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  1. #1
    Forum Bombshell - Our Queen! Lory's Avatar
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    Skeggy - The Aftermath

    I thought I'd start this thread in preparation for when everyone gets back, cos I'm gutted I wasn't able to go and I want to know EVERYTHING!

    Sooooo, how was the....

    Journey


    Accommodation
    • Cleanliness

    • Hot water

    • Cooking facilities

    • Distance from your accommodation to the venue?


    Venues
    • Distance between venues and was this an issue?

    • Timings of available dancing

    • Size

    • Floor

    • Heat - fans - air-con etc

    • Bars - efficiency and prices

    • Seating

    • Atmosphere?


    Restaurants
    • Quality

    • Prices

    • efficiency


    Other facilities
    • spa

    • swimming

    • Shops

    • Bars


    the good the bad and the Ugly of the...

    Music - Dj's

    Workshops

    Cabarets

    and any other incidentals.

    Forum meets etc

    Would a BBQ be feasible for the summer?

    Any complaints?

    Any surprise.... 'Wow..... that was a brilliant innovation'?

    What could be improved on?

    Any Shocking gossip???

    Lovey dovy news, Valentine proposals etc?

    and finally ... compared to the previous JA Southport's, how does it rate, as an overall experience???

    P.s. I missed you all!
    Last edited by Lory; 15th-February-2009 at 12:16 PM. Reason: Forgot something
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    Registered User jacksondonut's Avatar
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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Brilliant idea Lory.... I couldnt go either, but planning on being there in September! Looking forward to hearing from everyone too!

    oh.. missing you too Lory xxxx

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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    I'm not there either. So I can't comment about the event as I wasn't there to see anything first-hand - I wonder if Rocky will feel the same?

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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Another cracking idea from Lory...waiting with anticipation to hear about it as I have booked for June and it will whet my appetite even more...I hope

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    Registered User Lost Leader's Avatar
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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Great list there Lory - One thing I thought of to add is the potential for outside dancing, if any.

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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Good list - under the Accommodation section, you could also add a sub-section:

    - Bed

    and within that:

    - cleanliness of sheets
    - aroma of the bedding
    - stiffness/hardness experienced in the bed
    - pillows: lumpiness, softness.

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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Getting There - was a nightmare as it is an hours drive from the nearest motorway across bendy A roads with 40-50mph speed limits and about 30 speed cameras

    Accommodation was excellent; We ended up in a three bedroom apartment over looking the sea with a large living room, LCD TV, Kitchen, Dining area, bathroom etc. And it was CLEAN.

    The only downside was we had to drive to the venue as it was a 15 minute walk and blood freezing. When you got to the venue there was nowhere to park because everyone else had driven there as well.

    REDs - the main venue had a feel good factor, it didn’t look tiered like all the Pontin’s venues. It didn’t smell of stale beer & sick and your feet didn’t stick to the carpet. The dance floor was very spacious even at the busiest time however there were a few ridges in it that would catch the edge of your shoes. And for some reason the heating was blasting you with hot air most of the night.

    JAKs - the Blues & WCS Room. Nice venue but someone decided to cover the floor in talcon powder Friday night, which made a right mess of your shoes. I didn’t think the music was that great, shame there wasn’t a separate WCS room

    Arthurs – Another lovely venue although the bar was tiny and finding somewhere to put your bag and coat was challenging. I only went to this venue once as it was tucked away from the other two venues and I had forgot to pack my trekking poles.

    Workshops – Carl & Sarah were excellent, Always learn something from Victor. I was looking forward to the Tango workshops but thought the teacher was crap. Bring back Admir.

    Summary - Nice accommodation & Nice venues although the distance between the three venues was too great. This put people off from walking between the rooms as you had to change your shoes and put your coat on. (Thank god it never rained). I missed being able to wonder with ease between the different venues. Finally Skegness is not the easiest place to get too.

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    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by Spinmaster View Post
    I was looking forward to the Tango workshops but thought the teacher was crap.
    Can you expand on this a bit? What was wrong with the class?

    I know AT teachers have often struggled with weekender classes - the change of scale is always a challenge - but I'd be interested to know what you thought went wrong?

  9. #9
    Forum Bombshell - Our Queen! Lory's Avatar
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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    I've had a review sent to me via FB.

