(Most photos taken by Alexandre Swidaneel of Light eX Machina)
Desert Stomp 2016
Where the heck do I begin?! Well quite frankly the name says it all. I mean…we danced in a flipping desert!
Before I get into the dancing side I things I must say from what I saw; Tel Aviv is a fascinating city that I can only described as a mini Miami but with more history amazing Israeli food and unique character. If you get a chance to go to Tel Aviv Blues or Desert Stomp then you must visit!
After a 4 hour coach journey we all made it to a sight called Adama in Mitzpe Ramon. Once we sorted out accommodation we had our first set of classes. Now when us Lindy hopers talk about instructors we usually talk about big names such as Skye and Frida, Peter and Naomi, Sharon Davis, William and Maeva, Ali and Katja. However, the Desert Stomp line up this year was a group of instructors who are not just rising superstars, but have proven they are without question just as good! I thoroughly enjoyed the classes, hanging out with them and watching them perform. In particular; one highlight that springs to mind was a solo jam with Rikard and Joyss. They showed their amazing ability to improvise, have fun and it definitely wowed the crowd. In addition, they were all very supportive during the Jack and Jill finals (I’ll get to that later).
Desert Stomp has an atmosphere and a vibe you won’t find at any other camp. Most of this is down the to the people. Lots of people from various countries attended but the local dance scene showed itself to be very friendly, well organised and they all know how to have fun! All the small things from where we ate breakfast/dinner to playing games during the breaks and eating marshmallows at the campfire just felt different due to the great vibe of this unique place. On the first night; a group of us walked in the desert went to the crater and saw the incredible view shown in picture 4, simply awesome!
I’ve competed in a few Jack and Jill events at some of these international events and I usually do them without any expectations. My aim was to simply gain experience in the solo and Lindy prelims. I’m glad I gave the solo comp a go as this was only my 2nd one after GNSH. However it’s going to take a lot more practice and classes before I have any chance of making any solo finals. In the Lindy prelims I had 3 awesome partners for the slow/medium/fast tempo songs and quite honestly, I thought of it as social dancing with a bit more space…when I later found out I made the final I was quite shocked.
The finals were the next evening and I must admit I was more nervous than I thought I’d be. The ambitious side of me was hoping I would do well enough to make the top 3 but as this was my first final at a big event I tried to remain calm, realistic and just enjoy the moment. Once again I was very fortunate with the partner I ended up with. Out of the 6 followers I happened to be paired up with the one I had by far the most dances with (see pic 6)! For someone who has only done Lindy for a year she really held her own and was so much calmer and mentally prepared than I was! Dancing in front of a huge crowd with such positive energy to a live band who so exhilarating! I honestly didn’t want the experience to end. Although I had to keep the format in mind; I felt like I was in a whole new kind of bubble of awesomeness in those 6/7 minutes.
After the dancing I had truly experienced a whole bunch of feelings I’ve never felt before. To put it simply, a lot of people I danced with afterwards said I looked really confused…I guess I still couldn’t believe this actually happened! In the end, I was thrilled to just be in the final. This experience has given me more confidence and motivated me to work even harder on my dancing so I can have more moments like that at other events I go to. Congrats to the winners, it was truly an honour dancing with you guys. Furthermore, well done to all those who took part. The solo and advanced Lindy finals were excellent to watch.
Is there a cherry on top of his massively awesome cake…yes!!! After the event a group of us got back on the coach and headed to the Dead Sea for a swim (see pic 5). On the way back we all sang a bunch of British songs to the ukulele (as the only Brit singing there was some pressure to know the words!) Swimming/floating with the Lindy gang at the Dead Sea is an experience I will never forget! What a beautiful and inspiring place to visit with such wonderful people. What a brilliant way to end what has been one of the best ever dance events I’ve been too! Thank you so much to all the organisers, teachers and volunteers!