Blush - The Aftermath - 5th-8th Feb 2010

[Lory]

......I'm sure you don't mean that the way it sounds!

oops!

I meant to DANCE!!!!

[jive-vee]

Weird moment - I left the blues room, to visit the ladies, for all of 1 minute, when I went in, it was daylight and when I came out it was pitch black! Very odd!

I thought maybe sleep deprivation had caused me to fall asleep in the loos or something

[stewart38]

Getting absolutely hammered early on Sunday night. Not good.

Yes the increase of drug and drink taking at these ceroc events in order to have a 'good time', I fear suggests the comment I use to make

Its a fun night out and no one wants to put a glass in your face maybe not be true in future years

It use to be fun dancing with the odd very drunk lady, dancing with 10 of them in a night is not

[Ickle Sue]

I do love the convenience of the Southport venue & the fact that this is the closest weekender for me.

Good
vChecking in was a breeze.
vNice surprise that a change of room was dealt with quickly & efficiently.
vHaving faulty lecky meter (otherwise this comment may have been a complaining one)
vThe music in general was good & even ventured into the main room for some upbeat, fast & furious tracks.
vHaving some ace dances & catch up with people. Loved (and always do) the afternoon dances as it is so relaxed & brilliant company!
vKellese & Brent being so lovely & approachable.
vI do always like the fact that Marc ends the weekender – picks good tracks.

Bad
vFriday in the Blues room when I first got there, it was like an ice rink.
vSaturday night/morning for hrs the music seemed too samey (personally I didn’t like it, therefore, decided it was time to go to bed).
vNow & again the music was a little too loud (maybe its my old age talking).
vThroughout the weekend now & then feeling cold in the Blues room (but solved that problem by taking my jumper with me & when I forgot, nicked fella’s).
vMissed the waffle party.

Overall it was a good atmosphere & I will be booking the May one. Warmer weather here we come!

[Ickle Sue]

I'd like to give major praise to Brent and Kellese! IMO, they're the epitome of how I'd like to see 'all' headline guest teachers conduct themselves.
They have the ability to make a fabulous atmosphere, where everyone feels included! And in the words of Brent "Yaa'll Way Too Much Fun" ....... Hahahahha... right back at you guys!!!!

[Danny]

EEEK!

I'm not looking forward to having this personality zapping process

Why? It's painless! Mostly.

Yes the increase of drug and drink taking at these ceroc events in order to have a 'good time', I fear suggests the comment I use to make

I know it sucks dancing with a drunk person and it was my first time drinking at a dancing event. Half the time I wasn't even aware I was dancing until halfway through a song, let alone acknowledge my partner. Won't be doing that again .

[straycat]

I know it sucks dancing with a drunk person and it was my first time drinking at a dancing event. Half the time I wasn't even aware I was dancing until halfway through a song, let alone acknowledge my partner. Won't be doing that again .

Oh - so that was YOU.....

[stewart38]

I know it sucks dancing with a drunk person and it was my first time drinking at a dancing event. Half the time I wasn't even aware I was dancing until halfway through a song, let alone acknowledge my partner. Won't be doing that again .

If I happen to be dancing with a fine lady who is well presented in the best attire I find throwing up over her dress doesn't promote the connection you look for on the dance floor.

Anyway I have got to an age now where I’m not aware where I am until its time to leave

[Dave Hancock]

Tango - the lack of leads was yet again frustrating, made even more so, by the fact that the music was sooo good!

Lory,

It was a modern jive weekend, surely if you want a lot of good tango leads you'd go to a tango event??

From my perspective I couldn't understand why there was so much tango music played and this is an increasing bug bear at mj weekenders.

[Dave Hancock]

Highs:-
* The general atmosphere was very friendly and ended up talking a bit more than I normally would at a weekender
* The closing set of the weekend by Marc, stunning.
* Did a class for the first time in years and was hugely impressed by the quality of Lucky's teaching, it was awesome.
* Standard of dancing in the blues room was pretty high and I didn't see as many dips/drops as I did in October which was a good thing on crowded floors.
* With it being a bit quieter than October and the summer events you could get a bit more space to dance which was nice.


