Swing Patrol Class Blues Night

05/07/2015

Location: The Exford Hotel (Sundays)
199 Russell St, Melbourne

I made 'Blues Night' my Sunday evening plan. Adrian, one of my friends from dancing had invited me along for a belated birthday dance. That was just perfect as I wanted to try a blues class anyway after I had a go at the Christchurch Swing Festival and really enjoyed myself. 



The first thing I noticed about the class was the really good atmosphere when I came in. It was a nice little group all ready to dance the 'blues'. They all seemed quite familiar with each other and joked around a lot. 

The teachers for tonight were Joel and Julia. Joel I'd seen around and been to some of his classes but I'd never met Julia and she was mentioned to me before as we do have two things in common: our name and nationality :).

I liked her straight away. She has this really good energy and happiness about her. It was a lovely class and I felt very welcome as a newbie. We learnt a few nice basic blues moves that could be combined and played around with at the end of the class. 

More dancers had shown up for the social dancing by the time we finished. I was asked to dance by one of the dancers in the class and really enjoyed dancing with him. He was a very good lead and it just worked well. I tried not to think too much about the fact that I wasn't sure what to do. I tried to just feel the music and go with it and that's what I ended up doing all night. 

I really felt like a glass of wine with the music at some point. That's exactly what I did in Christchurch and it took me even deeper into that lovely relaxed feeling. I saw some bottles of wine around the tables so I wasn't the only one it seemed.

There was a difference between the Christchurch night and the Sunday night in Melbourne though. In Christchurch I knew I could just call my lovely friend Jeremy to pick me up any time.

All I had to do was just jump in the car and out again, whereas back here, in reality I'd just lost my job and had this agreement with myself to spend as little money as possible by not taking any trams any more or buying drinks.

My lovely bike friend Barry was downstairs in the pub waiting for me but I knew that wine wouldn't make it easier to cycle home uphill in one gear for half an hour after the music had stopped :). 

Therefore I kept enjoying the dancing with really good blues dancers without wine and I still had an amazing time.

The only strange thing that happened was that one dancer who'd ask me to dance, half into the song just went: "Do you want to lead?". I responded: "I've never lead." He then just switched the position, closed his eyes and said: "You can start now." I kind of pushed him back and forward a bit not really sure what I was doing and wasn't too unhappy when the song finished. 

That was my first blues lesson experience and I'm sold. I want more :-)!

Swing Patrol Classes In Bunswick, Melbourne + A Special Night

Brunswick Classes (Mondays)

The Brunswick classes are really good fun and have been my favourites so far. There is something quite special about them. Brunswick has its own swing dancing community and you can tell how much people enjoy being part of that.

Classes of all levels take place at the ‘Bridie O’Reilly’s Brunswick’ which helps as it's a cool place with a good vibe. We’re talking about a big pub with a separate area that's just perfect for dancing. The right size of dance floor, a DJ desk and a big screen showing pictures of swing dancers in action gives you the feeling that you’re in the right place.
                                                           
The classes themselves are of a high standard. I was impressed by the level 1 class I took the first time I went. I'd actually aimed for a level 2 but was early so joined the level 1 class and I'm glad I did. Kieran and Georgia are just amazing. Not only are they great dancers, but it’s their way of teaching and passing on knowledge about music and the enjoyment of the dance that makes them unique. 

From the very first class it's about the music and rhythm and what you can do with it. This is linked with the basic step and body movement. I took a lot away from those classes and it seemed the perfect level for me even though I've been dancing for almost a year now.

                       

15/06/2015

A Special Night In Brunswick

I’m glad I rushed off from work to make it for that one bus that would take me to Brunswick just in time for the class. If I hadn’t done so, I would've missed out on a very special night in the ‘Bridie O'Reilly's Brunswick’.

 Georgia’s and Kieran’s last time teaching there! I wasn’t only lucky to be part of that, I’m also glad I didn’t miss my last opportunity to interview them for my blog:-)! 

It was lovely to see how much their students seem to miss them already. There were a lot of hugs and little chats going on after the lesson but I was still able to get them aside for a quick interview. Please read what they had to say below: 

It was ‘Brunswick Party Monday’ and more and more dancers showed up after the class to get on the dance floor for some social dancing. It got very busy and it was nice to recognise people I met at the festival, in classes or workshops. A lot of teachers were around too, which might have to do with the special occasion.

