Keeping our scene fresh and accessible.

The word "blogger" embarrasses me as I write something just every few months. Hardly a blogger but since I am on a plane to Australia.. I have time!

So my fiancé Laura and I went up to Leeds for a little get away weekend recently. The arcades and shopping were great but we coincided our weekend away to support Alex Parker and the night he was managing as part of the Leeds University swing dancers. I left the dance completely inspired and it reminded and enforced my vision about what I want for our amazing London Swing Patrol dancers.

This is what I loved about the evening in Leeds:

First of all it had a really friendly vibe. People smiled as you walked past them and people were not only dancing -they were on the sides having a laugh. Was this because it was in the friendly North? I wasn't sure but I was super impressed by the leadership and how they conducted themselves. I watched as they greeted, shook hands, thanked people for coming and took beginners for dances. Any scene is shaped by the leadership.. and this was a positive energy that I loved being in the presence of. It reinforced that our teacher training should always talk about leadership as that is the role our teachers play in so many ways. I see any senior dancer at a social night as a leader. NO it doesn't mean you have to dance with new strangers all night.. but wouldn't it be great if we all made a commitment to ask some newer dancers for a dance at each event.

The jam session was long, entertaining and full of thrills and spills. The dancers were queueing up to jump in and people were grabbing anybody randomly. It was a really organic jam session, and I saw arrange of beginners and top kids involved and it was awesome in terms of raw energy and passion. Some flashy moves and lifts were attempted and not everything was executed as planned.. but that was what made it so cool. Dancers just having a crack with no pressure to be perfect and no concerns in the world that anyone would care. This is how a jam session should be so if you read this and are a new dancer.. a jam session awaits you. Talking to the team up there I learnt later that Cat Foley teaches what a jam session is really early on so it's part of the learning culture for beginners. I love that.

The tranky doo.. did anyone in the room NOT know it when Dipsy Doodle came on? It was a rare sight to see so many jump up for this. Was a cool moment.

The first band was tight and the second group offered variety, dance floor brilliant and seeing friendly faces from Sheffield,  Nottingham, Durham, and so forth was great.

So it steeled my resolve to ensure our social nights have a certain openness and friendliness and that jam sessions are accessible for all and more than anything.. fun! They may not get a million hits on YouTube.. but it will be great for those actually in attendance.  As scenes develop so along comes the preciousness.. I have seen it a few times. So let's look out for the new kids and make sure they feel like the y are in the bubble and not on the outside looking in.

If you have read this far.. I am amazed so thanks.
Scottie :)

History, Frankie and reflections...

So it's almost Christmas which means we started Swing Patrol in London almost three years ago. I am always reflective around this time of year and what a year it has been. We will bang on about the highlights of the year at the end of the year but  the question on my mind is whether we are doing a good job? When we first started Swing Patrol we had a very clear idea about our focus as a school. Taking our inspiration from the history of the dance, we wanted to ensure our teaching captured the joy of the dance, while instilling great technique. We also wanted to build a community of dancers that was a fun, supportive and exciting place to be part of. 

We get accolades for introducing so many new people to the London swing dance community and for staying out of the politics that can arise in any community. We have a pretty strict rule that none of our team say anything negative about other groups, other dance styles, artists and so forth.  Of course what individuals say privately or amongst themselves is well outside our influence…we only ask this when they are representing Swing Patrol, they remain positive.  We get teased and get called " Swing Control" sometimes for things like this but we kind of like this tag. We may not be everybody's cup of tea.. but we do have a certain culture and we like that culture. 

Anyway….focus… back to the main thought… Are we prepared for the year ahead? Well, we are not the group of three years ago. Back then we were thrilled if we just had ten people at a class…now with much larger classes and more venues, our focus needs to be spot on as we move into 2012. I am enjoying the challenge of ensuring our amazing community of dancers are equipped for the great journey ahead. 

