Dancing in ski resorts
As you can imagine, it happens a lot, almost every ski resort has a nightclub and being a ski bum is associated with several things;
Skiing (or snowboarding)
Partying
Drinking
Drugs
I've done my fair share of partying and drinking, drugs have never been my thing, and I've certainly done a lot of skiing and boarding but clubbing isn't the type of dancing I am talking about.
The general consensus, among us younger (haha!) types is that staying home or just 'having a quiet one' is for the old and boring. Now I'm 31 I had to think about that for a while, and it wasn't a pleasant thought. Am I old and boring? (maybe a little!) The conclusion I came to was that, very simply, my interests in life changed. No longer am I hanging around with the lads from school - that social circle has disbanded; some of us moved to London, or up North, or got important jobs, and I moved furthest of us all. I've since spent 2 summers living in Turkey, 2 winters back and forth from France and lately, the last year and a half in Canada. No longer do I wake up the next morning with a clear head after drinking and the ability to start again, and no longer am I in my twenties!
And then, crazy as it is, 8 years ago I started dancing. Real dancing, not clubbing...
In early 2012, after I'd returned from New Zealand I decided I wanted to learn to dance and a friend of mine suggested a local West Coast Swing (WCS) class. I took it up, having no idea what I was getting myself into, and it was HARD. I persevered and after 6 months I wasn't bad, since then I've done it very sporadically, and, while I'm nothing special, after 8 years of doing it, I'm pretty happy with myself. The one thing I have found throughout my traveling, is that it can be really hard to track down outside of big cities and even though I don't dance regularly, every now and then you hear a song that takes you back and you really want to dance to. It becomes something you miss a lot.
Now, dancing of this type does not happen in ski resorts. Finding a dance teacher in a ski resort just isn't something that really seems to happen, but when someone asked about adult dance classes in Revelstoke on the ommunity Facebook page, a number of us responded. As I have said in a previous post, Revelstoke isn't your typical ski town - there's more going on here than just skiing, and a company based an hour down the road already ran traditional dance classes for kids and adults. Tap, ballet, jazz and even a little hip hop, all of which I'm sure is fun, but I think partner dancing is more relatable to most adults.
I decided to get in contact with everyone and we decided it would be doable, if only we could sort a venue and insurance. I got in contact with the local company; Just for Kicks, who were very interested in supporting the class. For them it was a new venture, and, whether we turned good money or not, it couldn't be bad for them. For ourselves, we had to decide what we wanted to do. Mike and I both do WCS while Henry and Charlotte did Modern Jive, we ended up deciding that MJ is easier to teach, and so more accessible for the masses. Hopefully we'd get more people along and those who did, would want to stay.
Revelstoke Modern Jive was born!
We've done 7 weeks of lessons so far and seem to have a fantastic core group, we're also getting new people every week and we've never had an attendance of less than 10 people. Something none of us ever imagined we'd be doing has turned into an absolute success.
Here's hoping it continues to be a success and we continue to develop new friends. And the best thing?
We all get to dance how we want, every week!
Skiing (or snowboarding)
Partying
Drinking
Drugs
I've done my fair share of partying and drinking, drugs have never been my thing, and I've certainly done a lot of skiing and boarding but clubbing isn't the type of dancing I am talking about.
The general consensus, among us younger (haha!) types is that staying home or just 'having a quiet one' is for the old and boring. Now I'm 31 I had to think about that for a while, and it wasn't a pleasant thought. Am I old and boring? (maybe a little!) The conclusion I came to was that, very simply, my interests in life changed. No longer am I hanging around with the lads from school - that social circle has disbanded; some of us moved to London, or up North, or got important jobs, and I moved furthest of us all. I've since spent 2 summers living in Turkey, 2 winters back and forth from France and lately, the last year and a half in Canada. No longer do I wake up the next morning with a clear head after drinking and the ability to start again, and no longer am I in my twenties!
And then, crazy as it is, 8 years ago I started dancing. Real dancing, not clubbing...
In early 2012, after I'd returned from New Zealand I decided I wanted to learn to dance and a friend of mine suggested a local West Coast Swing (WCS) class. I took it up, having no idea what I was getting myself into, and it was HARD. I persevered and after 6 months I wasn't bad, since then I've done it very sporadically, and, while I'm nothing special, after 8 years of doing it, I'm pretty happy with myself. The one thing I have found throughout my traveling, is that it can be really hard to track down outside of big cities and even though I don't dance regularly, every now and then you hear a song that takes you back and you really want to dance to. It becomes something you miss a lot.
 |
| A long time again in Northampton. Lisa is a great dancer and we're still in touch |
Now, dancing of this type does not happen in ski resorts. Finding a dance teacher in a ski resort just isn't something that really seems to happen, but when someone asked about adult dance classes in Revelstoke on the ommunity Facebook page, a number of us responded. As I have said in a previous post, Revelstoke isn't your typical ski town - there's more going on here than just skiing, and a company based an hour down the road already ran traditional dance classes for kids and adults. Tap, ballet, jazz and even a little hip hop, all of which I'm sure is fun, but I think partner dancing is more relatable to most adults.
I decided to get in contact with everyone and we decided it would be doable, if only we could sort a venue and insurance. I got in contact with the local company; Just for Kicks, who were very interested in supporting the class. For them it was a new venture, and, whether we turned good money or not, it couldn't be bad for them. For ourselves, we had to decide what we wanted to do. Mike and I both do WCS while Henry and Charlotte did Modern Jive, we ended up deciding that MJ is easier to teach, and so more accessible for the masses. Hopefully we'd get more people along and those who did, would want to stay.
Revelstoke Modern Jive was born!
We've done 7 weeks of lessons so far and seem to have a fantastic core group, we're also getting new people every week and we've never had an attendance of less than 10 people. Something none of us ever imagined we'd be doing has turned into an absolute success.
Here's hoping it continues to be a success and we continue to develop new friends. And the best thing?
We all get to dance how we want, every week!
Funny how things go - when I was 'young' (as in teenaged and 20s) formal dancing was something old people did, and it's hard not to feel like that's still the case. But dancing has worked well for you as both fun and social opportunity, so it's good to see that you're making it work there too.
ReplyDeleteAs for being young or not, to a degree we don't change inside without some major trauma happening, and some are born old while others never really grow up. It's good to be able to separate 'young' from 'reckless' and 'irresponsible', because those indicate selfishness instead of care for others. I never want to have to stop taking risks, but I also want to calculate them so that others don't suffer for my fun.
DeleteAnd that's not meant to be a lecture, so much as a snapshot inside my head. No man is an island, although the land connecting him to others can seem narrow at times.
:p
Wow Ben, I'm really impressed, it can be really hard to get something like that started and I'm so glad it has been a success. Getting organised enough to get stuff done may be the better side of maturity.
Delete