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Thread: Blush The Aftermath

  1. #21
    The Dashing Moderator
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe View Post
    Didn't Southport always have that though
    I know that some previous Ceroc weekenders have had a feed from the main room on one of the TV channels.

    I can't remember whether Jive Addiction did or not?
    Love dance, will travel

  2. #22
    Registered User Battlecat's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by kps View Post
    And even a possible trip to Scotland.


  3. #23
    Dickie Davies' love-child Cruella's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe View Post
    Didn't Southport always have that though
    I've seen it at some weekender before but I can't remember which one!

  4. #24
    Registered User Lynn's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by Cruella View Post
    I've seen it at some weekender before but I can't remember which one!
    I think it was Storm. Not that I ever watched it. Don't watch much TV when away at weekenders!

  5. #25
    Dickie Davies' love-child Cruella's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by Lynn View Post
    I think it was Storm. Not that I ever watched it. Don't watch much TV when away at weekenders!
    I thought it may have been there, at the first one, not sure though.

  6. #26
    Registered User Battlecat's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    I am tired, aching muscles and have sore feet, it must have been a great weekend.

    The journey was good, thanks to Claire S for giving me a life, took about 4hours, and due to the level crossing being closed, we found a quicker route home.

    The accommodation was as expected, just across the road from the blues room and great for meeting friends who popped in on their way past.

    I found the atmosphere friendly and fun and enjoyed having so many of my Scottish colleagues there as well. The workshops were fun, but very busy and it was helped by the taxi’s who organised crowd control and on occasions joined in due to their being extra men in the rotation.

    Music was good, tended to split my time between the blues room and the latin room, had fun during the WCS slots as the music was great and there were a variety of styles being danced in the room, it seemed to work well with plenty of room for all dancers.

    The Sunday afternoon dancing was great especially as we were able to dance outside on the decking.

    Had great dances all weekend, a special thanks to those who tolerated my beginners follow in the Milonga and who helped me practise my WCS.

    My only complaint about the latin room was the original floor that had a couple of uneven bits, would have been better if it had been covered with the temporary flooring.

    Loved the live feed from the main room and having the DVD ready on the Sunday.

    Did miss having a forum meet, would have been good, can we get one for next time?

  7. #27
    Registered User gamebird's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    My first south-of-the border weekender - I had a fantastic time.

    Glad I was feeling confident enough to introduce myself to a number of forumites (Thanks dts for being obvious enough so I could work you out, and for pointing out a number of others), great to meet you all and thanks to all the boys for the amazing dances.

    I'll review later, gotta go dancing in a bit and still have to wash dts out of my hair

  8. #28
    Registered User gamebird's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by Lost Leader View Post
    I suspect they are pretty rare at Camber so that is one reason for going to Southport.
    Quote Originally Posted by kps View Post
    And even a possible trip to Scotland.
    Quote Originally Posted by Battlecat View Post


  9. #29
    Commercial Operator StokeBloke's Avatar
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    Cool Re: Southport The Aftermath

    OK - Here goes. These are my honest thoughts about Southport. There has been a lot said about the whys and wherefores of how Ceroc ended up hosting a weekender at Southport. We didn't decide to go ourselves until the very last moment (OK it was Thursday... but it was pretty much an 11th hour decision). But that is not what I am here to discuss. I will also skip all the incidental cr@p about the accommodation, water temperature and how fast the fish 'n chips took to arrive, what the M6 traffic was like and get down to the nitty gritty.

    There may be many people reading this thread who don't want to hear this but, Ceroc did it! They really did. A weekender worthy of being called Southport.

    The venue is a very special place. That really goes without saying. But a venue does NOT make a weekender. Skegness proved that a huge chunk of a weekender really does hang on the music. Ceroc have taken that fully onboard and they went mob handed. There is no denying that Ceroc's DJs are an amazing bunch. In a way there were times when the music was just too good!! Sunday night for example; John Baker playing an inspired set in the Latin room whilst OXOs was fillling the Blues room with the most gorgeous tunes. I heard some amazing sets by Sheena, Rob Ambridge, Rocky, OXOs, Marc Forster, John Baker, Gary Turner, Chris Uren... I know I missed some crackers too, I never thought I would say this but there was just too much music for me to dance too!

