Tunes

My first post written on a mobile phone so bear with me on the spelling.

Sitting in a hotel room in Luton and thinking about tunes that are suitable for the next Blues and Smooth Champs. The maim problem is there are just so many that I could play. But do they have the necessary stuff?. Are they too hard for the newer dancers? Are they toooo challenging for the top level?. Breaks or no breaks?  Well, my decisions to make and only the pressing of the play button on competitions day will give the answers.

Where are we

Thought I would update you on the progress for the Champs next year and a few bits about what Lisa and I are up too.

Lisa has just had a very successful weekend hosting Asif Malik for some workshops plus a trip down to the English Modern Jive Champs to do some judging. I know that she has already organised another visit for Asif. So keep an eye on her facebook pages. You can find her via this link. She also has a regular Monday night MJ class in Huddersfield and others in the pipeline. Plus her CurlyWurly events at the Dance Studio's continue. Again check with Lisa for details. There is a Curlywurly website at http://curlywurlyevents.com/

For me Juke Joint continues on the last Sunday of every month at the Engine Shed in Wetherby. The new timings of 6 till 10pm have not proved as successful as we had hoped, but we are continuing with them for now. We have one or two extra things in the pipeline to talk to you about soon including a WCS workshop and some special stuff as the 2016 Champs draw closer. There is also going to be a Juke Joint Blog coming soon as well. You can find more about Juke Joint via my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/dj.chrisuren or there is also a Juke Joint Group.

THE CHAMPS 2016

Progress is good and we have now confirmed our judges which will include 2 new members for next year.

We are honoured to introduce two HUGELY influential people within the modern and traditional Blues world. Many dancers accross the UK have been inspired by these two into taking their first steps into the world of blues dancing.

Welcome aboard Nigel Anderson and Nina Daines

N&N have performed extensively throughout Europe and have made numerous stage and screen appearances including the West End Shows "The Cotton Club” & “Journey through Jazz”, films such as “Swing” & “War Horse” and countless TV performances, the highlight of course being a Lindy Hop performance on “Blue Peter” (and before you ask ‘Yes’ Nina does still have her Blue Peter Badge).
Since retiring from competing in 2001, N&N have been principle judges at many of the major Blues, Jive & Swing events in the UK.s


More about the other Judges and our DJ line up next time.

Music Plus++++

Lets talk a little about some of the music that I chose to play for the Competition categories on the Saturday. Throughout I hope I managed to pick music that was suitable for the standard of dancer in any particular category. Did I get it right?. Well feedback generally would say yes. But there are still a small number of tracks I would have changed around. Now, it would be impossible to list and talk about all of the tracks so here I am going to give you some links to tunes that I played and hopefully give you a chance to get a feel for what you are likely to encounter in future Competitions.

It may be worth a listen to my Blues Spotify List as well "Just a few Blues Tunes"
But remember this is a BLUES AND SMOOTH competition so don't get toooooo hung up on blues tracks. Once again the aim is to play tracks appropriate to the standard / experience of dancers who may take part in any particular category. These are a small selection from Saturday Comps.

Mary Jane by the Mannish Boys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLofUzxLBCU
A Blues room classic and played by me as part of Lucky Dip. A great driving beat that would allow dancers of all abilities to have a go.

Finest Lovin' Man by Bonnie Raitt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irC1dKEpa00
Another Classic played for the "In The Zone" category (Effectively Intermediate Dancers). A little bit more of a challenge.

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight by Curtis Stigers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzMAb6XaAFM
One of the Tunes I chose for the Juke Joint Trophy. Unashamedly Smooth, it's part of what the Juke Joint is about. Going from Blues through all sorts of music that you can dance to and perhaps ending up here..

Blues 2.0 by Fruitland Jackson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wno2v17XhfI
Picked as the last Competition track of the day. Played for the Polished and Pro. It did what it was meant to do. A REAL CHALLENGE. And in my humble opinion it prompted some of the most amazing dancing of the day. I am not sure some of the competitors thought so.

In a future Blog I will talk about some of the Sunday Music and pretty soon more information about next years line up.

 

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.

The Valentines Trophy

Let's be honest. When Lisa first suggested that we get a load of clubs to host a qualifying round of a competition I was sceptical. The concept of a group of club organisers actually cooperating was alien to what I know from experience. BUT. Once again I was proved wrong. Well a lot of the time proved wrong, as there were some who said "Yes" and then did not take part. Sad really, as it turned out to be one of the most successful things we did. And we now have clubs approaching us. Result I would say.

The concept is quite simple really. You hold a competition for your dancers, with the audience deciding who goes through. The winning couple get a full weekend pass and free entry into the final of the Valentines Trophy. As part of the deal you help promote the various rounds that are going on. In return other clubs promote yours.

Clubs that took part this time ..

Supper Dance (Dawn Gennery)

Jive Junction (Lynn Smith)

Want 2 Dance (Andy and Lin Jobin)

Northern Jive (Ken ByWater)

Jive Infusion (Janice Kenyon)

Oxford Blues (Coralie Green / Robert and Anna Jeffries)

Juke Joint

CurlyWurly

 

So 8 clubs this year and after discussion we will be increasing places available

 

If you want to know any more about getting your club involved then contact us. Me via facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dj.chrisuren 

or |Lisa Via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lisa.c.graydon

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.

Sunday Winners

Sunday Results

Well another day of competition is over and it was pretty spectacular. A quick post of Sunday results. More to come about the weekend and particularly details of the competition music.

In The Zone

1st Ed Greenwood and Beth Caygill
2nd Roach Tyler and Judy Tyler
3rd Neil Wiffen and Ann Harrison

Raw and Ready

1st Melvin Young and Lynn Davis
2nd Nick Shore and Hannah Lonsdale
3rd Jo Hart and Ann Harrison

Smooth Fusion Blues (The Juke Joint Trophy)

1st Nick Shore and Hannah Lonsdale
2ndMark Oxley and Sarah Oxley
3rd Ann Harrison and Jennifer Cowling

Swinging The Blues (CurlyWurly Trophy)

1st Robert Jeffreys and Anna Jeffreys
2nd Nick Shore and Hannah Lonsdale
3rd Joe Rosa and Zuzanna Lalanne

Jack and Jill (Spotlight Dances)

1st Melvin Young and Chloe Hunt
2nd Robert Docherty and Hannah Lonsdale
3rd Joe Rosa and Lynn Davis

It's been great weekend and congratulations to all who attended. And if you placed then extra special well done.

More to come next week.