Hyperreal

Wow. That’s all I need to say really.

Oh? you want to know more anyway?

OK… Well I’ve just had [i]the[/i] most fabulous day. There were many highlights, but i think I’ll have covered most of them in these two words: [i]busk[/i] and [i]party[/i].

Still want to know more?

Alright then, by popular demand… (a couple of people told me yesterday I had to post my impressions of my first busk and full party experience.)

Let’s talk about the busk first…

Glasgow was at its finest yesterday, the sun was out as a group of dancers gathered in the centre of town for fun and evangelism. “Hi!” to everyone who was there, especially to all the people I met for the first time, it was good to put faces to names, and in some cases also put names to names! Alas my anonymity continues to slip away! :tears:

It was my first time busking, but it isn’t rocket science. You’re either dancing or handing out flyers. (Or watching the awesome dancers when you should be handing out flyers. ) I had come expecting to be spending pretty much all the time doing the flyers bit. I was wrong.

One lady in particular made it her business to make sure I did my share of dancing. Cheers! By the end of the thing I think I’d danced at least once (some three or four times) with all the women there. Thanks to each of them. (And sorry if I missed anyone!)

Handing out flyers was surprisingly more fun than I thought it would be. My natural bias meant I targeted more girls than guys, and would you believe that most of the our girls were targeting guys? Hey, between us, we must have our bases covered, no? Teamwork in dancing and teamwork in leafleting. :nice:

The best thing was when folks would come up and ask for a leaflet - makes the job so much easier. :waycool:

I talked to at least half-a-dozen people who were seriously interested in coming to a class, and if that’s repeated over the 20 or so people who were there, then that could be as many as one hundred new victims for the cult of Ceroc.

Naturally by dancing in the street we managed to attract a bit of a crowd, but I was surprised that we were getting rounds of applause at the end of each dance. I’d never have dreamt 12 short weeks ago I’d be dancing in the street and getting applause for it. (More likely arrested! )

We lasted almost 3 hours in the sun, before adjourning to a bar for some much needed food and drink and a chat. No major injuries, though some people got a little sunburn, and apparently Danielle was bitten. :flower: (But who by?!? :confused: ) In the bar we heard some good news for forum people from Franck, which I’m sure he’ll tell you all about pretty soon.

I had to leave to go buy some shoes (thanks, ladies for helping convince me to buy those ones!) but I’m already looking forward to the next chance I have to go dancing in the street. It was more fun than I’ve ever had on a Saturday afternoon in Buchanan Street.

So we can now talk about the party…

The only problem with dancing in the street all afternoon is that it can wear you out a bit which isn’t good when you also plan to dance the night away only a few hours later. I didn’t think I’d make it all the way ’til the end. After I got home from the busk I had tried to have a wee kip to get my energy up, but I was still buzzing from the afternoon and couldn’t close my eyes without visions of flyers and dance moves crowding into my head.

Made it to the party in time for Franck’s fun class, which apparently had a Mambo theme. As I don’t know my mambo from my cha-cha, I’m not sure what it all means, beyond that I now have yet another side-to-side variation which I can confusingly lead. See [url=http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/showthread.php?p=120270#post120270]this post and sequels[/url] for more details.

Despite my and other people’s fears I did manage to last the whole night. My top tips are don’t try to dance every song, keep topped up with water (it was so hot in there, right from the start) and make sure you’re having fun!

I danced with so many girls, each a pleasure in their own way. Danced with a few notorious “hijackers”/”active followers”. It is actually fun to dance with these people, though I think you have to be a very good follower to get away with it. No-one actually tried to steal the lead from me during the party – unlike during the busk when a certain lady decided she needed to lead me at one point. :really:

In both the busk and the party I found it took a few dances to get into the swing of things – the first couple in particular were really pants, but after a couple of hours at the party I was cooking near to my maximum safe setting.

I received so many compliments about my dancing I’m almost embarrassed to mention it. :blush: (But it’s never stopped me before. ) I was told I had good eye contact, that I had a good, but gentle lead, that my catapult lead was one of the best experienced (or something like that) and that I had improved so much over what must have only been a few weeks – the technical description was “whoosh”, I believe. Of course, this is all in the context of a relative beginner, with lots to learn and loads of room for improvement. I saw maybe four or five guys last night that stood head and shoulders above the rest and way, way above me.

I really appreciated all these positive comments though, and now I’m worried that I didn’t tell my partners sufficiently how much I enjoyed their dancing, whether it was in the aspect of following, eye contact, looking like they were enjoying themselves, or just generally being fun to dance with. :flower:

So, to make up for it, let me say now that I liked your style, your enthusiasm, your patience, your cheekiness, your indefatigability and your smile. :waycool:

I really liked the location (apart from that it was too hot, and the bar ran out of water later in the night). It has a good floor (that unfortunately my new shoes don’t slide on very well) though was it my imagination or is there a bit of a slope towards the stage? From a glance at their web site, it looks like the Henry Wood Hall will be unavailable from next year. That’s a shame. (One of the other things I really like about this location is it’s less that 15 minute’s walk from my flat!)

At the end of the night I hated that it was over, though I think my legs and arms were rejoicing in blessed relief. Had a lovely bit of cake (for Mr Fitz’s birthday – happy birthday again) (oh, and compliments to the chef!) before I left and wandered off into the cool night.

So thanks again to everybody who helped make it such a great day. :hug: Especially to Franck, Tiggerbabe, and Ceroc Jock for all your hard work. :cheers:

(Hope I didn’t miss anyone, or forget anything? Sorry if I did. :blush: )

See you all next time! :hug: :flower: