Blaze II - aftermath

[Dreadful Scathe]

I have one of those t-shirts too, but I'm not geeky enough to wear it in public.

I'm sure you are however, its slightly MORE worrying that you have geeky t-shirts that you only wear in the privacy of your own home

Now I find I'm "too geeky" because I was also disappointed that it didn't do frequency analysis.

My t-shirt was sadly lacking - like my dancing

[blackisleboy]

Had another great weekend, despite my body deciding to go in a strop with me. Very tired now so might not be making much sense...

Classes were generally really good, although being slow off the mark meant having to do the first cuban blues class on friday from the very back of the room. Made up for that yesterday by going right to the front of class and feeling very clever with myself and then realising that it was the men who were going to have to rotate...

Michael and Jennifer's classes were very good, and nice that they stuck to the basic patterns and then lots of variations on them, with lots of new footwork to try out. And the showcase was awesome!

Lucky and Ruby were great, and we really enjoyed the step around workshop, which covered one move, but in real detail. Flip, flop and fly was good, but we had to step out halfway through as the mini aerial was a move I wasn't confident enough to try. They are great dancers and I don't think I'll ever forget the Franck and Lucky (and Trampy for a time...) show in the blues room last night...

Russell & Elaine's Let's Get it On class was probably my fave of the weekend. It would be great to get them up to scotland for a beach ballroom type weekend hint hint

Didn't dance with as many people as usual, being a little fragile all weekend, so was trying to be careful... had a lovely one handed dance with Little Monkey last night. With her bad hand and my bad achilles it was the dance of the injured, but I hope I made it interesting!

Nice to meet some new people, but still completely in the dark as to who most of the forumites are. Stoke bloke should be renamed top bloke - a welcome addition to smoker's corner, and well done for getting the floors sorted.

Hopefully the Inverness crowd (34 of us at latest count?...) made a good impression

The bad? Weather wasn't great, but who cares when you're dancing? Not allowing an extra hour on saturday was a bit mean, but generally the two am finish wasn't too bad, as my brain and feet were dead by that time anyway.

The worst? Having to leave at ten this morning and having to wait three whole weeks for the next weekender!

[StokeBloke]

We've not long got in. Left Blaze at 1pm and traveled down to Stoke, home for 50 minutes ... quick shower, shave and change then out to an opening night in Cannock where Marc Foster was DJ'ing. I'll post a proper review of Blaze tomorrow when I have had some shut eye - but early indications suggest it was an amazing weekend .... ok .... :yaaawn: ..... time for bed said Zebedee.

[Jamie]

Yep Yep Yep... Fun Fun..

Bed time..

BRRRRRA

[Mezzosoprano]

OK, I'm awake now....

LOved the workshops and did mostly WCS ones... Robd, thanks for making me feel like my two left feet sometimes got it right! I loved the musicality workshops too!

Thanks to Spartak Lad, PMJD, BlackIsle Boy, Wuzzle, BirlMeister, Cheeks, and of course, LM for making my really WOW weekender for me. Wonderful dancing folks! Lucky Skillen... dancing... with me.....I may never ever recover... and that's without talking about Michael Kielbasa... thank goodness there was no close hold involved or I'd have fainted and hit the floor.

Speaking of which.. hope Freudian Hips is okay now.. that looked awful sore!

Gotta say a huge thanks to Cheeks for the massage and for getting me back on my feet again. Aleks - you're a miracle worker!

Great to meet all those people who are attached to names on the Forum, Sparkles and Lory, you're soooo nice!! DS too!

Accommodation in the Gold Caravan was absolutely fine....and Well Done! Big UP! to the Inverness Crowd - heaps of us there all dancing and all, as usual, being very supportive of one another.

Roll on the next one Guys... Poor Craig is already sick of hearing about it I think. (PMJD - he says to hit harder the next time!! Bad Boy!)

[robd]

GOOD JOB!

