Results

2016 UK Blues and Smooth Championships.

Here are the results for the Championships. Didn't win or place. Worry not. You're all winners simply for supporting us and 'Having a go'. Chris Uren and Lisa Graydon

Friday Fun Competition

Solo Blues
1st Janette Shillito
2nd Chiharu Chi Nakao
3rd Gina Scholdfield

Saturday Competitions

Lucky Dip
1st Ann Harrison and Michelle Black
2nd Liam Ball and Melissa Dring
3rd David Wood and Chloe Hunt

Fresh Fundamentals
1st Jennifer Cowling and Fiona Newby
2nd Anton Antonov and Melanie Farrington
3rd Chris Wiseman and Jessica Rose

Young, Fun and Feisty
1st Matthew Brook and Hannah Lonsdale
2nd Liam Ball and Bianca Blezard
3rd Deej Moors and Heidi Ayling

In The Zone
1st Paul Ray and Sarah Lovatt
2nd Niel Wiffen and Jo Wiseman
3rd Chloe Hunt and Mellisa Dring

Smooth Blues Fusion - The Juke Joint Trophy
1st Matthew Brooke and Suzanne Berson
2nd Neil Wiffen and Jo Wiseman
3rd Liam Ball and Bianca Blezard

Valentines Trophy
1st Liam Ball and Bianca Blezard
2nd Robert Docherty and Magdelena Bukala-Docherty
3rd Gary Woodward and Alex Peel

Sunday Competitions

Smooth, Sassy and Sophisticated
1st Paul Ray and Thelma Quince
2nd Nick Shore and Ann Harrison
3rd Steve King and Carol Almond

Raw and Ready
1st Matthew Brooke and Hanna Lonsdale
2nd Deej Moors and Heidi Ayling
3rd Steve King and Carol Almond

Swinging The Blues - CurlyWurly Trophy
1st Robert Jeffreys and Anna Jeffreys
2nd Melvin Young and D Lynn Davis
3rd Ken Blake and Ann Harrison

Polished and Professional
1st Deej Moors and Heidi Ayling
2nd Matthew Brooke and Carol Lloyd
3rd Robert Jeffries and Anna Jeffries

Jack and Jill
1st Robert Jeffries and Heidi Ayling
2nd Robert Docherty and Michelle Black
3rd Deej Moors and Sarah Lovatt

You all did brilliantly. Entered into the spirit of the event and we both think you are all. WONDERFULL.

Chris, Lisa and the Champs crew.

2016 Here we go!!

2016 Champs coming very soon.

Here we are. Starting to post about the 2016 Blues and Smooth Champs. Entries are already coming in and preparations are well under way for another great weekend of music, competition and dancing. Over the next few weeks I will be giving more details of the weekend including the great line up of Judges and DJ's and giving you some hints and tips to get the best from the weekend.

Lisa, Myself and the rest of the team can't wait to welcome you to another great event

To get you started I am going to list what categories are on what day to help you plan your weekend.

Saturday 13th February

Lucky Dip
Fresh Fundamentals
Smooth Blues Fusion - Juke Joint Trophy
Young Fun and Feisty
In The Zone
Valentines Trophy

Sunday 14th February

Polished and Professional
Raw and Ready
Swingin' The Blues - The Curlywurly Trophy
Smooth Sassy Sophisticated
Jack and Jill

Check out the website for more Information or call. Details below

More Information www.curlywurlyevents.com
Facebook Event https://www.facebook.com/events/1573372316239595/

More info
Email info@curlywurlyevents.com
Tel Lisa on01484 317895 or 07763 134026

Your organisers are
 Lisa Graydon - Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lisa.c.graydon?fref=ts
Chris Uren - Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dj.chrisuren

More coming soon.

Catching the Blues and Smooth Bug

Now I know many of you who came along to the Champs "Caught The Blues and Smooth Bug". We have already announced that our next Champs will be on the 12th to the 14th of February 2016. But that's a long way away. So here are a couple of suggestions for Blues Comps and Events that you should consider looking at. In Date order.