    The sender wishes to remain anonymous but I asked if they minded if I posted it here, as I thought it was a very 'full and detailed' review

    Skeggy - well....

    it was always going to be difficult as comparisons with Southport were going to be made automatically and John & Wes didn't have much of a choice really.

    the good:

    The accomodation - very clean, spacious although no towels

    the not so good

    - we were a good 10 to 15 mins walk from the venues- some people even drove from their rooms to the venue

    - Jaks the new Blues room was a bit too seedy, dance floor was very slippy, even more so when some idiot put talc down! Very clicky too and quite a few people made that comment too! There was never a click at the Blues room at Souhtport so i dont know why thats suddenly developed.

    There was no main Jive Ballroom until 11:30 - due to other guests being entertained 1st! On the Saturday night dancers were made to wait outside and queue until 11:50 - caberet was at 12:30am!
    There was no atmosphere in their again

    so until you could get access there was either a very clicky Jaks or a very latin Arthurs - so no real choice

    The lessons were only 45 mins instead of an hr - most Teachers ran over as they were running out of time and to be honest 1hr is better, but this was done so more lessons cud be put in as there was only 2 rooms for lessons instead of 3 at Southport.

    didnt like wandering around with all the chavs / non dancers and all the screaming kids

    there were no places / spots to mingle other than the 3 venues so unless u went to 1 of them u wudn't bump into fellow dancers or people you know

    there just wasn't a buzz or atmosphere like at Southport, not hearing music s your walking from your apartment to the venues just didnt help.

    it didnt help that on Friday night in the blues room the only dances i got were with women in their 60's who were proud of telling me they were half-cut!

    The music wasnt particularly fantastic either from what we heard.

    Not having a main jive room till 11:30 on all 3 nights was my biggest issue!
    at least @ Southport u cud dance from 8 / 9pm in the evening and really get in the mood for a nights dancing - i just cudn't be bothered waiting till so late to get in the mood!

    Other things

    The teachers were very good in the classes we did
    Simon & Nicole
    Amy & Peter
    Viktor - who is as slick & smooth as ever!

    For us we would have preferred the atmosphere & dancing rather than plush accomodation! Everyone who went to Southport knew the accomodation was rough - but u didnt go for that - well at least we didnt!
    and we would gladly sacrifice that anyday so we cud enjoy our dance weekenders!

    My heart goes out to John & Wes as i know this isn't their fault and it was always going to be a toughie! For those who never went to Southport they are fortunate and from what we heard did enjoy their selves and in some ways are lucky as there is nothing to compare to.

    For us who loves Southport it is a different matter, we left yesterday afternoon as we cudn't be bothered to wait until 11:30 on a Sunday night for main room jive.

    As you may have gathered by now i wasnt very impressed! lol

    So we wont be returning to Skeggy which is sad as we always like supporting John & Wes and it means we wont see Teachers etc.. that we know as friends.

    Im sure there are people who did enjoy their weekender and the last thing i want is for it to fail, but i'm just giving an honest objective opinion.

    it does seem as though we paid more for less which just doesnt sit well.

    we do know other people that have picked up on all the above and like us wont be returning to Skeggy which is sad!

    Having said all that we are going to Blush @ Southport next month and despite all the politics and wondering if Ceroc can make it work we are really looking forward to goin back!
    MODERATOR AT YOUR SERVICE
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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Thats a very good and honest appraisal of the weekend and I think thats exactly what Lory wanted.Don't you just feel that somewhere there is a gloat fest going on.
    What a shame

  11. #11
    Forum Bombshell - Our Queen! Lory's Avatar
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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by djtrev View Post
    Thats a very good and honest appraisal of the weekend and I think thats exactly what Lory wanted.
    Don't you just feel that somewhere there is a gloat fest going on.
    What a shame
    I hope you don't mean from me?

    I want 'all' weekenders to be good and I'd like to go to a JA one later in the year (if possble) so, hopefully, if people write honest reports about the 'not so good' along with the good.

    JA will have a chance to straighten some of the 'not so good' issues out!

    Also, I don't think anyone's in a position to gloat just yet, with Blush coming up so soon!
    I think they're going to have the toughest job, so lets not start stirring, its not helpful

    Lets hope the competition forces all weekenders to keep raising the bar....At the end of the day, lets not forget, its Joe Public, that will either suffer, or reap the rewards of the changes!
    MODERATOR AT YOUR SERVICE
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    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Cor:
    Jaks the new Blues room was a bit too seedy
    and:
    a very latin Arthurs
    Sounds good to me...

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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by David Bailey View Post
    Can you expand on this a bit? What was wrong with the class?

    I know AT teachers have often struggled with weekender classes - the change of scale is always a challenge - but I'd be interested to know what you thought went wrong?
    I have attended a number of AT classes at weekenders and found them easy to follow. However this guy did a quick demonstartion of a move and then told a very large class to practice it. Admir would go into more depth about the frame and weight transfer during the move. I didn't feel like I was learning anything.