We do some things really well…but we could write a long list of things we need to improve on. I am glad to have a team are fully supportive of our vision. The relentless desire to continually review, amend and experiment. I do get a little paranoid at times though and hope our team have enough understanding of the history of the dance. It's so key that all we do. Did I emphasise this enough at teacher training? Perhaps I should have made each teacher read my Frankie Manning book and all my books about the great artists of the day. I have geeked out on books about Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington. Having said that .. was cool to meet Tanya recently and she was reading her Frankie Manning book on the tube, and without prompting I see our venues teaching Frankie Manning nights, or Harvest Moon themed classes…a great indicator that the team are serious about the history of the dance. Maybe I have no need to worry. :) 

Have I prepared the team well? Do we teach with the right balance of fun, joy and good technique.. and foster a real community spirit at the same time? It may sound cheesy but I wonder what Frankie Manning would think if he were to walk into one of our classes?  I have been fortunate enough to perform in front of Frankie a few times and he was always so affirming…he even made me promise to go and compete in the USA once… so I did. I was driving Frankie around Melbourne once and I will never forget the great insights he gave me and the fascinating things he said. I was amazed about his reflections on how we run classes.. he thought it was a great idea and wondered why that didn't think of running classes like this back in the day. Yes I could barely believe it.. of course back in the day you watched, copied, experimented without the structure we have today… but Frankie liked it! Sort of incredible. Maybe he was just being polite but he was pretty frank about other things that bothered him so I have no reason to assume so.  Ooops. Focus…So would Frankie have liked the classes we run in London? Would he have thought our teachers competent and being great ambassadors of the dance? I think so, but I am naturally biased. I think Frankie would have easily seen that we have a team with a variety of talents. Some are such great community builders and others are the inspiring and world class dancers that make us all want to work harder on this dance we love. 

So I reflect upon our teaching and recently we asked for some feedback from the student base about what they would like to learn and focus on in 2012. I was so pleased to see some history based topics being requested. As we plan and move into the next year.. be assured we are really in tune about our responsibility as scene leaders to ensure our students get a really great historical focus on all we do.  It is a fun thought though that as a community we are indeed part of the history and part of the Lindy Hop story in this modern age. It is the modern day Lindy Hoppers who are dancing, sharing and loving this dance to ensure the legacy continues. I mean the amount of effort to create awareness about this dance is beyond belief. It is a herculean collective team effort and I am proud to be the leader of my team and the chapters we are creating. I should point out that other groups do an amazing job also. Some scene leaders, dancers, individuals inspire me by their love of swing dancing, music and the people in the scene. London is blessed with many many truly great people who dance and work with a variety of Lindy Hop related groups. 

Watch out world.. London is making history.. now.

The unofficial mission statement

The mission statement

I emailed the teaching team the other day with a summary of our mission statement and so many of them commented that it was great to read and useful as well. I thought it might be a good idea to add some things in here also.

1. Once this Dec/Jan/Feb push is over.. we will slow down the opening of new venues and focus on really building what we have.

2. In general our teaching team have some new teachers and teacher training is key and part of the reason that I ( sadly ) relinquished Old Street recently. We have had two teacher training sessions i the last month and another one planned for early December.  There is much still to learn as a collective teaching team and creating an amazing team of teachers is a wonderful and exciting prospect. 

3. Training will also be created for outdoor gigs. We work hard to secure these events so we want to ensure more of our team are equipped to manage and enjoy a public speaking and teaching role. 

4. Once we kick off the new year with our ambitious plan to open 5/6 venues.. and if that goes ok.. we will then work on managing our venues and … creating a stronger dancer at Swing Patrol. The standard is growing no doubt but know we can move the standard more efficiently with the structure we now have.  This will involve more intermediate and advanced workshops including more guests from abroad. 

5. We are still intent on better systems. We have done a lot in 18 months but trying to automate as many systems as possible while still ensuring we offer the great personal relationship through our teaching team. This involved things like scanning registrations at workshop entry and so forth. 

6. Troupe will be a higher standard next year as the general pool of people is higher to choose from. Troupe will play a role in pushing the standard of the dance. 

7. More focus in Balboa ( more than nothing will be easy..:) 

8. More focus on the history of the dance. We already are in contact in what we consider history experts and having them run some guest seminars in 2012 as we really link the new buzz with the original charm. 

9. Streamline our systems. We want to ensure our door staff and volunteers and better supported and this includes better training for them.

10. Risks. This is about a great journey.. and as always we will take some calculated risks and see where that lands us. More on this later.