    I would like to take a moment to tell you about Brent and Kellis too. The WCS pro's from America were the polar opposite to Benji. Staying up and out to 4-5am each night. The dances they were having together were spell binding to watch, but they were not in the SLIGHTEST bit up themselves. They were there on the floor hour after hour asking and wanting to be asked to dance. Huge respect to them for their attitude. They both loved the Modern Jive that they saw, and were out there dancing with the Modern Jivers so they could have a proper taste of what Ceroc do. It was also strange to see Brent so puzzled about the perceived snobbishness of WCS in the UK. It would seem that this is a British phenomena, and the American WCS dancers are in general as fun and friendly as the rest of us (I have to say that does match the experience that I have had from the very limited number of American Coasters I've met).

    It has to be said that there were many people missing.. perhaps you were one of them. The lack of many of the regulars was noted for sure. But if you go to a freestyle you are seldom hit by who's not there. You get on and enjoy yourself dancing with whoever is also attending. It was the same at Southport. A track comes on and you don't think "Awww I want to dance to this with so-and-so but they aren't here so I will sit this one out and mope"... In the words of Lady GaGa you "just dance". And there were 'new finds' aplenty!

    One thing that was DEFINITLY missing form Southport was a Mariachi set on Saturday! Essie and me NEED Mariachi when we do Southport. Fortunately for us Sara White was holding a Mariachi night down in Oakham, so we got ourselves some take-away Mariachi. It was quite a drive down from Southport, but it was worth every single mile! We were thankfully back in time for Gary Turner's set in the Blues room at 5am still buzzing from our Mariachi high. What a night!!! Huge thanks to Sara White and CJ.. just a little closer next time please

    I know there are people who would never set foot in Southport again. That's a real shame, because if you like it or not Southport is here to stay and Ceroc have been pretty respectful to history of the place without making it a JiveAddiction event clone. It did take a few hours to settle in when I got there to be honest... but that was a mental adjustment I needed to make. It would seem that Southport is in safe hands. I will definitely be going back in the future. Is there room for improvement? Of course. But the fact that Ceroc managed to pull off the first one so well is very encouraging to the future of amazing weekenders at Southport.

    Finally, let me give you my feedback and experiences of the main room, the classes, the caberat and the workshops "____________________________".
    Last edited by StokeBloke; 16th-March-2009 at 08:41 PM. Reason: Knackered brain = many stoopid mistakes

  10. #30
    Registered User Lost Leader's Avatar
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    Re: Southport The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by StokeBloke View Post

    One thing that was DEFINITLY missing form Southport was a Mariachi set on Saturday! Essie and me NEED Mariachi when we do Southport. Fortunately for us Sara White was holding a Mariachi night down in Oakham, so we got ourselves some take-away Mariachi. It was quite a drive down from Southport, but it was worth every single mile! We were thankfully back in time for Gary Turner's set in the Blues room at 5am still buzzing from our Mariachi high. What a night!!! Huge thanks to Sara White and CJ.. just a little closer next time please
    I am a mere nothing, not even a lightweight next to this act of dedication / insanity - it must be getting on for a 3 hour drive each way surely.
    Last edited by Lost Leader; 16th-March-2009 at 08:54 PM. Reason: Oh my god its 140 miles away!

  11. #31
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Journey
    Not bad for a late Friday afternoon. Someone has built an extra sliproad between the M62 and the M57 which saved a few minutes.

    Accommodation
    Cleanliness etc. were much as you'd expect from Pontins chalet. As in the Jive Addiction Feb Southports, someone had switched the heaters on before we got there (although I remember JA gave us a handful of electricity cards too, which we didn't get from Ceroc).

    The rooms at Skeggy were nicer and much easier to heat - on the other hand it was noticeably less distance to walk at Southport. It felt much easier to pop back to the chalet for a cuppa.

    Venues
    The location and layout of Southport are always going to count in its favour, I think.
    • Distance between venues and was this an issue?
      Surprisingly - yes! They're too close! The main room volume was turned up way too loud at times. It wasn't pleasant to be there and also it meant you couldn't hear the music in some parts of the Blues Room.

    • Timings of available dancing
      Dancing was available every time I was out.

    • Size
      Having fewer dancers than the JA Southports meant there was more space to dance.

    • Floor
      A different sort of temporary dancefloor to the JA ones. Shinier and "faster".