No doubt about that actually as Kieran and Georgia didn’t get away without a lot of applause, a lovely speech held by one their long time students, some pressies, hugs and of course some leaving dances inside the circle.

The Brunswick performance group 'Jazzabells' were another highlight of the evening and after that dancing till late. What a great night! Thanks lovely Brunswick people :-)!!!

trying not to attract anyones attention having
 this taken.Haha! Didn't work! (background)

Melbourne Swing Festival - Day 3 and 4 (Sunday and Monday)

A big thank you to my friend to Fudz Qazi who let me use his amazing photographs of the event. 

SUNDAY

I have no idea how I made it out of bed on Sunday morning to be back in Richmond for my next door shift but I did somehow.

My shift mate Josh and me didn't only share our love for swing dancing but also the fact that both of us had enjoyed the after party very much. We took turns watching the work shops but also took it in turns to have little rests on the sofas :-).

My plan was to stay out somehow and go to the Sunday evening event 'Hepsters Hideout' at the Ormond Hall straight from my shift but as I was struggling to keep my eyes open towards the end of the day and all was wishing for was a bed and some sleep.

My wish must have been heard as all of a sudden one of Josh's friends showed up and offered him and my a ride to her house near the event. That meant just to get into a car and out, a trip under one hour without changing transports: AMAZING! I couldn't have been more grateful at that moment.

As well as that ride, we could take showers at the house and have naps in the guest rooms. After that we went for a nice meal before dancing :-)!!

When we were arriving at the venue I felt 80% awake for a bit and had some good dances in casual clothing. That didn't last too long and I just went home when that feeling had dropped back to around 40%!

MONDAY

I had the best sleep ever on Monday morning, took it easy in the day and made my way to the very last event for the weekend. Back to where I'd started! The 'Bake and Shake!' night took place in Brighton ;-). I didn't have to travel for 25 hours this time, it only took 1,5 hours to get there.


What a perfect last night. A lot of people had shown up early around 4.00pm to just socialise. 

There were board games and cards available, some home baked snacks and music in the background. It was 80s and 90s from what I remember and I didn't realise until I was asked to dance that you could dance lindy hop to all of the songs :-). The band 'The Furbelows' came on a bit later.

I had lovely chats and some nice dances with people I'd met over the last days. Everyone was relaxed, in a good mood and a bit sleepy. There was dinner provided and free tea and coffee. Again I noticed that this festival was not only about dancing, it was about socialising and having the chance to get to know the others. I really liked that.

The biggest moment of the night was the big thank you speech from Claudia Funder. There was a lot of applause, nice words for everyone but also the appeal for feedback to make the next festival even better.

The moment she said said that I was actually wondering how this could still be improved. The entire weekend was so well organised and thought through, down to the little details but I guess that's that type of attitude it needs to create something like that.

Kerryn got a lot of appreciation in front of everyone. Well deserved. From the chats we had and the time we spent during door shifts, I was already impressed by her as a person and her organisation skills.

Last but not least all volunteers were called to the dance floor for the volunteer dance, so I found myself dancing amongst all the other helpers.

What a great adventure to be part of the Melbourne Swing Festival 2015 the way I experienced it. It was my first big festival and I loved every minute of it. I'm glad I volunteered. A lot to be learnt that way, I met great people and got to hear some of their stories too.

On top of that I earned a free social pass to all the amazing venues! Being a traveller at the moment, I would have not been able to afford that!

Thanks Melbourne Swing Patrol!! What an amazing event :-)!!

Melbourne Swing Festival - Day 2 (Saturday)

A big thank you to my friend to Fudz Qazi who let me use his amazing photographs of the event. 

Saturday was my first work shop door shift. I got up early to make sure I'd find my way to Richmond. I was scheduled for the all day door shift at the "Dance Factory". How exciting.

I was even early and happy to see Kerryn again who was on the same shift. She filled me in with what I had to do. That was mainly asking the dancers for their passes, get them to write themselves name tags, pointing out studio 8 or the nearest bathrooms. I also met my other shift mate Megan, who was lovely and even showed me some dancing moves at a quiet moment when everyone was busy in the classes.

