Eclipse Skegness June 2009 - The Aftermath

[Red Lory]

This was a fantastic weekend for me! A big thank you to all the people who were kind enough to dance with me, especially McJester and CJ (Scotland rules the waves!!!)

[sindbad]

morning all,
here is my take on skeggy:

Journey - Unfortunately very long. Took us nearly 11 hours to reach home (Aberdeen). Big thanks to wuzzle, andy and von for driving us down and back. Had a good group of friends travelling together so that took away the pain from the long journey.


Accomodation - (oyster bay) nearly as far as it gets, around 10 minutes from the venue. Not a major issue if you are walking while your fresh, but if its after you been dancing for a while and your feet are knackered it does seem like an endless road.
JA did provide shuttle buses that run every 20 minutes. Which was really nice of them, although the service stopped at 3 am, so if you were dancing after that, you either limped home or kept dancing till the shuttle service resumed in the morning
Chalet mates were excellent as usual (wuzzle, kat and andy).

Classes - Didn't do that many classes as usual but the ones i did go to were fab.

wcs- absolutely fantastic and this is the opinion of all I had spoken to regarding the workshop. It wasn't the usual boot camp where they went through the basic patterns but they showed how complex moves can be broken down into a series of basic pattern. Really good teachers, will definitely recommend

Tango - Amir's classes are always fantastic. I only managed to go to one of them as the other one was at 10 am on sunday morning Thanks to little monkey for partnering up for the wksp.

Jame's Line dancing - didn't do the class but heard great reviews from plenty of people. Knowing how james classes are, I wouldn't be surprised.

- One workshop missing was to do with ballroom dances. Although a minority, usually the waltz classes do go down quite well.


Rooms - Danced mostly in Arthurs and Jaks. JA seem to have swapped the flooring which was previously in reds to Aurthurs.
The flooring was one of the biggest issues that I have come across this weekend. Both were tiled and both had some of the edges protruding slightly. ladies kept getting their heel caught along the edges and in some cases had their heels wrecked .
The floor in redz and aurthurs was a bit sticky and a bit hard on the feet. Jaks was fab and thankfully no one put any talcum powder on the floors.
Surprised that they changed the false flooring that they had in Aurthurs in feb.


Music - was great most of the time. Don't know about redz as hardly spent any time there. Another issue that came up was the lack of freestyle session for latin dancers.I am sure they could do swap one of the late night MJ slots played in Aurthurs for Latin.
The freestyle slot for ballroom was quite small (30 mins), hopefully, they can push it to a one hour slot next time around.


Cake - lovely - thanks to little monkey, pjmd and others for their baking. really helped keep the energy going.

People -
There were the usual mix of dancers and muggles which you get used to. In our block of chalets, there were few muggle families and it was the same for in other blocks as well. It would be easier to have all the muggles and dancing folk in separate blocks.
Its not that I have problems with muggles but the sleep cycle for dancers and muggles are totally opposite.

Overall, this weekend has been better than last skeggy weekender. There are issues that still needs resolved and in due time most of them will be resolved.

One thing for sure, skeggy will never be as good as southport was during its peak with JA running it (unless they move to some other location). This is mainly down to the venue and the ease by which you can filter from one room to the other.

Will i go back to skeggy, yes, I am already booked for the one in September.

happy dancing

signing off

sinbad

[Trouble]

PICS ON FACEBOOK NOW. ALL 300+ OF THEM LOL.

You have to be my friend to see them though. !! xxxx

[Gav]

One of my pre-conceived generalisations was proved wrong this weekend.
I've always thought/found that "generally" when a couple only ever dance with each other, they tend to be not especially nice to dance with when you finally do get them. This can be particularly true for those that look "amazing" when together.
Anyway, that assumption coupled with the fact that I don't ever stalk and grab (if you're not free for a dance I'll wait and/or miss out), means that my assumption is very rarely tested.

Well, I don't know their names (or whether they're on here or not), but there was just such a couple in Reds. I hadn't even considered asking or what it would be like, but Fletch grabbed him for a dance before he could escape and a couple of minutes later, I was surprised when she asked me.
Maybe, I won't make that assumption any more because she was easy to lead, very nice to dance with and made me feel like I wasn't too bad either.

[Double Trouble]

Well, I don't know their names

No, I don't know their names either...

Slim woman with dark long hair, she had a sort of red cat suit thingy on, on Sunday night...dances with a bloke who always wears a bandanna (denial of his baldness, obviously)

[Simon r]

No, I don't know their names either...

Slim woman with dark long hair, she had a sort of red cat suit thingy on, on Sunday night...dances with a bloke who always wears a bandanna (denial of his baldness, obviously)

Roger and cathy maybe ?