I give the Blaze II weekender a big thumbs up

Good
* Michael Kilbasa and Jennifer De Luca - great classes, a willingness to social dance with a wide range of people and to get involved in the other social elements of the weekend. I felt my dancing progressed over the weekend as I applied some of the stuff from the classes especially the simple but effective footwork variations
* Michael and Jennifer's Din Da Da cabaret - and Franck's onstage reaction to it
* Some of my absolute favourite followers were there - dancer numbers generally were lower than at other weekenders I have been to but certainly in terms of followers there was very high quality if not quantity.
* Such generous hospitality from Franck and Tiggerbabe at the after parties, Lory and Steve, Jan and Linda for other mealtimes
* More cake than Mr Kipling - I swear at one point there were 4 tables in a row laden with various baked goods
* Sparkles and I shared an apartment which was a little spartan but perfectly warm and well suited to our needs

Bad
* 2am finishes (not even the 'extra' hour on the Sat night) - I was certainly ready to dance more as were a lot of others. It also meant I didn't get as many dances with some people as I would have liked. Hopefully Franck can sweet talk whoever it is that needs to be convinced for future events.
* Never really got to the boudoir. I had produced a CD of WCS-able tracks for a possible STDJ slot (and the vast majority of it was stuff I didn't hear elsewhere over the weekend) but given that M&J were doing so many classes any slot I took would have clashed with these meaning I would have missed a useful class AND had a likely audience in single figures
* Some people in the M&J classes billed for experienced dancers who simply did not have a clue about the very basics of the dance. We've had the debate on here before about suitability of experience levels for weekender classes and I don't want to re-open it but there's a world of difference between less experienced dancers doing their best to take on board what is being taught (no problem with that) and others who appear not to be trying to apply anything the teachers are saying and hindering the efforts of those who are trying to do so. It's this kind of frustration that unfortunately leads to people 'fixing' for classes which, IMO, doesn't help the overall development of a dance style. I have fixed before - at Southport - just because the numbers were so high. At Blaze the numbers were manageable and I refused to fix despite requests to do so.
* Weather was milder than I expected for most of the weekend but very gusty and a number of downpours including one just as we arrived and had to take our luggage on the fair old trek to the apartment
* I don't enjoy flying or the whole airport experience but realistically it was the only sensible way to get there

I realise I have listed as many bad as good points but overall I had a fantastic weekend albeit a different experience to many of the weekenders I have attended before. Big thanks to Franck, Sheena and all the crew for working so hard on this one and I definitely want to come back to Scotland dancing again in future

[Spartak Lad]

In fact, I'm willing to wager there were more people from Inverness than any other part of the UK. Can anybody verify this? Franck? Tiggerbabe?

[Keefy]

A review from me, difficult as I'm new to all of this and I only have Breeze a few weekends ago to compare it to, a tough act to follow! For me the weekend started badly and finished worse but that wasn't an organisational fault. Dragging a suitcase around a caravan site in the pouring rain was not a good start, I was soaked through and everything I possessed was damp right from the very beginning. Finishing the weekend feeling like crap with a 38+ temperature was not good either.

I missed the Friday evening totally as I got 'distracted' on my way to the venues... I cried off lightweight at about midnight Sunday with what I now know was the onset of a bug of some kind, but the Ceroc bits in the middle were great!

The Good

* The Thunder and Cyclone Rooms : I liked the layout and the proximity, plenty of seating and tables. The floors seemed to vary tremendously day to day, hour to hour though. I only had a couple of dances in the Thunder room but the temporary floor seemed OK if a little uneven in places, I spent some time in the Cyclone room on Saturday evening and that was great.

*The workshops : I did several. The three that really stuck in my mind was Franck's connection workshop, Drathzel's wiggles and Marc's Cuban blues. Franck's workshop was brilliant, I now wish I'd done his other ones as well, why have I got to travel to Scotland for technique classes like that? There's none in the South East that I've seen. Drathzel's wiggles workshop was a huge amount of fun, brilliantly taught with humour, great content, you lot over in N Ireland and lucky. Marc's 'Sweet Kind of Something' Cuban blues workshop was awesome, it was the first time I'd been to any such class. I lost the plot right at the end (I was very tired) but Marc's teaching is superb and if he runs any workshops down here I'll book it like a shot. Way out of my depth but I watched some of M&J's workshops, the way they taught and the interaction was excellent, I can see why a couple of the WCS'ers I spoke to had come up just for them.

