Review: Southern Belle Swing Bash

I love the concept of the Southern Belle Swing Bash. I hope that more follower-focus events will continue popping up, like the Midwest Girl Jam. There is a need to give followers a weekend just for them because the average weekend event, and even class in general, is weighted heavily toward leaders just due to the nature of the dance.

I had one complaint about SBSB; Sarah and I were only able to make the final 45 minutes of Friday night and had to leave before the dance on Saturday night. As a result I don’t really have much to review.

In the short time I had to dance I barely paused and had the best dances in a long time, most notably with Julee Mertz and Marcie Macabe. I missed Caitlin, and most of the other instructors but I was able to catch some of my favorite aquaintences.

During the first class the biggest weakness in the current format reared its head. The organizers did a great job of recruiting leads, there were really only a handful of followers who had to sit out any one rotation. While the number was good, the level of leaders made it rougher than need be for the followers in the beginning/intermediate class.

I don’t think the level of leaders is a deal breaker by any means, but it is a weakness. Everyone knows how much easier it is to learn someing and practice it when you’re working with someone who already knows how to give what is needed. When a workshop is focused on followers it would wonderfully ideal to have the classes populated with leaders who already know how to lead quite well and can easily follow the the directions of the instructor to create the labaratory environment. Of course, orchestrating that level of dancing among the leaders would probably take a lot of time, a lot of money, and probably a whole lot of bribery.

My suggestion, after a bit of contemplation, is to specifically recruit as many advanced leaders as possible and make sure a healthy percentage of the beg/int class has advanced leaders. The other step is to make sure the advanced leaders are spread throughout the rotation so all the ladies get a chance to practice and learn with a solid foundation.

Unfortunately I don’t have much else to say. I took a burlesque class with Caitlin and following essentials/basics class with Julee, both of which I found to be very well taught and Julee’s was extremely well paced and also organized. I was able to make a swiveling class with Natalie, which once it got going (swivels have got to be among the most difficult classes to teach, especially to beg/int) turned into a great class that I believe helped alot of the followers. The final class I took was fast Lindy Hop with Marcie and Crista, I believe. That was the weakest of the 4 classes I took, but by no means a waste of time. It was their first time teaching as a pair, which is always tough, but also their first time each teaching fast Lindy Hop. They did a good job, and I’m certain the next time will be great.

All in all, I give Southern Belle Swing Bash an A (for the time I was able to make it). Well done ladies, well done

technorati tags:Southern, Belle, Swing, Bash, Caitliin-George, Julee-Mertz, Lindy, Following, Lindy-hop