Galway Lindyfest 2015

the Lindyfest lineup: JeongWoo & Crystal, Marcos & Lucille, Skye & Frida

It's easy to get excited about going away when you're flying to get there or heading somewhere new or exotic but when you only have to drive for four hours the anticipation of visiting somewhere otherworldly can be harder to evoke.

But that's just not the case with Galway.

What makes it so special is the high concentration of great dancers and great people in such a small city, making Galway, pound for pound, the best swing scene on our little green island or anywhere else (despite it being dwarfed by possibly every other city I've danced in) and long may that continue.

The drive itself was pretty straight forward and as with my last trip to Galway, we once again headed for the Kinlay Hostel where eight of the 13-person Belfast contingent (a new travelling record for our scene!!) piled into a single dorm before heading out for what was, quite honestly, the best pizza I think I have ever tasted. Good job, Dough Bros, and thanks to the Galway Swing girls who recommended it and met us there!

The weekend itself kicked off with the teachers introduction and then some competition heats interspersed with social dancing and plenty of greetings, hugs, and catch-ups: a really nice way to get things going.

Once you hit the dancefloor, however, you had to be careful you didn't actually hit it because I'm not sure I've danced on one quite as fast for a while and until I sorted myself out, I likely made a more than passing resemblance to Bambi's first encounter with a frozen lake. Still, for me that just opens things up as I enjoy incorporating slides into my dancing when I can. Although, on more than one occasion, said slides were not necessarily added by design.

One of the highlights of my Friday night was getting to dance with Lucille Pinteaux, one of the pros there to lead one third of the weekend's workshops alongside Marcos Agote, but had I had more sense about me I likely wouldn't have asked her for a dance on the first night when I hadn't quite warmed up.

It usually takes me at least a full day of dancing to build up the confidence (and practice!) to ask a pro for a dance at one of these events but as I didn't immediately recognise Lucille, and she happened to glance at me just as I was looking for my next dance partner, I decided to ask her up.

I should say that I intend no offence to Lucille by confessing I didn't recognise her right away but when I watch videos etc of any pros I very very rarely pay any attention to the follows - it's the leads who I want to emulate and they are the ones I focus on - so it wasn't until I took her hands for a swing out that I realised who she was.

The penny dropped when I felt Lucille's connection - that paradox of a handhold that is simultaneously delicate but firm, that feels barely there but is perfectly primed to respond to everything and anything the lead attempts, and one that immediately marks out a supreme dancer. And as soon as I got that, I immediately recognised who I was dancing with and my thoughts started screaming "DO GOOD STUFF!! DO THE BEST STUFF!!" as my brain became the gun-slinger in a Wild West saloon shooting directions at my feet and imploring them to dance.

I think I handled it well enough, Lucille was very pleasant afterwards and as no injury or embarrassment was caused to either party (or any around us) I shall mark it off as a success, and as it was to be my final dance of the night it meant I finished on a high.

The following morning, however, classes brought me down to earth with a bump.

We started with Skye Humphries and Frida Segerdahl and... well... holy heck... I've not had such an intense start to a Saturday morning since it involved an ignored alarm clock, unpacked luggage and an international flight. And do not let Skye's mellow visage fool you - the man's attention to detail is stunning!

To begin with, we warmed up with some up tempo solo jazz before they took us through a fairly basic but classic pattern - nothing revolutionary - but it was exactly the type of class that anyone who wants to put themselves into the 'advanced' level should get accustomed to. Deconstructing and reconstructing. Taking moves you think are second nature, stripping them down, and learning them all over again. Correctly.

And that kind of thing can be pretty humbling.

I've mentioned before how teachers sometimes stand in the middle of a class and provide veiled, targeted advice by remarking "I can see a few people doing this..." in a non-specific direction; and everyone nods but internally denies it's them. But then when the teacher comes up to you, rests a hand on your shoulder, looks straight into your eyes and says "no, really, don't..." you can be fairly certain that that message lacks ambiguity.

In fact, there were a few classes from the weekend which triggered plenty of reflection in terms of my basics and a desire to improve, and for that I am very grateful, but one of the things that I also must get over is my absolute disdain for solo jazz.

Right now, the best way I can think of it is that solo jazz is to Lindy hop what reading Shakespeare or Dickens was to my English curriculum at school - a necessary and vital part of my education that, once I push past the frustration, irritation and... eh... hatred, I shall likely look back upon it and fail to understand why it flummoxed me so much.

Actually, let's hope solo jazz is like Dickens. Dickens I can now appreciate. Shakespeare, however, I shall never understand. A Midsummer Night's Dream? Billy Shakes was trippin' balls. Why Tim Burton hasn't turned that one into a modern Gothic marvel I don't know. Too obvious? I digress...

Saturday night in full swing; Scott with his medal haul; the advanced class with Skye & Frida!

Anyhow, the weekend made it clear to me that if I want to get better at Lindy I need to put the time in to  get better  start learning some solo jazz.

In fact, it wasn't just solo jazz that was sprung upon us but balboa also made an unprompted appearance and that was absolutely fantastic.

I have wanted to learn balboa for a while so to get a crash course (from JeongWoo Hong and Crystal Lee) was really really cool. Seemingly, just about everyone else in the room had danced balboa before, and perhaps, as we were the advanced Lindy hop class, it was fair to assume we'd have a reasonable level of competency in balboa as well.

Me? Not so much.

Moves were called for the first mini balboa sequence of the class: "basic, basic, come-around, throw-out..." but just as everyone was about to launch into it, I ventured to put up my hand:

"sorry, but... eh... what's a basic?!"