European Blues Invasion runs from the 19th and 21st June https://www.facebook.com/events/344748909058412/ You will find a considerable number of your fellow competitors attending plus a large smattering of your Judges

Ceroc Brean Sands is a weekender from 9th to the 11th October that features the European Neo Blues Champs. A full weekender for you. https://www.facebook.com/events/330276097157469/

Crystal Blues https://www.facebook.com/events/331420280372303/ takes place at the end of October and is Run by Sara White. An annual event you will almost certainly find people you know attending.

I look forward to seeing you at some of these. So go out and enjoy your Blues and as I find more events and Classes for you to think about I will post them here.

Good, Bad, Ugly part 1. Great Goalkeeping by the team.

This was going to be part one of the 'Good , Bad and Ugly' of the Champs weekend after our review meeting today. But that's been overtaken by the decision to do it all again. So first put 12th to the 14th February 2016 in your diary as a provisional date for next year. That's all I am saying about next year at the moment, because there are things to be said about this years first.

We always said that we would run the event to the best of our ability and then review to see how we did. Then more importantly what the people who came thought of our efforts. Our confidence about next year was buoyed by your reactions and the very positive feedback we have received. However not all was rosy in the garden. So a few of those to be talked about here. Now there is no way I can cover everything in one Blog post so I will break it down over a couple of posts.

Slightly off. We were not particularly happy with the sound in the main room and also the bleed into the second room. And some of you commented on this. Next year. 4 corner speakers and the  provision of greater sound proofing for the second room. I know that some didn't feel the second room worked for them, but an overwhelming number liked it and it's slightly 'off the wall' nature.

Ugly. Registration on the Saturday started off very poorly and a magnificent save by Jess, Sue and Linda from the team kept us afloat. And I mean a save of epic proportions. They stayed cool and professional. This, all importantly, allowed us to keep to time. One of our priorities.

Good. The general Vibe of the whole event seemed to work. You cannot plan for that. It's the setup, crew and the people who make it that way. If we could have bottled the general atmosphere we would be billionaires.

Unclassified. A lot of local dancers came to the event with a "suck it and see" attitude along with some who desperately wanted to take part, but had no partners. I make no apologies for pushing people into taking part and doing our best to find partners at the last minute. Some of those partnerships won medals. I bet most of them come back to compete next year with partners.

I know many of you want me to talk about the music played for comps and I will get around to that. But it's a pretty big job and I want to ensure it is right. The Blog will continue on a weekly basis to keep you updated.

Quick reminder that this Sunday is my Juke Joint event at the Engine Shed. 6 till 10. Hope to see some of you there.

And The Winners Are..

What a day. 6 categories of the champs down and 5 more to come tomorrow. As promised I will post details of the music played for the competitions, but first it seems only correct to "BIG UP" the successful dancers. So here we have the results of today excitement.

Lucky Dip

1st Robert Jeffreys and Teresa Chapman
2nd Nick Shore and Sarah Lovett
3rd Rob Docherty and Hannah Lonsdale

Young Pups

And some not so "Young Pups

1st Robert Jeffreys and Anna Jeffreys
2nd Hannah Lonsdale and Chloe Hunt
3rd Mathew Brooke and Rebecca Green

Old Dogs New Tricks

1st Nick Shore and Ann Harrison
2nd Joe Hart and Michelle Black
3rd John Firth and Jennifer Cowling

Fresh Fundamentals

1st Paul Ray and Sarah Lovatt
2nd Stuart Jacobs and Alison Albury
3rd Joe Hart and Laura Webb

Polished and Professional

1st Robert Jeffreys and Anna Jeffreys
2nd Jo Hart and Sarah Innes
3rd Nick Shore and Hannah Lonsdale

The Valentine Trophy

1st Mark Oxley and Sarah Oxley
2nd Robery Docherty and Magdelena Bukala-Docherty
3rd Joe Rosa and Zuzanna Lalanne

I hope I have all your names correct. Well done to you all. It was an amazing day of competition. Now bring on Sunday.

The Finger is on the Starting Gun

In less than 24 hours we will open the doors to the venue for the Pre Champs freestyle. Just about everything we can think of is ready. But. Well, we have never done anything like this before so who knows what the next 3 days will bring. We have put together a great team of local dancers together to help us. The venue are right behind us. The judges are ready and waiting and heavy on discussion on a forum you cannot see here. But I know they are looking forward to the task ahead. Having looked through the entry list we have some amazing dancers from far and wide. They range from the new to the Blues and Smooth dance styles up to some very experienced dancers. All in the same room.