There was also Moriah, who was doing a great job as the teacher's aide responsible for their lunches. She even managed to organise a requested coconut water within a few minutes although she had no idea where to get it from when I passed the message onto her. At that point I didn't even know what a coconut water was.

The first class to look after was the 'super mega plus' class for the best dancers around. I recognised some of the Swing Patrol Teachers and some "Echoes" too. I didn't realise at first that we could go and watch the workshops! That was so cool! Once everyone was in the studio, Megan and me took turns sneaking in, watching from the chair Moriah had organised for us.

I got to see quite a few interesting classes that way over the weekend. I really enjoyed Remy and Ramona's classes. They had such a good message in all levels and got people excited. In one of the advanced classes Remy was told to write a book :-).

The day at the door passed quickly and it was time to get ready for the big night! - "Putting on the Ritz", location: Forum Theatre. I'm quoting the program here:

"Presented in conjunction with Melbourne International Jazz Festival. This will be the premier event of the Melbourne Swing Festival and a highlight of the swing year. Not to be missed!"

I'm so glad I didn't! The Forum is beautiful and a really big venue. I was blown away when I walked in! That was by far the most impressive venue I've seen or done some dancing at. There was a beginners class held when I entered and that was by far the biggest class I'd ever seen. A microphone was needed.

I knew there would be the moment for my favourite dress to come out of my backpack :-)! Everyone looked beautiful again and there was an interesting mix of dancers and jazz lovers. The reason why this big venue could be filled was the international Jazz Festival taking place at the same time. Having quite a few people there to 'only' watch and listen seemed to make every dancer a little part of a performance.

A bit later on I got to see my personal highlight of the night: the teacher performance! 

Just for fun and to show my friends what Lindy Hop is all about, I've often looked up competitions and really good dancers on YouTube quite a lot. Great to look at! I've also seen impressive dancers in jam circles at events but what I got to see here was just amazing!

The international teachers on the dance floor where performing to the band. Just great! Smooth, fast, fun moves. I was lucky and was sitting on the dance floor only an arm's length away. That made it very special. I love seeing performances live and in front of my eyes. It gives me a very special feeling. 

The performance was really impressive but what made it so great might also have been due to the fact that I had watched some of the workshops and what had been taught there and now seeing the artists in action made it even clearer to my why they had been hired for the Melbourne Swing Festival!

That was the night when I decided not to worry about the trams and just to go for it. I even treated myself to a little glass of wine and never looked at the time again :-)!

By the end of the night I was in the best mood, had made some friends and was offered a lift to the after party. My first after party ever!

I felt slightly tired by the time we entered the upstairs are at the 'Forever Dance' in Richmond. There had been a lot of dancing at The Forum. However, soon I'd find out that there was just about anything available that would get a tired dancer back on their feet. Food, snacks, sweets, cups of tea and so on.

It was just great. All the energy came back and I felt like I could dance forever ;-). The venue was quite big and had a really chilled atmosphere. A blues room on one side and a bigger room with the band playing on the other side.

I recognised Georgia from the classes in Brunswick. I knew it was her band 'the Sentimental Gentlemen and Georgia' playing that night and had been looking forward to that. Beautiful! I can only recommend going to see them if you get the chance.

I found it quite impressive how many people where out and dancing way after midnight. There were more people around than back home at our bigger events. Wow! This is Melbourne for me again :-)! I heard that some dancers prefer the after parties and won't even go to the main event. I can see why but I would't have missed out on The Forum!

After a nice mix of dancing in front of the band and chilling at the side of the dance floor I was lucky enough to get a ride back to my place and my head hit the pillow around 4am.

Melbourne Swing Festival - Day 1 (Friday)

05/06/2015

A big thank you to my friend to Fudz Qazi who let me use his amazing photographs of the event.

My first ever volunteer shift was on Friday evening at the door for the festival's first social dancing, which was happening at the Ormond Hall, 557 St Kilda Road. How exciting!!

I'd gone for a slightly later shift (8:45pm) as I didn't see a problem to get to the venue in time after my working day in Sunshine finishes at 5pm.

Ha!! Not in big Melbourne! I left work with a little delay, missed a train, therefore missed the connection bus from Footscray to my new place in Flemington and had to learn that the 6pm bus was the last one of the day for the direct connection! My best friend the PTV app guided me to a bus stop a couple of streets up from which the delayed bus was taking over half an hour to get to a tram stop near my place. 

