I had an amazing time at a Ceroc weekend at the Pointins Pakefield holiday park down south. I met some wonderful people and had a fantastic time overall. I've been to dance weekenders before, like the one at Pontins in Southport, but unfortunately, Pontins has decided not to run Southport anymore. The drive down took about 6 hours, full of roundabouts, but I travelled with my friend Maggie and we made a pit stop at a nice pub for lunch. It was a great trip!
This weekend was a bit different because we had meals included. We got half board, so that meant we had breakfast and dinner taken care of. The trade-off was that the rooms were a bit smaller than I'm used to. Normally, I stay in chalets that have a living area, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. Instead, we got a cosy bedroom with a tiny kitchen in one corner and a bathroom. It turned out to be no big deal since we only really used the rooms for sleeping and changing anyway. The venue itself was split between two main buildings. One had the Thunderball (main room), the cube, the café, a shop, and a place to buy dance shoes. The other building housed the restaurant, boudoir (pub), and tempest (tango/blues room for the evening freestyle). The only downside was that when we wanted to move between the main room and the other places, we had to change our shoes. On the bright side, it did encourage me to spend more time in one spot.
The restaurant is a spacious area located at the back of the pub. They served food from 5 pm to 8 pm for dinner and from 9 am to 12 pm for breakfast, which was perfect for late risers like some of us dancers. When we checked out on Monday, breakfast was served from 8 am to 10 am. Overall, the food was quite good. Breakfast had the typical buffet spread with a choice of cereal or cooked breakfast. Dinner was buffet style with three main course options and a salad/jacket potato bar. Dessert was also provided. While the dinner selection wasn't the best and the meat was a bit tough or dry, the rest of the food was enjoyable. I particularly liked having ice cream and doughnuts for dessert.
As for the classes, there were so many to choose from – a total of 30 classes, not including the beginner and master classes. I ended up attending 7 classes, one of which was an icebreaker on Friday night and the rest spread out over the weekend. The classes were rated by difficulty, and I mainly went for the intermediate plus and advanced ones since I'm competing in the Ceroc Northern Champs soon. I wanted to pick up some new moves and improve my technique for the competition. My favourite classes were "Smooth & Sophisticated" and "Super Scrolls" – they were both at 5 pm and had a relaxed vibe, even though they were advanced classes. I also really enjoyed "Give 'em Space" because it focused on adding solo time to the moves, and the 50’s Jive class was a blast as always. I learned a lot over the weekend, especially about adding style and technique to simple moves in the advanced classes. It was such a fun and enriching experience!
The dancing at the pub was non-stop, from 9:30 am to 5 am the next day. We even took a quick break at noon for some karaoke, followed by the energetic Swingers Hour at 1:30 pm. The karaoke was a hit, and Swingers Hour got everyone up and moving with some fantastic 50’s jive. The music throughout the day was incredible, ranging from 50’s jive to ceroc classics and everything in between. In the evening, the DJs played some amazing silc tunes, which led to some impressive dancing. The Thunderball room, known for its upbeat Ceroc classic tunes, kept us dancing until the early hours of the morning, with a fun cabaret show on Saturday night. There was also a Tempest room featuring tango and blues, which some people loved, but I found it a bit too chill for my taste. I prefer the lively atmosphere of the main room and the pub; the DJs Mark O’Riley, Lydsney Hill, Ashley Davis, and Steph Blain knew how to keep everyone on their feet. I had such a great time dancing to their music all night!
This weekend I hung out with a small group from Ceroc Yorkshire, mainly my friends. It was so much fun to chat with them, especially during mealtimes. We don't get to talk much while dancing, so these moments were nice.
It's a shame that it will only be running one more time due to Pointins being used to house people building a nuclear power station. I had an amazing time and would love to go back if it's ever run again in 2025 and beyond. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. I had some incredible dances with some wonderful people, learned a lot, and caught up with friends I only see on weekends. I highly recommend the weekenders!
Follow me @lizzie_mcandrew
Comments
Post a Comment