Awesome set of reviews everyone and much appreciated. From what I have read so far is seems that Ceroc's version of SP is most definitely a hit, especially in terms of the music in all three rooms. Now I'm really looking forward to May (not that I wasn't anyway).
Wow there's so many replies already! I'm just "beginning" to wake up!
I'm still way too exhausted to write a review of the weekend, so that will be a job for tomorrow It was fantastic though! So glad I went!
It was awesome!
Lou x
So let me get this straight, RobD and Spice n Easy are both obsessed and inspired by "man tunnels"
I've read through the thread to try and figure out how was the wcs dancing at the event, I kinda understand that the latin room became the wcs room from 12 every night ?
How did that work, i.e. where there a lot of people there, were people exclusively dancing wcs there and not in the blues room, how was the music as far as wcs dancers are concerned ? When did the wcs sets finish ?
I'm just trying to get a feel whether or not the event would be suited for westies who do no or little MJ - any feedback on that much appreciated
I went in briefly on, I think Fri night and it was pretty dead. Sun night when John Baker was on, it was rockin' and much livelier than the Blues Boudoir. I think the sets finished at 3 a.m.
Over the course of the weekend I suppose I danced maybe 80% MJ and 20% WCS - would that have differed with a greater number of experienced WCS dancers there? I expect so but I would suggest that if you aren't happy to dance MJ at least some of the time then it's probably not an event for you.
Very rarely post (usually content to just watch and learn !) but needed to say weekend was fab . I have never done a JA southport but this was definately the best ceroc one we have attended.
brill music in all rooms , ( loved the loud stuff in the main room and chillin in the blues when i wanted to be able to chat )
Didnt feel intimidated in the blues room as i have at other weekenders seemed far more relaxed (although still not brave enough to ask for dances )
loved the cabarets and both the west coast couple and james & pam were so approachable all weekend , it was great to see them joining in ( and dancing with the children - definately made my daughters weekend )
Also had such a laugh between dances with loads of lovely people , and as usual loads of fun moments (as you would expect sharing with fletch !)
weekenders keep me sane ----- roll on the next one
As with some other dancers I was unhappy with the background to the closure of JiveAddiction's weekender at Southport. I wouldn't have gone, in part for that reason, but I was kindly offered a free ticket by Fletch. I was pleased to see that there were mostly different faces on the dance floor compared to previous JiveAddiction events at Southport. It seems that Ceroc Enterprises is expanding the market, rather than stealing it from JiveAddiction. Additionally, most dancers are not so fickle that they will abandon JiveAddiction in favour of Ceroc Enterprises simply because they have taken over a JiveAddiction location.
It also appeared that Ceroc Enterprises had been giving away many tickets for free. I spoke to one person who said she had been offered two free tickets, one male one female, if she was willing to crew. The male involved would apparently not need to crew, even for one hour. All these things might suggest that "hijacking" an existing successful weekender venue is not a shortcut to financial success, and I'm sure that Ceroc Enterprises will be looking at the results in some detail.
Anyhow, enough politics. On with review.
----
Heat/cooling
It was a cold weekend in March, so the challenge was low. There was a period in the Boudoir when it was too cold, and then the heating was turned on, and then it was too hot, and then someone opened the doors, and it was all a bit of a mess. Otherwise this was good.
Water
The water dispensers had a lower flow rate. I liked the slatted flooring by the water dispensers. I was disappointed at the lack of reuse/recycle assistance for the water containers. Other dance weekenders provide marker pens to allow dancers to mark their cups for reuse, or provide specific bins to recycle plastic water bottles.
Workshops
Extra men in all three I attended, though they evened out. Par for the course in gender-balanced weekenders. If a dance weekender wants to give out free/reduced tickets to crew, they might consider making female crew members attend workshops to even the numbers.
Note for women. No, it's not "nice to have extra men for a change", because, for me, it's not much of a change. Apparently the classes you normally go to suck at retaining men. Additionally, just because you are unable to count and stand still at the same time, does not permit you to make snide comments about men not being able to rotate. Take some responsibility for getting the right person in the rotation. Spare me your tired humour, and I'll spare you mine.
Frank & Sheena - using leverage to create momentum (Int)
aka using buzzword to create buzzword. It was a great class. I'm not entirely sure what the warmup was for, but it was decent balance practice, so I'm not complaining. The first few moves were simple, but there was some good attention to detail and things to improve. The "bonus move" was a variation on a 'travelling arm jive' aka 'travelling in-and-out', and it was fantastic: I felt that it was subtle, will require a lot of practice, and will be completely worth it. You could easily spend an hour teaching that move, in a different environment. Not sure that there was much there for followers, though.
