In Belfast, there are few people (if any!) more enraptured by swing dancing and all related things than Curtis McAuley. Curtis is now starting to clock up some serious mileage attending events so I thought I would ask him to review his recently attended New Year Swing Celebration; hosted by Swing Dance Bristol.
C: I should start by saying I am relatively new to lindy hop! My swing story only started in November 2016 so at the time of the Bristol event I was 13 months into what I hope will be many years to follow (but mostly lead!). This was my fifth event outside of my native Belfast scene and if you’ve never been to Belfast what are you waiting for?! We are small but we’ve a big heart, a bigger than expected scene and we love opening our arms to newbies and visitors alike.
Now down to business, how was Bristol? In short - spectacular! I attended the event alone but ran into a few familiar faces from previous events. As with other events I've attended by myself I began the festival with my ‘shy syndrome’ firmly in evidence… not sure where to place myself, anxious about my level of ability and where I would fit in, but thankfully it didn’t last too long.
In short: four days, four socials, many tasters and too many classes for me to count.
Day One
I arrived in Bristol on Thursday the 28th having never been before. The festival wasn’t officially starting until the Friday but there was a special screening of Alive and Kicking which I had not seen before and was keen to view.
Day One
I arrived in Bristol on Thursday the 28th having never been before. The festival wasn’t officially starting until the Friday but there was a special screening of Alive and Kicking which I had not seen before and was keen to view.
It documents the origins of Lindy Hop and was an absolutely sensational way to kick off the festival!! Full of so many inspiring stories and personal journeys illustrating how swing dance has inspired others: no better way to start the festival for me. I managed to stay on my feet long enough to squeeze in a tiny hour of social dancing but all the travel and post-Christmas sleep deprivation took its toll and sent me off to find my bed.
Day Two
On Friday it began…three taster classes followed by a mammoth social which went on until 4am.
Day Two
On Friday it began…three taster classes followed by a mammoth social which went on until 4am.
The first taster was entitled ‘baby aerials’ and it taught me that aerials don’t need to be big to be effective, I must admit I don’t tend to use them at all but this class introduced some nice and easy (but most importantly safe aerials).
It was taught by Andy Fleming and Lindsay Weight who I’d not heard of before but oh boy - they are at the top end of my favourite teachers now! Although I only managed that one session with them (they were committed to teaching the aerials track throughout the festival) that one session really gave me an appetite to learn more aerials and how to incorporate them into my dancing and find those little breaks in the songs where they really have an impact!
Andy was also one of my favourite dancers to watch, to me he simply glided across the floor as if on ice, he had such a hypnotic pulse – it just hooked me in and I would watch him dance every time I got the opportunity.
The rest of the day comprised of:
Andy was also one of my favourite dancers to watch, to me he simply glided across the floor as if on ice, he had such a hypnotic pulse – it just hooked me in and I would watch him dance every time I got the opportunity.
The rest of the day comprised of:
· A collegiate shag taster with Jim and Nicky from SwingBytes. This was fantastic for me, as I love the dance but don’t get many opportunities to dance it at home.
· An African dance class with a man called Louis, sadly didn’t catch his full name (feel free to message if you know) but the man had serious talent and had everyone dancing, singing and stomping out rhythms simultaneously.
· And of course the social: packed full of dancers and really put my floor-craft skills to the test.
All of this set in a fantastic venue with great caterers who provided lots of homemade deliciousness to enjoy! I retired around midnight, the socials go on way later than that but I’m such a keen bean and wanted to be fresh for classes next day.
Day Three
Classes were organised as a drop in format, applicable to all levels, but don’t allow yourself to be fooled into translating that as dance speak for ‘easy or simple’. These classes really challenged me to analyse my normal dance methods and to employ the strategies being taught, as opposed to defaulting to the methods I had previously been taught or used. This concept was really highlighted by the extraordinary teaching of Benjamin Cook and Michaela Delmonte who ran a fantastic Swingout clinic.
Day or Should I Say Big Night Four
There were of course more classes on New Year’s Eve – format as above, all I attended fantastic! But by now I was totally psyched for the social that evening being held in Kings Weston House.
· An African dance class with a man called Louis, sadly didn’t catch his full name (feel free to message if you know) but the man had serious talent and had everyone dancing, singing and stomping out rhythms simultaneously.
· And of course the social: packed full of dancers and really put my floor-craft skills to the test.