11.  A continued focus on working with the many great groups around England that think like us and love sharing this dance. We have a wonderful network of groups that we love co-sharing ideas with and that is a great encouragement for all parties to learn from each other. 

Anyway.. these are just a few thoughts to keep you in the loop of where we are heading . I hope they assist or are of interest. 

Scottie :) 

Just feeling greatful.. for an extraordinary team.

What a crazy weekend and one I can and should reflect on. I don't consider myself a blogger .. and certainly wouldn't expect anyone to read my fluff but for me it's a record of my feelings and experiences and I wish I wrote more. 

I taught in Durham all weekend. The dancers in the North are fantastic and a pleasure to work with. They love their dancing and was a really great experience as always. 

Feeling just so grateful and proud. 

I write this on the long train road home on Sunday night. I am missing Red Rhythm and today was an important day for Swing Patrol London. What amazes me is that we have such an extraordinary team to achieve so much this weekend..,. with Fiona ( my admin manager ) in Australia and myself away since Friday. 

First thing on my mind is the troupe auditions. In a packed hall in Angel we had a block buster amount of people try out for troupe. FInding a date for these auditions was impossible. With BBB next weekend and then Ben & Tanya abroad.. this was the best weekend so I made the decision that troupe auditions should proceed without me. I have put a lot of trust in Ben & Tanya and I knew that would do a great job and they cleverly asked Loz, Cam & Erin to assist in the adjudication.  I haven't really heard much at the time of this train trip but I know that Ben & Tanya are very capable organisers and leaders and would have done a super job. 

I am also grateful to the many dancers who put themselves on the line. This is a tough day as many will miss out and not being accepted for something you want can be tough to hear. I am flattered that people want to be in a troupe that our group runs and think it's a testament to the current members and the leadership of the Rhythm Rascals. 

We also had a DJ seminar/workshop and many who really care about the music were involved. Chris Gammie and Loz plus a lot of other well established and up & coming DJs attended and I also can't wait to hear how this went. 

Red Rhythm is on as I write this ( slightly sad ) but  I am completely relaxed as Chris Gammie is in charge and  we have great door and bar staff. This is an epic event to manage as we run the bar and have to abide by some very clear venue guidelines. There was a time where I would not have trusted the reputation of Swing Patrol with anyone else but me.. but this is a ridiculous notion nowadays as truth be told.. event managers like Chris and David Clarke are more thorough than me and always ( without fail ) do a sterling job. I am extremely grateful for this. 

So these are the obvious things that tick.. but what you don't see is the myriad of other things that are going on. I really sit here feeling very fortunate and blessed by the team around me. While I can't confirm any of the following I would place a bet that the following happened this weekend: 

1. Pippa. Blues Baby Blues is this coming weekend so I will bet that Pippa is consumed in the preparations.. all with me not much help in Durham

2. Laura. Our graphic designer has a long list of jobs we have and she will have spent some time this weekend producing draft art work for me to sign off on.

3. Richard. Richard Warner manages our asset register and would have spent time researching and ordering a new system for one of our new venues.. and for us to use at BBB

4. Our teachers.. every teacher would have updated their diary notes, inputted email addresses, loaded You Tube clips and kept an eye on the admin relating to their venue.

5. Our troupe.. had troupe. Despite auditioning .. it was business as usual for our troupe. What a massive day for them. 

6. Gordon. Gordon is working with Asif on the marketing of Putney Bridge. I saw the email exchanges.. lot of planning took place this weekend. 

7. Fiona. You can get that Fiona was still working for Swing patrol at the air port and when she landed in Australia. You will find it hard to meet someone so dedicated as Fiona. 

8. Blues baby Blues team. Janet, Sibhe, Gemma, Laura, David, Robyn etc. 

I haven't listed all the names.. but the team is now in full swing with little time for anything else now. It's 5 sleeps till show time. This Festival simply wouldn't run without these guys. 

9. Two of our teachers danced at an event in Brixton this weekend. Massive thanks to Chris G & Laura. I have no idea what the details were. 

10. Erin and the Sunday afternoon Spitalfields class - 22 people this weekend.. a record for Sunday afternoons. 

11. Social dancers.. Red Rhythm always has 50-90 people. Swinging out on a Sunday night. I love the London scene for their love of social dancing. These dancers make Red Rhythm an awesome night. 

