Herräng Sweden - my week 4.

I am the laziest blogger of all but I feel inspired to blog about my recent week in Herräng Sweden. It's the annual pilgrimage of many Lindy Hoppers to one of the most renown and special Lindy Hop events that exists. Dancers come from all over the world and celebrate the music, dance, history and each others company. It's an amazing event and for someone like me who runs swing events.. just to be a dancer and nothing else with no other role or responsibility is a small slice of dancing heaven. Swing dancing has been amazing to me and I have seen many amazing places but this Camp is so unique in so many ways. Our community is small so it's not like a Bestival were where dance alongside 60,000 Festival goers. This is a boutique dream land for Lindy Hoppers. As a guess maybe there was 400/450 people there in week 4... I could so easily be wrong but it feels like a perfect size. 

I have been many times and first attended in 1999. Back then you had to phone through your booking and when you came from Australia you spent the first half of your trip deliriously jet-lagged. Travelling with a group of friends from London was so much easier and we eased into our trip with an evening in the old town of Stockholm. Any road trip is great but when you have an inspiring group to travel with it's even more amazing. 

Nothing has really changed…yet everything has changed. It is great that the same amazing energy and feeling of Herräng still exists. The Swedes bring a lot of this culture and this is why they are universally adored. Most of the faces have changed since I first attended but it is still uniquely Herräng. It was good to see Hannah, Mattias, Abeth, Hasse, Marie and of course Lennart who were all there when I first attended. However it was also brilliant to see so many new people throwing themselves into the dance and culture. 

One of the major highlights of Herrang is the diversity of dancers you can dance with. In one evening I danced with amazing follows from Lithuania, Belgium, France, Korea, Australia, the USA to name but a few. The music is off the chart, we enjoyed live music every night in week four. African dance, tap dancing for starters added some phenomenal variety to the week. 

A true highlight is the camaraderie of your own team with my team being from London. It's irrelevant which school you learn at or teach at. It's just great to see London so well represented. We were everywhere with Hayley running the Burlesque show, Peter H running a blues night, Laura & Rupert judging a sand castle competition (!), Fi, Amanda, Annabelle, Celia, David M. and Chris Allen all working in different capacities behind the scenes. My house mates all had different schedules with some dancing till 7.00am and sleeping all day while others were in classes all day so needed to get to bed earlier. Most were off the chart with their energy levels and learnt all day and seemed to almost dance all night. We all had great admiration for the Londoners who had to cycle in from their accommodation about 5km out of Herräng. That was a fair effort with tired dancing legs. I take my hat off to you. 

The final highlight is touching base with people from all over the world. It was inspiring to see some Aussie & Kiwi pals and two two Brat Pack members from Melbourne (Brat Pack was a troupe we started many years ago.) I was fortunate enough to spend a few hours with Gaston & Tina from Argentina, dance with old friends like Alba from Madrid and Anna from Houston. Kevin St. L bought me dinner at to the Lithuanian restaurant and was super to touch base with Tim who is now sharing Lindy Hop in Mexico City. These are just a few names of many… my fleeting hug from Marco from Berlin was a a definite highlight. 

The same people that were bemoaning the mosquitoes, the auditions, the lack of privacy, that rude lead, too many follows...were heralding it a few days later as the best week of their lives. This is the over whelming influence of this camp. You soon forget the woes as it you leave inspired and wanting more...always. Makes life fun and we have to have something to talk about as we all debrief at dinner! 

It's a great week and everyone should do it once. I loved being back even if it was a quicker visit than previous times and am thankful to those that make it all happen. 

Scottie ;)



Photo taken at 5.40am on way home after a night's dancing. Yes it never gets dark.