Herräng and Stuttgart
So, long time since last post. What has happened? I've been in Herräng for 5 weeks and I've got a master thesis job in Stuttgart where I'm moving in a couple of days. But first thing first I guess:
In the end of June I drove to Herräng but first I picked up my dance partner and did some social dancing and gymnastic training with her and her gymnastic troup. We arrived Herräng on Saturday afternoon and already the same evening it was a solo Charleston taster class. The first week, I was in the beginner-intermediate authentic jazz group, week 2 I volunteered and week 3 I was in the advanced 3 lindy hop. Week 4, the plan was competition/show lindy hop but my english dance-partner bailed out the same morning just before the audition and at this time the advanced group was full for leads so I took the int-adv lindy instead.
A typical day consists of 3-4 classes, 1h20m each between 10am and 7.20 pm. This usually means the free gaps is just eating, rehearsing or revising the class or change to dry shirt. After the last class I usually had dinner or some more revising of material is common and at 9pm there is a daily evening meeting. It's kind of a talk-show with Lennart as the front figure, combined with different performances, interviews with teachers and different "jokes". After the meeting different "taster classes" take place, it can be everything from learning blues or tango to someone teaching Michael Jackson's thriller choreography (w4). At the same time the social dance starts taking place on 3 different dance floors in Folkets Hus: the main ballroom, dansbanan and in the library. There is also a bar where troubadour's sometimes are playing...
The social floors keeps playing music as long as there are people dancing, but the main ballroom usually closes around 8-9 am. I often went to bed after the taster class and slept till 2 or 3 am and then had a shower and went dancing. Sometimes one or two more hours of sleep but sometimes dancing until closening, having breakfast and then go to class at 10am again.
The jazz week was very good and inspiring, I really learnt a lot and want to do this kind of dancing more. The lindy weeks were good too, but at this time they felt more like "any camp" as one learn new moves, practice technique and rythms as well as music adjustion and styling are tought. The volunteering week 2 was interesting. I was distributed mainly to the school crew who cleaned changing rooms and toilets e.g. but in the spare time I was also in the passport control or wherever help was needed.
The 5th week, the crash-down week, was different even if it was volunteering. We worked hard, both physically and mentally, from 9am to 11-12 pm. We had tons of beds and bikes to bring to two different barns and storage rooms but also all the tents and the metal bars to take care of and dismount. In the end we cleaned and painted everything, as detailed as scrubbing the asphalt. It was a huge fellowship working with this though, and in the night we often spent a few hours together at the camp fire.
Getting the chance of staying in Herräng for 5 weeks in a row is a huge privilegium and I'm glad I got the chance of doing so this year; next I might not have this opportunity due to work or other circumstances. I still recommend everyone to taking the chance at least once in their lifetime, to experience Herräng just because it is its own little bubble, a lindy heaven, independent of what happens in the rest of the world. The "best" dances are often catched after 4-5 am when the floor is less crowdy, but if you stand to dance the entire night, you can always follow Peter Loggin's advice of pretending it's a vide game: jumping over one's leg or avoiding a stiletto heel gives you extra points while the other person is loosing points...
I was just about finish my notes here, but as I mentioned Stuttgart I better tell you something about that too. I've got a master thesis project (Diplomarbeit, examens arbete) at Bosch vehicle unit in Abstatt, just north of Stuttgart (Germany). I'm very glad to get the chance of moving down to central Europe and having just 100 km to the Swizz border and even closer to any other place in Europe then I had from Luleå in Sweden to the southern parts of Sweden. I'm staying at least till February 2009 for writing my thesis but there are lots of lindy camps around Europe and I'll try as much as I can to get around a bit and see what the "continent" has to offer. I'm moving there within 2 weeks, hopefully the Wednesday just coming up.
In the end of June I drove to Herräng but first I picked up my dance partner and did some social dancing and gymnastic training with her and her gymnastic troup. We arrived Herräng on Saturday afternoon and already the same evening it was a solo Charleston taster class. The first week, I was in the beginner-intermediate authentic jazz group, week 2 I volunteered and week 3 I was in the advanced 3 lindy hop. Week 4, the plan was competition/show lindy hop but my english dance-partner bailed out the same morning just before the audition and at this time the advanced group was full for leads so I took the int-adv lindy instead.
A typical day consists of 3-4 classes, 1h20m each between 10am and 7.20 pm. This usually means the free gaps is just eating, rehearsing or revising the class or change to dry shirt. After the last class I usually had dinner or some more revising of material is common and at 9pm there is a daily evening meeting. It's kind of a talk-show with Lennart as the front figure, combined with different performances, interviews with teachers and different "jokes". After the meeting different "taster classes" take place, it can be everything from learning blues or tango to someone teaching Michael Jackson's thriller choreography (w4). At the same time the social dance starts taking place on 3 different dance floors in Folkets Hus: the main ballroom, dansbanan and in the library. There is also a bar where troubadour's sometimes are playing...
The social floors keeps playing music as long as there are people dancing, but the main ballroom usually closes around 8-9 am. I often went to bed after the taster class and slept till 2 or 3 am and then had a shower and went dancing. Sometimes one or two more hours of sleep but sometimes dancing until closening, having breakfast and then go to class at 10am again.
The jazz week was very good and inspiring, I really learnt a lot and want to do this kind of dancing more. The lindy weeks were good too, but at this time they felt more like "any camp" as one learn new moves, practice technique and rythms as well as music adjustion and styling are tought. The volunteering week 2 was interesting. I was distributed mainly to the school crew who cleaned changing rooms and toilets e.g. but in the spare time I was also in the passport control or wherever help was needed.
The 5th week, the crash-down week, was different even if it was volunteering. We worked hard, both physically and mentally, from 9am to 11-12 pm. We had tons of beds and bikes to bring to two different barns and storage rooms but also all the tents and the metal bars to take care of and dismount. In the end we cleaned and painted everything, as detailed as scrubbing the asphalt. It was a huge fellowship working with this though, and in the night we often spent a few hours together at the camp fire.
Getting the chance of staying in Herräng for 5 weeks in a row is a huge privilegium and I'm glad I got the chance of doing so this year; next I might not have this opportunity due to work or other circumstances. I still recommend everyone to taking the chance at least once in their lifetime, to experience Herräng just because it is its own little bubble, a lindy heaven, independent of what happens in the rest of the world. The "best" dances are often catched after 4-5 am when the floor is less crowdy, but if you stand to dance the entire night, you can always follow Peter Loggin's advice of pretending it's a vide game: jumping over one's leg or avoiding a stiletto heel gives you extra points while the other person is loosing points...
I was just about finish my notes here, but as I mentioned Stuttgart I better tell you something about that too. I've got a master thesis project (Diplomarbeit, examens arbete) at Bosch vehicle unit in Abstatt, just north of Stuttgart (Germany). I'm very glad to get the chance of moving down to central Europe and having just 100 km to the Swizz border and even closer to any other place in Europe then I had from Luleå in Sweden to the southern parts of Sweden. I'm staying at least till February 2009 for writing my thesis but there are lots of lindy camps around Europe and I'll try as much as I can to get around a bit and see what the "continent" has to offer. I'm moving there within 2 weeks, hopefully the Wednesday just coming up.
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Postat av: pandora
I can to get around a bit and see what the "continent" has to offer. I'm moving there within 2 weeks, hopefully the Wednesday just coming up.
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