let's help it happen: Africa's *FIRST* Lindy festival

I've just returned from Herräng Dance Camp primed with plenty of material for many blog posts but before I get stuck into those I felt the need to prioritise this one for reasons that will be shortly apparent.

As you know, Frankie Manning Ambassador Scholarships are awarded to a few people each year to help them in their attempts to spread the love of Lindy hop. I am fortunate to be one such recipient but two others are Brendan and Muriel Argent from Cape Town, South Africa who I met in Herräng and who are doing utterly incredible things there.

Brendan and Muriel, along with Jeanie Elliot and others from Cape Town Swing, are not just trying to help a small scene grow in a big city but are flag-bearers for Lindy hop in a big country and, indeed, a very big continent.

That Africa is also the very continent to which Lindy hop and other vernacular jazz dances can trace their ancestral roots makes their ambition all the more significant as they are hoping to host Africa's very first international swing festival.

Mother City Hop is pencilled in for the 19th–21st March 2016 but despite its stunning location and incredible teaching line-up, IT MAY NOT HAPPEN!!

Peter Strom & Naomi Uyama, Thomas Blacharz & Eglė Nemickaitė and Remy Kouakou Kouame plus (if all things go according to plan) they will also be joined by Alice Mei & Peter Kertzner and Jo Hoffberg & Kevin St Laurent.

Those are genuinely some of my favourite pros (Peter & Naomi are phenomenal teachers and, as anyone who knows me can tell you, I've had a whiff of a man-crush on Remy for a while) but I've also worked and lived in South Africa so I can vouch for what a great country it is and Cape Town is an absolute gem of a city with stacks of amazing things to do nearby.

Safaris, shark diving, surfing, scuba-diving, sunbathing, sightseeing, other things beginning with 'S', wine tours, mountain climbing... I've had some of the best experiences of my life in the Rainbow Nation!

However, and as we all know, money is what makes the world go round and Cape Town does not benefit from having an established scene with a hefty bank balance stuffed with capital that can afford to take BIG risks on big events (something we can identify with in Belfast), so they really do need people to commit early. Plus, this of course comes with the benefit of a reduced price if you book before the 8th of August... that's only a week away!!

Passes can be purchased through their funding page with the full passes available for £90/$140/128€ - which is a proper bargain. I don't want to sound like a used car salesman on loop but for those teachers, seriously, have a look at what else is available and then recognise the value.

There is also the ability to purchase merchandise or fund local dancers from less well-off backgrounds and all of these things will help Mother City Hop meet its target!

I also want to point something out here that is rather important but not entirely obvious.

The astute amongst you may have noticed that South Africa is very far away. From where I'm sitting in my office in Belfast, MapCrow tells me I am 6,280 miles or 10,106 km from Cape Town. So I'm ruling out cycling. However, it is not actually that expensive to get there.

Having just been to Herräng, I can tell you that the price of flights from Belfast to Stockholm is around £250. If I wanted to fly to Cape Town, however, it would only cost me an additional £180 as, according to Google flights at the moment I am typing this article, Paris to Cape Town is £380 and I know that Easyjet regularly flies from Belfast to Paris for around the £50 mark (±£10 depending on luck).

Well, 'only' £180 is a lot of money, you cry!

True. BUT the price of staying in South Africa is on a whole other (much lower) level to Sweden - food, drink, accommodation, sightseeing, nice things, tacky tourist snowglobes... they're buttons down there! So if you were to make the most of your flights and spend at least a week, that £180 difference would evaporate in a Southern Hemisphere jiffy.

Just don't spend a single penny on vuvuzelas or I will go full Liam Neeson.
I will find you.

And after that, there is a link up with the nascent scene in Mozambique if anyone fancies a post-Mother City Hop hop to the other side of southern Africa for a few days in the capital, Maputo, and then on to the little beach resort of Tofo.

I've visited both and actually stayed in the exact venues (Fatima's) that is hosting any would-be Lindy visitors and can tell you that you need to try their seafood curry. It is outstanding!

So, without rambling any more I hope you can support this event in any way you can - visit, sponsor, or advertise! And if you have any questions that aren't answered by their website or my semi-veiled sales pitch, you can get in contact with the organisers via email: mothercityhop@gmail.com or the following mediums:

mothercityhop.com
facebook.com/mothercityhop
twitter.com/MotherCityHop

Oxford Lindy Exchange 2015

the Oxford Lindy Exchange branding with All Souls College in the background

As I've only been dancing for two years the idea of going to a Lindy exchange was one that I had put off for a while as I figured I'd rather go to an event with workshops than just turn up at a few socials and dance without getting to learn anything.

What a daft notion that's turned out to be.

For a start, socials are actually the best place to learn. Those new moves need to be test-driven eventually, but when you venture into a new scene you also get to watch other dancers who have been taught by other teachers and maybe have a few shapes that differ from those thrown by every other dancer in your home scene

But it still took me until this past weekend to finally go to a Lindy exchange and discover what I've been missing for the last two years, and OLX was one heck of a way to start!

At some stage last year I discovered SwingPlanit (and if you don't already know that website, prepare to waste some serious time on it!) which led to me making a few mental notes of scenes I'd like to visit and Facebook events worth following. One of these, OLX, happened to be holding a competition last December to give away an event pass to whoever provided a winning design for their new branding, and with the help of many of you (thanks again!) mine was chosen and that free pass was winging my direction.

