Hyperreal

Hey, I finally made it! I went to Red Hot and Blue tonight. It was a good night, and I’m very glad I went.

This though, is likely to have been the last night at its present venue and time. That, however, may not be a bad thing…

The venue was fairly easy to find. I got the train through to Edinburgh (missed the one I was going for, due to a certain forumette distracting me!) and walked up the road. The walk didn’t take too long, but I’d probably take a taxi next time… I wanted to figure out the practicalities of the journey home though, when the taxi option might not be so easy.

When I got there I was told about the probable change of venue… And asked to fill in a wee questionnaire asking when would be a good time to hold RH&B if not a Friday, or whether I’d be prepared to pay more.

For me, dancing on a Friday night isn’t a bad idea, but all the extra travel at the end of a tiring week can reduce my enthusiasm. Edinburgh folks, being local, will probably feel different. I think Saturday night or Sunday afternoon (tea-dance) would work better for me. The problem is if it clashes with other events.

By the end of the year, Ceroc Scotland will be running 4 monthly parties each month. That basically takes all the possible Saturdays. The best bet would be to schedule it on the same day as the Aberdeen party as that’s the furthest away. Though on “Beach Ballroom” weekends, Aberdeen’s likely to take away a lot of the custom.

Sunday afternoons would be ideal for me. I can then get there and back with little hassle. I also like the possibility of being able to socialise more with my Edinburgh friends after the dance finishes. Again though, the problem is the competition from Ceroc… Franck & Sheena run their Focus workshops and Smooth Grooves freestyle on Sunday evenings. They are due to restart soon with a slightly different format, which may put them at a different time.

Given that RH&B and “Smooth Grooves” are aimed at similar audiences, again, someone will lose out – even if it’s just the punter who can’t do both, and could find him or herself in an empty room as everyone’s gone to the other event.

Having given it some thought, I’ve decided that Friday night would be the best time for RH&B, but a change of venue is needed. In fact a change of city… Bring it to Glasgow and teach the people here an appreciation of this music for dancing.

(Seriously, if it’s more than walking distance from a train station, it’s unlikely I’ll be there very often. Until I can sort out my own transport at any rate…)

Anyway, the current venue isn’t so bad, though it seems to be getting crowded, managed to bump quite a few folks tonight, and equally was bumped quite often by others. Some folks found the floor a bit sticky (not literally “sticky” I think, just hard to move your feet on the floor without them sticking…) The other problem was the occasional invasion from the other half of the room by a bunch guys on a stag weekend. They were quickly and politely dealt with though…

I really liked some aspects though. The TVs in the room were showing first a dance competition filmed in Blackpool in the same ballroom that the MJ competition is held; then second some dance-related film, though I’m not sure what it was…

Inspiring stuff.

Another thing I liked, and it’s a quite a subtle thing, is I thought the sound system and lighting were particularly good. The music was clear and never too loud. The lights were low, but not too low that you couldn’t see anything (c.f. GUU upstairs hall) and had very simple effects (was it just a disco ball?) which gave the place a little more atmosphere without having flashing lights glaring in your eyes (c.f. many other events, such as Edinburgh Ceroc parties at Marco’s.)

The folks there I maybe knew about half of… A good percentage in anyone’s book, though I missed a couple of folks who would normally have been there but had to miss it for good, but unfortunate, reasons. I’d guess there were about 40-ish folks there, fairly evenly balanced male & female…

I still had to do most of the asking though, at least initially, but that allowed me to pick and choose what tracks I wanted to dance to. Based partly on choosing to sit out during extra bluesy tracks, plus taking time to recover from dancing (I was feeling particularly tired), meant I probably danced to around half the songs played.

(I quite liked the music. Definitely more my thing than the typical Route 66 music, though I’m going to have to keep working at blues dancing. More below…)

I expect if I become a regular I’d get more requests to dance, I’d be more confident asking folks to dance (as I’d know them) and I’d get more used to dancing to the house style of music.

Everyone I met was very friendly though, and I’m going to add one or two of the ladies I met to my “must ask” list for the future.

At the end I had to dash off to catch a bus home. That was remarkably painless. It wasn’t at all busy, and the journey passed quickly and pleasantly.

It’s ironic though that my travel costs (over £20) dwarf the costs of the night itself. I think I could afford to pay £7, rather than £5 if that’s what it takes to get the best venue.

Dancing to slow music should be different than dancing to fast music. It makes sense. But it’s strange that in some (but only some) dances I found it easier to dance in a much more improvised manner, where moves don’t matter and it’s all about movement to the music. I guess with a good follower who can look after herself more, the right music, and with the brain still working, weird new things can happen. Shame that as I got more tired, I tended to go back to the same old moves again…

And that’s all I can think to say… Better get to my bed.

Thanks to John & Irene for running a great night. And thanks to all the girls I danced with and the guys I met who really made it worth the hassle of getting there.

Cheers!