Now I don’t know about you, but where I come from bugger is a rude word….this weekend we have a great workshop showing you how easy and fun it can be to compete. The London Swing Festival is just around the corner but if you’re new to competing this workshop could be just the thing to get you warmed up. Remember, this is supposed to be fun! No one expects you to be as good as the dancers in this clip! But, as usual, here’s some Jitterbug inspiration from way back in the day. Watch it close and see if you can’t pick up some tips…

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VERY EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT – ONLY 10 DAYS REMAINING.

Yes that’s right everyone – on Feb 10 the price for a London Swing Festival Gold Pass will go up. If you intend to register for LSF and you want to take advantage of getting the Very Early Bird Discount now is the time to do it.

On Feb 10 the Very Early Bird Discount will end and the Early Bird Discount will come into effect.

MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS SOON

I am currently working on some extremely exciting developments for the festival. Soon I will be able to announce the London Swing Festival band and additional teaching teams. WATCH THIS SPACE…

LONDON JITTERBUG CHAMPIONSHIPS – COMPETITOR REGISTRATIONS OPEN FEB 10

This year at the London Swing Festival (LSF) we will be holding the very first London Jitterbug Championships. This will be an exciting night of amazing dancing to be enjoyed by both spectators and competitors.

There will be a separate registration system for those wishing to compete at the London Jitterbug Championships (LJC). This registration system will be opening on Feb 10.

What you will need to do…

I have registered for or am going to register for LSF and I would like to compete…

If you have registered for, or are intending to register for LSF you will need to register separately for LJC. Yes that’s right you will need to register twice – once for LSF and once for LJC.

The LJC registration process will allow you to choose what events you would like to compete in and name the person you are competing with if it is a partnered event. You will be able to name different people for different events. For example you might want to compete in the Strictly Lindy event with Micky Mouse and the Balboa, with Bart Simpson. The registration system will allow you to do this. (If you can get Micky and Bart to show up).

I have registered for or am going to register for LSF and I would like to be a spectator…

If you have registered for LSF and have bought a Gold – Full Weekend Pass or a Green – Social Pass that include entry into LJC as a spectator you do not need fill out the separate LJC competitor registration form. The LJC registration system will be for COMPEITORS ONLY.

FOLLOWER REGISTRATIONS

Followers – now is your last change to register without having to name a lead. I was really hoping not to have close follower registrations but already I am finding the lead/follow ratio very unbalanced. Starting on Feb 10 all follows will need to register with a lead.

Follows – encourage those leads you know to register.

Follows if you register after Feb 10 without a lead you will have to be placed on a wait list until we have a lead to match you with. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE LEAD HAS TO BE THE SAME LEVEL AS YOU. Follows – the more leads we can encourage the happier we will all be…HELP ME OUT HERE!

LONDON SWING FESTIVAL HOUSING PROGRAMME

Janet (LSF Housing Coordinator) and I (Pippa – LSF Event Manager) would like to send out a huge thank-you to the very kind people who have already signed up to host dancers from out of town for the festival. Some crazy dancers signed up to host before even signing up for the festival.

Hosting dancers from out of town is a fun and rewarding way to meet dancers from around the country and the world. I have been both the host and the hosted before I have loved the experience every time.

If you are able to house some dancers for the festival please let us know by emailing info@londonswingfestival.co.uk

www.londonswingfestival.co.uk

Don’t you just LOVE a good old school instructional video, the wierd accents and the cringey turns of phrase? Enjoy

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Busy on Wednedsday night? Well cancel it. If you haven’t already signed up then now is the time to get your name down for the Balboa crash course (very low emphasis on crashing btw) at the Littern Tree on Wednesday night.  Scott and Lynelle will be walking you through the basics and getting you warmed up for our workshops with Joel Plys in Febrary and Dan Guest in March.
The first type of swing dancing I ever saw was Balboa and I fell in love with it immediately. I challenge you to not do the same

Don’t forget to register!
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It’s easy to get addicted to live swing music and TJ Johnson bring a sound and energy that swing dancers have fallen in love with. The usual challenge though is that TJ Johnson play in a lot of places where we haven’t much room to dance so we are so excited to announce a special night where we can all dance to this amazing group of musicians…and have lots of room to properly swing out! This is a rare opportunity to dance for FREE to this great group of musicians.

When TJ and his team are chilling we have old skool swinging DJ Shellzapoppin in the house for your pleasure.

We’ll be running a two classes before the gig to get you in the mood. If you want to come and learn some dips, tricks and tip for your swing outs then click here to find out more.

