Sweden adventures #5
- dancing sweden
Sunday.
I see someone distributing posters with information on “secret” blues parties - perfect! Also, tonight’s theme is New Orleans Jazz - my favourite music, and great for balboa dancing too.
I’m slowly starting to enjoy the lack of structure to my days. Thanks to earplugs I don’t sleep terribly, and when I get up, most people are in their classes and I don’t need to queue for a shower. Once covered in insect repellent and sitting with a nice coffee somewhere in the shade, I’m content.
There’s nothing to fill my day. If I get too hot I could take a dip in the sea anytime. I read, or nap, or wander the grounds and watch one of the many dance classes, looking out for opportunities to socialise, but happy to just contemplate life on my own.
I walk to the lake and sit there for a while - a beautiful spot.
I browse the Lindy Hop Shop and find a dress that fits, but I can’t be quite bothered. I take a nap. I make a cup of coffee - black - and sit down outside the Ice Cream Parlour. Things have changed. Everyone is playing with their smart phones. I don’t remember this from four years ago, but maybe that’s because then it was me who was distracted by her smart phone. The camp even bans electronic devices from many common areas to encourage a spirit of connecting people. The ban is not working.
Are people afraid of sitting down on their own and feeling socially awkward with nothing to busy their hands with? A lot of people here have come on their own. Herrang is expensive, and when one person can afford to go, their friends may not, or they may have other priorities. I find small talk with strangers exhausting most of the time. But the conditions here are ideal. People here are friendly, we all have the dancing in common, and the camp is quite successful at creating an atmosphere of a happy world where everyone is friends with each other. This is as easy as it gets.
I get a lot of chat later.
I have dinner at Heaven’s Kitchen, which is quite expensive, but at least I can eat as many vegetables as I like. After almost three days of snacking, I crave some greens. And chicken. No bread though. I’m thinking of quitting bread for a while.
I watch the daily meeting in the library today, which is more comfortable and less crowded than the ballroom. Afterwards, I take a taster class in ska dancing which is great fun, and for the first time since arriving in Herrang I feel part of the camp.
I freshen up and join the party. In the library, tonight’s theme is New Orleans, which is my favourite style of jazz music for dancing, and maybe listening too. It’s such a happy music. The room is nicely decorated too. After a slow start I spot a few balboa dancers and we are all relieved to have found each other and can stop doing this lindy nonsense. But alas, the standard is so low!
A few dances remind me of my early balboa days - only that now it’s bad leading and not bad following that’s the problem. There is one good dancer, but he looks like he is having the worst time throughout our dance. I’d rather dance with a clothes horse than with that person again. Then, there is this guy who almost rips my arm out.
I have one nice dance with a German guy before leaving to check out the secret blues party in the Russian Kitchen, a disgusting self-catering kitchen for the campers. All I can face doing here is boiling water, using my own mug for tea. I spend most of the night here and have some lovely blues dances and chats. I have some of my box wine, which is improving my blues dancing.
To finish the night I walk over to the ballroom. It’s daylight already, roughly 4 am. I have some great dances with someone who promises me to dance lindy in the style of balboa - and it works! Or maybe it’s the box wine working its magic.
I see someone distributing posters with information on “secret” blues parties - perfect! Also, tonight’s theme is New Orleans Jazz - my favourite music, and great for balboa dancing too.
I’m slowly starting to enjoy the lack of structure to my days. Thanks to earplugs I don’t sleep terribly, and when I get up, most people are in their classes and I don’t need to queue for a shower. Once covered in insect repellent and sitting with a nice coffee somewhere in the shade, I’m content.
There’s nothing to fill my day. If I get too hot I could take a dip in the sea anytime. I read, or nap, or wander the grounds and watch one of the many dance classes, looking out for opportunities to socialise, but happy to just contemplate life on my own.
I walk to the lake and sit there for a while - a beautiful spot.
I browse the Lindy Hop Shop and find a dress that fits, but I can’t be quite bothered. I take a nap. I make a cup of coffee - black - and sit down outside the Ice Cream Parlour. Things have changed. Everyone is playing with their smart phones. I don’t remember this from four years ago, but maybe that’s because then it was me who was distracted by her smart phone. The camp even bans electronic devices from many common areas to encourage a spirit of connecting people. The ban is not working.
Are people afraid of sitting down on their own and feeling socially awkward with nothing to busy their hands with? A lot of people here have come on their own. Herrang is expensive, and when one person can afford to go, their friends may not, or they may have other priorities. I find small talk with strangers exhausting most of the time. But the conditions here are ideal. People here are friendly, we all have the dancing in common, and the camp is quite successful at creating an atmosphere of a happy world where everyone is friends with each other. This is as easy as it gets.
I get a lot of chat later.
I have dinner at Heaven’s Kitchen, which is quite expensive, but at least I can eat as many vegetables as I like. After almost three days of snacking, I crave some greens. And chicken. No bread though. I’m thinking of quitting bread for a while.
I watch the daily meeting in the library today, which is more comfortable and less crowded than the ballroom. Afterwards, I take a taster class in ska dancing which is great fun, and for the first time since arriving in Herrang I feel part of the camp.
I freshen up and join the party. In the library, tonight’s theme is New Orleans, which is my favourite style of jazz music for dancing, and maybe listening too. It’s such a happy music. The room is nicely decorated too. After a slow start I spot a few balboa dancers and we are all relieved to have found each other and can stop doing this lindy nonsense. But alas, the standard is so low!
A few dances remind me of my early balboa days - only that now it’s bad leading and not bad following that’s the problem. There is one good dancer, but he looks like he is having the worst time throughout our dance. I’d rather dance with a clothes horse than with that person again. Then, there is this guy who almost rips my arm out.
I have one nice dance with a German guy before leaving to check out the secret blues party in the Russian Kitchen, a disgusting self-catering kitchen for the campers. All I can face doing here is boiling water, using my own mug for tea. I spend most of the night here and have some lovely blues dances and chats. I have some of my box wine, which is improving my blues dancing.
To finish the night I walk over to the ballroom. It’s daylight already, roughly 4 am. I have some great dances with someone who promises me to dance lindy in the style of balboa - and it works! Or maybe it’s the box wine working its magic.