Nigel & Nina - Blues (Beg)
Reliable beginner blues from experienced and entertaining teachers. I got good mileage out of the lunge they taught. I also appreciated (though not at the time) that Nigel got the leaders to embarrass themselves somewhat: normally we get to smirk while the women wiggle self-consciously, so it was good to even that up.
Val & Dave - Tempo changes
V&D bravely take a stand for feminism by putting Val's name first in the line-up, which is only slightly ruined when David does most of the talking during the class. Sadly, I was late for this class (carried away with dancing in the Boudoir), and I think that cost me much of the benefit I might have got. I liked the accelerated First Move Block until I led it in freestyle and realised that it was essentially the same as a First Move with an inside turn exit - something I lead all the time already. The basket-ish move was neat, although I need to get the muscle memory right for it so it doesn't get gropy.
One contrast between V&D and N&N was the position of the leader's right hand. N&N recommended bra strap, while V&D recommended the follower's left hip. This is the kind of detail that I expect was explained in the intro to V&D's class that I missed.
Ceroc TV
I was... bemused... to discover that the video of the Ceroc Champs had different music dubbed over it. People already accuse Ceroc Enterprises of not caring about musicality - don't make it this easy, please!
Otherwise I ignored it and hoped the camera wouldn't be focused on me when I fell over or did something similarly ignoble.
Music
Music was good overall. There were times when I felt that the main room music was genuinely "monotonous thump thump". Normally I hear people say that and conclude that they are deaf. This time I felt that, just as Utopia has tracks whose only virtue is that they are slow, there were main room tracks whose only virtue is that they are fast.
The "Swingers Hour - uptempo swing tunes" was not an hour long, and featured many songs that were at best mid-tempo, and did not swing. Also, my ringing ears on Saturday and Sunday night suggest that the music was too loud in some times and places.
I was glad to see a reduced emphasis on music "with a Latin Flava". I also appreciated the break-out of West Coast music from Blues music - both rooms had a more tightly focused vibe to them and were more enjoyable as a result. I particularly enjoyed the Blues sets. I think perhaps the West Coast music room might be renamed so that it is clearer that it is not only for people who dance West Coast. It was predominantly Modern Jive on the times I went in.
Dancers/dancing
Lots of new faces, and lots of new faces that were great dancers to boot. This made me happy. I was also happy to dance with a whole bunch of people who I've not danced with for a year or more. I even had a few men asking me to follow, which was a delight. There are some holes in my dancing skills that came into focus this weekend, so I will need to work on those at some point.
I continue to find folks at the bar in the Boudoir intimidating, because people are often faced away from the dance floor, which makes them appear unavailable. I have no idea if this is fixable. On the other hand, I didn't feel there was the same "Blues room = good dancers" vibe as on previous weekenders, and that was good.
My chalet mates were wonderful, and great to dance with too.
From what most people say it seems to have been a success
So what the numbers like ? was it crowded ?
Will people now do both ?
Journey
fab only 2 and a half hours no traffic
Accommodation
Cleanliness what you expect from pontins
Hot water forgot to switch the hot water tank on lol so cold showers
Cooking facilities normal went to to others for tea
Distance from your accommodation to the venue? Well I walk down the stairs and take 20 steps and im in the blues room what else do you need
Venues
Loved the blues room spent 99 % in there
I have to say marc did a amazing job of setting the mood with the lighting in the blues room when we got the Friday he was still making sure that mood was perfect and all weekend it was spot on
Only prob was they turned the air con off cause it got to cold and then they put the heating on which ment doors got opened and then we all complained it was to cold again lmao
Restaurants
Fab they now do a value menu which ment when just me and fletch and paul were in the blues room at 830am we had a cheap brekky mmmmmmmm
Music - Dj's
well where do I start wow wow wow wow every do did a fab job I think the best set had to go to tiggerbabe yesterday in the blues room and Rachel on Friday afternoon
Garry thanks for leaving me the cd Sunday morning when it was time for you to go fab cd and the track you played last 2 of your set both like a hour long each lol were fab.
