I never really like going away and missing any of the classes - it's fine once I'm away, but all the arrangements needed before I go sometimes makes it seem more trouble than it's worth. This time it has been made even harder by greeting some newcomers to the classes just as I'm about to go. It was lovely to see how much they enjoyed the atmosphere and the dances they tried and how welcoming the class was to beginners. Remember there are no Monday classes while I'm away but the Tuesday sessions are carrying on without me of course, because they aren't just about me! We've a volunteer leader for the sessions and the programme has just been updated with some great dances that he wants to try that we haven't done for a while, as well as familiar ones that won't tax the brain cells quite as much - I wish I was there - but I'm back in a couple of weeks. I will post pictures of the Ball I'm attending and look forward to catching up with everything that's been happening while I'm away - no doubt it will go quickly. 

It's been a fortnight since I added to these blethers, of course there's been lots to say during those weeks, but no time to record it. Last week both the Monday and Tuesday classes were packed, and great fun, as people did their last minute 'cramming' for the ball. Irene was working incredibly hard in the background performing the final negotiations with the venue and ensuring that we could have access the club in the morning to do our pre-ball decorating. I was changing hats from minute to minute as I put together the seating plan poster - ready for Irene's sending the guest names - finalised the music, dug out my photo gear, as well as the decorations from storage and more. I belatedly realised that on the night the notice boards should be advertising our next events not the one we were at - cue searching for Christmas fonts for a Christmas Ceilidh poster, as well remembering to do the normal updates on the website for this week's regular dance classes.
Both dancers and non-dancers seemed to enjoy the ball. It was great fun from my point of view and with only a few exceptions the dancing went well with 2 sets up for most of the dances. Initially managing even one set seemed amazing after such an excellent meal - I'd personally like to commend the chef on his superb mushroom soup! As expected we didn't dance every dance on the programme, but after completing the first half we 'cherry picked' our favourites so we didn't run out of steam before the end. Well done everyone for keeping going until then and thank-you all those who whisked down the decorations so we didn't have to go back on Sunday. Memories and photographs of the ball can be found via the Past Events tab above. There are still some pictures to be posted so the page isn't quite complete but the initial shots are already there. The 'portraits' taken on the night will not be posted on the site, but will be sent to people individually once I've got them ready.
This week it was very difficult to predict how busy the normal classes would be and it wasn't a great surprise to have fewer numbers - though still a respectable turn out. On Tuesday we had a small hiccup when the lights fused soon after we arrived - but it was sorted by the time the class started - phew.  It was also lovely to be able to add a few 'new' dances to the programme and even better when they were danced well and enjoyed. We are now looking forward to the Christmas Ceilidh which we hold on the last Tuesday session before Christmas i.e. 19th December. If anyone has a 'party piece' they'd like to contribute contact me and I'll add it to the programme. The dances on the night will be to 'seasonal favourites' and very very easy to keep us jolly! But there's a few weeks to go before then so in the meantime, see you next week.

What brilliant time was had at both classes this week. Monday and Tuesday sessions were really well attended - by both visitors and regulars - as usually happens close to the ball - but more importantly they were fabulous fun. Whether we dance well on Saturday 11th, or not, everyone seems to be enjoying the process of learning enormously. Everyone is telling me how they are checking out the videos of the dances and doing their best to learn them, it's certainly being reflected by the number of visitors to the website. Of course it's much better to learn a dance by dancing it, however, done properly, the videos can be really useful too - here are a few tips to using them...

• don't watch all the dancers; select just one e.g. 1st lady or 1st man, ' get into their head' and do the dance with her or him, even lift your right or left hands when she/he does to build your muscle memory. Once you are confident you can do it from that position, choose another position - maybe 2nd lady and dance it 'through her/his eyes' in the same way. You may find this difficult at first - it takes a significant degree of concentration and can actually be tiring, however it is an great way to exercise your brain and becomes easier the more you practice.
• listen to the music and practice counting the bars to know where you should be at any moment; dancing in a set is like singing in a choir - you sing in time with the music and that keeps you synchronised with the rest of the choir - similarly you have to match your dancing with the music, and that keeps you synchronised with the rest of the set. Keeping the choral analogy, if you miss a few words, and the rest of choir is now singing the chorus, it's not going to work if you join in with the bit of the verse you missed out! It's more difficult to catch up if you've gone wrong in a dance, but if you are aware of how the dance works with the music you can more easily rejoin with the rest of the set and get the whole thing going again.
• Don't watch too many dances at once; use the videos to pick out the dances you'd most like to do and make sure you are solid with those, from all the positions, before attempting others. 
• Use the cribs while watching; this may not be an obvious thing to do but most people find it difficult to remember more than the name of a dance for more than a few minutes - mainly it's because we don't have the vocabulary to remember the moves concisely. Use the cribs from your ball dance programme and refer to them while you are watching to build up your 'crib knowledge'. Try stopping the video after every 8 bars and read the crib instructions. This has three benefits; 1. if you aren't sure what the written instructions mean you can use the video to understand them 2. it gives you the chance to 'log' the moves in a shorter version e.g. '1/2 figure of 8', is easier to remember than 'I've got to dance to the right between the couple above me, then round the back of the man diagonally opposite and then stop on the opposite side from where I start that bit, and do it in 4 steps'! 3. we all know we learn better if information is presented to us in more than one way - reading instructions as well as watching the videos gives that extra 'push' to our memories

FYI - At a ball we don't usually walk through a dance before doing it, however the dances are always 'recapped' once the sets are made up, reminding yourself what the moves are called while you watch a dance on the videos helps you make the most of the recap on the night.
Finally, just a note to congratulate our junior visitors on Tuesday, brilliant dancers the pair of them, they really smashed 'Postie's Jig' I hope they enjoyed it enough to join us again sometime, and maybe find a class back home? - and also - well done to our volunteer bar staff both of whom joined in with a dance during the night - it shows that just watching can be enough if done often enough and with attention! See you all next week Jx