Herrang 2006!

[straycat]

What can I say?

Wow
WOW
WOW

6 days.
24 hours of lessons. Including...
5 hours of Steven & Virginie (king and queen of connection)
5 hours of Pete Loggins (no amount of lessons with this man can be enough)

Highlights:
Blues - there simply is no blues like Herrang blues.
Meeting Norma Miller, getting her to autograph my copy of Swinging At The Savoy (great book, highly recommend it)
Doing the cabaret.
Dancing 'till shortly before 8am on Saturday, and realising just how much I've improved over the week...
Frankie.
The people in general.
This year's wonderful lack of mozzies.

and more.
Still in a state of euphoria...
Definitely going again next year.
Wow.

[straycat]

Replying to my own post. Hey ho.

But I've been re-reading what I wrote in my state of complete incoherence, and realise it's somewhat lacking. So. An FAQ for the above post:

What is Herrang?
THE Swing Dance camp, in Sweden. Lasts a month, divided into four week-long sections, and you can go there to learn Lindy, Boogie Woogie, Tap, Balboa & others.

Basically, imagine Beach Boogie. Now imagine something 100 times better. And you have Herrang. (Bear in mind that my first couple of BBs were akin to a religious experience for me - so I'm not putting the event down in any way by saying this - Beach Boogie is a great event.)

Herrang attracts many of the best swing dancers in the world, and accordingly, boasts many of the world's top teachers, blah blah blah.

Less long-windedly. Amazing teachers. As many lessons as most people could possibly have the energy for. Amazing dancers. Dancing through the night for longer than most people can stay awake. Incredibly good music. The best blues night ever devised. And no outside distractions.

In even simpler terms: In a week of total immersion, Herrang transforms your dancing. Forever.

That went on a bit, sorry

Who is Norma Miller, who is Frankie Manning, and why should I care?
This one probably isn't needed. They were there when it all started, they're in the Hellzapoppin' clip (Norma and Billy Ricker are the second coupe - he's in a chef's outfit, while Frankie is the last one) Frankie still teaches, (now well into his nineties), and Norma is around 88, and still writing, making films and is involved in various other projects. They both look - ageless, and are fascinating to talk to.

Bah. Got to get on. I'll try to add to this later if there's any interest. Otherwise, it's plenty to be going on with.

Stray

[Minnie M]

Sorry to rain on your parade - but I went 2 years ago and hated it There were far too many women, got bitten nearly the death by the mozzies (still got the scars) no one asked me to dance and was turned down when I asked. I absolutely love Steve Mitchell, but because Virginie was not there he only did Jazz steps

Thought the classes in some of the English Lindy weekenders just as good (if not better) - eg: Camp Savoy this weekend.

Accomodation is poo - unless you are lucky to rent a room with a host family

I could go on and on..... I think it is an acquired taste and IMHO OK for English men of all ages and under 25 year old English women (preferably slim and pretty) I have spoken to others, and found you either love it or hate it

The only thing I really enjoyed was the themed evening, we did Woodstock (mind you alcohol helped) - maybe because most of the dancing was handbag style


BTW Herrange in total cost me more than my 6 day trip to Boston (WCS/Lindy)

Extra Note:
All the teachers at Herrange have taught in this Country and except for this year Frankie Manning has taught in the UK twice a year for about 10 years (if not more) - some are even Brits . . eg: Joseph & Trisha, Simon Selman and Ryan & Jenny

[straycat]

Sorry to rain on your parade - but I went 2 years ago and hated it There were far too many women, got bitten nearly the death by the mozzies (still got the scars) no one asked me to dance and was turned down when I asked. I absolutely love Steve Mitchell, but because Virginie was not there he only did Jazz steps

Rain away - I brought a brolly
doo be do doobedobe doo be do doobedobe...