      I think there could be problems with dew (!) with the outside section in the Summer if they use the same material. I saw the outside section covered in condensation early one morning, presumably because of the shinier material, which could put a stop to early-morning outside dancing in May.

    • Heat - fans - air-con etc
      Generally OK for most of the weekend, but the main room heating was set way too hot in the early hours of Monday morning.

    • Seating.
      A few extra chairs and tables round the edge of the "3rd dancefloor" in the Blues Room were helpful.

    • Atmosphere?
      A different bunch of people, and a different atmosphere. I think it was more inclusive than some JA Southports.



    Other facilities
    • Swimming
      No idea myself, but there were some seriously flash motors parked near the pool at Sunday lunchtime.

    • Shops
      A good 10% of the shop at Pontins seems to be turned over to fluffy toys - why?


    the good the bad and the Ugly of the...
    • Music - Dj's
      Some really good music - I particularly enjoyed the Main room on Friday night (Marie Delort?) Tiggerbabe's Blues Room set on Sunday night/Monday morning and Rocky's Soul/Funk/Disco set on Saturday afternoon.

      Nigel's "Mike Ellard's Swingers Hour" on Sunday afternoon was fun (sadly I just missed Nigel and Nina doing an impromptu cabaret ), but I didn't enjoy the rest of the afternoon so much as I did on Saturday.

    • Dancers
      Some fab dancers there. I'm not not naming names as I'm sure I'd miss someone out. Some of those fab dancers were wearing the tell-tale "VIP" wristbands. I'd paid full price but I'd certainly have missed out if they weren't there.

    • Workshops
      I spent a lot of time dancing during the day, so didn't do any workshops. However I did watch one from the chalet (and appreciated the "for those of you watching at home" asides)

    • Cabarets
      I loved the WCS one and the piano-playing footwork. The first and last ones seemed *very* short though - I did feel a bit short-changed.


    Wristbands
    I think the wristband system will need some serious thought before May...

    I'm assuming that Mike Ellard had been fervently hoping for a sunny afternoon warm enough to open the main doors on the Blues Room - presumably doing the exact opposite of a rain-dance all week. And the sun did indeed shine! So we did have a spell of dancing outside.

    But this made a nonsense of the wrist band system. We had one person checking the wrists of people going in and out of the doors by the bar, as people wandered freely in and out via the Blues Room dance floor.

    Assuming there's sunshine in May, I don't see how they can operate the wristband system without setting up some sort of barrier round the Blues Room, and Checkpoint Charlie to get in and out. This could destroy the relaxed summer feel of the Blues Room (which is a good chunk of the appeal of a Summer Southport).

    Cameras
    I can't ever remember having so many cameras pointed at me at a weekender. (I don't expect to see many of the results as I tend to crack lenses. ). But they were everywhere, especially on Sunday afternoon in the Blues Room. (The cynic in me suspects there will turn out to be a disproportionate number of photos of a relatively short period of dancing outside in the sun.)

    Any surprise.... 'Wow..... that was a brilliant innovation'?
    Not really. Jive Addiction do some of it better - I particularly miss the big posters with the class and DJ timetables, as I really don't want to carry the little booklet around with me all day.

    Any Shocking gossip???
    I could see that two groups of people put in two solid chunks of work:

    One was a rival jive organisation who (if the area I parked was anything to go by) went round putting flyers under all the car windscreen wipers.

    The other was the (presumably Ceroc) people who went round taking them all away again...

    and finally ... compared to the previous JA Southport's, how does it rate, as an overall experience???
    Overall I had a great time (but I also did at Skeggy last month).
    Love dance, will travel

  12. #32
    Basically lazy robd's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by frodo View Post
    Far and away the worst jive weekender held at Pontins Southport for some time.
    No-one's opinion is ever wrong and everyone's weekender experience will vary but it would be nice to understand how you arrived at this conclusion Frodo.

  13. #33
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    OK, so, after 12 years plus on the modern jive dancefloor, this was my very first Ceroc weekender, as I have always avoided them for reasons I won't go into...