All of this set in a fantastic venue with great caterers who provided lots of homemade deliciousness to enjoy! I retired around midnight, the socials go on way later than that but I’m such a keen bean and wanted to be fresh for classes next day.
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| The man himself! |
Day Three
Classes were organised as a drop in format, applicable to all levels, but don’t allow yourself to be fooled into translating that as dance speak for ‘easy or simple’. These classes really challenged me to analyse my normal dance methods and to employ the strategies being taught, as opposed to defaulting to the methods I had previously been taught or used. This concept was really highlighted by the extraordinary teaching of Benjamin Cook and Michaela Delmonte who ran a fantastic Swingout clinic.
Day or Should I Say Big Night Four
There were of course more classes on New Year’s Eve – format as above, all I attended fantastic! But by now I was totally psyched for the social that evening being held in Kings Weston House.
The organisers really made it as easy as possible for dancers and lucky for me there was transport arranged to the venue, with a pickup location just a measly 5 minute walk from my hostel. But hold on a minute, of course very little in life is that straight forward. The catch… after taking some time to get ‘all dappered up’, I ran into a torrential rainstorm on the short walk! In the words of Forrest Gump, it was that “big old fat rain” and within minutes my hair was wrecked and clothes soaked through. I will never forget that relentless rain, only ever seen rain like it in the tropics! Luckily for me I am always over prepared but this time it turned out that I was properly prepared. I had packed a couple of spare shirts so I was quickly able to change and be dry. Well dry before the inevitable back sweat waterfall that I get at every social. (Hope that wasn’t too graphic)
Kings Weston House was built in 1719 and can only be described as colossal. Recently bought over by a group of friends it serves as a residency for local artists. They inhabit the upper floors of the building and the ground floor seems to be left open for events. The ground floor held three separate dance rooms, each organised for the night for a different dance style; a Lindy room, a Blues room and a room dedicated to Balboa and Shag. I unfortunately don’t have those dances in my repertoire yet (not enough to be brave and social dance anyway) but I loved the idea of being able to move between different areas based on what you wanted to dance. It was fascinating to watch it all and it’s such a great format that I hope events I attend in the future think about incorporating this idea into their socials if space allows.
Around 8pm Benjamin Cooke kicked off the Lindy room with a little 20s Charleston taster class. He is an excellent teacher, incredible dancer and a phenomenal entertainer. He was always smiling and making jokes which just put me in a great mood. I do hope to get to some more classes with him in the future and would recommend that everyone try and get a class with him at some point.
Later on in the evening, as we got close to the big countdown David Zilkha was doing some announcements in the lindy room and please don’t judge me for loving this! He turned to me and asked me to pick a number between 5 and 20. The first thought in my head was why would he want a number but I responded instantly with 12, then he said “11 ...” (I still didn’t get it – slightly slow on the uptake!) “10 ... 9 ...” (my brain finally clicked). Without doubt the most memorable New Year’s countdown I will have for years to come for being in complete dunce mode. Fireworks exploded outside, the New Year and the dancing commenced. I only had about an hour left in me and I loved it, I mean it’s not every weekend that you get the opportunity to dance in a mansion and in the company of people who share your passion.
I got back to the hostel around 2.30 am and you know how it is, you’ve been dancing all night and you’ve completely depleted your energy levels without it even crossing your mind and all you really want now is for someone to pass you something tasty. So I crossed everything worth crossing and hoped they were still serving food. Not a mission I was going back out into tropical rain storm - I was hungry but not nearly hungry enough to brave that. Fortunately when I asked if they were serving food, I heard the heavenly response “Just pizza”…what a flippin’ glorious thing to hear when the rain’s pounding down outside.
The Last Day – Day Five – all together: AWWWWWW!
So it turns out, one year and five dance festivals in that I have a favourite social and it’s the last one. Classes are finished, there’s tons of dance space, teachers and students alike are trying to absorb every last opportunity to dance and everyone is just so relaxed! After a weekend of extended dancing and classes we feel like we’ve known each other forever (at least that’s how I feel at any events I attend alone.)