[Lee Bartholomew]

No, I don't know their names either...

Slim woman with dark long hair, she had a sort of red cat suit thingy on, on Sunday night...dances with a bloke who always wears a bandanna (denial of his baldness, obviously)

Sounds like Roger and Kathy both great dancers and very friendly.

[Simon r]

Sounds like Roger and Kathy both great dancers and very friendly.

snap

[Sheepman]

A surprisingly rapid recovery for me, after a fantastic weekend, my dancing mojo reappeared at times, hardly surprising with great music, and an endless supply of brilliant ladies.

My time was spenty in Jaks, and Arthurs, and I felt the music was so much better than February, plenty of the familiar tracks, with enough new stuff to add a challenge. (Only a couple of times did my brain go numb with endless homogenous RnB, but that's my view, as many seem to want it that way.)

The heat at the back of the blues room. It was a sauna. Some fans there might make a big difference.

I didn't find the heat an issue, yes there were times in Jaks where there was a warm glow in the back corner, I thought "at last, a real blues room" dark and intimate, something I've always felt was missing from the Southport blues room. And if I was taking a break, you'd find me sitting in the warmest spot in the back corner, keeping the muscles warm, please, don't put any fans round here! The fact that I was surrounded by cakes and lovely ladies here was quite immaterial!

At 5 a.m. on Saturday morning, there were more people dancing in Jaks than I've ever seen at that time in the Southport blues room. The atmosphere was electric. This to me is pretty much the perfect venue, and as I spend most of my time here, it makes up for any other issues at Skegness. There is the debate about space for outdoor dancing. I wonder if it is down to where people first experience a blues room. My early experiences were of it being so dark that sometimes you weren't sure who you were asking to done, (resulting in some nice surprises!) intimate and warm, and mostly dancing blues. Presumably those whose first experience of a blues room was at Southport want something different. I love dancing outside during the day, but I don't want my reverie in the early hours to be interrupted by sunlight.

Mmmmm cakes...
Now here's an idea, instead of fans, how about an ice cream bar? I'd happily run it, but then there wouldn't be any ice cream left!

The journey was a slow one, demolishing Boston and Skegness town centres would certainly help, it's still quicker than Southport. The idea of sailing up the east coast to get there is appealing, I just need a boat!

The accommodation was fine, and I quite enjoy the walk (8 minutes from the furthest reaches of Oyster Bay, does that mean I walk nearly twice as fast as other reporters?) Did anyone use the shuttle bus? Although it would be more sociable if the dancers could be en bloc. We were surrounded by families, and I slept through any disturbances, with the aid of my essential weekender pack - wax earplugs and eyeshades. I had no issues with the muggles, but a dancers only event has to be preferable. I did think it might be fun to join in with some of the Butlin's entertainment, especially if there's music involved, but when will I ever have time for that?

And on the issue of time, I sadly slept, or worked, through all the lessons from Christopher and Katrina, apart from watching about 10 minutes at the end. I hope I'll have a chance to catch them again one day, they will surely get the better of Jordan and Tatiana before long. The one lesson I made it to was Niteclub 2 step from James, excellent, and entertaining of course.

The temporary floors are obviously still an issue, despite Wes spending enormous time, effort (and I'm sure £££ on them.) I had to stick with dance trainers for Arthurs and Reds, which eliminates the possibility of sliding Most people seem to prefer the chipboard floors, but I presume these need a wooden floor underneath to be fixed to, and I assume it is concrete in Reds and Arthurs.

No detail.

Going back to the post that started the thread, I want more detail too, which rooms did Scottwins dance in and when? What style of music does he want? What was it that was so bad he had to up sticks and go? Even if nothing about an event was setting me on fire, I would always think there is so much potential because of the people and socialising at a weekender, that I can always make something out of it.

I did notice something else this weekend with regards to the whole WCS / Blues / MJ thing.....

The WCS room was where the younger dancers were in general.

Thank you Lee, it's a few decades since I've been described as a younger dancer!
Looking forward to September, where I'll be even younger...

Greg

[Steven666]

Anyone else have ants?

[Double Trouble]

Anyone else have ants?

did anyone have Ants what?

...someone obviously had his ticket because he wasn't as Skeggie.

[jim]

dances with a bloke who always wears a bandanna (denial of his baldness, obviously)

It's there for the sweat, so he was telling me in the toilets at southport, whilst changing it for a new one.

[Double Trouble]

It's there for the sweat, so he was telling me in the toilets at southport, whilst changing it for a new one.

Oooooooook then!

I'm surprised you could see anything though, what with the glare from his head.

[Wuzzle]

Forgive my spelling i still feel like i've got jetlag. Even though this review is sponcered by Proplus!

