rant Mode On:I was delighted to see clear labelling on classes : Beginners/Intermediates/Advanced. Looks promising, I thought. Why then, was this not adhered to? The advanced Jango was peopled with a number of people for whom "advanced" means they did the taster class the day before - maybe. Sorry, pals & palesses, but it was made clear that a basic amount of knowledge was needed as a basis for that class. Amir stated the basic requirements at the beginning of the lesson and gave some alternatives for the people who did not have the requisite experience - they could sit and watch or pair up and work with some one at a similar level. WHY, THEN, did no-one leave the floor at that point?? Because the class had many beginners it meant Amir could not easily carry out the more challenging tasks he had planned and people with a background of learning tango/jango did not get much out of the class because they were struggling with beginner leaders/followers. Now, I'm very happy to do that in most other classes but I'd rather not in a class labelled "advanced".

Sorry to be blunt about this, and I certainly am not getting at individuals, but there were plenty of classes at the weekender that were perfect (indeed, should be compulsory material, IMVHO ) for beginners and improvers so why did they feel the need to attend the advanced classes? Do they not realise that effectively, they are preventing other people from getting the full benefit from classes? People need to be realistic about their own capabilities to give everyone a fair chance.

So call me a filthy hotshot then.

Rant mode off. Normal service will now be resumed.

Music - a bit hot & heavy occasionally for my taste, but maybe I'm not moving with the times. Half-knackered myself dancing to fast tracks whilst waiting for the bluesy stuff to come on. Lots of swing of various types, less of the smooth latinny stuff, I felt. That's OK, I love swing as well as Latin.
Freestyles - Despite the lower numbers kept busy until a reasonable time - I hit the road at 1:45 last night, which suits me as I'm not interested in dancing till dawn. The pool of dancers was big enough to ensure choice and variety but small enough to facilitate friendliness. I would have liked to spend more time during the day dancing but there didn't seem to be enough people around during the daytime DJ slots to get this going.


Lap-of-the-Gods issues.
Weather: It didn't rain much. The sun shone fairly often. We saw many interesting cloud formations in the panoramic view from our caravan. For Scotland, I felt this was an excellent result.
Journey: Smooth and traffic-jam free in both directions. Maybe Ayr Council needs to sort out its Road Sign issues, though. And I don't think I got a ticket on their lovely A77 guess-the-limit-average-speed-camera-roller-coaster. How exciting it will be waiting for the post to arrive this week!
Company: Lovely Lynn and Delightful Dizzy. Fab room-mates. LMC was missed.




Personal issues:
Dance high: Managed to ring that particular bell for two hours on Saturday night and had a grin of pure delight glued to my face for the duration. Phew.
Sense of discovery: It was lovely to dance & meet with new people, reminds me of why I liked dancing in the first place.
Dance growth: I think WCS is beginning to influence my general dance style at last. During my best dances things seemed to flow and I could confidently throw in my own bits of interpretation etc.
Old Age: It's creeping up on me, I can feel it. Well, maybe I'm just losing dance-fitness seeing as I hardly ever do any these days. Who're you trying to kid??


So there we have it. It was a long way to travel but I would definitely recommend Blaze to anyone who wanted a smaller, but fully-formed, weekender and who wanted to work on core dance skills. Many, many thanks to Franck & Sheena who worked their butts off and still found time to dance and chat with everyone.

[McJester]

Cake: Ditto. Thanks, kind Scottish baking lady!

The lady in question would be the delicious LemonCake, who can best described as a serial baker. And yes, the cakes were very yummy.... thank you LC.

[drathzel]

Off to teach a class will post my thoughts later

[Dazzler]

well what can be said...not very much at the moment as thats me just got home..

just wanted to say a big thanks to Franck, Sheena and all the great teachers and DJ's for supplying an amazing weekend of great music and fantastic dances..


I had the best time ever this weekend...although on friday i arrived and for the first 2-3hrs decided i had indeed forgotten how to dance this was soon kicked out of my head in the blues room....the cuban blues workshop really helped me to calm down...i put it down to nerves seen as i entered and was confronted by such a high level of dancers...

I couldnt really of asked for a better group of people to have shared with.. (trampy,sheepman,little (violent) monkey and little yellow fish) such a friendly bunch who made me feel welcome from the word go by attempting to lock me out of the caravan

Saturday was chilled through the day...aswell as being LYF's bodygaurd i managed to squeeze in a cpl of hair dos!

danced till the wee hours and had a some great dances but i have to say out of the whole weekend Sunday was the best one for me...i got to go on the Go-Karts and ate greasy take-away food! aswell as some excellent dances from Rachel, Zebra woman, Lori, LYF, Cheeks, Tiggerbabe, L(v)M....and the list goes on....and on...in fact i loved everyone of my dances....and can i just say that watching some of you guys dance is inspiring...it really was...

oh look in my dazed state i have rambled my way through after all!

Again a MASSIVE thanks to all who made Blaze the experience it was!

till the next time

[TheTramp]

Good things

• After a couple of poor weekends for me - more on my mood and injuries, rather than the weekends themselves, this one really got me going again.
• Some great dances with some great dancers
• Really enjoyed teaching my class, and thanks to Tessalicious for being a really fantastic demo
• Some nice company in the caravan, and especially for the night-time noises!
• Some great people to chat with and socialise over the weekend. It's always great to catch up and see people that you don't get to see that often.

Not so Good Things

• Small stages, restricting what teachers could do and too low so that footwork wasn’t visible - got to agree with Gus here - I think that there was really only just about room for me on it. Good job Tess is so slim! Not to mention the fact that it moved from side to side too!!
• Having to leave early, missing the Sunday night, to get back to sit an exam on the Monday morning

The Ugly

• That'll be me then!