swingin' in new places with new faces

swing in full flow at the Bishopsgate Institute in London

In just over a week I'm heading to Galway for the Lindy Hopper's Delight weekender and I'm absolutely stoked. Sadly I'll miss the Lindy Hop Championships on the Friday as it coincides with my university graduation but I'm really looking forward to the workshops and socials on the Saturday and Sunday, seeing familiar faces, visiting a corner of Ireland that I've quite embarrassingly never before set foot in, and, more than anything else, finally experiencing the Galway lindy scene that I have heard so much about.

I absolutely adore the local swing community in Belfast and it has been amazing to watch it grow to a size that matches plenty of other cities I've been to but when I also get the opportunity to travel and meet new people in a big, established scene it's hard not to get really excited.

I had my first experience of that in June this year at the London Swing Festival, followed that up the very next week with a trip to Cork (both lindy hop weekends) and in September I went to my first big west coast swing event, the Midland Swing Open, in Birmingham. On top of that I've had the opportunity to swing in a few other cities and countries but it's the non-stop workshop weekends that give me the biggest buzz.

For anyone that hasn't been to a dance weekender I can't recommend them enough and that especially goes for those that are completely new to swing. Understandably it can be hard to justify the price of some of these events if it's only a new hobby as, unlike that new bike you bought in 2012 after watching Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins make cycling look like a good idea, you can't recoup some expenses on ebay when you come to your senses. But, if you reckon you're in it for the long-haul, the amount you can improve in just one weekend is incredible and there are usually plenty of other folk there who arrive complete newbies but leave confident dancers.

At most weekends the workshops are split into different ability levels and this time I'm pushing myself by going for a higher level than I have previously as I've decided I'd rather be at the bottom of a challenging class than at the top of a more comfortable one. All being well I won't be the obvious class dunce but I think the risk is definitely worth it as I stand to gain a lot more, not just from the teachers themselves, but also from the other 'students' and, taking the London Swing Festival and the Midland Swing Open as examples, I know I came back from both on a high and a seriously improved dancer.

Learning new moves and refining old ones are the more obvious benefits from the workshops themselves but getting the opportunity to meet a whole load of new people is one of the things that's guaranteed to get me going.

Maybe it's because I'm trying to make up for lost time after barely speaking for much of the first 18 years of my life - so much so that my grandparents dubbed me "The Quiet Man" after one of my Granda's favourite John Wayne films -  but when you've a load of people in the one room that all share a common passion the conversation creates itself; and I often enjoy giving it a hand.

In each of the events I've attended so far I've met some great people, many of whom I'm now in regular contact with, and it's a wonderful thing being able to rock up somewhere new and have people there who can show you around and introduce you to the rest of the scene. An example of that was just this past summer when I went to Bordeaux and I was able to get in touch with a guy I knew in the local lindy scene who brought me along to a social for a great night out.

I have also just booked to go to my first event that actually requires a passport to get there - a west coast swing weekender called 'Budafest' (guess the location; hint - doesn't involve Asian enlightenment) and I'm planning on going to a few more lindy and west coast shindigs over the next year but for now I am very much looking forward to heading South to Galway (via Scotland!) and I am sure I will have plenty to report when I get back.