Dr. Grant, my dear Dr. Sattler, welcome... to Jurassic Bal

Eva Marshall

For my first swing exchange of the year I was lucky enough to snag a ticket to the very first Jurassic Bal exchange down in Canberra, and it was certainly one to remember. Travelling down with a number of my Brisbane friends; we started Fright Night with a bang. Dave and Squish hosted a beginner Shag class in the stunning Albert Hall, which served as an excellent warm up for the night. We enjoyed social dancing to the Andrew Dickesons Blue Rhythm Band, watching the teachers demonstration, giggling and laughing to our fabulous MC’s and their commentary of their discovery of Balboa dancers in their natural environment.

The Brisbane Bal Pals.

Saturday morning kicked off with an introductory talk by our international teachers: Albert and Nuess, then began the first workshops of the day. The workshops, held in the incredible Gorman Arts Centre, were such an amazing experience. The amount of knowledge that was brought to each of the classes was fantastic.

You would think that at the end of a 4 hour workshop day we would get to rest... THINK AGAIN! It was time for the Strictly and Mix ‘n’ Match preliminary competitions! Though I was not competing this year, I stayed to watch and cheer on my incredibly talented friends who found themselves in the finals! It was very inspiring to see how many talented dancers put their names out to compete as it can be very nerve wracking.

Now was the time for a brief rest, a bite to eat and a wardrobe change then we were off to the fabulous Louie Louie with Andrew Dickeson’s Blue Rhythm Band for just the beginning of Saturday night adventures.

The vibes were high, the buzz of competition was about and we even spotted some explorers coming through on their (inflatable) dinosaurs. The finals of the Mix ‘n’ Match and Strictly were held and HOO BOY there are some seriously talented dancers about. If you watch any videos of the comps, which you should, you should be able to hear me screaming in the background, ESPECIALLY when it was announced that not one, not two but THREE Brisbanites were donned with medals! HUGE congratulations to Dave and Rachel walking away with 1st in the Strictly, Dave with another 1st in the Mix n Match,

Rachel with a 2nd and Sarah with a 3rd in the Strictly (seriously impressive and her competition partner doesn’t even live in the same state)

Winner winner chicken dinner!

As it became late, you’d think we’d be finished after a whole day of workshops, competitions and social dancing? Heck no, a quick stroll from the venue and up to the Latin Dance Canberra and we were ready to take over with some late night Bal, a bit of sneaky Lindy Hop, sleepy chats on the couches and I even spotted a little solo jazz battle going on. While I didn’t last to the very end, it was a very fun and silly late night social.

This is an accurate depiction of how everyone felt at the late night.

Sunday morning... with sleepy eyes, sore feet and body I made my way back to the Gorman Arts Centre for the last day of workshops (the slightly later start was much appreciated). As soon as we started dancing any kind of soreness and tiredness disappeared as a morning of Pure Bal was just what the doctor ordered and was so incredibly enjoyable.

As the afternoon wound down we headed home for another much needed rest before making a grand Safari entrance (we Brisbanites do love a theme) back at the Arts Centre. As we entered the final night of safari inspired dance adventures with The Canberra Swing Collective we did discover one thing, it was going to be very hard to close the night and say goodbye.

Safari Sunday!

Couldn’t resist a photo op with Blue and the fabulous Jurassic Bal team.

What a weekend it was. One of the most welcoming and friendly exchanges I have attended and I cannot wait to attend next year.

A HUGE thank you and CONGRATULATIONS to Krystel, Squish and Luke, the volunteers, bands, DJ’s, teachers for making it such a memorable and enjoyable trip.

New Year Resolutions and the Power of Goal Setting

Rachel Hoey

There seem to be two types of people I encounter when it comes to New Years resolutions. Those who love them (or at least love to make them), and those who think they’re a load of tosh.  I fall into the former category. I love setting goals and I love asking others what their goals are. Sometimes I hear that there’s no point setting New Year's resolutions, as it’s just setting you up to fail. Everyone knows that no one follows through on them anyway. 

But I disagree, I think that goals give you direction. Even if you only make it halfway to your goal, or only achieve half of the goals you set, that’s further than if you’d never tried at all. And to me that sounds like something worth celebrating. 

So without further ado, may I present to you my dance goals for 2024. Please let me know your own goals, whatever they may be. And who knows, if we have any in common we might be able to share resources and inspiration, or simply check in and encourage each other! 

My dance goals for 2024:

I recognise that as a dancer, I am an athlete and I will act accordingly. 

• I will stretch and warm up my body before class

• I will keep active beyond dance

I will work on technical skills 

• I will attend dance classes of other styles to improve my skills, confidence, and understanding of dance technique

• I will organise or participate in designated, focused practice sessions weekly and come prepared with my personal goals

I will actively work on building the type of community I want to be a part of

• I will recognise and celebrate the successes of my peers

• I will consciously organise opportunities to hang out and connect with my dance friends beyond dancing 

I will not be afraid to be seen trying

• I will film (and watch!) my dancing regularly 

• I will ask for feedback when needed, and implement that feedback at the first available opportunity

Now, I would just like the stress that these are my personal goals. I am by no means advocating that these are helpful or inspiring intentions for every dancer out there. After all, we all have our own motivations for why and how we dance. For you, dance may be a way to stay active physically, an opportunity to make new friends and see old ones, an artform or means of self expression, a way to build confidence, connect with music or something more!  

This cat knows how to treat it’s body like an athlete.