JeongWoo and Crystal, and all of the follows that I then danced with, for that matter, were very accommodating and I was relieved to learn that it wasn't actually just me with no previous experience of balboa - I just happened to be the one voicing my shortcomings. But that little taster was just the right amount to have me convinced that I need to keep it up. And that Saturday night was a perfect example of why having a little bit of balboa in the back pocket can be very useful indeed.

The music that night was provided by a gypsy jazz band called "I Saw Stars" but I have to say I struggled with the high tempo (if only I knew more balboa!!) and spent an uncharacteristic amount of my time not dancing so I fell well short of my usual weekend target of trying to dance with every follow there! And that included two people pretty much at the top of my mental dance-card: Sarah Neary and Frida.

That said, the dances I did have were great fun and much like I finished the Friday night dancing with a pro, I ended the Saturday night in a similar vein as I got to dance with Crystal (again, amazing; obviously), and thankfully it was to a more Lindy hop style tempo!

The big events of the Saturday night, though, were the competitions and as well as the ensemble - where I competed as part of Belfast's group "Swing Situation, So It Is!" - I also entered the Jack & Jill.

The practices for the ensemble with Scott & Naomi, Sharon & Richard* (*occasionally, haha!), and Anna had been a lot of fun but had also been quite draining (if I hear Dinah Washington's I Diddle one more time...) and after much toil, bruising and body slams (sorry, Anna!) I am proud to report we came fourth! Although I begrudgingly accept that that result somewhat loses its lustre when you consider there were only four teams competing...

In the Jack & Jill (for anyone unfamiliar with this format, competition partners are decided purely by chance) I lucked out and got Naomi but my competition inexperience (this was my first Jack & Jill) did us no favours as I forgot to keep track of the eight 8-beat bars and didn't quite finish leading the spotlight in time! Ah well... Sorry, Naomi!

I have to say, I thought Anna looked fantastic in her spotlight, even though she missed out on placing, but I am happy to share that the Belfast contingent did not return home completely empty-handed (as you can see in the photo above) as Scott picked up 3rd in Solo Charleston, 2nd in the Allstars Jack & Jill, and 1st in the open Jack & Jill (partnered with Laura Hicks who deserves a mention for winning almost everything she could!).

There were more classes on the Sunday, with Skye & Frida again working on reworking and refining your basics and jazz, Marcos & Lucille teaching some more subtle but fantastic little moves, and JeongWoo and Crystal sharing some really fun swing-out timing and footwork variations.

This brought the weekend's main events to a close but a quite sizeable group then headed into town for food and more great live music and dancing. The first stop was at a bar called Seven and featured the same band that had performed the night before but this time they dropped the double bass, wound the tempo down for an easier Sunday night vibe and were now called "The Lazy Blues Band." This was later followed by a trip to a stunning little traditional drinking house called Tigh Neachtain and featured some fab blues by the "Tom Portman Trio" and it just provided a lovely way to finish the weekend - some wonderful final dances and quality time with awesome people.

I had a fantastic weekend and drove home very satisfied but I must say that it was also a little bittersweet, and that was nothing to do with the weekend itself but because of some big impending departures from the Galway scene.

Paul & Sarah Neary - the genial geniuses behind Galway Swing who should receive most of the praise for driving the swing revival across Ireland since Paul's arrival 12 years ago - are moving to Birmingham to set up a brand new swing collective called Swing Express (and I also encourage people to 'like' their Facebook page to keep abreast of their developments!).

I'm gutted, and I don't know anyone else in the dance community on our wee island that wouldn't be, and not least the ones in Galway, as their effervescence is what helped create my favourite scene to visit for a bit of Lindy, but I must also admit that I'm excited to see what they can do with what is the UK's largest city after London.

I've written a short post to thank them for their immensely positive influence on the swing community here and on me personally, as well as to provide some details on their new endeavour across the water, but for now I'd like to wish them the very best of luck!

Additionally, on the Sunday night I learnt that, as well as Sarah, another of my favourite dancers is due to depart in the coming months as Jessica is likely heading home to Spain in the summer. AND I heard that yet more cracking dancers, Duana and Lisa, may also be considering relocating! Girls, my selfish suggestion is: don't leave!

It almost seems like the end of an era, hence my conflicting emotions on my drive home, but I know it won't stop me returning as there are so many great dancers in Galway, and it attracts yet more, so I know it shall very much continue to be a long drive I fervently look forward to.

A few final notes:

Firstly, quite a few people remarked on my dance shoes - a few guys were keen to know where I got them and one of the pros, Lucille, recognised them as they are sold by a friend of hers! They are only made and sold by a little shop in Barcelona called Slide&Swing and I'd love to see them get their dues as they are a joy to dance in and look the dog's danglies.

Secondly, for a Belfast contingent of 13 people (a Swing Belfast dozen with the Bellehopper flag carried by the ever dapper Declan) to travel to Galway really made me feel very proud of our nascent scene. Cork, Galway and Dublin always represent themselves well when they travel to other events across Ireland so for Belfast to now be operating on that level makes me feel incredibly chuffed. I'm not attepting to take any praise for that but I had to mention how great it made me feel. Anna, Sharon, Richard, David, David, Richard, Scott, Naomi, Sarah, Katharina, Paul, Declan, and myself. Great, great effort!

And finally, I should apologise to anyone that may have gotten sick since Galway as I was not well, nor were some of the other Belfast crowd for that matter, and dancing with so many people in a hot and humid environment can have the potential to be somewhat unhealthy! But, as I have yet to be subjected to any cough-peppered invectives, I am hopeful everyone has escaped with an unburdened immune system!

All in all, it was another great Galway galavant. Thanks to Paul & Sarah for organising it (whilst packing up your lives!), the Galway swing community for hosting it, the teachers for their excellent workshops and everyone who went and made it so wonderful. See you next time!