Hyperreal

Managed to make the “Smooth Grooves” freestyle in Stirling tonight…

I’d been before – the weekend of the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom event (which I am sorry to say I haven’t written up yet) but this time I managed to get to stay for the dancing, though I missed the workshop. (Heard it was really good though!)

There only three things to talk about… The music, the dancers, and the dancing. We’ll use reverse order…

I had some lovely dances. I want to thank all the ladies I danced with, and apologies to the one or two that I missed. With some regular partners, things worked so well it was almost magical at times. Then I’d go and spoil it all by messing up a lead, but that’s life… With other dancers, whom I wasn’t so familiar with, I had some not bad dances, though things didn’t always flow smoothly. And with smooth grooves music, that’s always a shame.

I have to say I hate dancing wearing glasses. They act as such a barrier between me and my partner. It’s hard to get a really great connection going though a couple of pieces of plastic. Doesn’t help that the frames get in the way, and that you can’t see so well out to the sides – makes it much harder to give those meaningful looks over the shoulder…

Oh well, hopefully I’ll be back in contacts lenses soon.

I guess at the high-point there must have been maybe around 30 people there… The numbers were well-balanced all night, even when it thinned out later on. I’d have liked more more people there, though not too many more, as it would begin to get crowded, but I don’t like having to dance with the same people too many times in a night. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the chance to dance to my favourite dancers several times, I just fear they’ll get bored of me. I like a bit of variety too.

The standard of dancer there was fairly good. Some truly excellent. One or two though were doing things that surprised me…

It’s got so much to do with the music I guess… (Or at least it should have.) Although I was a little concerned it’d be all dead slow smoochy tracks all night, it wasn’t so bad. There were a few that I thought were a bit too much that way for me, but others I really enjoyed dancing to. Lots of latin stuff which is good for a bit of strutting… Was really pleased, though a bit surprised to hear Sandstorm. Managed to miss the version of Wade in the Water that was the main reason for going (just kidding), but I think I’ll survive a while longer without hearing it in full.

Over-all a good night. Hope to make it next week… May have something interesting to look forward to in January too…

Cheers!