When I finally made it to that stop I could see the tram from the back heading away from me as fast as it possibly could! The next one was 20 minutes later. By the time I rushed through my front door it had taken me almost 2.5 hours to get back and the relaxing shower I’d planned turned into a VERY quick one as I only had 15 minutes to get ready to run out again for the next tram. A trip to St Kilda Road from mine is just over an hour.

My shift started at 8:45pm and I came through the door at 8:43pm, hungry as a horse as there was no way I’d had time to fit in food. I'd put my new skirt on and was wearing my nice blue jumper, the only one that’s not a hoody. I walked up to the reception and had a lovely welcome. Everyone was quite relaxed and I was told my shift wouldn't start at 9pm and I should chill out :-)!

I hid my blue rain coat as well as I could in my bag and sneaked through the big doors to the dance floor. Wow! Beautiful people everywhere! Amazing dresses, smart suits and shoes, braces and hats everywhere. In that moment I just wanted another jumper or my nicest dress so I could blend in. Instead I was just telling myself it wasn't that bad and nobody would notice, or even care.

Later I found out what had happened. I'm normally good at not reading things properly and I did it again. There was a dress code on the invite: 'Whatever makes you ridiculously good-looking'. Yes! Everyone passed! Very impressive :-)!

After 15 minutes watching ridiculously good-looking people dance to beautiful music, I made my way back to the door feeling rather shy. Again I got a warm welcome and swapped seats with somebody who must have been in the previous shift.

I was filled in quickly by lovely Karryn who had everything under control. The main task was to find people on the list, tick them off and hand over their pass. 

So from one minute to the other, I was kind of representing the Swing Patrol Melbourne in my blue jumper, welcoming all dancers that had travelled far or not so far to be part of the Melbourne Swing Festival. Ooooh!

It was kind of funny that I had no idea if it was somebody from interstate or a regular dancer as they were all new faces to me. I was introduced to some people and also had the chance again to practice understanding how Australians spell using vowels (in their names) :-). I can proudly say that I do get better at this. Having suburbs spelt over the phone at work has been a good exercise. 

When it got a bit quieter I had a portion of the best chips I'd ever tasted and nice chats with my shift mates. I even had to be reminded of the end of my shift. 

I'd learnt my lesson from Thursday: Never ‘don't care’ when last trams run if you live in a big city and walking is not an option! This time I checked and as I had to catch two trams to make it back I had about 30 minutes left for some dancing. 

I had lovely dances with some really good leads and could have had more but left on time to make it home independently this time. 

What a great night! The only thing I really can't stand is having to leave a party early if I don't feel like it. In this case it was especially true as I'd found out about an after party happening. 

When I was sitting in the tram, I decided to make sure that it’d be different next time and usually things fall into place after such a decision has been made :).

Melbourne Swing Festival ... From A Volunteer's Point Of View

04/06/2015

A big thank you to my friend to Fudz Qazi who let me use his amazing photographs of the event. 

Opening Night

"Welcome to the Melbourne Swing Festival 2015!

Queen's Birthday long weekend, Friday June 5th – Monday June 8th 2015.

It's time again for those 4 days and nights of sheer joy and dancing bliss to take over Melbourne! We'll swing the inner city with sizzling music, white-hot dancing, and killer workshops. And the Melbourne International Jazz Festival will be jamming right along with us."

Swing Patrol Melbourne… and I was there :)!

Actually I was already there on Thursday night, when I accidentally had a great start to the festival.

I happened to have had a bad day at work, everything seemed to go wrong. I also felt a bit down in general and was not in the mood for anything really.

For a change I was home early (after only one hour commuting), when sitting in my room, not very impressed with my own company, I suddenly remembered that I'd been in that sort of mood before back home in England. I also remembered that one of my best dancing friends had the answer: "Go dancing!"

With a smile I recalled how I felt when I'd followed that advice... So I jumped into the shower and in some sort of dancing outfit, dragged myself out in the cold to find my way to Fitzroy for some social dancing. Even when I'd missed the tram waiting on the wrong side of the road (!) and therefore had to wait for 20 more minutes in the freezing cold, I would not give up and after an hour and a bit I entered the St Brigid's Parish Hall.

