Shambala – August 2017

The most glorious heatwave befell the UK over this August bank holiday weekend, so we de-camped from inside the Idler Academy’s Imaginarium to teach outside, doing several Charleston classes to vintage and not-so-vintage tunes over the weekend. We also got invited into the dance-off stage ‘all stars’ spectacle; essentially a boxing ring surrounded by hoardes of sparkly, cheering revellers. We have no shame in saying our Tranky Doo placed behind well-deserving winners including outrageously attired cross-dressers, a 10 year old acrobatic prodigy and obviously, the champion; the guy who took all his clothes off. Individual Flappers and friends however did win several heats with their unique swing-inspired moves, to rapturous applause. We love you Shambala ❤ 

LeeFest – August 2017

With a Peter Pan-inspired theme of Neverworld, this weekend is all about escapism, and we drew crowds with our lively Charleston class three times over the weekend, despite battling larger sound systems nearby. Revellers were so keen they continued to follow along to our Michael Jackson Thriller Charleston routine (impressive!) and when we took to the decks to play tunes for the hour after class, the bar tent continued to hop. One of our biggest crews so far this summer, it was great to use extra Mudflappers for even more crowd engagement, and give our resident DJ centre stage for a while.

Lunar Festival – July 2015 & 2016

Our core crew return to Lunar festival

Swingamajig – May 2017

Invited back by our friends at Electric Swing Circus, we had the most fun type of gig brief – ‘just come along and be your fabulous selves’! We did ‘walkabout’ entertainment – dancing to live bands, providing a bit of a show where energy was low and starting jam circles with enthusiastic dancers in the crowd elsewhere. We also hopped on stage for the late night Ragtime Records DJs – our friend C@ in the H@ with his banging bassy electroswing tunes, as well as for and CatJam, featuring in little ad lib spots alongside hula hoopers, full 20s vintage-attire charleston girls and… fluorescent astronauts. As you do. We got high fives from the late night revellers which made us feel like rockstars 🙂

Festival No. 6 – September 2016

Returning to the spectacular Festival number 6 in Portmeirion is always an honour, and this year we had our work cut out for us, doing dance slots between each of the live acts in the central village square. We kept the piazza pumping despite some sideways rain and wind – even extending the set by nearly an hour and pulling out some party tunes when the bands couldn’t get onsite! The crowd were amazing, dancing with their brollies and wellies – if ever the Mudflappers truly earned their moniker, this gig was it!

Shambala festival – August 2015

The Idler Academy again provided a place for us at one of our favourite festivals to run our fun-loving swing dance class and performances. This year, it started as a gentle Sunday afternoon activity to close up the day’s schedule, and ended up with us being joined by some swing dance friends and throwing down moves in some jam circles, keeping the crowd going much longer than anyone expected!