There are medals to be won and some very interesting.. well,l I am not calling them trophies. Wait till you get one handed to you. They are different.

So at 8pm tomorrow we open the doors for a freestyle evening of great tunes in 2 rooms. Then Saturday at 10.30 you get your numbers and at 11pm it begins. The full competition schedule is available on a previous blog. I have the music for your competitions sorted. Well I think I have!!!!! Saturday night freestyle and Sunday more competitions culminating in a Jack and Jill and the a BIG chill down on Sunday night.

Lisa and I really hope you enjoy yourselves. Come along to have fun and enjoy the weekend. The next blog will be Saturday night when I can tell you about the first days competitions and all it's winners. Nervous. No not me. I have always had this facial twitch.

The Final Countdown

 

"It's Getting damned close"

Second to last meeting today to look at entries and figures and it's all OK. Just the inevitable last few entries that will come in over the next week or so that will have to be slotted in. Guys being a bit slow as always, but they will come around. I mean there are beautiful women waiting to be danced with. Several categories close to full and Lucky dip with a fabulous selection of dancers of all abilities really taking shape

 

I have spent this evening reviewing lots and lots of music. Still a few tunes to be chosen for the competitions, but I have in my mind what I want for each category. And I have this Saturday to test a few of them out in the second room at Snickers. 5 hours of Blues music of all kinds to play. t  https://www.facebook.com/events/1565680143646787/

 

 

I am pretty sure we are going to have 3 nights and 2 days of great competition and freestyle dancing.

 

If your still sitting on the fence then don't miss out. Check out the details of the event at http://curlywurlyevents.com/blues-.php. You will kick yourself if you miss out on the first one. If you want more info then you can always get more info From Lisa on text: 07763 134026
email: curlywurlysunday@virginmedia.com

 

 

Sex, Drugs and Blues Music.

The Competition Music

"What will the competition music be?" is without a doubt one of the most common questions put to me. So here are a few clues to help you think about what awaits you. Firstly, Blues Music can be a controversial subject and a very personal thing. As I am picking around 95% of the Competition tunes what I like and listen to is very relevant. So you might want to check out my Spotify listing 

 

Just a few Blues Tunes

 

This is by no means a comprehensive list of the blues I like, but it is varied and goes from very loose and easy blues to what I call "In Yer Face and Off The Wall". As mentioned in my previous blog, the music will be relevant to the category. So the "Fresh Fundementals" comp for new dancers will feature Blues music with a definable beat and a reasonable pace. "Polished and Professional" dancers should expect to be challenged. "Raw and Ready" will be just that.

 

If you want to talk to me more about music go to my facebook and message me or email dj.chrisu@yahoo.co.uk.



  

So lets give you some specific examples drawn from You Tube to help you think about your competition practice if you are perhaps new to blues or me as a DJ. The music might have breaks, but then again it might not. As an average dancer my advice is "Feel the music and go with the flow".

 

Keb Mo and "I'm On You Side"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3c_8GYQjL8

A tune of this kind with a good driving beat, but clearly Blues, could be used in Fresh Fundementals, Lucky Dip, Valentines Trophy, and Smooth Fusion Blues (The Juke Joint Trophy).

 

Etta James and "The Blues is my Business"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=copLTgjtcsg

Pretty well as above.

 

Big Mama Thornton and "Bumble Bee Blues"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLcyvgvkGLs

A tune like this could well be used for In The Zone and Old Dogs New Tricks. The Interpretation is in her singing.

 

Buster Benton and "Can't wait to see my Baby's Face"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7q3SMKL0ig

How about this Funky backbeat for you Young Pups.

 

Big Rude Jake "7th Avenue"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueOHg7UQMYg

Who knows where you might get something like this.

 

But above all keep your Blues FUN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUSWPHo9CRo  Cabbage Head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tow5LIl0Blo My Baby Don't wear no Panties

 

 

Listen to the Spotify list and check out these few tune examples. But be assured that the music you get will be relevant to the category you have entered.


If you want to talk to me more about music go to my facebook and message me or email dj.chrisu@yahoo.co.uk.