Have had a busy few weeks/months with the SwingStompers Lindy Hop dance group. I moved up to level 4 classes so, baring illness, I've been going to level 3 and 4 classes every Wednesday evening.
I designed a new logo for the group which is now up outside Chester Music Theatre, and the T-shirts are nearly ready too.
We've had a series of weekend rehearsals for the Chester Christmas Light Switch On Parade which we took part in on the 20th November; 30 - 40 minutes of almost non-stop dancing through Chester city centre with 8 couples dancing a mixture of 8-beat and Charleston, sandwiched between Chester the Cheshire Cat and Father Christmas!
Alongside the parade rehearsals, nine of us have been rehearsing for a performance at Bunbury Church as part of an evening celebrating the end of filming of a new series set during WWII called "Home Fires" based on the book "Jambusters" by Julie Summers, which should be on TV next year.
We were asked to come and perform a routine and then help demonstrate as Nick (our friend and instructor) taught a basic Charleston lesson to the guests at the event - lots of people joined in and seemed to really enjoy themselves. Everyone else in the performance had done it at least once before so I was a bit anxious about having to learn the group routine from scratch (and work with Ruth, my dance partner, to create an individual routine in the time we had), but I'm glad Nick strong-armed me into doing it, and it was worth it in the end!
The performance was on Saturday so got there early and had a lovely meal at The Dysart Arms pub. The church turned out to be a fantastic venue, although there was a surprise strip of carpet down the middle of the dance floor, but it didn't put us off our moves too much. We performed to a very appreciative crowd, which made all of the rehearsals worth while.
We actually each got paid a small sum for our performance so *technically* I could add "Professional Lindy Dancer" to my CV!
Then the day after the performance it was my turn to be "Guest DJ" at the SwingStomper Social Dance. I put together a playlist of some of my favourite swing dancing tunes with a few unusual ones and it seemed to go down well! Having guest DJs has proven to be a great idea, as it keeps the socials fresh, so we don't always have the same set of songs that we dance to in class.
Then soon we have our SwingStompers Christmas Meal in town, which is good because I don't get work Christmas meals now that I'm self employed!
I'm so glad that I decided to start going to the group last year. I've made so many really good new friends!
Unfortunately all of this dancing has led to a dance based injury - shin splints and inflamed tendons in my right foot, so I've been ordered by the doctor to lay off the dancing and rest my foot until after Christmas - but I'll be back in the new year! (The Mersey Winter Ball in at the start of January, so I have to be better for that!)