Bulldog soz I missed the first time u did yours but me and fletch got a little in site on Sunday morning when you did it again for just us lol thanks
Dancers
Well omg name dropping here lol brent key was fab I lost count of the dances we had
Marc f all I have to say is get on the f**king dance floor with me is the better (he said im to polite when I ask him to dance so I said what should I say and this is what he said I have to say to him it works by the way ok try it lol)
Frank so nice to meet you and have lots of dances thanks babe
Mr darcy , groovey dancer, kps, bulldog, rocky, josh well fab is the only word for you chicky , oxo , dts, james and pam, tom baker, and of course little joe joe gets better every time fab dancer fletch can ot wait till sept to share with you lot I know that I have prob forgot some people sorry
missed a few people that would have normally been there
Workshops
There was workshops lol yes I did 1 I know lol did the wcs as a man and got it so impressed my self
Cabarets
Whoops missed them
and any other incidentals.
Forum meets etc it was like a meeting all weekend every where you went you bumped in to somebody fab
Would a BBQ be feasible for the summer? Defo please
Any complaints? Wristbands and no free brekkie gutted
Any surprise.... 'Wow..... that was a brilliant innovation'?
What could be improved on? Just wristbands I think will update further if I think of anything else
Any Shocking gossip???
Der yes and no im not going in to it
and finally ... compared to the previous JA Southport's, how does it rate, as an overall experience???
This was my best weekender ever believe it or not love it all from 1pm Friday till 1030am Monday amazing even with the unexpected thing you know, loved that could still dance all night and all day no pub quizzes didn’t miss them at all overall fab time nice to meet so many people of here again and some id never met before
can not wait till may if i can go may be busy doing the reagata fingers crossed if not im going sept
...just thinking how it tickled me when Lory mentioned about bringing table lamps and stuff; I couldnt even remember managed my shirts (hanging ironed on a coat racK), fortunately Mark rescued me by driving to a well known store.
Must also remember to tidy hair before the next weekender when DVD cameras around..
G
Last edited by Graham W; 18th-March-2009 at 03:18 PM.
I had an amazing weekend surrounded by fabulous (if a little crazy) people, lots of laughs, copious amounts of waffles and champagne and incredible music and dancing.
I love it!
Brent & Kellese were brilliant, really good fun and soooo got into the weekend, adding to the atmosphere and dancing their little sox off.
Lack of sleep meant I wimped out at about 3.30am on the Sunday, but definitely won't be doing this again in May Thanks Oxo for starting your set with "God's Great Banana Skin" awesome dance I had to that!
Higlights have to be the breakfast crew on Saturday morning, (so great to see Toni there, having driven up from Utopia) the waffle party on Sunday afternoon and being back dancing in the Blues Room. Somebody told me there was a pre-weekend party too, was I there?
I missed dancing outside on Sunday afternoon, but hey, the waffles wouldn't make themselves
Can't wait for May - especially to catch up with those people I only got one dance with, or worse, didn't get to dance with at all.
"If you rebel against high heels, take care to do so in a very smart hat.'' George Bernard Shaw
Phew! Just about recovered from the weekend...
I had an absolutely AMAZING time (and I have the bitemarks to prove it - thanks DTS)!!!!!!!!! Honestly, one of the best weekenders I've been to!
The music was brilliant all weekend, and although there were a few sets that weren't really my thing (I'm not really into the s'funk type stuff) you can't please everyone all the time, and for the majority of the time I loved the music! Having such great music that I couldn't drag myself away from the dancefloor also really made a difference after Skeggy where I really didn't think much of the music for the majority of the weekend...
I particularly loved loved LOVED the swing sets in the afternoons (Nigel's swing hour on Sunday afternoon in the blues room was one of my favourite sets of the whole weekend, you couldn't take the smile off my face, it made me so happy! ) I know that a lot of people aren't too keen on swing, but it was so nice to have that option on a weekender, and I had many super-duper awesome dances!
I also LOVED Marc F's final set in the early hours of Monday morning in the blues room, and had some of my best dances of the weekend! FAB FAB FAB
I didn't do any of the classes, but I did watch the cabaret and I really enjoyed it! I especially thought Brent and Kellese Key's routine was brilliant - I loved the song choice and I thought the interpretation to the music was beautiful (I have since watched the routine a few times on youtube!)
All in all I had wonderful dances, really really enjoyed the music (I mainly stayed in the blues room, but did venture into the main room at times, and had a good time in there too...I didn't actually venture into the latin/wcs room at all so I can't comment on that, but heard there was a crackin' set in there on Sunday night!) and overall I thought there was a great atmosphere (sans 'hotshots' by the bar area...)
I danced with loads of people I already knew that I love dancing with, and I also made loads of brilliant new 'discoveries' who I will definitely be dragging onto the dancefloor next time I get the chance!
I wont go into any further detail, just wanted to say I had a brilliant time and definitely want to go back in May!
