This week has been a relatively uneventful week on the dance front.

The Ballroom group got to grips with the second half of the Modern Tango sequence - next week it's all change again!  The Swing group were happy to consolidate what we had already done, going over certain moves and also cracking the stroll and the bop to add to their repertoire.

Tuesday was a busy night for the private lessons, and we have VERY limited avaiablity now - down to just 5 slots between now and September!  We have never been this busy at this time of year before, and it's great so many are wanting to learn to dance or to improve thier techniques.

Tonight of course is the much awaited Gotan Project - I'll be posting a full review tomorrow (once I wake up).

On the website I've had a little bit of re-order, particularly to this section to help you find stuff more easily I hope.  I've also made three articles available to normal visitors to the site under Resources  - "Fashion and Dance", "Flight of Dance" and "Are you Advanced?".  Pop over and read them if you haven't already!

May is the month of the Eurovision, and those of you who have been with us a while will know that I am a big fan of the Eurovision, partially for the kitsh, and partially because it can be a great source of music.  In previous years I have sat with the laptop on my knee and 'blogged' the show live!  You can see last years HERE. Trying to get in the country, title, performer, key points and dance style in just three minutes (while also trying to enjoy the show) was really difficult, so this year there is a change!

Over the next few days I will be writing up summaries of ALL the semi finalists. The summaries will be done on the submission by the countries, with their own videos (don't panic, there will be links!) and will contain all that info your used to - Country, performer, song title, dance style as well as comments on the video and song.

This means that our on the night commentry can be more about the live performances, therefore if you want to join in from afar I shall be posting throughout the show - and if I can type quick enough or stop laughing long enough inbetween each act! I will be commenting on if the track is danceable, the costumes, the props, the length of the skirts or hair, the whiteness of the teeth and anything else that pops into my head.  Joyfully the BBC can't censor me ;-)  Of course you too will be able to comment!

So if you are a fan, or want to join in from afar then power up the PC or laptop and hit the refresh button frequently on Saturday 29th May.

The swingometer might be confused, but that doesn't mean we'll stop dancing!  Well, what an exciting night history wise - but i shall come back to that!

Work continues apace on figuring out steps for the new improver level classes and the new Saturday day course in the Autumn. I'm also just putting the finishing touches to the Cha Cha figure for tonight's social class.

As always I have to keep in mind that the improver class could be made up of students who have nothing more than the basic step, and those who have done years of the dance elsewhere.  This creates a challenge every month as I need something that is interesting and achievable for our beginners but isn't too simplistic and offers maybe a challenge for our more advanced dancers.   I've actually stuggled with tonight's figure as with Cha Cha there is a fine line between 'interesting for beginners' and 'too difficult'.  I'm currently looking at some syncopated timing with cuban breaks and a ronde turn, but I think I need to look at an easier move to start with.

Monday was the second in our run of Monday breaks - later in the year I almost yearn for a bank holiday, and I do dislike the way this course is so disrupted, as it is nice to have 10 week run at something with consistency and continuity.

Tonight is the Social, with the announcement as to the final numbers raised for our charities which I am really looking forward to.  Both of the lads have promised to wear their medals so you can see them.  So many of you have contacted me (thank you) to let me know you are coming - your support really is appreciated!  Of course if you can't make it you can always leave a comment below by logging in...

Next Friday is the Gotan gig (so excited - are you going?) and listening to their album they were an obvious choice for our This Month..Music section.  I also added a few Gotan video's to our YouTube channel - and one of the more unusual made the This Month..Video section.  Check them both out in our Resources department.

As some of you will have seen in our monthly email there is now more 'member only' bits (mostly archive playlists, This Month.. Music and Video lists, Tango crib sheets (yes I'm getting there I promise!).  I am also testing some proper Newsletter software at the moment - so watch this space.

I also enjoyed

Finally I really should make at least a passing nod to the historic events overnight which resulted in a hung parliment.  Personally I think it's great as it might result in a long awaited reform of the whole system, but the resulting confusion and bickering is fascinating me.  It's relatively recently that I have developed an interest in politics and don't claim to understand most of the process.  In fact a lot of it confuses me (how can you get more % of the vote and still lose seats for example) so I find this particular election fascinating as the news channels are having to explain a lot more than usual.  If anyone coming tonight does understand the political process do grab me as I have a load of questions!

Right, I'm off to print out the table information and guest lists, check I have enough table cloths, update the notice board and polish off the improver figure...

Many of you ask me where I pick up my vintage dresses.  One of my favourite personal sources of Vintage dresses and suits, Enchanted Vintage, in Sligo, is having a massive clear out of her stock.

You can pick up a serious bargin at the moment, and Victoria's stock is of the highest quality.

check out her ebay shop:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/vintageclothing.ie/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

or her own online shop:

http://www.vintageclothing.ie/catalo

Another week flies by.  Russ and Matt ran the marathon on Sunday (see the other post).

Monday night saw our Ballroom group get to grips with Modern Tango and our swing class get interrupt turns with no troubles at all.  Tuesday was the start of our packed private lessons - though I managed to sneek in 1/2 an hour to try out some of the ideas I have had for our American Smooth class.

I frequently have an idea for moves that work beautifully in my head, but when I test them out I discover that  they don't work due to one partners weight being in the wrong place, or that the arm work is impossible.  thankfully almost all of the ideas I had had worked - though a few needed minor tweaks to work better.

On the way to Anerley we passed a big bill board advertising a certain HD media channel;

What I find great about this Advert is that center front we have partner dancing.  Even just five years ago we wouldn't have had such high profile advertising and I think it's great that partner dancing and interest in dance is so great that a major TV provider uses the imagery to promote their channel as being a good source for watching dancing!

Friday morning, with a long weekend stretching ahead of me with lots of DTNA stuff planned I managed to slice open the tip of my left index finger.  This resulted in a trip to A&E where I discovered they no longer put stitches in fingers due to nerve endings and stuff so I have several steri-strips and a big bandage and strict instructions to do nothing with my hands as far as possible.

Typing this is actually proving very interesting as I am a touch typist, and trying not to use my index finger is resulting in some very unusual text and having to correct everything is very slow;

(typing thi is actually pecoin cey interesring as I am a touch typist and teying not to usr my index finger is eesulting in some cey unusual trxt and hacing to correct eceyeything is cey slow)

This does mean that the things I had planned with regards to the website will have to wait a bit.  But tomorrow I'll put together the playlist and update the This Month links.. but for now I'm going to sit with my finger in the air!