Southport June '08 the aftermath.

[Kel_Warminster]

I have just one word for Southport - magnificent!!

Kel Warminster - What a big sword you've got , Loved the cat 'o nine tails, prepare to be boarded! Huge fun.

AS for my pirate costume (ship's cat)...thanks to everyone who echoed what Lost Leader said about my big sword

[StokeBloke]

no, please, no...

I'm sorry but that [latin] room is awful - hot and smelly and it would be terrible to have to spend most of the weekend there - I want to cry just at the thought of it

Caro my dear, this may be the very thing that may sway the WCS being moved into the Latin Room

[Paul F]

Caro my dear, this may be the very thing that may sway the WCS being moved into the Latin Room

The only thing with this moving thing is that the blues room will just continue to play similar music to a 'wcs room'. Noone will move!!

[Spiky Steve]

sorry haven't got time to post a proper review yet but I will do soon - but I've just seen this and I can't help but say:

no, please, no...

I'm sorry but that room is awful - hot and smelly and it would be terrible to have to spend most of the weekend there - I want to cry just at the thought of it

I guess this has all been discussed before?

What would stop you dancing in the blues room still?

I didn't make it to the marquee. I was thinking that the west coast crowd and the blues room crowd were more similar and there would be an easier transfer between the rooms. I think west coasters were returning to the blues room to get a drink and staying there.

Saturday seemed to work really well but something went wrong on Sunday in my opinion.

When the tango thing was on all the west coasters came to the blues room?

It was said there were on 20 couples in the marquee on Sunday night?

I have nothing against tango or west coast etc and understand it is a challenge to keep everyone happy.

I haven't had time to do a full post yet. A great weekend meanwhile and thanks to all that deserve it.

Steve

[Spiky Steve]

The only thing with this moving thing is that the blues room will just continue to play similar music to a 'wcs room'. Noone will move!!

I left the marquee to people who were west coasting. If I can blues or west coast in both rooms I would be happy. I would be more likely to switch rooms without having to change shoes than the separate location.

I loved the music. I hope to be freestyling west coast later this year. So I am keen for the best solution if it has not already been found.

Spiky

[Paul F]

Why did they not have a lorry outside full to the gunnels with shoes?

I totally agree. This used to annoy the hell out of me when KOD used to travel to different venues and sell shoes. Try getting a size 10 pair of anything from them and you were confronted with the "none left" scenario.
I even asked once to see a pair they had on display while they were setting up. They told me they had no size 10's!!

This is by no means limited to Kingdom of Dance though. I would say all the vendors I have tried to buy from in the past at events have not had any of my size in stock. They always use the line "well now you know the size you can order online".

NO I CANT!!

Im an impulse buyer. I dont actually NEED the shoes that I am looking at on your stall but I will buy them because I am currently thinking solely (no pun intended) about dancing and they are right in front of me.
If I order online I have to:
1. WAIT
2. Arrange for delivery to some place other than my house because I am a member of the human race and work for a living so wont be at home


Now i just dont buy from vendors at weekenders. I have the shoes I like (Freed Comp ones) so I just re-order the correct sizes direct. Ok I have to arrange delivery but at least I know I have not wasted my time with stall vendors.

[Gav]

They always use the line "well now you know the size you can order online".

NO I CANT!!

So a size 8 is too small and 9 is too big, I can order an 8.5 on-line? No, because even the closest right size might not fit properly depending on the style. I want to try it on, without having to send it back and wait for my money to be refunded.

[Double Trouble]

I want to try it on, without having to send it back and wait for my money to be refunded.

I ordered shoes on line once and they didn't fit. Not only did I have to pay the postage & packing for them to be sent to me, but I also had to pay for them to be sent back. I think it was £10 all together just to try a pair of shoes that don't fit.

[Paul F]

I want to try it on, without having to send it back and wait for my money to be refunded.

I forgot about that one! Another reason I wont even bother asking about shoes.