Thanks so much to Fletch for inviting me along, and also thank you to Mr Darcy for driving! I also had the best Chalet mates (Stacey and Antony)!!!
Well, now that I am more awake, it's only right that I mention a few things...
This was my first Southport, so unlike a lot/most of you I can't compare the difference between ceroc and JA. All I know is it was a fantastic weekend! I loved it! There were great dancers there, there was great music, there was lots of friends to talk to... what more can you want?!
Journey
The journey wasn't too bad... It took us just over 4 hours to get there, thanks to Mark.
Accommodation
All in all it was fine. The only problems we ever had was due to us, not anything else! I kept getting lost trying to find my way back from the venue to my chalet... And vice versa! One other minor problem we had was someone stupidly switching the fridge off due to being drunk (yes, that would be me!) And we couldn't understand what had happened... So, we turned the dial right up to see if that would help, but no! We were plugging our phone chargers in etc to see if it was the elecricity... When we eventually realised what had happened it was fine. But going back to the chalet a few hours later to find everything was almost frozen as we had forgotten to turn the dial back down again, was quite funny! We are both a bit of a disaster in the kitchen...
Venues
I really liked all 3 rooms! Spent more time in the blues room than anywhere else though... I really enjoyed the latin room on Sunday night. I was soooo exhausted by this stage and didn't want to go back to the chalet to sleep, so stayed in the corner of the latin room chilling out for a while - it was really nice just sitting watching the dancing and listening to the music
Restaurants
Not a great fan to be honest... The next time we'll probably take our own food, and... get someone to come and cook for us!
We didn't go swimming or anything, so can only comment on the shop and the bars! Well... we spent £30 on chocolate from the shop, and ate it all! Priorities!
- Other facilities
Music - Dj's
I really enjoyed the music this weekend. Some fantastic tracks being played in the main room when I was in! Can't really comment on a full set from any DJ, as didn't stick around in any room for long enough... Was always moving between rooms... But it was all great when I was there!
Dancers
Well, what can I say?! Amazing! I didn't have a bad dance all weekend. It was great to meet loads of new faces. There are a few I'd like to say a special mention to, as my weekend just wouldn't have been the same without you guys, but I'd always miss someone out... You guys know who you are The only special mention I'm going to give is to my chalet buddy - Esther. She is one of my favourites to dance with... Such a fantastic lead, and we had some fantastic dances over the weekend! It was just a shame our song wasn't played at all over the weekend... or maybe it was, and we weren't there. There were a few I didn't get to dance with, who I'd have liked. So hopefully soon?
Workshops
I didn't do any classes at all over the weekend. I'm definitely more of a "come out to play at night" type of girl! There are a few classes that I'm sad that I missed, but thankfully I could watch them on the TV!
Cabarets
The cabarets were awesome! I don't dance WCS, but watching Brent and Kellesse was magical. Phil and Alex were amazing. And James and Pamela were just spectacular. James and Pamela's routines didn't last as long as I thought they would have, but they were still phenomonal!
Highlights
Having Esther as my chalet buddy, along with the laughs and drunkenness throughout the weekend!
Paul's massages - thankyou (Oh, and cake! Oh, and helping me straighten my hair!)
Seeing a spider in our chalet, and both of us screaming our heads off as we were terrified! I ended up throwing my shoe at it! Why wasn't there a man there when we needed one?!
The tomato soup and wine...
The waffle party!
The amount of body rolls I did over the whole weekend! I do apologise to some of you, as I know it was becoming a bit obsessive! Once I start, I can't stop!
Dancing Argentine Tango on the Sunday night I am amazed that I remembered what I learnt at the tango workshop back in August, since I haven't actually started going to any classes yet... Marc, you are just a dream to dance with I was really beginning to get into "tango mode" The milonga just wasn't long enough... I could quite easily have stayed there all night. I really need to start going to classes. It's just so beautiful, and I love everything about it. I was definitely lost in the moment that night.
And lastly, meeting and dancing with so many lovely people over the weekend - I hope it's not too long til we meet again
I will absolutely be going to Scorch in May! Cannot wait!
It was great to meet you too. I really enjoyed our dances, even though you did keep making me laugh!
Excellent!
What a great weekend!
Lou x
I hope you do make it in May... And I hope I do too, come to think of it! But yes, if we are both there in May, then lots more dances, please?
As for what was so funny... I actually can't remember! I remember laughing while dancing the first time during a move, so then whenever you did that move again it made me laugh! I'm just wierd!
Hope to dance again soon
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