    I eventually succumbed, as some of my "good ol' faithfuls" have disappeared/moved to a not so favourable set up/location, seem to have lost their magic blah blah blah. And more importantly 3 weekenders a year for someone that works more than dances any other time of the year, simply does not give me my required fix…

    And yes, having been to the very first JA @ Southport and many, many since, I thought if I'm gonna try a Ceroc one to see if it could supplement my weekender needs, as I simply love the venue, this is the one… (despite it being a horrendous trek "up North" for me).

    Can't beat the 'Queen Vic" set up as a blues/chill out room, especially with dancing outside (weather permitting), and daylight streaming in early morn',no walks outside to flit from one music style to the next, the "inner circle" green quietly but compulsively inviting people to get together off the dance floor as well as on... (has anyone thought of doing a mass BBQ there in summer? Not sure if that has been done yet)…

    No wonder Ceroc had their eyes in this venue for some time...

    BUT I'm not writing this to do a JA vs Ceroc @ Southport comparison or take any sides in hotly debated politics (that’s SO last season and I like dancing more than I like politics). Suffice to say I was a wee p***ed off by the first page of the booklet referring to the proven history of SP as a great dance weekender venue and continuing the 24 hour dancing experience at this particular venue...(demi-quote as I have not got it in front of me, before anyone cares to put me right…) and noting an uncanny resemblance to the JA set up and experience…

    Then again, as I said, I have never yet experienced a Ceroc weekender, so perhaps this is how Ceroc always does things…).

    Despite all above, in all honesty, I went without any particular expectations. And I was pleasantly surprised. The weekender managed to capture pretty much what I love about the SP experience, be it that I can see improvements to be made. A new location can always expect some teething problems and I can but hope that Ceroc will put its own stamp on SP rather than playing copycat going forward (that being a Ceroc SP specific stamp rather than a Ceroc ‘bland” stamp… Oops…)

    The music was not all it could be in IMHO.

    The term ‘blues” in the blues room after hours was interpreted rather too literally by some DJ’s in particular slots, and prevented me (and too many others) from going for my usual (semi)all-nighters. Sunday night tickled my taste buds most of all, but sadly common sense got the better of me at 3am.

    Despite what some of you may think, I do love attacking a good beat at times, but the music in the main room on average left me pretty much neither here nor there… the few dances I did have there, were lovely, but mostly because of my partner in crime rather than because of the music being necessarily inspiring any which way.

    Latin room… well, not much Latin all in all, was there? I like getting my hands dirty in a beginner sorta way with WCS, but to have a fully fledged WCS room from midnight-ish with the majority of Westies being absent (from the weekender, not just the room…) left the room less than sparkling. May I suggest either a separate WCS venue, or specific timeslots, keeping the Latin room Latin for most of the time (I had feedback from various sources thinking the same, they all felt a bit out of sorts after midnight cos the jumpy room didn’t get them jumping, and the blues room was perceived too bluesy on average)? Or, as someone else suggested, stepping up the Latin content in the other venues once the Latin room has converted to WCS? God forbid, by the time I tend to get onto the dancefloor, I already missed the little Latin available in any event…)

    For me, a good weekender is made up of a) great venue without too much distance (if any!) between different music types cos I like flitting about, b) people I can get on with on and/or of the dance floor, c) variety of dance partners that either challenge my dancing/musicality and/or are somehow so inspiring on and/or off the dance floor that I simply can not abide giving up sleep over dancing/staying up all night, d) atmosphere and e) the music, the music, the music…


    For me, Ceroc @ SP scored high on a), moderately on b) and c), and not highly on d) and e)…

    Not having all the usual faces worked both ways for me, difficult to explain. On the one hand they were sorely (and I mean SORELY) missed, and prevented the whole SP = coming home kind of experience, whereas at the same time it was nice to not be in the usual social and dancing environment.

    For once, I had early-ish nights in favour of some chilled and funky afternoon dancing (which was definitely my highlight of the weekend).

    Will I go back? Definitely. Can I see the good that was achieved? Definitely. Can I see improvements? Definitely again! Am I hopeful? Yes

    Thank you to my brilliant chalet mates (though one in particular was sadly missed), Thank you to my BRILLIANT dance partners, and I mean, ALL of you! (though again one in particular was sadly missed, but I kept your seat warm, just in case…)


    PS workshops; no comment as did not do any, though my chalet weekender newbie was in awe (and overdid it as was to be expected). Great to have the main room live on-stream in the chalet in the background of chilling etc, though camera angle on cabaret could be much improved)

    PS2:wristbands…no comment… nuff said…

  14. #34
    Registered User Twirly's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by StokeBloke View Post
    The venue is a very special place.
    Quote Originally Posted by DavidY View Post
    The location and layout of Southport are always going to count in its favour, I think.
    Quote Originally Posted by ducasi View Post
    Holiday Centres at Camber Sands and Southport will be completely re-designed and re-built.