[Steven666]

Just a quickish post from me.

Friday

Got the first full dance of the weekend with Fletch at about 2:15pm. Then later got a bit drunk apparantly and ended up apparantly . Though I personally think that if I don't remember it, it never happened . Went for a half an kip at 2:30 am but slept through the alarm and woke up at 8. Bit gutted about that.

Saturday

Woke up with a bad back. My fault as I slept in a funny position. Did Viktor's class. That man is a god! Love his style of moves. Also did Simon's class which was good. Breifly stopped by the BBQ to show my bits as it were! But I didn't get in to the dancing though at all until about 10:30pm onwards. Then my poor ability improved slightly. Unfortuanately missed the caberet but did manage to see THAT treasure chest!

Sunday

Woke up with a knackered ankle (yes, I'm always injured in some way). and again didn't get into the swing of it till late on (thinking back, didn't dance well sober, lol). Enyoyed the double trouble class and of course Viktor's class. Got to dance (with Fletch's intermediary - is that the right word) with the B in the B from Ashtons last week. Was it worth the weeks delay? It's not easy to dance out of beat intentionally I can tell you! Also enjoyed a brief bit of tag dancing late on but I was far from gone by then.

Highs

Lots are familar faces as well as new faces and a loads of great dances. Not going to do a list as I will definately miss names over seeing as I have a memory of a gold fish.

Viktor's classes. Wow!

No real hotshot corner in the main room! Or anywhere from what I saw.

Spending a bit too much time in the arcade though I remained at pretty much break even. Yes, that's a high for me!

Lows

My dancing. Wasn't really happy with it for the most part. No fault to anyone I danced with as they were all superb (well albeit see above, lol).

The flooring. Didn't like them at all this time which supprised me as I loved them last time. I just wish I converted back to my trainers before sunday.

Not dancing with everyone I wanted to. My fault though as I waasn't asking much but that was more an issued of lost mojo .

In Summary

Very good weekender as I expected. I just wished my dancing was a little more on par.

And now my modern jive days are over. For a while at least.

[sway]

got time to sit and give a little review.

first dance stoke bloke

best dance simon (teacher) (wow )

thanks to fletch for intros to people i never met before on friday, and then just in general being there for my first southport thanks babe, caz well where do i start thanks for bouncy dance sunday morning then the blues dance, yes next time will stay up all day 2 but i think that 830am is dam good lol, got loads of dances with general people that i normally dance with, and also i asked loads of teachers to dance which was cool and felt even better at the end of the dance with simon he said it was fantastic so i just felt great as people look at me and just asume that i can not dance that well and some body asked if i had any bones in my body as i was so flexable (that does not sound the way i want it to lol)

o well i had a fab weekend and loved every minute of it and can not wait till sept,

xxxxxx

[Lee Bartholomew]

Had a few people asking for song titles of some of the songs I played on Sat and Sun

Make it wit u - Queens of the Stone Age ( )

Boom Shack-A-lac - Apache Indian (Was Claires choice BTW) ( )

Toxic - Hard-Fi ( )

I am after a song played by the DJ after Zebera Woman on Sun Night in Blues Room. Female singer. Something to do with a car.

[Dreadful Scathe]

I ordered shoes on line once and they didn't fit. Not only did I have to pay the postage & packing for them to be sent to me, but I also had to pay for them to be sent back.

That's illegal under distance selling regulations - although you may have to pay to send them back*, you should be reimbursed for all money you paid INCLUDING postage.


*although not all the time, you can ask for them to be collected.

[dave the scaffolder]

Aye Aye sport fans here we go..

What a fantastic weekend did not have a bad dance all weekend

THE GOOD BITS....ALL OF IT

THE BAD BITS.... COMING HOME

Memorable bits...
Being asked by Zarey if I would be his 1st male to male dance, cheers mate I am honoured you asked me for your 1st male on male dance, may we have many more.