Can you believe all this energy.. and I am out of London. So I am sure you can see .. why on this train trip from Durham to Kings Cross I am feeling very grateful for an amazing team that due to their collective energy create a community that has a buzz and always has a crazy weekend of activity. 

Not sure if anyone will read this.. and ( in my tired state ) after three nights of dancing and two full days of teaching.. I am sure I have missed a few things.. but I am extremely proud, grateful and inspired by the Swing Patrol team.

Scottie 

* currently this train is being held at York until further notice due to signalling problems in Doncaster. Thank goodness for my Kindle. 

Reflecting on the crazy SP network..

Proud of the crazy family. 

I notice that blogging has hit the swing dance community in a big way. People have been blogging for years and I love following some peoples blogs.

I don't really see this as a blog.. just my ramblings really and when I get the urge about something,, I write it down. 

I am on the train from Bristol to London and has an amazing evening of dancing as part of the Bristol Swing Festival.  Laura & I mainly wanted to support David & Stephan who have both been super people that I have enjoyed getting to know since I arrived in London.  Both lived in London when I first moved here.  David asked to meet up with me before he started his swing dance community in Bristol and we shared ideas. He is a natural leader and was great seeing him on stage last night. When I arrived in London Stephan asked me for lunch and the first thing he said was " I am so excited Swing Patrol are here.. what can I do to help." I will always be grateful for this endorsement and to have the support of " millionaire Stephan " as he is known behind his back was super. He is a great mate of Dax and the three of us always have a round of golf or hang out when we are all in town. 

The Bristol Swing Festival so unique and has a complete circus flavour. The cabaret performance last night featured some amazing swing dancing combined with an array of amazing circus performers. The two are really connected in Bristol with the town a haven for artists and performers. 

Three things happened that made me really proud of the Swing Patrol family - from Sydney, Melbourne to London. If you worry I am going to be biased with the following three stories.. I am and best you close me down. :) 

1)     Loz Because  - Hula-hoopist    ( about London & Melbourne ) 

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Loz is a cool swing dancer but a first class Hula-Hoopist who sent the crowd into a frenzy with a great routine to an electro swing tune. She had that performance x factor that is rare and already we have booked Loz to perform at our upcoming London Swing Festival.  After cheering her on and asking our event manager to book her .. I then met Loz and found this out. 

Loz started dancing because she was inspired by the swing dancing she witnessed at Secret Garden Party. Swing Patrol London had 12 free tickets for this amazing music Festival and we danced our hearts out at a variety of stages and late night parties. Loz then went and lived in Melbourne and became addicted to swing dancing with her favourite classes being those taught by Kieran & Georgia. She loved the whole Swing Patrol Melbourne vibe and all the great teachers and classes. Randomly the routine I just witnessed had been choreographed in Melbourne  -  Noni had assisted in the writing of it. Was fun chatting about the amazing Noni. 

Loz came up and said " hey Scott, Just wanted to say thanks for starting Swing Patrol!" As we were dancing Loz even commented " I feel like I am dancing with history." Hmmm.. I did wind her up about making me feel like a fossil ( which I am in swing dancing terms ) but I know what she meant and it was a cool connection. At that stage I had no idea of the above .. I wish Claudia could have been there. Loz is now back in Bristol and soon off to travel again. Loz is excited about performing at the London Swing festival.. and excited about seeing Shob & Andy ( from Melbourne) who are part of our teaching line up. 

Randomly.. on the same evening a dancer from Morocco registered for the London Swing Festival. I sent Shobbie a message as Shob & Andy will be teaching dancers from so many countries.

2) Random act of Nottingham kindness ( about Sydney ) 

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Laura & I left at about 2am and were one of the first to leave. Having never seen Bristol we weren't doing the after party but instead spending the next morning as tourists. We walked outside and were deciding whether to walk 25 minutes (was a great warm evening ) or catch a cab. A random dancer walked past and before we knew it.. this person was driving us home. Nicci was a Nottingham dancer and was great to chat to her. It was her first swing dancing experience outside her how town & all her fears and nerves had been washed away with an amazing experience in Bristol. 