* The Accommodation : The caravans were of a very high standard indeed. I opted for a Silver to myself, it was clean, modern and very well equipped.

The Bad

* The Accommodation : Yes, I know that I've put it in 'The Good' as well but the bottom line is that if you stick a tin box on a wind and rain swept Scottish hillside in winter then it's going to be fckng freezing!!! The gas heater was inadequate, I took a fan heater with me and that helped. But the gas heating made everything damp, after arriving on Friday the first time I next felt properly warm and dry was at Prestwick on Monday on the way home. The time of year, the weather and the caravans made for a miserable existence at times.

* The Boudoir : Oh dear, that didn't really work did it. I did eventually find it (through a back door, down some steps, then a walk, then down tucked away, all in the pouring rain), for about 30 seconds, but a bit of temporary dance floor stuck in the corner of a drab canteen with its plastic tables and chairs just didn't do anything for me I'm afraid.

The Ugly

The Food : I opted for the half board, what a complete waste of money. It wasn't quite down to the totally inedible standards I found at Breeze but they're obviously striving to attain that level. Very poor quality, very poor choice, the worst of bargain basement mass catering. Don't bother.

In Summary

I enjoyed it, I loved some of the workshops, I learnt something, I danced more than I did at Breeze, the locals were very friendly. Would I go back? The jury is still out on that one, but at present I must say we have a slight majority for no. Blaze had that lovely feeling of a friendly, local event, if you're in Scotland or within a couple of hours drive then go, it's a great weekend. But is it worth flying up from London for? Caravans are not my favourite accommodation, especially in winter, I suspect that come next year the 2AM finish would be a very real minus factor for me.

But overall - well done Franck and the crew for an excellent weekend.

[Jamie]

But is it worth flying up from London for?

I travel up from Doncaster, 252 mile trip north for me.. Was it worth it..? I'd do it again tomorrow! I don't go to blaze for the caravans..

But overall - well done Franck and the crew for an excellent weekend.

Fantastic weekend again guys, I'll be back for Blaze III!!

[Keefy]

I travel up from Doncaster, 252 mile trip north for me.. Was it worth it..? I'd do it again tomorrow! I don't go to blaze for the caravans..

It's over 400 miles for me, airfare and taxis etc. were in the order of £100, it would cost me that and 8 hours each way to drive. Whilst caravans are adequate I do prefer a bit more style and comfort

[Lory]

Whilst caravans are adequate I do prefer a bit more style and comfort

We opted for gold and I have no complaints whatsoever!

In fact, I had to keep showing people round my caravan, as it unbelievably had a bathroom ensuite, plus a 'walk-in wardrobe' in the main bedroom! (which I might add, Steve re-named 'the Gimp room' )

Pics here inc, JacksonDonut, Linda (non forumite) and Freya

[Yliander]

We opted for gold and I have no complaints whatsoever!

In fact, I had to keep showing people round my caravan, as it unbelievably had a bathroom ensuite, plus a 'walk-in wardrobe' in the main bedroom! (which I might add, Steve re-named 'the Gimp room' )

Pics here inc, JacksonDonut, Linda (non forumite) and Freya

I was in a basic Caravan - and while there was no heating in the bedrooms - an extra bed cover meant that wasn't an issue - however the size of the room was such that we had to take it in turns to be in there if we weren't asleep as not enough room for 2 people to move?!?!

Heating in the main area was fine - infact we got to warm at had to open the windows to cool off some!

If I make it again I would go for gold - the cost vs space would be worth it.

[pmjd]

I've had a Fantastic time this weekend

Was a strange start to the weekend for me, with the early finish felt more like a normal party night than a weekender but it got better and better.

Michael and Jennifers' class on Friday night was excellent, I could actually get to grips with WCS for a change, and their showcase was breathtaking, such amazing fluidity and musicality.I only did one of their classes as I don't know anything about WCS but they were friendly and approachable.

Good Stuff

Music that kept you going at the right paces, especially on Saturday and Sunday nights.

