[NB - interview from September 2016]
About 16 months ago Galway grieved and Birmingham bubbled as Paul & Sarah Neary swapped the West of Ireland for the West Midlands so I thought it was time to find out how they were getting on in their new home, how Swing Express was progressing and also to find out a bit more about the big event they have planned for next year: Birmingham Bounce.
I'm not sure that we've yet achieved that. The place we're living in was always meant to be short-term, so it always feels like we're just waiting to find that alternative place where we will be comfortable and set up as 'home'. Work-wise Sarah has a job she is very dedicated to, and has grown enormously in that role, which is great. From the dancing side of things, it's been slow going but things have gradually begun to take shape. It's an extremely different set-up to Galway, and the relationships we've built with dancers here are very different to the relationships we built in Galway.
One of Galway's strengths is the intimacy of a buzzing scene in a small city and I have mentioned a few times how much I love dancing there so what do you love most about Birmingham? Is it possible to create intimacy in the second largest city in the British Isles?
Galway and Birmingham are so different. In fact, I shouldn't say Birmingham, I should say the West Midlands, as our classes take place in Birmingham, Coventry, and Sutton Coldfield. I've even done a fair bit of teaching in Leicester. Our classes are very spread out, so you rarely the see the same people twice in any given week. In Galway there were always die-hards (they know who they are!) who I would see three or four times per week. You got to know people very quickly and become really familiar with them. Our current set-up makes that a bit harder, but we've been lucky enough to meet some really great people and those relationships have slowly come.
I will say the dancers here have been very supportive, especially the ones that are a little more removed from Birmingham city itself. Our dancers in Coventry and Sutton Coldfield, for example, really appreciate having some classes in the their local area and not being forced to travel to find a dance class. They really have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome.
In comparison with starting a completely new swing scene in Galway (and by extension, kicking things off in Ireland as a whole), how did getting started in Birmingham compare? New obstacles or was it much easier the second time around?
Mate, so, so different. As an instructor you're always trying to work out what people need to know. As a scene builder you need to work out what people want to know. I've walked into an established scene here where people are used to things being done a certain way. That's not necessarily a bad thing - it's up to me to adapt to that mindset. Some people are really hungry for new ideas and to hear a different perspective, others not so much. It's my job to walk that line, try and keep everyone interested and work out inventive ways of delivering my message as an instructor. Walking in to an established scene has presented some really interesting challenges, but has also given us a great opportunity to practice what we preach and work together with local schools. We've worked really hard on that and just a few months ago were part of the team that delivered the first ever Birmingham Lindy Exchange: BrumLX with two other local schools. It was a great test for all of us to see how well we played with others :-)
In terms of the dancing and students, how has your first year gone? Did you have many already established local dancers who came along or has it been a fairly new thing for most of your crowd?
It's been a mixture. Our Sutton Coldfield class (to the north of Birmingham) and our Coventry class picked up a few established dancers, primarily because they are a little starved of options in their local area. There have also been a good number of newbies come along, which has really helped as it's nice to have some blank slates with which to start. There's great enthusiasm amongst the newer dancers and the older ones really do feed off their enthusiasm. Our more centralised classes in Birmingham City and Bournville (to the south of Birmingham), where there are a lot more options available to people, primarily consist of brand new
Bournville... so swing dancing and chocolate?! Gadzooks I'd be in heaven. Anyway, when you started last year you had three classes on the go. Is that still the same or have things changed and do you see Swing Express expanding any further?
We still have three going, plus I teach regularly in Leicester as a 'hired hand' (i.e. it's not Swing Express I'm teaching for in Leicester, it's the local school). We do have a fourth venue set to kick off on the 20th of September, so that's exciting. Being new we've had opportunities to try a few different things, set up classes in different areas. If something doesn't work, we tweak it, try again etc. Being new definitely has its advantages.
Did you ever consider naming your event BirmingJAM? I chanced upon that suggestion due to a typo and had to ask...
No, too cheesy Adam. That's just silly. That's a 15 minute time-out from the internet for you...
Pffftt... Well, similar to my name suggestion I think the line-up for the Bounce is also top notch. The teachers are some of my absolute favourite dancers and you've also roped in one of the top jazz bands in the UK - what influences these choices and can I borrow your phonebook?
When I run events I do tend to focus on the learning aspect. Some organisers prefer to concentrate on the entertainment/social aspect of their events. There's no right and wrong there, it's just a preference of which approach to take.
For example, someone suggested I organise a late night party for the Birmingham Bounce. My response was "I'm not flying William and Maeva and JB and Tatiana over from France just so people can sleep in and miss their workshops". I'm a teacher first, and I want to help people not just become better dancers, but to also understand their dance better. That's why I choose the teachers I do. I believe the instructors I tend to work with have a genuine passion for what they do and work very hard to pass on that passion to the scenes they visit.
For the Bounce I put together a wish list of Lindy Hop instructors, and also figured that there might be slightly more interest in a specific authentic jazz track here in the UK, so also asked Sarah to help me put together a wish list of instructors that could anchor a jazz stream. William and Maeva are absolutely perfect to lead a Lindy Hop stream, and JB and Tatiana were high on Sarah's list for jazz. To call Scott and Jenny icing on the cake is doing them both a stupendous injustice. Jenny is an absolute legend, in every sense of the word, in Lindy and Jazz circles and it's only that she is based in the UK that she doesn't generate as much excitement as some of the other visiting teachers. It's my first time working on an event with her and it's a huge honour to have had her say yes.
Bottom line, I'm interested in instructors that can help me shape my students and make them better dancers - to challenge them but also leave them feeling inspired. I've been fortunate to generally hit those targets.
As for borrowing my phone-book - that's not as silly as it sounds. I have been so lucky to have built the relationships I have, and those relationships have helped me build other relationships and so on. Scott Cupit, for example, helped me build relationships with a few of the bigger personalities within the scene, and they, in turn, helped me with others. Dax Hock has gone out of his way in the past to help me generate relationships, and I will always be grateful to both Scott and Dax for giving me a leg up when I needed it. For the Birmingham Bounce, William and Maeva, who I've worked with before in Galway, were instrumental in helping me reach out to JB and Tatiana. Sometimes you just need a foot in the door, and given the help I've received in the past, I'm happy to 'pay it forward'.
I booked my pass the day they went on sale but for anyone who has not yet registered, why should they make sure to get on it as soon as possible?
The longer you take the less likely you'll get the track you want. There are seven to choose from, but eventually some will book out and you'll either be stuck on a wait list or you'll have to find a track that maybe wasn't your first choice (not that you'd complain too much. Can you imagine - "Oh, I don't want to take classes from JB, Tatiana and Jenny. I wanted William, Maeva and Scott").
From an organisers point of view, booking early means I know you're coming, and allows me to be a little more flexible budget-wise. There are plenty of cool things I'd love to do for dancers at the Bounce, but it depends on numbers as to how I put these things together.
For those already committed, do you have any suggestions for accommodation or additional tips?
We're working on trying to get some deals from local hotels to help with accommodation, and we'll also be setting up some hosting. We recently ran the first ever Lindy Exchange here and managed to do a pretty good job getting people to offer hosting. We should be able to replicate that for the Bounce.
A huge thanks to Paul for taking the time out of a busy schedule to answer my questions! If anyone in the West Midlands or beyond is interested in taking up swing dancing or attending their forthcoming event, details and registration can be found on the Swing Express and Birmingham Bounce websites.