    That suggests to me that Southport and Camber will be changing significantly, and may well be closed for an extended period of time.
    Sounds like Ceroc are putting an awful lot of effort into making this a good weekender which is great, but bearing in mind the above, is it worth it in the long run? If the layout changes significantly in the redevelopment, will it all be for nowt?

  15. #35
    B.O.G.O.F. fletch's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by Battlecat View Post

    [SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]Did miss having a forum meet, would have been good, can we get one for next time?

    If there isn't an official one in May i'm happy to organise it


    Quote Originally Posted by StokeBloke View Post


    I would like to take a moment to tell you about Brent and Kellis too. The WCS pro's from America were the polar opposite to Benji. Staying up and out to 4-5am each night. The dances they were having together were spell binding to watch, but they were not in the SLIGHTEST bit up themselves. They were there on the floor hour after hour asking and wanting to be asked to dance. Huge respect to them for their attitude. They both loved the Modern Jive that they saw, and were out there dancing with the Modern Jivers so they could have a proper taste of what Ceroc do. It was also strange to see Brent so puzzled about the perceived snobbishness of WCS in the UK. It would seem that this is a British phenomena, and the American WCS dancers are in general as fun and friendly as the rest of us (I have to say that does match the experience that I have had from the very limited number of American Coasters I've met).


    I'm just in from work and with two weekends back to back no sleep i'm in bits, so will do my review tomorrow

    I did just have to reply to these comment by Stokie.


    OMG

    I have never met a more lovely pair

    They were just fab with the children, Kelise wathced Joe dance with me and said i'm getting you later young man, which she did, I was so proud of him he held his own and i'm sure she compensated in the dance.


    They took time out to chat, dance nothing seemed to much trouble, and it was genuine

    I watched her dance with Tim Sant early hours Monday morning just the bizzzzzo

    Please, please, please get them back again. I might even have a go at it


    zzzzzzzzzz

  16. #36
    Basically lazy robd's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    CAVEAT: I attended Blush on one of the complementary passes. I sincerely believe this hasn't affected my assessment of the event but you may draw your own conclusions on that (though Val did agree to dance with me which Rocky assumes will guarantee a positive review of the event ). I just want to be upfront about it.

    It's going to be difficult to discuss this event without comparisons with JA events, be they past events at Southport or the ongoing events at Skegness but I don't think the comparisons will be useful in any way. I agree with Stokie that Ceroc pulled it off and I personally had as enjoyable a time as I recall having at any of the JA Southports. Without question, Ceroc have kept a lot of the JA formula in place and your opinion on that will probably be pre-determined by where you sit in the Bolitical landscape. Me, I am just a dancer who likes dancing to good music with good dancers all night long. JA and Ceroc are both able to give me that fix. Interesting too that the hotshot dancers - different faces, same perception - were still gathered around the bar in the Blues area. Plus ca change......

    A weekender verdict is probably based on different factors for different individuals. For me, it is primarily about the people. This weekend was missing a lot of the faces familiar from previous Southport events but it also involved a lot of people that proved excellent dancing and drinking partners - I don't think I have ever had so many laughs at a single weekender. I should give an honorary mention to the Scots contingent - the ladies, without exception, are great to dance with and Franck and Tiggerbabe proved to be great company over the course of the weekend (our increasingly hysterical breakfast club of myself, Limpy Tink and those two must have bemused the ordinary punters who had been to bed and come back out for their fry up.)

    With the DJ line up that Ceroc have - yes, even Rocky - you know the music isn't going to disappoint and that definitely proved to be the case. Personal highlights were Tiggerbabe's breakfast set on Fri night/Sat morning, John Baker's WCS set Mon morning and Marc's choice of final 3 songs for the weekend was inspired.

    I can't comment on the classes as I didn't do any. I watched a couple (one of which I contributed a move to - woo hoo, fame at last) and a group of us decided to form an on the spot feedback panel for Franck's Saturday class which, thankfully, he took in the right spirit.

