Letter from JBY Ballroom
Dance Club
To Jim Watson,
Brenda and I are on the board of one of the largest ballroom dance clubs in the U.S., JBY Ballroom Dance Club in Birmingham Alabama, with 500 to 600 members every year and monthly dance attendance of 210 to 250. We also belong to a swing dance club and support the bop and shag clubs in Birmingham. Below is a letter I wrote to the president of another ballroom dance club in Birmingham to encourage them to begin attending the Bop, Swing and Shag dance weekends. I emailed Sandy Brown a copy. She called and said you were the Newsletter Editor of The American Bop Association, and asked if I would email a copy to you. I went to the ABA website and read your excellent 20 page March 2007 newsletter. It was impressive to see the high degree of organization and the amount of work by you and the other ABA board members.
Murray Echols
Madrene,
This dance weekend in Nashville every Memorial Day weekend by The Music City Bop Club has 500 to 550 dancers every year, from 20 states and 76 dance clubs. Brenda and I know a lot of the dancers from going to 5 or 6 of these weekends a year for 8 years. St. Louis and Columbus Ohio have been the farthest swing dance weekends north we have attended and Orlando and Tampa Bay to the south.
For $45 for the event, Thursday night, all day and evening for Friday and Saturday, and Sunday afternoon. Nashville's bop club serves 3 excellent meals, has 7 outstanding DJs including Larry Huff from Birmingham (some events have some poor DJs), 3 free workshops each Friday and Saturday mornings. 4 exhibitions each on Friday and Saturday nights. Music until 1:15 AM. MCBC DJs are asked to also play some other songs mixed in with the swing songs, averaging 4 waltzes, 4 to 6 chachas or rumbas, 3 fast line dances, 3 C-W Two Steps, per night and also in the afternoons from 1:00 to 5:00. They also have another DJ and a wood floor by the pool Friday and Saturday.
$80 a night for the large hotel with the ballroom for 550 people. High energy level weekend. Fun. 19th year. So well run and coordinated every year by Sandy Brown with help from husband Doug Brown, and the strong efforts of President Randy Fuller, the Board and many club volunteers.
Besides all of the Nashville dancers, the weekend is enhanced every year by 50 to 60 from Chicago who sit together, plus large numbers from St. Louis, Columbus Ohio, Michigan, Louisville.
Except for Birmingham bop and Panama City bop, all other boppers in the Southeast and East dance a style closer to East Coast Swing. So, at these bop events everyone attending can lead and follow some type of swing together. There were also many good songs for West Coast Swing that WCS dancers could share with the boppers.
And, their DJs played just the right amount of 3-Step Hustle, about two per hour. At some events some DJs play too many hustles, five or six an hour, and in my opinion lose sight of the fact that these are bop, shag and swing weekends. We try not to return to weekends who lose sight of this, and allow or encourage their DJs to play a lot of hustles and "cutting edge" contemporary songs.
Their other DJs besides Larry Huff, were Sandy Brown, Doug Brown, Sue Kestner, David Sessoms, Phil Lannom and Janie Thompson.
This year, Sandy and Randy kept the lights up to a very nice level so everyone could see across the whole dance floor, could see faces, feet, legs, arms, steps being danced. Could also see the people seated facilitating going to ask them to dance. It added so much to the party atmosphere and was a dramatic improvement over past years. We attend some events where the lights at night are turned so low you can only see about 25 feet. By some clubs who think it is cozy to have a bar like atmosphere. This affects some dancer's balance, ability to make good hand connections on faster songs, ability to watch the whole dance floor and more dancers and ability to video or take pictures.
The winners of Split The Kitty won $650 Friday night and $800 Saturday night. The MCBC gave their $1450 share to charities.
As you know I promote this MCBC dance every year for three months in our weekly dance newsletter that goes to 800 ballroom and swing dancers. Plus promote 5 or 6 other bop/swing/shag weekends. You and your BBDA Board may want to encourage your club's members to attend this event next year since it is only 3 hours and 20 minutes from Birmingham. And to attend some of the other bop, swing and shag weekends. Being in the middle of this many dancers for two or three days is something that expands the dance experience and vision of dancers who have not experienced these large well run events. It also may give all of you some ideas to consider for your 3-day ballroom Dance Marathon event every year.
While in Nashville you can visit the amazing full size replica of Greece's The Parthenon in downtown Centennial Park, with its 42 foot high gilded statue of Athena Parthenos holding a 6 foot 4 inch high statue of Nike in one outstretched hand. Plus eat a 5-course meal at the Mad Platter or eat at Monell's Dining or the Germantown Cafe, all three in the Germantown section of downtown Nashville.
These bop, swing and shag weekends give insight about these dance clubs and their boards and members who work all year long to do the many things required to provide the very large dance floors and ballrooms, the music, food, planning and hospitality for 500 or more dancers to look forward to every year, to have fun, to see and dance with friends, to make new friends, for two, three and four days. And, a few weeks later start planning for next year.
Putting on such a large event takes a skill that few clubs and individuals possess. We are fortunate that these clubs and individuals do this for so many dancers and dance clubs to enjoy.
