Balance in your life...don't leave after 18 months :)

28 FEBRUARY 2010
Do you ever wonder what you would be doing if you weren't addicted to swing dancing?  I am pretty sure I would be a professional footballer and live on a sunny beach side throwing back paw paw smoothies every hour.  I wish!

I left my career as a commercial banker because I found something I was obsessed with. Yes I dreamed about Lindy Hop and was first to class, last to leave and lost all sense of balance. I would ear bash anyone who would listen about this dance I had stumbled across.  My family obviously were concerned. All those years in a finance orientated school and then onto university to study banking & finance -  and all I wanted to do was go swing dancing. Outrageous behaviour!

I see the same things happening now all around me.  I love how passionate London is about its' dancing. Dancers have to be kicked out of the dances at the end of the evening, they drool over You Tube clips of Skye & Frida, work on their swing tune collections and live on skyscanner looking for cheap flights to get to the next swing camp in some exotic location in Europe.

Being passionate about something is great and enjoy whatever phase you are going through.   I love swing dancing no less than those dizzy days when I first discovered but really enjoy hearing stories about the passionate London dancers.

My tip of the week  ( yes sounding like an old grandfather maybe.. ) is as follows: I have seen many many dancers get obsessed for about 18 months and then lose interest and leave our swing scene.  This type of passion has usually been at the expense of non dancing friend and non dancing interests and a real life balance occurs. DON"T shut out your non dancing friends, enjoy nights away from dancing and spend some dinners NOT talking about this addiction you have. I totally get it and it is a special gift to be able to enjoy this amazing dance but I want you to enjoy it all your life. Enjoy your journey... what's the hurry!

Throwing yourself 110% into something you love is exactly what I did... so go for it and enjoy it. Just ensure you can enjoy it for a long time!

That is my fluff for the week.
Scottie

All about belonging to the wider swing scene..

25 FEBRUARY 2010

I am an alcoholic!

Not really. Since news of my engagement though so many people have bought me a wine, beer, glass of champagne and it has really lovely. It does mean though that I have been a little hazy for two weeks and working in slow motion. Thank you though for the many well wishes from students and dancers around London. Has been really lovely.

Belonging to a swing dance community is amazing and we are all tied into quite an amazing network that goes something like this.

Many of you belong to a venue in terms of you learn, dance and enjoy friendships at this venue. You are part of a wider Swing Patrol collective around London (and Swing Patrol also has families in Melbourne, Sydney and Berlin).

Swing Patrol London are part of an amazing London scene that is more rich and diverse than people give it credit for. So many options, so many great people. When I first arrived in London people kept banging on about the rifts in London and warned me to stay out of it ( as the new kids on the block..) but I really think people have it wrong. Sure there may have been some rifts in years gone past but the swing groups around London are just super busy and work really hard to share this dance we all love.  London is a big place (so much bigger than any city I have worked or lived in ) and  it's so cool that many groups share the load of sharing the dance. We are still dominated by salsa and other cool dances in London. Swing is such an underground movement still (meaning we are all very cool.. ha ha..)  I performed with Simon Selmon recently at a Ceroc event which was a lot of fun.  Simon and I met last year to discuss the possibility of a joint event.. but it decided that we were simply too busy.  We are really lucky to be part of a swing scene in one of THE most amazing cities in the world.. I feel honoured but every week I am a big tourist and have quite the love affair with London and it's rhythm.

London is part of the England swing scene and great swing communities exist now in almost every English city from Portsmouth, Devon, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Leeds, Durham, Sheffield, Norwich et c etc. The list is endless and I think that is amazing. It wasn't like this ten years ago when I was travelling through. This scene is closely connected to the British scene that all belongs to the European swing scene which has had such amazing growth. You will meet the Europeans at either LLX or the London Swing Festival. They are committed and good!  A massive group from Denmark are coming to LSF..they are the best people!