Wow! Not the usual social dancing! 

A band was playing and it turned out to be the warm up party for the festival. As I had no idea I didn't bring enough cash to cover the 15 dollars entrance fee. I kind of explained and the lovely lady at the door decided I'd got there quite late and made it half price for me, which was pretty much exactly what I had in my purse. That moment changed my day for the better and with my first step on the dance floor I left the beginning of it behind me.

After my first dance I got to chat to a guy I'd met in a class and quickly checked what time the trams were running until. I so didn't feel like going home at all and loved it when he said they were running till between midnight and 1am on a Thursday, which shouldn't be a problem at all as the dancing was going to finish at 11pm.

Well, after a great night and even a really cool performance from the 'Echoes Of Harlem' (I finally saw them in action, which I was very excited about after joining their workshop the other week), I stepped out of the door looking up on my phone when the next tram was going. It was 10 to 12am at this point, so not even midnight. My phone brought me back to reality telling me that the next tram was running at 5:59am!!

Aaaaaaah! Back home in Brighton I've done that loads of times. A good night out and I don't care. Somehow I'd get back. Even walking is always an option. However, this little girl in a big city realised in that moment: no way to do that in big Melbourne! 

Not long after that ‘enlightenment’ I saw one of the 'Echoes' coming out of the Hall. He was the last one with some friends and there was no other way than quickly forget about feeling hesitant and just do it … I needed to walk up to them to see where they were going in their car.

Why didn't it surprise me that they were super nice and helpful and wouldn't let me call my emergency friend for help but made a detour and dropped me back safely. What a good start to the long dancing weekend to come :)!

The Birthday Girl Idea

I developed the 'birthday girl idea' as part of my mental preparation for the Aussie adventure. I was planning on meeting lovely people and making new friends through dancing while being out there all by myself.

However, I was quite worried I might end up standing in the corner of a dance floor alone not being seen or danced with. That idea came from my first experience dancing away from home. A little group of us Brighton dancers got some tickets to the Swing Patrol Christmas Ball in London (2014).

I was very excited about that and just blown away by the venue. The ball took place in a spacious tent with beautiful lighting, two dance floors, bars and stunning Christmas decoration. It was so impressive that it made me feel very small as I was only used to dancing upstairs in cosy pubs. I had a couple of warm up dances with some of my friends but they were all more experienced than me and disappeared sooner or later onto the dance floor to explore new dancers.
                                                     

I looked around and everyone was dressed so smart or beautifully and all I could see was very experienced dancers everywhere. Now and then one of my friends popped back to the table and encouraged me with the words: “Come on! Go and ask somebody! That's how it works :-)!”

Easier said than done! 

I looked around and tried to spot somebody who was not on the way to the busy dance floor, in deep conversation with someone or sitting on a chair looking rather relaxed.

There weren't many good set ups like that around but there he was! A lead standing by the dance floor all alone, looking very much in dancing mood, even bouncing slightly to the music. I pushed myself as hard as I could and started walking towards him. One … two … three steps … almost there when out of nowhere this stylish looking follower popped up right next to him on the other side.

He turned around to her, nodded and they made their way to the dance floor. To avoid being caught coming from the other side, I sheepishly turned around as quickly as possible and headed back to the safe table pretending I had forgotten my drink!

Despite that ‘setback’, I still had a really good night and loved the Swing Patrol performances as well (I made it a plan then to look them up as soon as I’d get to Melbourne), but I wasn't very impressed with myself by the way I’d handled the ‘finding a dance situation’. To be fair, I was offered a dance twice, collected one compliment about my dress and did manage to grab that very same lead for a dance after all. However, this can't really be called smooth!

So I came up with the ‘birthday girl idea’. A badge! That’s it! Saying: “It’s my birthday, please dance with me!”

If I stood in a corner alone wearing that, there was no way people wouldn't notice! Somebody would come up to me to wish a happy birthday and ask for a dance! Good plan in case I didn't manage to leave the corner ;-).

When the badge eventually arrived I couldn't believe it. I can't remember what it was called when I ordered it but it was the size above ‘huge’ as I didn’t want it to be too small. Well, that’s exactly what it was … the size above huge! 
Anyone from a kilometer away could have
easily read it!