Lows:-
*The chalet, it's been said by others but sub standard
*The closing set on Saturday night/Sunday morning in the blues room. Out of the 10 or 15 trips I've been to Southport this was easily the most disappointing closing set I've ever heard, a thought shared by many I spoke to you and evidence by the fact there was only 7 folk still up at 7am when the DJ went to bed and left things on autopilot. When most folk wanted a slow sway there was a lot of up tempo blues and I wish I'd gone to bed at 5.30.
* The rudeness of people talking in the classes, I only did one but a lot of people seemed to talk over him and not listen which really was reflected in their follow.
* Would agee with Rob and for the 2nd successive Southport I found the Saturday afternoon music very samey and hugely disappointing, I really hope the organisers have a think about this as I'd hate to think they just have an upbeat 3 or 4 hours in the May event where you get the added bonus of dancing outside.


Best bit:-
For me it was seeing so many across from Northern Ireland. Believe there was 20+ from there and all of the ones I danced with were of a pretty good standard and they seemed to have a great time. It's great to see things progressing over there and I have major respect for those that have done so much to promote the MJ scene in NI and I hope to see lots of them accross again in May.

[Dave Hancock]

The Good

- Some pre-Ceroc Southport regulars had made the decision to attend, whatever their reasons, it was great to see them.

I didn't really notice this at all and actually thought there were fewer than had been there in October although perhaps that's the people we know. Certainly if you go back to the hayday of about 3-4 years ago in the blues room I'd say the vast majority haven't returned.

I think this is a shame, while IMO this event isn't what it was it is still a cracking weekend and I think the organisers are improving it each time. The problem is that the weekender market is somewhat saturaed and thus I doubt we'll see such a concentration of very good dancers together again at a weekender.

[Lynn]

My review

The good
The journey there and back – one the reasons I like SP is that its so straightforward for us to get to. (Really quick on the way back as we had perfect connections and were able to transfer onto the earlier flight – home about 3½ hours after leaving Pontins!)

The NI crowd all being over – 24 of us! I loved seeing them all, mostly new to weekenders, having so much fun. I suggested workshops that I knew different individuals would benefit from, depending on what they wanted to learn and it was encouraging to have them come back and say ‘that workshop was great!’ (I went and watched some of the workshops so can help the guys practice now we're back, the learning will continue!) In the evenings every so often I’d fetch a different one and say ‘c’mon and check out the blues/latin room’ – and they’d pop in for a while with me, watch and enjoy, then venture up for a dance.

Best bit:-
For me it was seeing so many across from Northern Ireland. Believe there was 20+ from there and all of the ones I danced with were of a pretty good standard and they seemed to have a great time.

Lovely that you mentioned that Dave, as I was going to say a thanks to you for giving some of our weekender newbie ladies such lovely dances. Sent a few your way and saw them walking back after the dance with a big smile on their faces!

Music in the blues room – the blues sets – good to hear some classic blues tracks as well as new stuff.

My first weekender (where I’ve been able to dance!) for a long time, and it was just good to be back dancing so much, for so many hours, though I did pace myself. Some lovely blues room dances, playful, creative - very nice!

Buying a new pair of shoes. Now there’s a surprise eh?

The not so good
Music in the blues room sometimes – I do like funky stuff too many tracks in a row and it all sounds alike, though as I several times walked in, thought ‘oh, more of the same’ and left again without dancing, perhaps there was good variety there and I just kept missing it? I thought ‘chill out zone’ was supposed to be a mix of funky, latin and blues, seemed to be a bit heavy on the ‘funky’ and bit ‘up’ for blues room at times?

Also was a bit loud – we usually grab food in the bar in there, but too loud for socialising.

The regrets
Missing out on dancing with lots of people, because I was pacing myself so well – there were folk I saw in passing but didn’t get a dance with and wish I had.

Missing Marc’s last set on Mon morning – just too tired to stay up.

[Lory]

Lory,

It was a modern jive weekend, surely if you want a lot of good tango leads you'd go to a tango event??

Dear me, I couldn't stand a WHOLE weekend of Tango, no way! the same as I couldn't stand a whole weekend of Salsa, WCS or Ballroom!