Sorry you didn't enjoy it. I was at the same one (my first), but a week later. Bad year for mozzies (acutally, not strictly true - great year for mozzies, not so good for people). We prepare religiously now - for a month beforehand we take vitamin B1, which is supposed to make you taste / smell worse to them, and I found some amazing natural (essential-oil-based) repellent which worked a treat.

Viriginie was there in week four, but wasn't the following year, so I got the jazz steps thing then instead - actually, I loved that - taught me a lot more about how to move - and just how much more there is to even something as simple as walking (!) than meets the eye.

This time around, the balance of men to women was about normal (maybe three or four spare followers per class) - except for Balboa, where there were about eight leaders over(!)

Thought the classes in some of the English Lindy weekenders just as good (if not better) - eg: Camp Savoy this weekend.

Camp Savoy does look good - if we weren't busy this weekend, we'd quite likely be giving it a try - but there's a limit to what I can absorb from a weekender. What I get from Herrang is six whole days of high quality classes - six whole days of total immersion - and if you can show me anywhere else I can get that for a similar price or better, I'm there.

Accomodation is poo - unless you are lucky to rent a room with a host family

Accommodation varies. Our first year, there was a host family, and the rooms were dirty and dusty - so we spent very little time there. Second year was clean, spacious with washing machine, but no furniture at all (really - not even a stool).
This year we were by the Marina - 20 minutes walk from the main camp, and it was gorgeous. Cramped, but a really nice (furnished) house.

General accommodation is cheap and cheerful dorms - basically, if you book early enough, you can pretty well have what you want. (OK - so 'early enough' is around November time, but still)

I could go on and on..... I think it is an acquired taste and IMHO OK for English men of all ages and under 25 year old English women (preferably slim and pretty) I have spoken to others, and found you either love it or hate it

Weel - in my class this year, the ladies' ages ranged from early twenties, to mid fifties. The eldest wasn't young, wasn't a great dancer by any stretch, and certainly wasn't slim, but she claimed to have had a really good time regardless. I'd say most were in their thirties. Unless week 3 was the twentysomethings week

BTW Herrange in total cost me more than my 6 day trip to Boston (WCS/Lindy)

Heard good things about this one - is it another weekender, or is it longer?

Extra Note:
All the teachers at Herrange have taught in this Country and except for this year Frankie Manning has taught in the UK twice a year for about 10 years (if not more) - some are even Brits . . eg: Joseph & Trisha, Simon Selman and Ryan & Jenny

Don't think Joseph and Trisha have taught at Herrang, although I'm sure it's only a matter of time - but the ever-wonderful Cookie's always teaching there, and the contingent of British teachers is slowly growing, which is nice to see.

Now - what we need is a similar camp in this country where we can have a solid week or more with all of these teachers in one place...

[Minnie M]

I thought you were a Herrange Virgin sorry

..... We prepare religiously now - for a month beforehand we take vitamin B1, which is supposed to make you taste / smell worse to them, and I found some amazing natural (essential-oil-based) repellent which worked a treat....

Did that even went without perfume for the week - they still loved me

..... Heard good things about this one - is it another weekender, or is it longer?

The Boston Tea Party starts on a Thursday and finishes Sunday afternoon - however, there is local dancing on Wednesday evening and on Sunday night, which stretched the weekend out very nicely

I loved the WCS / Lindy & Balboa mix you could mix and match your workshops and flip from one dance hall to the other in the evening. However the competition joined the two dance styles together in the main ballroom.

..... Don't think Joseph and Trisha have taught at Herrang............

Joseph told me he was teaching there last year, so I assume they would have been there this year too

..... ......Now - what we need is a similar camp in this country where we can have a solid week or more with all of these teachers in one place...

The cost would be incredible - can't think of an organiser willing to take that chance - I believe Herrange is only just surviving

We don't have the market in this country - however Camp Savoy should be really good this year especially with a couple of major Lindy events not on this year (the Frankie ones too ) and of course CASEY MAGILL