    Can't be bothered with the template at the head of this thread so...

    GOOD
    * Princess Fi proving an ideal chalet mate
    * So many good dances even though I was mad bored with my own MJ repertoire by the end of the weekend. I don't name names as you always end up overlooking somebody but I must mention Limpy Tink who travelled up after Utopia, arrived for Tiggerbabe's breakfast set and gave me so many top notch dances
    * Kellese Key giving me my best dances with a WCS Pro yet - so amazingly talented yet so unintimidating
    * Chalet parties - people proving generous with their time, waffles and wine and Groovy Dancer proving to be the consumate entertainer.
    * No floorcraft issues at all, even at peak times - maybe to be expected given that overall numbers were lower than I think JA would pull - but still very welcome.


    BAD
    * Music in the main room on the one occasion I ventured in was *painfully* loud.
    * Drinking so much between Sat afternoon and Sun morning that I collapsed to bed at 4 a.m , slept for almost 12 hours and felt like sh*t when I finally got up. Thankfully, waffles and Coke Zero set me on the road to recovery
    * Driving there and back on my own was a struggle - I must try harder to arrange a car share next time.

    UGLY
    * The blister on my big toe that grew in size over the course of the weekend. Thankfully it only hurt when I stopped dancing.

    And just one final thing:

    If your ass is fat, I can't help the way that I react

  17. #37
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Journey
    9 hours in total (from southport to aberdeen, including a break and bus journey from edinburgh to aberdeen). Big thanks to Mark slavin from edinburgh, for driving to and from edinburgh.

    Accommodation

    Budget accommodation still crap.. Didn't spend much time in the chalet so didn't affect me but could be annoying to other folk.


    Venues
    Same old southport, was good to be back. Wish skeggy had a similar setup as well. No Marquee this time around, Pole dancing and private lessons were carried out in the building that has the swimming pool.

    • Distance between venues and was this an issue?
      5 -10 mins max (depending upon how sore your feet were after dancing )
    • Timings of available dancing
      appropriate amount. Latin quarter did the job the marquee did last year i.e. playing different styles (Tango, WCS etc)
    • Size
      crowd was slightly smaller than JA, more beginners than usual. That was my only concern as floor craft was lacking at times and also some beginners were doing intermediate classes.
    • Floor
      Was great, much better than skeggy. One or two minor concerns, like a small portion in the latin room, where there was cracks and also the outter decking wasn't available for most part of the weekend due to water or something.
    • Heat - fans - air-con etc
      Fans were there in adequate number. They had new machines for water in the main room and latin room. They had placed jugs of water in the blues room which was hidden behind all the dancers sitting around it, so had to make frequent trips to the far end of the main room to get some water
    • Seating.
      adqeuate
    • Atmosphere?
      I didnt enjoy friday for some reason, but started enjoying a bit more as the weekend progressed. However, blues room was dead around half 5 on saturday morning and the last tracks where played around half 6 on Monday morning.



    Other facilities
    • Swimming
      never ventured that way, thought dancing was exercise enough
    • Shops
      Same pontin shops..


    the good the bad and the Ugly of the...
    • Music - Dj's
      really good.
    • Dancers
      lots of good dancers, more beginners than usual (as mentioned above). Had plenty of lovely dances (wont name names as there were plenty), enjoyed knowing new people. Special thanks to someone who i spend most time dancing with.
    • Workshops
      Bit disappointed with the workshops. Definitely enjoyed the jive addiction ones. For one they ran till around half 8 in the evening. Not much time if you fancied a nap before coming dancing again. some of the workshops were choreographed to a particular song, like the hip hop, dirty dancing, WCS intermediate.. Was disappointed with the WCS workshops.. Brent and Kelisse are a lovely couple but their workshop was dull. Two of their intermediate workshops was cut short because they over ran the workshop with their talking. Double trouble was good, hip hop and drity dancing only thing it was choreographed.
    • Cabarets
      Didn't watch it, thought i get some sleep and go dancing later on.


    Wristbands
    Not sure about wristbands and why it was needed

    Cameras
    There were few photographers on site taking pictures which will be posted on Cerocpix.com, people can buy them of the site. so might be useful for your private collection

    Any surprise.... '
    Camera feed linked into the tv feed was a surprise to me but reading on other posts it seems that its not the first time.