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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Well most of what I had to say has already been covered so I'll try not to repeat, and I have no interest in the pointless arguing so I won't be commenting on the stuff I don't agree with.

    This was the first Skeggy weekender. I wasn't at the first SP weekender, but I suspect that this was better and that it took time to develop the atmosphere that SP had; people need time get used to where everything is and how it all works. Having said that, I was happy with it as is.

    I think that the longer I've been dancing, the more that the music playing affects whether I enjoy a night/day or not.
    There were some awful sessions and some great ones, but that's just down to my personal preference/music tastes.
    Ones I really enjoyed include Tessalicious, Dr. Chill, Dance Demon, Gazza and Steve Joynson (I think ).
    Ones I didn't included Zebra Woman and TWK.

    I only tried 2 lessons (the rest either didn't appeal or I was busy in the spa ).
    Ultra-smooth MJ with Victor. Purleeeease! Firstly, it was all arms above head height and twisting shoulders type moves, whic hwould clearly takes years of practice to be able to do it smoothly. Secondly, what an awful teacher! It was like he'd never taught the routine before, wasn't sure what to say and said the opposite of what he did . Finally, when the lesson finished, he put a series of steel-drum, calypso type songs on which couldn't be further from suitable music to do those moves to.

    Basic Lindy with Simon and Kirsty Selmon. The opposite of above . Clearly knew what he was doing (Kirsty got him back on track when he started rambling), did what he said and played great, suitable music (a nice touch was that he told us what they tracks were)

    John and Wes, as usual went out of their way to make sure everything was working well and should be congratulated for a great weekend.

    Next time... More swing music and more Lindy lessons please. I know that there were a few people there that have extensive collections of swing music and were DJ'ing anyway.

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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by Gav View Post
    stuff
    One last thing, there were more than a few people I didn't dance with for one reason or another and that I would've liked to, but that was my own fault.

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    Registered User emmylou25's Avatar
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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    I'm hoping some of the other reviews by people who'd not been to JA Southport before are a bit better as i've booked for my first JA in june - hopefully some of the issues will be sorted out before then.

    The bonus of being able to use shower & kitchen at same time sounds great though.

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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by emmylou25 View Post
    I'm hoping some of the other reviews by people who'd not been to JA Southport before are a bit better as i've booked for my first JA in june - hopefully some of the issues will be sorted out before then.

    The bonus of being able to use shower & kitchen at same time sounds great though.

    So have I and am hoping that some of the feedback is a bit more positive. From what is being said here on the forum and what I was told from a non forum person it seems that part of the problem is that the site is not exclusively for the Jive Weekenders.

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    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by Maxine View Post
    So have I and am hoping that some of the feedback is a bit more positive. From what is being said here on the forum and what I was told from a non forum person it seems that part of the problem is that the site is not exclusively for the Jive Weekenders.
    Yes - but that's not an insuperable problem, the Scottish ones were like that also, and they seemed to work OK.

    Similarly, the "long distance to venue" (and to a point the "distance between rooms") thing is much more of a problem in freezing February than it would be in hopefully-sunny June.

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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    It was mixed for myself and two friends, the appartment was great, all had a room each, but our shower only gave out cold water so meant cold showers fri night and sat morning, but when they came he was very helpful and I got him to do some more little jobs for me. The distant was a pain but the weather was fine so treated as part of our keep -fit regime. I felt in Jaks it was more clicky but I think that was because if you did not do wcs I felt a bit reluntant to ask for a dance doing jive. I liked Arther's as I like latin anywhere, and I missed Reds friday and sat I hated a lot of the music on the sat and I found going in and out venues a pain so we ended up leaving around 2. I did not do many classes, and like the other person said about the tango class we gave up after 10mins as it was all over the place and not getting a dance partner, I prefer Amir. But for us girls we had a great weekend on the social front, because the appartments were lovely we had some tasty meals and good wine, we ended not going out till gone 10 plus meeting up with others in the bars for a chat. If I was going in June I would be using the pool and all the other attractions on show. I prefer Southport where the venues were together and having the place to yourself but even with that I had had enough of the place and no intention again. I hope it succeeds at Butlins and the staff said the other appartments are being done up, so with any luck you won't have so far to walk.

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    Re: Skeggy - The Aftermath

    One more thing not to with Skegness itself but Keth Davies one of the dance teachers there I just wanted to clear one thing but was he the on the channel 4 programe dine with me last thursday when one of the contestants had some dancers round for her meal.

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