Little Miss Apricot and her world

A chick film in every sense of the phrase.  Actually this turned out to be significantly better than I expected.  It was the classic story of girl meets boy (in this case twice over), they fall in love, they overcome all obstacles, the inevitable twist and complicating factors and eventually both end up living happily ever after.  Quite funny in places and I thought it was well presented, the English village setting was gorgous and it had music in (always a bonus).

Xmas Masked Ball, at the Irish Club

20th December 2006

 

I had been looking forward to this for ages, and no matter how ill I was I was determined to go.  In the end I was actually well on the mend so that was a bonus.  So we started with Reggaton lesson warm up with Daniela and yes we did the chicken move (Reggaton wouldn't be the same without it!!!).  Then we got into the Bachata lesson given by Tony and Daniela.  Fatastic as always.  Learnt some new moves, had some new people learning Bachata - it's all good!  Afterwards there was social dancing and I had loads of nice dances, but more importantly, I finally got to dance Bachata with Tony Lara (my friends will tell you how long I have been going on about wanting to do this), and it was to Lamente Boliviano (not sure I spelt that right but never mind you know the tune I mean).  I was absolutely stoked, and I only went wrong once...Magic! 

 

Later on there was a show featuring belly-dancing, then Tony and Daniela doing their Pink Panther routine which we saw at the Congress last year, but it must be said these show dances are so much better when you are so close, you can see the style and precision of the moves, brilliant.  Dean and Jess the resident teachers at the venue also did a show routine that they had recently used in a competition and that was great too.  Can't wait for my next Bachata event!

Eragon

December 2006

 

I hadn't read the book and so did not know what to expect other than dragons.  Actually I really enjoyed this one.  Good story-line, some great actors (Jeremy Irons in particular), fantastic speical effects and stunning scenery.  In fact I spent most of the film trying to work out where it as shot.  We even waited right until the end of the credits for the "shot on location in ..." credit.   Grrrr, one of the few films not to say!  But putting together the clues it looked like Slovakia, Canada, New Zealand and possibly Hungary.  Whatever, I decided I can't wait for the next film to be made so I'm going to read the sequel now even if it is a teenager's book!!!

Happy Feet

December 2006

 

I expected this to be brilliant and it more than lived up to expectations.  It kept me thoroughly entertained throughout.  The hero of the story little Mumble has a very down-to-earth character and all the attributes of a true hero.  He is ousted from his family and familiar surroundings and goes out to find his place in the world, finding new friends along the way and ends up saving the day.  His character development sees him realise that what others think of you is not as important as being true to yourself.  He is contrasted by the characterisation of his father who tries to stifle his individuality while his mother justs loves him for who he is.  There was plenty of cuteness and hilarity all the way through.  My favourite bits have to be the egg with dancing feet and the penguin surfing.  If you like animations this is a must-see!

Salsa Weekend at Brean Sand, Somerset
1st-3rd December 2006

My first Pontin's event.  It took us about 4 and a half hours to get there, but this is probably because we were late leaving, went on a long detour, got stuck in traffic and broke down, but hey that's how it goes sometimes!  We did arrive eventually and my roomie had already signed me in which was great 'cos the queues were really long.  The chalets made me laugh.  They were the deluxe model, but oh my god.  A patio sliding door into the living room with a little kitchen in the corner.  Plus a bathroom in the corner and a twin bedroom to the other side and electricity on a meter!  Later on we saw the cheaper versions which looked like they hadn't been renovated since they were built years ago so I was quite glad of the deluxe versions!

There were 30 of us in our group (the biggest group there I think) and we started the weekend with a party in someone's room.  Then we went to the entertainment.  We did a bit of dancing then watched the show when the teachers were each introduced most of them doing a bit of a demo.  After that I went to bed as I was coming down with a cold and wanted to make the most of the weekend.

Saturday started with an advanced salsa lesson with Sandra and Saloman Riveria former salsa world champions.  It was a really good lesson, difficult but not impossible and I had a really cute partner, couldn't have been a better start!  I did lessons all day, except for missing one to have a lunch break, why is it when they don't leave a lunch gap I always want to go to all the lessons around lunch time???? The reggaton lesson with Nigel Maye was fantastic, so funny.  I think pretty much our whole group was there for that one, we were all together right in the middle!  I was a bit disappointed in the cha-cha lesson because the explanations weren't that good, but then the teacher hadn't actually realised it was a beginner not intermediate lesson, once he did that helped.  The bachata lessons all weekend were well taught, but not very advanced so we didn't really learn any new moves which was a shame.   There was only 1 lesson that I attended that I thought was very badly taught.  A couple who had looked really good during the introductions, but their lack of explanation and breakdown of the count for the moves they were trying to teach was terrible.  I don't think I spoke to anyone there who thought their class was good.  The evening show was good again and we even did a reggaton class at about midnight!!!

 

Sunday classes again.  Started with a ladies styling class which was really good then did a street dance class which was really good fun, but also very funny as we tried unsuccessfully to look as cool as the teacher.  I also finished the day with a ladies styling class which took a while for me to master, but I still remember the whole shine now which is good.  That evening I was determined to stay up and enjoy myself.  We enjoyed the shows and the competitions, we picked out the winners every time.  The salsa winner was one of our group plus a girl he randomly asked to dance in the audience! If I'd been near anyone willing to go up with me I would have entered the Bachata competition as  I reckon we would have had a good chance!  Considering I was the one who had been ill all weekend I was pretty much the last one left standing, couldn't believe it.  Only one couple out-lasted me and they stayed until the end.  Had a really good night though.

 

Overall a fun weekend.  It was a more relaxed atmosphere than the congress and the standard was good, but not as high.  Their most advanced classes were by no means impossible and actually pretty much spot on for me.  The down-side to the weekend was at times the lack of choice in the classes.  Considering it was mostly a salsa weekend I found at times there was only one option for a salsa class to do and it wasn't even around lunchtime!  I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, although at the end of the day the Congress is still my favourite weekend.  Maybe next time I won't be ill and you never know if I can find a willing guy I might even enter the Bachata comp!!!