Of course I then couldn't figure out where to attach the badge and still be able to still dance comfortably … not so easy for a girl ;-)) ... so I decided against taking it in the end and before I left Brighton I left it as a present for a special friend to guarantee him the birthday dance I wouldn't be able to provide.

In the end I almost managed to get a smaller version of a birthday badge. My lovely Kiwi friend designed one especially to go with that one dress I took travelling. He ordered it in New Zealand from the States and it was sent to Aussie for me (wow! modern day technology J!) Unfortunately it got a little delayed and I also never found some social dancing on my actual birthday. Therefore I’ll keep it safe for next year.

Read more about how you'd never need such badge going social dancing in Melbourne :-).

'Fun Pit' (Swing Patrol Class And Social Dancing)

30/05/2015

Location: 'Forever Dance' (Fridays - Fortnightly)

1/432 Church St, Richmond

'Fun Pit' is a great social dancing event that I can highly recommend, especially when you’re new in town.

I’m talking from experience here ;-) because the very first time I made it to a dance floor in Melbourne was on a Fun Pit Friday in Richmond. I had missed finding a class or social dance on my actual birthday, which was only a few days after I’d arrived in Aussie so my first time social dancing was supposed to make up for that … and it certainly did! 

Back in England I had tried to prepare by practicing asking strangers to dance. Most of the time it hadn’t worked out too well as I already knew most of the people around me but I did try it at the Swing Patrol Christmas Ball in London (and almost cancelled my flight afterwards because of it)! 

However, at the Swing Festival in Edinburgh, it worked out a lot better and on the last night I even found myself with really good stranger dancers on the dance floor :-). It’s still not an easy exercise for me and being all alone doesn’t quite help.

The reason I mention this is because I left the Fun Pit that night feeling extremely happy and had to laugh at myself at how unnecessary it had been to worry about such a silly thing at all. 

This is no joke but I didn’t even have time to break the barrier and approach somebody because not a single song was played without somebody walking up to me to ask for a dance. It wasn’t even only one dance! Every single time I was offered a second one, as apparently it was fun :-). I heard that was tradition in some countries. I have to say I like Australia :-). 

He didn't want to dance!

Everyone was super friendly and danced at a really good level. I was also impressed at how many people turned up. That was definitely one of the moments I realised how much bigger Melbourne is in comparison to Brighton. Back home that amount of dancers would show up for a special event but not for a bit of social dancing after a couple of classes!

Talking of classes, at my second time at the Fun Pit, I tried a level 1 class with Tanya and Joel, who are really cool teachers I must say. I liked the way they broke down the basic steps for beginners plus the nice little move we learnt where everyone had to ‘shake’ at the end. Again I managed not to leave without the interviews.

Swing Patrol Class in Fitzroy, Melbourne

21/05/2015

Location: St Brigid's Parish Hall (Thursdays)
378 Nicholson St, Fitzroy North, VIC 3068

I took my 3rd Swing Patrol class in Fitzroy. Classes in the St Brigid's Parish Hall are always on a Thursday and cover level 1, 2 and 3.

As St Brigid's Parish Hall is a big hall, two classes take place at the same time in different rooms. Level 3 starts at 8:30 when the other classes finish, so there’s an hour social dancing available to warm up if you’re already at that level. The dance floor is amazing. You could say there’s just enough room to practice :-)! 



We arrived a little early ... 

I say we as my kiwi friend Lucas joined me for a level 1 class. He used to dance too and lives just around the corner, so he didn’t have much of an excuse not to!

Our teachers for tonight were Josh and Loz and I liked them straight away. I felt their very welcoming, positive energy immediately and what I really liked was that they picked up on the fact that follows and leads don't really meet so made all leads and follows go up to each other to shake hands and introduce themselves.
After that we learnt a nice little Charleston move …

It had a pause, a turn and a good dynamic to it. They broke it down nicely and made sure nobody got stuck. 

At the end we had eight minutes left and Loz went into a little bit of history about Charleston and how 20s Charleston had started fast and on your toes but had developed into a more relaxed style with the change of the music over the 30s and 40s. 

She did some nice demonstrations and everyone tried to relax a little more as they worked on their style and what they had learnt in the level 1 class. Liked it :-)!