Journey - Skegness is about 9.5 hours travel if you don't stop.. so took a little over 10 hours to get there. Seemed much faster on the way back. Though i think thats cause we were all pretty much spacecadets.

Accomodation - (Oyster bay) First time there. Was a bit closer in feb i remember thinking at the start its not that far from the venue. Eight mins walk. Three if you sprint it. However i now can see the point others were making. After dancing into the daylight that eight minute walk can turn into a 15 min hobble..

Classes - Only the Wcs ones... they were great except a 45 min time period seemed real short. Especially if it takes 5 mins to sort out the rows.

Rooms - Danced mostly Jaks. The floor there was pretty much perfect. Seemed to be faster on the sunday but pretty much there is where you could find me. (No surprises there then)

Main Room i think i danced all of 8 tracks in that room. Wasn't a fan of the wooden tiles. Couldn't spin much as a novice i need all the help i can get seemed to be sticky.

Authurs : I think I prefered the floor from Feb the tiled floor hurt my feet. As a wcs toddler i still clump from time to time. Only took an hour before my feet went on strike.

Music - Great, good, fair, and runaway... pls no more mercy... can't count the amount i've heard it.. even if its a different singer... Didn't like two sets. Though that just might be my tastes for music i want to hear in Jaks....

Cake - always a bonus! Helped me with my attack of the munchies! Ta muchly!

Overall, this weekend has been better than last skeggy weekender. Still a few kinks to sort out. Floors being one of them. Mugglets weren't really a problem for me. Though some obivously could do with a little more manners, better dreams and social skills...

I liked this weekender, I feel like i had more fun this one than last. Even asked Fletch to dance which was wonderful fun. Met a few new awe inspiring dancers. As usual never got the courage to ask alot of them to dance

Have to thank a few less scary wcs-ers for putting up with me on saturday night. Authurs turns into Zeus'es palace. Such a pity there ain't more of an encouragement for the beginners to go and do it. It can be a frightening place. Its the only place that i felt like an ant this time round

Many thanks for all who danced with or at me see you all i hope at the next JA's advertures of Wuzzle at Skegness..

[StokeBloke]

Just had another comment on the classes. I was quite surprised that there were classes ( 2 that I attended) where the teachers made derogatory comments about teaching methods that people may have already learnt (ie a dig at ceroc, insinuating that they're wrong).

It's a tricky one this. I wasn't at the classes so I can't comment on the content of the comments. But, if you are trying to teach people to dance and they have been taught something that is completely wrong, and that is messing up (or could mess up) what you are teaching, then I see nothing wrong in setting things straight first. Ceroc do teach some very dogey stuff, some of it is 'wrong' and the teacher may have thought it was important to bring that to the class' attention so it didn't have a negative impact on what they were trying to teach.

Perhaps a little more detail (and a separate thread) and we could discuss it properly.

[Filthy Monkey]

So, this thread seems to be pretty much split into Ceroc vs Jive Addiction reviews. Personally I can’t be bothered with the politics. I love dance weekenders and generally always have a good time. Skegness was no exception. It took me 2 hrs to get there by car from north London and the accommodation was nice, although quite far from the venue. However, being lazy, I drove, so it didn’t bother me. I didn’t do any lessons and I didn’t venture into Arthur’s, so can’t comment on that, but I did spend a LOT of time in Jaks and I had a wicked time! It was hot and sweaty, but a lot of that was to do with the close dancing, rather than just the temperature of the room. The floor in Jaks wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good. The floor in Reds, however, does need some attention, as it was quite unpleasant to dance on. Some parts were fine, but there were a lot of loose edges and wobbly tiles, making it quite dangerous.

Overall I would say it was quieter than I expected and there were a lot of unfamiliar faces, but it was really nice to meet so many new people. I danced more this weekend than I ever have on any other weekender, spending 90% of my time in Jaks. The music was excellent and quite varied and I had some really incredible dances. It was mentioned on another post that there weren’t many good dancers, but I really have to disagree with that. I also had an amazing couple of hours dancing with Happy B on Sunday afternoon. It really felt like we had found a missing connection.

Personally, I think it was a very successful weekend. I really liked the venue and it felt like a real class above Pontins. It didn’t bother me having non-dancers onsite, as I think it improved the atmosphere of the whole place. I know a lot of people have complained about the price, but the standard of accommodation was much better than Pontins’ club chalets, so pound for pound, there wasn’t much difference. Overall, I wouldn’t say it was better than a Ceroc weekender, but I wouldn’t say it was any worse. There are a few niggles to iron out, but I’m really glad I went and will definitely be going back. For me personally, it doesn’t compete with Ceroc, it’s just another weekender in my calendar for me to look forward to

[Astro]

Astro (sadly out of order due to injury)

Only on Sunday. (Friday and Saturday nights were awesome - I overdid it. )

Managed 2 limping dances at Mariachi but had to stop.