My gorgeous Trouble, looked fab all weekend, even 1st thing in the morning.

Danced with Tiger Pants to Lynyed Skynyd, Freebird, at the end of the dance I was a quivering wreck and had to sit down for 10 mins...Awesome my lovely truly awesome. Another great dance with The Librarian top men yourself.

Under Par for making me squeeeel again.

Must have spent half the weekend dancing as a follower, many thanks to the men and women confident enough to break the mould and dance unconventionally.

A weekend is what you as an individual dancer make it, and I for one have never had a bad weekend, however this weekend was the best that trouble and I have been to, and we have been to a couple.

Sarah Whites mob...Everyone of you is an excellent dancer and did more then hold your own in the Blues room, you all belong in there without a doubt.

The Scottish contingent, not a good dancer amongst you, you are all fabalous.

Not going to name names as I would be here all day, you know who you are and the weekend was amazing for me and Trouble, by the way did anyone notice MY weight loss? Or were you all stunned by Troubles weight loss?

Jon and Wes marry me, the pair of you are just marvellous, I am yours for the asking.

All in all a fantastic weekend with marvellous music and stunning dancing.

WELL DONE JON, WES AND WIVES.

DTS Dave XXX XXX

[Lynn]

So a size 8 is too small and 9 is too big, I can order an 8.5 on-line? No, because even the closest right size might not fit properly depending on the style. I want to try it on, without having to send it back and wait for my money to be refunded.

I don't buy dance shoes online for that reason (unless like Paul its a repeat of a pair I already have). I want to try on shoes before I buy them. And there isn't a lot of choice locally so I do normally buy at weekenders for that reason.

I didn't buy any shoes this weekend. But I liked the clothes stall and got a few things from there.

[dave the scaffolder]

I am going to start another thread on the amount of single women in the dance scene, with , hopefully some tips and hints for all you single women out there, on how to get a man in you clutches.

DTS Dave XXX XXX

[Lory]

Overall, this was one of my best Southports!!!

There were things that didn't work for me but in saying that, none of them bothered me too much, as I found there were enough other good things, rooms/music choices to not make them an issue!

The Good

Dancing in the sunshine - for me, this was the highlight of the weekend. I'm so glad the Marquee wasn't there!!!


The surprisingly good

I was dancing outside for about an hour, when suddenly it struck me, every track I was hearing was absolutely fab! in fact, I wanted to go, but it was so good, i couldn't pull myself away...Then I asked. Who's Djing? Nobody could answer, so I went over to investigate and bloody hell, it was only Lee flippin' Bartholemew. Well done Lee!

Dancing in the main room - Saturday night got uncomfortably crowded in the blues room, so I had a wander and to my surprise, I had a brilliant hour or so in there!

Asking and being asked to dance by lots of new (to me) people, I discovered some amazing dancers, who I'd never had the pleasure of dancing with before! (sadly I didn't find out any names)

As usual - my wonderful chalet mates

Rediscovering some old friends.. I had some of my best dances of the weekend with Gus, Azande and young Adam (who's spookily like my son )

Meeting some new forumites - thankyou for the dance Beowolf.

The BBQ - It was practically perfect I'd say!

Discovering that Bacardi is much better than JD for daytime drinking

My dancing (especially after the Barcardi started working) I was pleased, none of my usual confidence busting partners had the power to make me feel like poo this time! Yippee!

All the floors I danced on, were lovely and fast!

Watching some of the dancing in the bar area.. especially the linedancing, Chelsea's dance with Paul Warden and Nicole's dance with Lee Eastern.. The were all worthy of a showcase of their own!


Transforming Minnie's hair (just wished I had some 'product' with me, to help it stay longer) If I say so myself, she looked FAB!



The Ugly

Having an accident on the way home, luckily it was only a minor one but DJ still needed to have his car towed away but luckily for me, Spice'n'easy came to my rescue and took me the rest of the way home! Thanks hun!