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This workshop has now sold out! For those of you who didn’t manage to book on this time, worry not, we will be running another one Sat April 24th For those of you that did, what better opportunity to watch some YouTube clips and get yourself all excited for your flying lesson?

We are pleased to bring you one of the worlds leading Balboa teachers for a night of great learning. Balboa is one of the great old world dances that has swept the world and Swing Patrol London intend to give it a real push this year.

Joel Plys partnered with Paula Ryan

Spots are limited so book your spot now. Doesn’t matter if you don’t have any Balboa experience but you MUST do the first class if you are new to the dance. Swing Patrol will be doing some basic Balboa before this date so watch out for these classes in our weekly newsletter.

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You’ve just started dancing, you love the music, but just don’t know where to start when it comes to buying your own tunes. Sound familiar?  It’s exactly how I felt when I first started. I remember asking a mate from my Sunday class and he came up with “Louis Jordon, you can’t go wrong with him”.  In retrospect, Louis probably isn’t the most obvious choice, although enjoyable, and if you asked me now I’d probably direct you towards Count Basie, one of the greatest big band leaders.

I’ve recently been discovering a lot of bands playing around the world at the moment. So my choices today are going to be a mix of the old and the new.
So, to the top 5 for January…

1) “Big Fine Daddy” by Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers
This track opens with an awesome blast of brass and sax and then Lavay comes in with her beautifully silky, biting voice and you can’t help but want to groove along.  An American band, blues influenced, they’re based in San Francisco and apparently even Bill Clinton is a fan!  www.lavaysmith.com

2) “Splanky” by Count Basie
What a tune!  The piano tempts us in, the trombones greet us and gently call to the saxophones who playfully answer, building up to a crescendo of brass reminiscent of a cop show of the 1970s.  Your feet will be tapping from the first beat.

3) “Long Gone John” by Gordon Webster
A bouncy, feel good tune with a Caribbean lilt and some great trombone slides.  A Canadian jazz pianist and swing dancer, Gordon Webster (and band) has just released a new album, “Happy When I’m With You,” written especially for swing dancers. (Free song download on his website www.gordonwebsterswings.com)

4) “The Fox” by Ray Anthony
Another bouncy one, that’ll beckon you to the floor – classic 50s big band I’d say.  An American, Ray Anthony cut his teeth with the Glen Miller band in the early 1940s as a trumpeter, and then went on to form his successful dance band, The Ray Anthony Orchestra.  Interesting fact, Ray dabbled with film acting in the 1940s and 50s and even had his own TV show.  As far as I can tell, the man is still alive and well into his late 80s.

5) “Shout Sister Shout” by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
I just love this song with Rosetta’s alluring and gritty voice.  Brought up a gospel singer, Rosetta made waves in the 1930s when she mixed sacred and secular in her first recordings with the Lucky Millinder orchestra. She went on to play with Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway and much later, when she switched to blues, Muddy Waters.

That’s it for now. Happy listening.  And let us know what you think of the tunes!
Hannah (AKA Mistress Groove)

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Did you know there is a boat at the southern end of India named Swing Patrol? It all was a result of Swing Patrol dancers raising money for the Asian tsunami. We ran workshops and all the proceeds went to the Tsunami appeal. Dancers walked in with offerings way above what we were asking for. We sold things like DVDs and dancers were happily giving us three times the usual price and saying ” Keep the change as it’s  a great cause.”   We sent the funds to a specific lady named Leena Lavanya (google her). Anyway, we expected nothing in return but a few months later this small photo arrived in the mail. Claudia (who oversees Swing Patrol Australia ) burst in to tears as it was a lovely reminder of what a dance community can do together.  We have an amazing community full of giving and generous people. This photo is an amazing reminder of this.

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Psychologist Cliff Arnall has calculated that Monday 18 January – known as ‘Blue Monday’ – will be the most depressed day of 2010. His formula uses six factors to calculate the day of the year on which people are most likely to be depressed: the weather conditions, debt level, the time since Christmas, the time since failing to keep our resolutions, low motivation levels and the pressure to take action.

It may be mid-January, the credit card bills may be hitting the doormat, the days may be are shorter, and maybe you’ve broken all your New Year’s resolutions. But this week Swing Patrol is opening FIVE (yes count them) classes to help you alleviate the gloom. That’s right, check out the class timetable and get yourself down to a swing class this week! And chin up chicken…only 6 more days until the Aerials workshop

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