From the Savoy Ballroom drift the bluesy tones of Louis Armstrong, from the Alahambra the voice of a Lindy Hop teacher: "a 5, a 6, a 5,6,7,8; kick ball change Shorty George, Susie Q and break!".
It's 11pm and still bright out; people are still attending dance classes and in the next hour the dance halls will fill for social dancing till dawn (3am) and well after.
It's hard to describe Herrang Dance Camp because there's not alot to which I can compare it. It's a summer camp in a campsite by the sea with mosquitoes, cold showers and a very Swedish sauna. It's also the biggest centre for swing, jazz and boogie-woogie dancing in the world with the only, truly American art form blasting from speakers at every location. There are nightly meetings that remind me of being a teenager in the Gaeltacht, an ice-cream parlour and a 24 hour bar, that definitely doesn't remind me of Connemara.
Basically it's Kellerman's from Dirty Dancing but without the rich twits getting in the way of the dancing. There's even a Patrick Swayze here--Ricard from Stockholm--wait till you see the pictures--we think he even cultivates the hair style on purpose.
Also there's a 14 year kid from Switzerland attending classes called Satchmo and, no, it's not a nickname.
More later in the week.
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