The blues room being completely packed at one point, to the point of being unpleasant and dangerous to dance in!

Me forgetting my sleeping tablets and not getting a single minutes sleep on Fri/sat but I was incredibly lucky and found someone who had the same prescription as me, so I caught up with a very good couple of hours, early on Saturday night (it resulted in missing the cabaret but hey ho, go with the flow)

Sugarfoot's feet

Having a complete stranger tap me on the shoulder, whilst standing on the decking and asking me, if I minded if he farted? YES I DO, thank you very much! How crass and unfunny. I just hope for his sake, he was playing dares and it wasn't he usual chat up line!

Friends who treat you like a stranger, when it suits them!

The sad

Seeing a few friends going through some tough times

The happy

Seeing some previously unhappy friends, happy again!


The ugly but very funny

Monday morning about 6am - me running towards young Adam for a dance and doing a spectacular rolling dive!

David Bailey being stopped by the police, 20 yards away from Pontins gates (David, I promise it was only funny, once I'd found out the police had got the wrong info)

Dale (groovy dancer) on the stilts

The disappointing

The Marquee -

What would stop you dancing in the blues room still?

Well, something to sit on might help.

It might go some way to help one to stop feel like you're 'in the way' when you walk in.
Or that you have to join some sort of 'standing spectators line-up'.
From the other perspective, if there were chairs, it might have felt less intimidating for the dancers, as, as it was, people had no option but to stand round the edge and watch!
Also, there was nowhere to plonk your stuff, so, if you wanted to stay for any length of time you had to dump all your stuff on the dusty floor.
And, as you say, there wasn't a bar, so, even if you brought one over, there was nowhere to put it, apart from the floor!

I just didn't feel it was a room I could settle in!



The Latin room - I'm pretty much OK at most Latin dances, (Salsa, Meringue, Cha Cha, Batchata, Rumba and AT ) and loved the music, what I heard of it but I just couldn't find any of the men I knew to dance with in there and I admit, its 'MY' fault, I'm absolutely hopeless at playing the 'Watch, Wait, Stalk and Grab game'

Sunday afternoon - I'm afraid I nearly screamed with frustration, cos I was on such a high and all I wanted to do was dance but I was hating every other track, with a passion! In the end I had to accept the fact that most of it wasn't going to be to my taste, so I gave up but lucky enough, when I got back to the chalet, I was just in time for Toni and Vince to dish up some very welcome grub!

I don't know if it was just me but Arjay and Melissa (didn't notice her freestyling at all) didn't seem to create any kind of Wow factor buzz but I did managed to get a couple of dances with him and they were 'nice'

Glad Dolly Parton went down so well!

You ARE joking aren't you?!?!
APART from that, I really enjoyed your set!


Ending on a personal note

I experienced an overwhelming sense of peace this weekend.

I preplanned absolutely nothing, I didn't even look at the timetable, I just went with the flow and how I was feeling at the time and didn't push myself to do anything but somehow, I effortlessly managed to enjoy dancing right till 6-30 on Monday morning!

I had some great one to one chats and got to know a few people much better, which was great, as a couple of the chats helped to dispel some previously held angst.

I was also faced with a situation, that would have previously devastated my weekend but I found I was able to simply roll my eyes and say to myself, "yeah whatever" and 15minutes later got back to enjoying myself!

A major result in my book!

See you all in September!

[sway]

just wanted to say thanks to steven666 and fletch for the double trouble dance, it was great as normal,

[HelenB]

The Scottish contingent, not a good dancer amongst you, you are all fabalous.

Think that might need editing
(Sorry Dave - made me laugh)

[mick s]

[QUOTE=robd;476313]Good
** Madonna's '4 Minutes' in the main room after a class - man, that beat kicks some arse - what a tune I thought it would be overplayed this weekend but that's the only time I personally heard it.

Played it Fri night in my main room set.