I'd never previously been to Oxford but had heard great things, and as someone whose real job is in academia it is a city that has always held a natural fascination for me, so I was very much looking forward to finally visiting.

That said, and sadly on a more sombre personal note, my grandmother passed away suddenly last week which gave me serious consideration to just staying at home. I was very close to my grandmother but I knew one of the things she never tolerated was anyone moping around, especially on her behalf, so I decided that a few days away would be a healthy distraction. And it inevitably proved that Granny's "just get on with it!" mantra was as right as ever.

And so immediately after work on Friday I drove to Belfast International airport and, by way of Gatwick and a couple of hours on a bus, I arrived in Oxford around 10pm and threw myself straight into the thick of things after a quick costume change.

It didn't take long to break a sweat due a triple combo of the obvious high intensity aerobic exercise, warm weather, and a beautiful venue with windows that couldn't be opened. Thank goodness for the industrial air blowers!

Friday night proved to be a cracking sample of what was to follow for the weekend: great weather, great venue, fantastically fast floor (love dem slides), amazing live music, and, best of all, a fun and friendly Lindy herd.

...'herd' - I think we need a better collective noun for swing dancers. A fling... a jam... a savoy... a sweat... a murmuration?!

OK, back on point.

I have to admit, I was initially unsure if I was actually in the right city because as chance would have it nearly all of my first dances were with girls from Cambridge along with a fair few from Reading and Bristol. In fact, by the time the Lindy was over and we headed for the blues venue, I had still only danced with two locals!

Around this point in the evening I met my host, Matt, and I have to give him a massive thank-you, not only for hosting but also for adding to my Oxford experience by loaning me a bike (I felt like a local and everything), showing me around a few colleges, and just generally being great craic.

When we arrived for the blues I spent a good while just chatting to people and watching everyone else dance. I shortly discovering that there were actually a lot of Oxford dancers and it was great to meet and get to know folk a bit better (as I was swingin' solo from Belfast after all!) but another reason for not bouncing onto the floor as per usual was because I had absolutely no idea how to blues dance.

About a year ago I think I went to a grand total of three classes and I've not touched blues dancing since. So to stand and watch people who, to my eyes, looked like they knew what they were doing was a little intimidating and reminded me of how I felt at my first Lindy socials - where the longer you stand the less eager you feel. But thankfully that wasn't to last too long.

I figured I had to learn somehow and as I'd already found that everyone I'd met seemed cast from a fun and forgiving mould then the opportunity was there. So, starting with an apology for what was to come, I asked someone up for a dance and after that I don't think I stopped all night!

One of the great advantages of blues dancing is the physical closeness of the hold - not for the reasons some may think - but because it means that rather than looking at your partner this closeness practically encourages you to look past them and over their shoulder... allowing you to watch and copy the better dancers!

I also got to talking with a few of these more experienced dancers and they further allayed my fears by explaining that, unlike Lindy, in blues the basic rules are much looser and there is plenty of scope for 'individual interpretation' (also translated as: 'fake it 'til you make it') which allowed me the opportunity to get up with a little bit more confidence.

Saturday morning came too soon after the night before but involved a tour of the Pitt Rivers Museum that easily reinvigorated me for the day ahead courtesy of its natural history and anthropology exhibits with great additional insights provided by Mark. It was then the turn of Russell to lead us on an info-laden tour around the key sights of the city proper before we headed to the park for a relaxing afternoon of games, conversation and sunburn.

After a nip into a vintage store on the way home, a quick nap and a bite to eat, I was soon heading out again to another stunning and historic venue: the Oxford Union.

A good dance floor, good music and good partners are what make up the holy trinity of social dancing. If one is lacking but the other two are exceptionally good then a blind eye can be turned, but more often than not you really need all three to have a great night. However, one of the things that can embellish an evening is if this triumvirate is featured somewhere special.

The Oxford Union (not to be confused with the student's union) is a beautiful building within an equally peaceful setting but what adds to its mystique is its significance in hosting debates, lectures and seminars from some of history's greatest luminaries of science, politics, art, and business since 1823. I have danced in many impressive venues but I can think of none that come close in prestige.

At the end of the Saturday night Lindy, more blues dancing again followed and for this there was yet more incredible live music in another quirky venue. The heat of the dance room was something else but the Finns would have us believe that great health benefits can come from warm, wood-clad venues so I shall consider it beneficial.

The Sunday afternoon involved a return to the Oxford Union for an afternoon tea dance in the garden before again moving inside the main chamber for the weekend's final action, and it goes without saying that the musical accompaniment to each of these dances was provided by amazing live bands.

After the formal conclusion of events, thanks and goodbyes were shared although a small group of us managed to extend the weekend's activity for a few more hours with burritos and dancing in the park before moving things indoors until the wee small hours. It was lovely low-key way to finish what had been a fantastic weekend for me and I am not only keen to return next year but my appetite for Lindy exchanges has now been well and truly whetted.

A massive congratulations and thanks must go to organiser-in-chief, Madeleine, and her OLX crew; to the sensational musicians Melody Room Jazz Band, Down for the Count, Little Moaner and the Tantrums, Nick Gill and the Oxford Classic Jazz Band, and Benoit Viellefon and his Orchestra; to Matt for hosting me; and most of all, to the incredible dancers of OLX2015 - my first Lindy exchange was an absolute belter, so thank you all for contributing to a stunning weekend.