Kings Weston House was built in 1719 and can only be described as colossal. Recently bought over by a group of friends it serves as a residency for local artists. They inhabit the upper floors of the building and the ground floor seems to be left open for events. The ground floor held three separate dance rooms, each organised for the night for a different dance style; a Lindy room, a Blues room and a room dedicated to Balboa and Shag. I unfortunately don’t have those dances in my repertoire yet (not enough to be brave and social dance anyway) but I loved the idea of being able to move between different areas based on what you wanted to dance. It was fascinating to watch it all and it’s such a great format that I hope events I attend in the future think about incorporating this idea into their socials if space allows.
Around 8pm Benjamin Cooke kicked off the Lindy room with a little 20s Charleston taster class. He is an excellent teacher, incredible dancer and a phenomenal entertainer. He was always smiling and making jokes which just put me in a great mood. I do hope to get to some more classes with him in the future and would recommend that everyone try and get a class with him at some point.
Later on in the evening, as we got close to the big countdown David Zilkha was doing some announcements in the lindy room and please don’t judge me for loving this! He turned to me and asked me to pick a number between 5 and 20. The first thought in my head was why would he want a number but I responded instantly with 12, then he said “11 ...” (I still didn’t get it – slightly slow on the uptake!) “10 ... 9 ...” (my brain finally clicked). Without doubt the most memorable New Year’s countdown I will have for years to come for being in complete dunce mode. Fireworks exploded outside, the New Year and the dancing commenced. I only had about an hour left in me and I loved it, I mean it’s not every weekend that you get the opportunity to dance in a mansion and in the company of people who share your passion.
I got back to the hostel around 2.30 am and you know how it is, you’ve been dancing all night and you’ve completely depleted your energy levels without it even crossing your mind and all you really want now is for someone to pass you something tasty. So I crossed everything worth crossing and hoped they were still serving food. Not a mission I was going back out into tropical rain storm - I was hungry but not nearly hungry enough to brave that. Fortunately when I asked if they were serving food, I heard the heavenly response “Just pizza”…what a flippin’ glorious thing to hear when the rain’s pounding down outside.
The Last Day – Day Five – all together: AWWWWWW!
So it turns out, one year and five dance festivals in that I have a favourite social and it’s the last one. Classes are finished, there’s tons of dance space, teachers and students alike are trying to absorb every last opportunity to dance and everyone is just so relaxed! After a weekend of extended dancing and classes we feel like we’ve known each other forever (at least that’s how I feel at any events I attend alone.)
This event was simply spectacular and I am very grateful I was able to participate in it. For me one of the best things was how welcomed I felt as an outsider in the scene, they made me feel at ease in a brand new place and I got comfortable very quickly.
With so much to choose from the whole weekend was a total delight for all dancers. So what else could my word for the festival be but ‘Choice’, really the variety of classes was something else! I haven’t come across this level of variety at other events and I must say it’s a marvellous way to do it!
The next Bristol Swing Festival is happening from the 30th March - 2nd April. I would thoroughly recommend giving it a go if you are able! Great scene, lovely people and a fantastic community of musicians that seem to mingle spectacularly well with the dance crowd. Let’s not forget the local pub, The Old Duke, which had live music every night and had such great jazz vibes.
Hopefully in the next few years we will see our local Belfast scene continue to grow into something similar – I know we have the passion for it!
Teaching Staff:
· David Zilkha
· Michaela Delmonte
· Benjamin Cooke
· Kira Emslie
· Robyn Larsen
· Ron & Sharon Dubrovinsky
· Maxime Pampluma & Frankie Jaffey
· Andy and Lindsay Fleming
· Jim & Nicky of Swingbytes
With so much to choose from the whole weekend was a total delight for all dancers. So what else could my word for the festival be but ‘Choice’, really the variety of classes was something else! I haven’t come across this level of variety at other events and I must say it’s a marvellous way to do it!
The next Bristol Swing Festival is happening from the 30th March - 2nd April. I would thoroughly recommend giving it a go if you are able! Great scene, lovely people and a fantastic community of musicians that seem to mingle spectacularly well with the dance crowd. Let’s not forget the local pub, The Old Duke, which had live music every night and had such great jazz vibes.
Hopefully in the next few years we will see our local Belfast scene continue to grow into something similar – I know we have the passion for it!
Teaching Staff:
· David Zilkha
· Michaela Delmonte
· Benjamin Cooke
· Kira Emslie
· Robyn Larsen
· Ron & Sharon Dubrovinsky
· Maxime Pampluma & Frankie Jaffey
· Andy and Lindsay Fleming
· Jim & Nicky of Swingbytes
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