When I first arrived in London I received a lovely and random email from a Lisa in Nottingham ( who we are now good friend with) who was kind enough to let us know that her love for swing dancing was first created at Swing Patrol Sydney  ( Paddo RSL. )  Lisa had been inspired in Sydney, went back to Nottingham and started a swing community. Nicci was a student of Lisa and they were staying with each other. Is it possible that this random good Samaritan was dancing because of a loose link to Swing Patrol Sydney? Swing is on the move in Europe with scenes popping up everywhere so maybe Nicci would have found swing anyway.. but it's a lovely thought that SP Sydney may have played a role in Nottingham! 

3) The travelling Londoners ( about London ) 

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When you live in England you suddenly realise that there is London.. and everywhere else. Londoners are known as the group of people ( not just dancers ) that don't get out of London much as they feel they have everything at their finger tips.  When I walked in last night the first people I saw were a big representation of our teaching team and troupe members. So many were in Bristol that someone asked me " who is looking after your ship back home." It was a good point as Fiona ( our admin manager), Pippa ( our event manager) Peta ( one of our troupe leaders ) etc etc.. were all dancing in Bristol last night. I thought it was really super that Bristol was so well supported by London. I should point out that it wasn't just SP dancers from London… many from the wider London community were present and was great to catch up with them. 

So it was about good vibes and great energy last night. We certainly don't do everything perfectly but the three stories above made me reflect that I am indeed really blessed to lead such an amazing, talented, joyful and inclusive community.  Sorry for the fluff! ( not really ) … 

Scottie :) 

Being an Aussie swing dancer in London.

It is an amazing experience being Australian in London. In so many ways our countries understand each other and we always have cricket and rugby to banter about .. but in so many ways we are worlds apart on our outlook on life. Neither better than the other.. just makes dinner parties fun!  When I first arrived just two years ago a few things struck me: 

1. What accent? 

2. Where are the English? 

2. Being chilled..us? 

3. Are we crazy?

4. Who is funnier?

5. Don't talk about sex or money

1) We had an accent and a funny one. 

No one on our island thinks we have an accent or talk funny. It's only when you immerse yourself here and people start mimicking you that the realisation hits in the face like a bulldozer. We do sound funny.. we do shorten way more words that we should. " What should we do this avo Wazza?"   Then students start laughing at you when you sue words like " dagga " and " what a ripper of a move." … you soon learn to your amazement that these are crazy Aussie words that we must have made up somewhere over the last 200 years. 

Of course the whole topic has balance and we can't figure out how there can be so many English accents on one small island and to our fascination.. the accents come with a range of associations. We love chatting about your super accents ( because we don't really have one.. ) and it's always great fun at a pub trying to do a Cockney accent.  My name is Scott… and in West London there is an emphasis on the "tt" at the end of my name. When I arrive home in East London the "tt"s have been swallowed.. " Sco''ie" .. in one city.. one short tube ride. This will never cease to amaze me. 

2. Where are the English? 

I am from Melbourne and we say we are a really cosmopolitan city and it is. London though is a whole new level and I used to count how many languages I would hear in a day. It felt like a big party ( sort of like Herrang Dance Camp ) when I arrived here and was so amazed at how many people lived here from every corner of the world.  I think this makes the English really open minded and accepting. When I talked to dancers i Paris about why they all loved London so much they talked about the great open spirit of London and the lack of judgement.  I think London and Londoners should be really proud of London today and its truly cosmopolitan spirit. Yes London has it's challenges like all big cities and a rather sinister underbelly that you have to be aware of .. but us Aussies love  and embrace London. 

2 ) Being chilled out. 

We also had no idea that we were actually more chilled out than most groups and we just thought the whole world were as relaxed as us.. until we arrived. Actually having a reputation for being " cruisy " and " easy going " is kind of cool but I can assure you .. we leave the stressed ones on the island. The English put themselves down a lot and openly say they are uptight, anxious and awkward. I don't really see that in East London and think the crowd are the coolest in the world .. the ones not trying to be cool anyway. 