That's one of the reasons I love weekenders, which include a couple of hours of 'this and that', just to ring the changes every now and then!

I didn't 'expect' a whole lot of 'good' tango leads, I just said, it was a bit frustrating, with such lovely music playing.

Buying a new pair of shoes. Now there’s a surprise eh?

I'm shocked! At the fact you only brought one pair

[Little Monkey]

Not quite recovered yet, but here's my thoughts:

The good:

Sharing the journey and chalet with Villemo. We had such a good time! I'm sure my ickle car was literally bouncing down the road to Southport, as we were singing and 'dancing' our way down.

Seeing so many people who I've not seen for AGES. So good to catch up with you all again!

Discovering that despite not having danced for months, it didn't take me long to fing my dance mojo again.

Tiggerbabe's Blues Room sets. That girl is just fab!

The POD - whoever came up with that idea - I LOVE YOU!

The flooring at the back of the blues room - sort of soft and super slidey. Fab!

The Swinger's Hour on Sunday with Chris U at the decks - some of my absolutely best dancing of the weekend. Nearly killed me!!!! Was hardly off the floor for the whole set!

Always enough water.

The bad:

Missing lots of people who I've got used to seeing at JA Southports, but were missing from Cerocport.

Most of the music in the Blues room / boudoir. Apart from Sheena and Nigel A's sets (and I think Rocky played a good set in there), plus the daytime swing, I mostly found the music thoroughly uninspiring and 'samey'. I ventured into the main room a couple of times, but quickly escaped again - boom boom boom isn't my thing. On the whole the music really didn't do it for me this weekend, very disappointing.

Music was WAY too loud in the blues room.

Rachel playing a great set in the Latin room, but there was nobody there to dance with!

The ugly:

Oh, where to start.....

The journey down took forever, due to roadworks between Dundee and Glasgow, then having a detour to Paisley to pick up Villemo and hence getting stuck in rush hour traffick TWICE in Glasgow. I left work at 12.50, and we got to Southport at 21.30. Ouch.....

The chalet. Oh. My. God. Due to being skint, I'd decided to go for slum class this time. Having been to Southport loads of times before, and stayed in slum class several times, I wasn't bothered by basic and cold chalets. Until I discovered the state of our chalet. No electricity on arrival, and no electricity cards in the welcome packs (JA made sure chalets were all warm and had electricity during february weekenders, plus gave you a couple of leccy cards in your welcome pack. Maybe ceroc could do the same?) was a minor inconvenience.

It got worse when we got electricity cards and discovered the ***** hole we were staying in. The carpet had no piling left, just backing, and was covered in huge, very sticky stains. The chalet was freezing, extremely damp and mouldy, so within minutes of arriving both Villemo and I were having bad problems with our astma. Ther whole weekend we were sucking on our inhalors like they were about to go out of fashion. The floors were so sticky and dirty we didn't dare take our shoes off. We covered the bedroom floor with a spare sheet and the bathroom floor with an old towel so we could actually step on the floor when getting out of bed/shower! We had to ram our door shut with our shoulder to be able to lock it. The dishes were actually encrusted in food - not just badly washed, but not washed at all! The oven was so filthy that it set off the smoke alarm when we turned it on. I tried to find someone to complain to about the state of the chalet, and was directed to the main gate by one of the ceroc crew, but got no help.

I don't know id the electricity meter in our chalet was set to overdrive, but we spent £12 on electricity in two and a half days, despite only having one heater on and only cooking in our chalet once. Have never spent that much on electricity!

The food in the Queen Vic - YUCK! Had the 'hunter's chicken', and found a black, inedible 'thing' in my meal, which might in a previous life have been a bit of bacon, or possibly congealed, burned bbq sauce. Couldn't identify it, and definitely couldn't eat it. Complained and got a full refund from the bar staff, who admitted to having seen the black 'thing', but served it anyway!

The journey back. Nearly killed my back driving that far, will definitely put Villemo on my insurance in future! Could barely walk when I got home, and am suffering a lot today.