I particularly enjoyed reading these 2015 resolutions from the fabulous Sharon Davis, and I hope that you might find them inspiring, or at least thought provoking. Some other goals you might consider include:

• Attend a class every week 

• Attend an interstate event 

• Attend an international event

• Compete in a local contest or one outside my scene 

• Dance with someone I don’t know at every social I attend

• Share the joy and invite a new friend dancing each month

• Practise at a designated time every day/week/fortnight/month 

• Attend/organise regular group practice sessions 

• Invite your dance friends to get together outside of dancing every week/fortnight/month

• Watch more historic dance clips! You’ll find plenty of clips on YouTube and in playlists too - including this one, and this one!

• Research more into the history of the dance. If you’re a reader, you may enjoy the below:
  Swinging at The Savoy. The Memoir of a Jazz Dancer
  Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop
  Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance

• Carry, and use, a dance notebook to keep track of your learning

• Use your body within its limits, and rest appropriately

The sage advice, of “be firm about your goals but flexible about your methods”, often rings in my own ears. My goal isn’t really to practise each week, or to attend x number of events, my goal is to be a more expressive, authentic, kind, and skilled dancer. But these points are what I hope will help me become one. 

Happy 2024! 

I sent this piece to my good friend Vanessa Smallbon to hear her feedback. And she delivered! I liked her response so much, I’ve included it below for you to read.

How to set goals?

We’ve all heard the term SMART goals before. If you haven’t, it stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound - for example by June I want to be practising my footwork variations for 30min a day, 3 days a week. While this is a useful framework (and fantastic if it works for you!), it can sometimes set you up to fail as it becomes very easy (and I often fall victim to this) to become disheartened if you fall short of your goal. Human behaviour change towards the positive is tough! 

For a gentler way it can be useful to set a general broad idea to work towards rather than a specific goal. When becoming the best dancer or person you want to be, the exact points don’t matter as long as the trend line is going in the right direction. There is no single path and it’s the trend of your decisions (mostly made of small choices) that will push you towards or further away from your goal. For example if your idea is to be more active outside of dance, when you’re brushing your teeth, you can make the choice of scrolling TikTok on your phone or practising your one legged balances. Will I walk or drive to the supermarket today?

Using this method can help you notice opportunities to be a little better in moments than you were before. Even just having a good idea to follow is beneficial because it’s almost impossible to fail - you will notice opportunities for betterment that you didn’t before! 

Keeping the idea broad allows you the grace for the path of betterment to change as you do. As most people will have experienced, road blocks (injury, family crisis etc.) can hit out of nowhere and having a general idea allows you to stay on a positive path without the guilt of failing to achieve a specific goal set by a past version of yourself. 

Together at the Melbourne Lindy Exchange (MLX 2023)

With the schedule of local dance classes winding down for the year, it’s a good time to reflect not just on my recent attendance at the Melbourne Lindy Exchange (MLX), but also on the year of major dance exchange events that was.

For me, it started with the Adelaide Lindy Exchange, Hullabaloo (in Perth), Brisbane Swing Thing, Canberräng (in Canberra), the Swing Into Spring Lindy Hop Weekender (in Sydney), Brisbane Balboa Weekend, and finally, the Melbourne Lindy Exchange.

It goes without saying that, aside from having the opportunity to dance in different venues and to different live bands (and DJs), attending a major dance exchange event (of any kind) is a great way to meet and connect with swing dancers from all over Australia (and overseas), to cement (or test) your social dancing skills, and to gain valuable experience dancing with a diverse range of people of varying abilities who have been shaped by different ideas. Plus, it’s just a whole lot of fun, and my time at MLX was no exception.

Throwing down in a jam circle

After a 4-year break due to the global pandemic, the return of MLX saw it's 20th Anniversary edition brought to life with 4 nights of social dancing (to some amazing live bands and DJs, in some incredible venues), plus 2 late-night events (with an excellent range of snacks), and even included a high stakes dance competition (the Savoy Cup Australia Qualifier). But that's not all - whilst MLX itself is a social dancing only event, I did take the opportunity to attend two separate dance workshops (Lindy Hop and Balboa) with some experienced dance teachers during this same trip also - it was full weekend indeed!

Finalists at the Champions Cup qualifier

With MLX tickets having sold out in about 3 minutes, this was certainly the biggest major dance exchange event in Australia in recent times, and the fear of missing out (FOMO), both for those who had actually missed out on tickets as well as those who didn't, was very real... And I get it, I really do. You pay a lot of money for a full weekend pass, for flights and accommodation. You see familiar faces from all of the previous dance exchanges you have ever attended, and you want to catch-up and dance with all of them because you've missed them terribly. But 4 days of social dancing (often with very little sleep) is a lot, and when you start to feel sub-optimal, the urge to keep going despite the beginnings of a cough or a sore throat can be very strong. (Life in general may have opened up again, but the threat of debilitating respiratory illnesses still remains.) I could say more about this, but I want to keep this light because overall, this was a good trip.

Brisbane Crew’s take on the theme “Friday at the Foot ball”

Thanks again to the organisers, venues, musicians, DJs, volunteers, attendees, and my Brisbane crew for making MLX the event that it was – a great way to bookend the swing dancing year! Thanks for all the dances and the catch-ups, and here's hoping we see you all again at another major dance exchange event soon. In the meantime...

Remember to stay safe, look after each other, and happy dancing! ~

Mama Trang