Swinging in Halifax

On Saturday I was at the Square Chapel Vintage Fair (adjacent to the Piece Hall) for a Swing Dance Improvers Workshop (Lindy Hop) hosted by The Swing Cats.

It was a wonderfully fun morning of dancing: revising the basics, improving technique and getting to swing dance again!  I realised how long it was since I'd danced swing when I was flagging after one whole track!  But it has reminded me how much I enjoy this dance form. 

The teachers were fab. 

They encouraged us to record a 'revision session' at the end of the class - lots of great tips which I must find time to watch again!

I'm planning on starting classes again in Manchester, perhaps starting one Thursday with SwingOut Manchester at Nexus Art Cafe.  

I get such a buzz from dancing.

(And last night was the second On Broadway class - still fun, even if I did manage to invent the "reverse swan dive" ... yes, went to do a fast turn and ended up flat on my back!  Ah well - we're there to learn.) 

Finally, how has #BreatheSeptember2018 been going?  

Well, last Friday's word was "Quiet" - and it was a fairly quiet day as I was working from home waiting for someone to fix my heating/water (or, make sure I could have one on without the other!).  

Saturday's word was "Outside" - I spent some time after the dance class wandering around the Piece Hall in the cooling rain.

 I loved the doors to the side of the Piece Hall adjacent to Square Chapel.

The building itself is fascinating - you can move from the ground floor to the first floor "gallery" by walking round the four sides (you do have to use the stairs to get to the second floor).

I sat outside and enjoyed my lunch whilst watching the rain lash down in the square (fortunately the wind was blowing it away from me), and listening to a band.

On the way home I stopped off to look at the 'old road' at Baitings Reservoir which is on the moors above where I live.  I've never seen the water level so low before.  

It has been low in the past;  I remember my mum taking us up to look at it in 1984, and at other times, and telling us stories of her dad driving his electric van across the bridge and back up the hill (with a somewhat drained battery at times).  (You can actually see the difference between the old and new bridge levels better on this photo.)



Today's word was "Listen" - and I've been listening to some fascinating presentations at #altc, the annual conference of the Association for Learning Technology.

(Perhaps this post should have been in Snap Happy!  Or perhaps I need to amalgamate ...)