The weekend could have been a bit of a disaster, but was made truly amazing by:

Discovering some fantabulous dancers. A guy called Mike who is built like a bear and has a lead as light as a feather. A joy to play with on the dance floor. Zimbabwean - again a true joy to dance with. A guy who I can't recall the name of, who gave me the fastest dance of the weekend and nearly killed me (swinger's hour, he was there with a lovel lady in a 50's black polka dot dress).

Mr. Darcy.

Playing with Mr Hancock. Or was it dancing?

And last but definitely not least - discovering Barry, who was playing wonderful swing music in the POD on Sunday night, saving my day! A wonderful dancer with the dirtiest giggle I've ever come across. I think we need to kidnap him and keep him in Scotland.

So, all in all I had an amazing time. Unfortunately I think the next Southport clashes with my hen weekend, but I shall book the October one - in a Club apartment!

[lil_tinks]

The chalet was freezing, extremely damp and mouldy, so within minutes of arriving both Villemo and I were having bad problems with our astma. Ther whole weekend we were sucking on our inhalors like they were about to go out of fashion.

I'm glad i wasn't the only one like that.........................those apartments were a health hazard!!

Slum class doesn't even touch it!!

[Little Monkey]

* Would agee with Rob and for the 2nd successive Southport I found the Saturday afternoon music very samey and hugely disappointing, I really hope the organisers have a think about this as I'd hate to think they just have an upbeat 3 or 4 hours in the May event where you get the added bonus of dancing outside.

I agree. Didn't do it for me at all.

I didn't really notice this at all and actually thought there were fewer than had been there in October although perhaps that's the people we know. Certainly if you go back to the hayday of about 3-4 years ago in the blues room I'd say the vast majority haven't returned.

I think this is a shame, while IMO this event isn't what it was it is still a cracking weekend and I think the organisers are improving it each time. The problem is that the weekender market is somewhat saturaed and thus I doubt we'll see such a concentration of very good dancers together again at a weekender.

Yeah, like I said in my previous post there were quite a few of my favourites missing, who I'd normally expect to see at Southport. I wasn't there in October, so dunno if more of them were there then.

Music in the blues room sometimes – I do like funky stuff too many tracks in a row and it all sounds alike, though as I several times walked in, thought ‘oh, more of the same’ and left again without dancing, perhaps there was good variety there and I just kept missing it? I thought ‘chill out zone’ was supposed to be a mix of funky, latin and blues, seemed to be a bit heavy on the ‘funky’ and bit ‘up’ for blues room at times?[/SIZE][/FONT]
Also was a bit loud – we usually grab food in the bar in there, but too loud for socialising.

My thoughts exactly.

[rubyred]

[quote=Lynn;569046]
Buying a new pair of shoes. Now there’s a surprise eh?

well now you have www.darcostango.net
Great to see you and chat with this weekend

[Gerry]

The Ugly
The chalet, freezing ,damp. The Sofa bed had a big lump in it which meant I couldn't sleep that well.

The Very Ugly
The way my knees felt after skiing for a week and then two nights of dancing at SP, purely my own fault

The Absolute Pits
Some theiving b%stard knicking my oatmeal jumper on Saturday nite / Sunday morning from the Boom Boom room.

The Good,
The floor infront of the bar was excellant

The Very Good
The Dj's in the Blues room, they all play great sets which I really enjoyed

The Brilliant
Dancing with Kellese Key, I had my very best dance ever, she made me feel as if I was dancing rather than just leading.

Can't wait for SP in May.

[frodo]

Lory

It was a modern jive weekend, surely if you want a lot of good tango leads you'd go to a tango event??

No particular reason for numbers to be unbalanced, or to expect them to be unbalanced. If Ceroc advertises Tango and I can Tango I expect to be able dance Tango.

I'm not sure Lory said 'good' leads, though that may be implied.

From my perspective I couldn't understand why there was so much tango music played and this is an increasing bug bear at mj weekenders.

Personally, I reckon it would be a big improvement if they played the tango sets for MJ purposes.

[Lynn]

I'm shocked! At the fact you only brought one pair

It almost was two pairs... but the other pair weren't quite as good a fit.

well now you have www.darcostango.net
Great to see you and chat with this weekend

Oh, so tempting... will have a good browse - now I know their sizings and what size will fit me - thanks! Lovely to see you too.