Thanks to CJ for "Stairway"


You know what, I was in Jaks Sunday night from 10pm - 2am wearing my "out of order" badge and was not in the least bored.

Listened to Sheepman and Blueshoes's sets, watched the dancing - was able to have a proper drink, and met lots of new people, especially from Scotland.

Give it up for Scotland. Fantastic dancers - and not just the men!

I did ask around for you and Mrs CheesyRobMan on Saturday night, but you couldn't be spotted. Next time!

[Trouble]

You know what, I was in Jaks Sunday night from 10pm - 2am wearing my "out of order" badge .

I could have done with that on Sunday afternoon. I was suffering badly. Two nights of fantastic dancing, overdrinking, no sleep and veruccas really had taken their toll by then. Gutted about CJ's mariachi as i didn't enjoy it and could not even manage to stay for Dance Demons set. Ive sacked the chiropodist.

[HelenB]

Journey

Took much longer getting there. I live too close to Silverstone and the grand prix diversions were really busy. Journey back was fine (I made the decision to only get half hour kip and was off site by 9am ). Amazed that without any planning my SP travel buddy Mr Darcy followed me from Peterborough.

Accommodation

I didn't have any issues with kids or noise despite living next door to Bob the Builder. Location meant I was close to the venues. How much of this was down to booking as a single female I'm not too sure. I like to think that organisers do plan for these spaces to be closer to the venue.

It would be nice if dancers could all be located in the same area. However there are those who do go to bed early and get up for all the classes so early morning noise can still be an issue. Apartment clean and the other SWAS booker never turned up so I had a 2 bedroom apartment to myself. Am I also the only person who prefers the beds at Butlins? Those horrible plastic covered mattresses at Pontins make me sweat at just the thought.

Venues

Reds (Main Room)
Danced several tracks in there just after the cabaret (which I thought worked much better on the floor instead of the stage) and tripped several times. The floor needs sorting (though with such a vast space that's gotta be expensive)

Jaks (Blues Lounge)
Stickyish floor Fri and Saturday which was way better on Sunday night. They did have issues with a leaky roof Saturday which made it more humid in there and potentially made the floor grippier too. Floorcraft wasn't an issue

Arthurs (WCS/Tango)
Didn't go in. Several comments about the smell.... has it been imported in from SP??

Music

Much better organisation of when people were playing. I commented after the last one (though not necessarily on here) how I feel that DJs should play at times more suited to them. I wasn't that keen on some sets (personal opinion) and thought Dr Chill was a bit too chilled Monday morning (though liked the rest of his sets). I had planned to get an early night Saturday but the music was WAY too good and I finally made it to bed at 6.30am

Cabaret
Chris/Katrina Classic routine was WOW. And I heard she had a broken toe this weekend and couldn't spin as well. That illusion spin was amazing. WOW again.

Classes
There were classes?

Weather
Shoe covers were provided for the rain

Overall
I had a great weekend. Skegness has a totally different dynamic for me. Potentially that's down to me not being able to dance at the first one I went to and now realising there's as much pleasure to be had from socialising and watching then dancing till my feet fall off. I did dance much more and much later than normal however.

I thought that it was obvious steps had been taken from the feedback from February. I also didn't have an issue with check in and was told where my chalet was. Re the wristbands, please, please, please can we not have the hard scratchy ones. I've got a lovely scratch mark on my arm that looks like I went on a totally different type of weekender...

I wasn't at Ceroc Southport in May - I know everyone had a great time and that it down to both Ceroc organisation and the venue. I don't think Skegness will ever lend itself to 24 hour dancing like Southport does. I felt more like I was on holiday this weekend with the ability to dance rather than a dance marathon. I relaxed more, I socialised more, and I danced in the early hours of the morning. Afternoon dancing was good but not great and I think that's because there was no feeling of difference in Jaks between evening and day (it was still dark in there). I'm not taking sides, SP isn't going to be possible this year for me and Skegness is. Breeze has been booked as well. I just want to dance.

I had some AMAZING dances this weekend. Really amazing. Space to play, even in the evening, to fab music. Great new finds. Great friends . Tasty cake... Can't wait for the next one

[Astro]

I could have done with that on Sunday afternoon. I was suffering badly. Two nights of fantastic dancing, overdrinking, no sleep.

Were you keeping Scarface up?

and could not even manage to stay for Dance Demon's set.

I was gutted at missing Dance Demon's set too. I love soul and motown.

I loved all Dance demon's sets - and I even got a dance with him this weekend. At last.


Thanks to Tor for letting me use her icer spray - can it be bought in Boots or superdrug?