We do see it from time to time when we get a frustrated email that I know would not have been an issue in Australia. I do think the Brits are more cautious about social dancing and the fear factor of their first steps in the wide world is greater. I sometimes wish we could get my students to embrace social dancing a little more with crazy abandon no matter what the outcome. The fear of feeling silly or out of ones depth are strong here..but hey.. this is an island that ruled the world once so maybe this care and caution has stood the Brits in good stead!

3) Are we crazy? 

So many English have said .. word for word .. " Why on earth would you leave all that sunshine to live here..?"

It's true.. Aussies find the London winter cold and long and you don't appreciate your sunny climate until you leave it. 

LIfe is more than a sun tan though and we love being so close to Europe and falling over the amazing history of London. I am still amazed when I know I can be in another country in an hour.. that is amazing.

I caught a train recently to Brussels and was there in 90 minutes. When you come from an big island hours from almost everywhere.. this is a stunning feature of living here. 

Australia has some fascinating history but every week I enjoy some new and crazy historical fact that I learn from a cabbie, a dancer , a tour.. or even a book!

4) Who is funnier?

We think we are funny.. and we like to laugh a lot but I wasn't expecting the fantastic English humour to be such a part of society. From cabbies, football crowds to individuals in classes.. the English are funny and I love it. It's one of the best things about living here. LIke Aussies don't think we have an accent.. I don't think the English realise how great the general sense of humour is here.  Back on our island the English ( affectionally known as the Poms) are called the " Whinging Poms" but when you live here.. you meet a whole other side of the English. Progressive, environmentally aware, politically aware and thoroughly impressive in so many ways. 

5) Don't talk about sex or money

I can see why the English perceive us Aussies as loud and brash at times. It's partly because we are quite open and if we have a problem.. we will probably tell anyone that is happy to listen. We don't have the social boundaries that you see here so often. The English may love sex and money but they seem to have  a code of conduct where it is not really discussed out openly.  Which one is better? I am still unsure but I do miss the crazy Aussie chats and openness at a dinner table in Melbourne. However I certainly appreciate the discretion of the English and choosing to share with the closest of friends only.  Yes of course.. this one in particular is  massive generalisation.. I know it! 

I could go on and on,, but by now I doubt if anyone is still reading so I will now spend my energies to talk our posh Chris  Gammie into writing something about what it's like to be a Londoner working, teaching and dancing with an Aussie run dance group. Come on Chris.. we need your help!

Scottie 

Competing as a swing dancer.. should I ?

Competitions. 

Competitions can be amazing and have been part of Lindy Hop history since day one. 

A few generalisations.. 

The positives:

1) It will improve the standard of dancing in a scene. People are goal orientated and competitions give you an amazing focus to work harder on your dancing. 

New aerials are worked on, stronger technique, crazier moves.. you do see a jump.

2) The anticipation and adrenalin involved with competing is super and I used to be quite competition addict. I loved the anticipation of it all. 

3) " Life is not a spectator sport."  Being involved is so much fun and the swing dancing community is a supportive and encouraging crowd. Everyone cheers you on and appreciates your courage for stepping on the floor. 

4) History. It's part of swing dancing history and Frankie Manning used to tell us all great stories about competing. 

5) A great night where individuals come from all schools, a range of dance communities and places. The cheering is amazing. 

6) It's a thrilling  spectacle and a great show case for swing dancing. Many people have been inspired to start swing dancing from being at a competition evening. 

The concerns:

1) Competitions  can create a slightly competitive environment where social dancing takes a back seat and suddenly your dancing is being judged and it can be stressful and also create some disappointment. 

2) Some dancers define themselves by their dancing so not placing can cause some disillusionment. 

3) Some can take it all too seriously.. it is after all.. just dancing!

At Swing Patrol we think that a few competitions a year are really good for the swing community and we encourage you to get involved. Placing in an event might be one aim, but just being involved should be another aim. Push yourself and have the experience of a life time. My favourite memories of the days I used to compete regularly are not of the actual competing moments but the great laughs we would have at training and the great hours of hard work dancing at rehearsals. It's a great journey, a great goal and an experience worth considering. 

The upcoming London Jitterbug Championships has events for all standard of dancers.. including two beginner events. Talk to a buddy in class and throw yourself in!

My fluff for today. 

Scottie 

London Jitterbug Championships: 

http://www.londonswingfestival.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=10