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

    I enjoyed it, compared to previous southport, I think it will take a couple of more weekenders to bring it at par with last year's southport. Will i go to another cerocport, probably, if finances are ok, the venue itself is worth the trip..

    Have fun dancing y'all

  18. #38
    Omnipotent Moderator Tiggerbabe's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by robd View Post
    And just one final thing:

    If your ass is fat, I can't help the way that I react
    And that's that!
    "If you rebel against high heels, take care to do so in a very smart hat.'' George Bernard Shaw

  19. #39
    Papa Smurf
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Quote Originally Posted by Steven666 View Post
    I don't think so. When was the last time you went?
    a couple of years ago, so I don't know if they have always had it after that point, but I would imagine so.

  20. #40
    Lovely Moderator ducasi's Avatar
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    Re: Blush The Aftermath

    Rather than use the format posted above, which was designed for the Skegness experience, I'm going back to the good ol' "Good, Bad & Ugly" format...

    Good

    Almost everything about this weekender was good, if not excellent.

    There's three simple things you need for weekender success, in my opinion (and DTS's if I remember correct).

    1. The Music.

    The music was excellent. The booklet told you what to expect when and where, and the DJs delivered. Sure, some were better than others, but I didn't find myself despairing for some good music which I have done at other weekenders in the past.

    In particular, I really liked that many (most? all?) of the main room DJs were playing lots of bang-up-to-date music, rather than sets stuffed full of all the old tired "classics" I have got used to in previous trips south of the border. Special thanks to Jamie McGregor for playing a blinding set on Sunday night.

    The Latin room was playing (big surprise!) latin music, and was mostly empty every time I looked in. Once it turned into a "West Coast Sounds" room later on, the music got a lot better and it attracted bigger crowds. Shame though that people were probably scared away from the room by the "WCS" name, as I never heard any music there which I couldn't do my MJ thing to.

    The Blues room was the blues room. I liked its widened "chill-out" label, and loved 99% of the music played.

    2. The Dancers.

    The number and standard of dancers was probably a bit lower this time than I am used to at Southport. Strangely enough though, this made it a better event for me.

    a) The floors weren't as crowded. Previously to get a decent space in the blues room at night you had to stay up till (or get up at!) 4am. This time, although the main room and blues room were busy, neither were incredibly so.
    b) A lower average standard made the event less intimidating. Fewer awesome dancers meant I got to feel better about my own attempts.

    Despite this, I didn't have a bad dance (except that one with Claire S! ) all weekend, but did have lots of really great ones!

    I certainly missed lots of friends who I'm used to seeing, but that also made me go and seek out more folks I hadn't ever danced with before, rather than just dance with the people I know.

    On the issue of folks who got free or incredibly cheap tickets, sure I dislike that I paid big bucks, and they didn't, but I know I wouldn't have had such a good time otherwise, so I can't really complain...

    3. The Venue.

    Of the big weekender venues I've been to, Southport is the best. If has the best lay-out, the best floors, and the best location (being the nearest to Scotland!) Ceroc built on this, and did very well.

    They had *useful* fans cooling the rooms, good quality temp floors (though I did find them a bit uneven in a few places) and a good sound set up (though more on this later.)


    So all in all, just a really great weekender.


    Bad

    The music was a bit loud at times. In the blues room it was sometimes a bit too bass-y, and in the main room, at least near the stage, it was simply too loud. Though as Franck said, it was distortion free.

    I though the cabaret was a bit weak. Pamela & James performed what looked like two of their routines they had created for the TV show. Each lasted maybe 60 seconds max? Hope Ceroc didn't pay much for them. At least the shortness of it all meant I didn't get cramp in my legs.


    Ugly

    A sore shoulder and overwhelming tiredness cut my evenings short. We also missed the waffle party.

    ========================================

    Bottom line: Unless someone can come up with a convincing reason why I should travel further and pay more to go to Skegness, I'll be returning to Southport in the summer. Hope to see you there.

    Thanks to everyone, for your company and dances. Was good to see lots of friends from all over and spend time with them.

    Apologies to the folks who I didn't get a dance or two with – went home with a few names unticked in my mental dance card.
    Let your mind go and your body will follow. – Steve Martin, LA Story

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