Then of course we are all connected to the wider global swing scene that now sees swing dancing in Argentina, India and random places that people have introduced it to. The last workshop I did before I moved to London was in Christchurch New Zealand so I have been in contact with many swing dancing friends there this week with the horrific earth quake earlier this week. While all the dancers I know are safe and well, many have had some serious structural damage to their houses just like many Queensland swing dancers recently lost their houses in those crazy Biblical style floods.  It's great to belong to community that is so vast, so caring and so passionate about its core elements... the dance and the music.  The dancers in Queensland and now Christchurch have really felt the wider support of the world swing scene and as I said at the start... it is great to belong.

Well.. what a load of fluff. If you read my ramblings this week... I take my hat off to you!

Have a great week and all the best to Laura & James who kick off our West London venue this Tuesday.

Scottie

Splitting the community..

21 FEBRUARY 2010

Hello everyone,

Trust you are well. My thoughts ( and ramblings ) are about social dancing today. I was at the Swing Pit last night and yes it's a source of frustration to have our Book Club Blues clashing with the Swing Pit on occasion. It feels like it splits the community a little .. even though we do seem to have two differing crowds there is no doubt cross over.  We have noticed that the Swing Pit isn't  attracting as many beginners lately and that isn't a good thing. Maybe we have pitched the night wrong, maybe we aren't looking after them enough but the good news is.. this is about to change!

The Swing Pit will open two areas from next week. There is a back area ( behind the massive red curtain ) which isn't used at all. The venue will remove all the couches and turn the space into a second dance floor. It's not a perfect dance floor but what a great space to have a twirl and enjoy a night out. There will be a sign,, " no rock star activity allowed.. "  Think of it like the Swing Den.. a place that is completely beginner friendly. Think of the back room as:

" ..designed and aimed at new dancers to create a relaxed environment where you can get out there and dance your socks off with crazy abandon and no fear of... anything. This is the place to practice, laugh, make mistakes... and dance! "

The Swing Pit is a really cheap night out. £6 plus a £3 drink voucher. I had been away for a few weekends so it was very cool to be back last night. Can't believe I made everyone dance like chickens. Hannah and Lance .. you had to see them to believe it. Anyway.. to all our newer dancers. The Swing Pit (link  http://swingpatrol.co.uk/event-item/222/swing-on-sundays--corbet-place-weekly-in-brick-lane.php         )
really is a super night out and the old swing clips playing on the screen make it a great spectacle. Take a chance and come and join us next week. :)

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It's live swing this Wednesday in Brick Lane again  ( http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=138861266176243 ) It doesn't feel like a dance at Cafe 1001 and many people come just to enjoy live swing music and the fun bohemian atmosphere. It's a great promotion for swing dancing though so I have again offered my services to do the lesson at the start of the night. It will be a charleston lesson this week. If you have a friend that is a little anxious about the big jump of taking a class this is the night for to bring them. No pressure to dance but a great spectacle with lot of dancing on the floor. I think it is a cool idea that the promoters have offered a discount to the students who have already done their learning at Dalston, Spitalfields or Camberwell this Wednesday. I think you guys can come for a fiver but check with the promoters via their Face Book page.

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James Horada has a birthday today. Happy Birthday to James. He hasn't had a regular teaching venue all year so he is excited about opening of our Holloway Rd venue this Thursda.
The venue will include free social dancing after the 7.00pm class and he has invited us all to come along and have a birthday drink with him and check out his new venue. Happy Birthday mate.

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The cool news is that as we grow and the levels of dancers becomes wider.. we will soon be putting on a Level 4 class with myself and Annie. It will be a true high level learning class. It will be aimed at our trainee teachers, strong dancers around town who aren't sure where to learn and those who have been part of our higher learning and eager to be pushed. Details will be in the group email.


I hope you all have a super week and enjoy your dancing in this amazing city. Remember we are still trying to always improve our systems, classes and teaching. We are very happy to receive feedback. You can drop Fiona and I a note anytime, about anything at info@swingpatrol.co.uk.

Thanks everyone.

Scottie
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Swing Patrol
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