All of the six classes I attended were brilliant

Lucky and Ruby's classes were great!!! I was surprised at what was achieved in the flip, flop and fly class, with a very big thanks to Shea for partnering me and not running away Seeing Lucky and Ruby demo the moves and thinking "1st easy, 2nd tricky, 3rd Blinking Heck" but being able to do them by the end of the class Not things I could do on a social dance floor but a great feeling of achievement. The fishing workshop one was very different to anything I've done before but left me with a whole new perspective on things. Did get a dance with Ruby but ended up being far too nervous to enjoy it.

Trampy's drops and musicality classes were really good, enjoyable and well taught.

Lorna's class on Sunday morning was worth getting up early for! (even on 2.5 hours sleep)

Memorable Moments
Freya leading me and Killingtime in double trouble, the first time I've done double trouble.
McJester's dips and lifts on me
Dancing with Aleks, where neither of us able to keep a straight face
Dazzlers' after party party and expression after he was gotten by Dave with the chocolate cake (a waste of cake but strangely worth it)
The atlantic divide playing charades at Franck's after party party
Waffles
Being asked for second dances by Lory and Lisa
Left-handed dances with Little Monkey, challenging but alot of fun

Minor Grumbles
Tape on the dance floor, why was it there? To make a line on the dance floor to practice slotted dancing on
The program: better class descriptions, if it's a WCS class why not just say it, as quite a few folk I know had turned up expecting something more generic or that could improve their ceroc. Incomplete teachers bios i.e. Jennifer De Luca and Trevor Wright had zero info whilst others had tons of info. Poor quality blurry print
The boudoir: I almost made it, but filming for the DVD was going on so no dancing and after the magical mystery tour to get there I wasn't in a hurry to get back. It does seem to be one of those problem areas

It kinds leads me to the question, does Blaze III have to be at Ayr? Is it the only place in Scotland that could justifiably accommodate a Ceroc weekender? The reasons being the sudden 2am limit, the building layouts for what you are trying to fit in.

Ultimately it's the people that make an event, create the atmosphere and leave you with all those happy memories.

Many thanks to Sheena and Franck and all of the crew who made it possible, you all should have been up on stage taking a bow.

P.S. I would have put more smilies in but I've reached my 12 image limit apparantly

[Lory]

Seeing as I appear to only be able to load 1 photo at a time in the gallery, I'm going to forget that idea and load 5 at a time in here!

[Marc Forster]

Following on from both Camber and Brean Sands, I hoped this weekend would tie up any loose ends. At Camber I concentrated on the classes and it's the DJ sets that stick in the mind. Brean should have been all about the music and it's the classes that made all the difference.

Blaze encompassed all that is good in rubbing up against those ladies I can now call friends. The standard of dancing is of the highest quality.

The relaxed feeling throughout the freestyle sessions in both rooms was undoubtedly excellent.

What I remember the most is the time spent behind the scenes, setting up the Blues room with those trees and all. That was one hell of a transformation.

I would like to thank Stokebloke for dedicating all of Friday afternoon to buffing the floors. After the first Blaze, this was bound to be an issue and I know that your dedication made all the difference. Thank you.

There is a constant effort to constantly improve on what we do. What defines Blaze is the quality of the music, the excellent dancers (in both rooms) and the friendliness of the people. This alone is more than enough to persuade us to to come back next year for more of the same.

[Lory]

More, at the venue..

[Beowulf]

hmm Picture set 2.. image 5. entitled ClareS -Sparkles.. I'm sorry Sparkles.. but what have you done to yourself? you look an awful lot like TheTramp to me

and image set 3 pic 5 , Frank.. you need a hair cut !!

[Lory]

more at the venue..

[Lory]

hmm Picture set 2.. image 5. entitled ClareS -Sparkles.. I'm sorry Sparkles.. but what have you done to yourself? you look an awful lot like TheTramp to me

Oops, dunno what happened there

[David Bailey]

Seeing as I appear to only be able to load 1 photo at a time in the gallery, I'm going to forget that idea and load 5 at a time in here!

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