Swing Circle

28/10/2024

First of all, I want to say thank you to all the people who came to Tiny Jazz last Sunday, and showed us once again what a nice group of people swing dancers are. Lots of friendliness, lots of interaction, and most were still dancing to the last record at ten o’clock. With special thanks also to James, who came early to help set up and stayed late to put away, despite facing an hour’s drive home.

Sadly though, I don’t feel I can continue, and have taken the decision to cancel the Nov 24th dance. We tried to turn it into a tea dance, to see if people preferred an earlier time, but the hall isn’t available that afternoon, nor any Sunday afternoon until 2025. I’m very sad to think that, after near twenty years, there may be no more Sunday swing dances at the Tithe Barn - and I suppose we may hope that someone will decide to try it again. But for me, I think I’ve run my course.

It’s sad for Teri and Jo too: I said it the first night and I’ll say it again here - none of it would have happened without their energy, enthusiasm and unstinting support. So bless you ladies, and I look forward to seeing you on a dancefloor when we’re not on duty!

And one last thank you: to everyone who showed their support by turning up time and again and rewarding our efforts with your smiles and your dancing. So, at least for the time being, no more Tithe Barn, but there are plenty more dances and I’ll surely see you at them.

15/10/2024

So, my hate affair with farcebook rises to new heights! I (thought I'd) posted this last Sunday! Thank heaven the lovely Swing Circle ladies have already let you know that our next Little Jazz is THIS SUNDAY!!! So that was the good news bit. Also on that phantom post was the bad news: we can't have the Tithe Barn on Dec 15th, as someone else got in first but the Barn hadn't told me. So I'm afraid the recipe for Christmas cake goes back in the cupboard and we'll have to think about tea dances after Christmas. Boo Hoo, but we'll at least hope to see you on Sunday.
Roger and the lovely ladies.

12/09/2024

Tea at the Barn.

Hot news from the Little Jazz team - but first a huge ‘Thank You’ to Louise for the superb set she played for us last Sunday. Louise brings a fresh ear and very danceable tunes to the swing scene and we sincerely hope we’ll be able to entice her back soon. Next one is in six weeks - Sunday October 20th: - the last week of British Summer Time.

Now for the news! As there’s so little dancing through December, and since it’ll be coming up Christmas - we’re planning an afternoon tea dance at the Barn, complete with Christmas cake. We’ve only just started planning it so no details yet - but we’ll let you know just as soon as we can. Meanwhile - SAVE THE DATE!!!! Sunday Dec 15th IN THE AFTERNOON!

25/08/2024

BalboaLou-Lou’s coming to town!

Yes! Balboalou Lou is coming to the next Little Jazz to be our first ever guest DJ! We all know Lou as Gloucestershire’s most lovely Balboa dancer - but she’s also a fab Lindy Hopper. mean Shagstress, Stroller supreme and just a beautiful all-round dancer. AND - she’s also shown herself to be a very enticing DJ, not just for Bal, but for all of swing. Which means she’s sure to play some super tunes for us all to dance to. Please do come and reward her efforts with lots of your best dancing! Just two weeks away: Sunday Sept 8th at the usual time of 6.30.
See you there!
Roger

PS: and if things have gone well, you'll even be able to see a whole photo of her here! Not that you need reminding what she looks like.

15/07/2024

What a super evening at the Tithe Barn yesterday. Huge thank yous go to everyone who came - especially those who came such long distances - and made it such a friendly, happy evening. I sat at the music table simply glowing in the atmosphere as, right around the hall, people crossed from table to table to smile, chat and, of course, take one another onto the dance floor. I think everybody danced with everybody else!

A very special thank you indeed to two people, whom I won’t embarrass by naming here, for their heartwarming and deeply thoughtful act of kindness. It really did mean a lot and all of the Little Jazz team were sincerely touched.*

And didn’t we make good use of the dance floor! It was great to see so many people keeping on going right up to the moment we ran out of time and I had to switch the music off. And then suddenly everyone was scooping away tables and chairs and the hall was cleared in just a few minutes. A very much appreciated finish to a warm and rewarding evening. I was really pumped and didn’t get to sleep until nearly three o’clock! Thank you everyone.

All of that, plus quite a few other very warm and positive reactions, made us even more determined to do all we can to keep the Tithe Barn dances going. We’ll need to get a few more people coming - so tell your friends and join us at the next one, September 8th - with a special guest, as BalboaLou will be playing some tunes for us.

Roger

* No jokes please - for once I’m being serious!

03/07/2024

Just a week and a half until the next one! Join us and get intense like Lyn and Gray here - they've been to every one so far - and we're very flattered!
Sunday 14th July at 6.30. Be there or be . . . . missing!

19/06/2024

An atmospheric evening last Sunday at our fourth Little Jazz - after we'd sorted out the near-disaster with the sound system! Thanks to Merv for spotting Roger's deliberate mistake and getting us going again. It turned out that there is a fault on the Tithe Barn's system, which had lost one channel. Naturally, that was the channel that Roger first plugged into!! Not suspecting a fault, he then spent an increasingly tense half-hour desperately trying to discover why there was no sound at all! Incredibly stressful - and it really began to look as if we'd have to send everybody home! By the time people arrived there was music - but it turned out only half the speakers were connected. That's where Merv's ministrations found the magic cure - you saved the evening there Merv!! Thank you!
And then we danced!
Only a month to wait until the next one: July 14th - and the stress is already fading as we look forward to it. See you there?

10/06/2024