by Carl Nelson

Southern Belle Swing Bash is hosted in Atlanta, GA and is organized by Gina Helfrich and Jaya Dorf.  Similar to the Girl Jam’s hosted throughout the U.S., Southern Belle is a follower-focused event, and is actually the longest running follower-focused event in the U.S. (their tagline – perhaps the world).

This year brought together three exceptional teachers; Ramona Staffeld (NYC), Evita Arce (NYC), and Gina Helfrich (Atlanta).  Tracks were broken into three levels; intermediate, advanced and masters with numbers ranging from fifteen couples in the masters track to forty or fifty in the intermediate and advanced tracks.  The teachers rotated throughout the various tracks teaching both solo and partnered classes.

Guest leads Nathan Bugh (NYC), Patrick Manigault (Atlanta) and myself, Carl Nelson (NYC), accompanied the instructors.  Teni Lopez-Cardenas (Denver) was the special guest follower for the weekend.

Friday night started off with the evening dance set on the Agnes Scott campus in a historical building with nice hardwood flooring.  Michael Gamble (Asheville) and Gina Helfrich DJed sets throughout the evening keeping the music lively and the floor crowded.  About halfway through the evening there were a series of performances including two blues pieces, an ensemble routine and a girls charleston routine.

Tena Morales and Peter Strom happened to be in town organizing venues for this year’s upcoming Swing & Soul party and stopped in for the dance, a nice surprise.

The late night occurred next to a bar, where many of the dancers stopped in for a drink, called the Thinking Man Tavern.  It had an excellent selection of beers and other beverages for consumption, although they only had their late night menu available.  Tomo Tanaka (NYC) DJed till 3:00am and kept the floor quite busy.

Saturday I began my day assisting Ramona with a Fancy Footwork class for the Advanced track.  We began by introducing solo movements, which gave them the tools they needed when it came time to integrate them into the swing out.  It worked quite well and we managed to get through most of the material we had planned.

After the class we were shuttled to different spaces, and I taught a Leading for Ladies class to the Masters track.  The masters track was much smaller, with only the followers in the class, they switched roles and rotated throughout.  They were very enthusiastic and we worked the basic of the swing out.  What was interesting in this class was breaking down the difference in how leads understand the mechanics of their body in relationship to the partnership and lead-follow relationship as compared to followers.  This was probably my favorite class of the entire weekend.

I then shuttled back to the Ebster Gym to assist Gina with a Dancing to the Melody class.  It’s been a while since I attended, no less taught a musicality class, and Gina had some excellent exercises worked out for the students.  The progression of the class went from dancing independently and being exceptionally literal in the interpretation of the melody to integrating the concept of dancing to the melody into the overall structure of a dance.

My final class of the day was the Leaders class where leads, who were attending for free but obligated to help throughout the weekend, were the principal focus.  With help from Gina and Teni, we worked on contrast between a loose rhythmic connection open to play and a more intense lead-follow connection that required more devoted listening.

The Saturday evening and late night dance was in the upstairs hall of an American Legion.  The space was warm and had a rustic atmosphere.  Downstairs a bar catered to the regular club members with exceptionally cheap drinks, and some even ventured upstairs to watch the dancers.  I would have preferred a band on Saturday night to formalize the evening a bit more rather than DJs but the music never let up from being good.

There were two contests, a Ladies Solo Charleston and a Jack & Jill, held during the evening.  The Jack & Jill contest had two heats in the prelims and a roster of six for the Finals.  Third place went to Morgan Kestner and Brooks Prumo, second place went to Amy Tran and Terrace Ellis, and first place went to Joanna Lucero and Hurley Francois.  Unfortunately, the Charleston contest only had four entrants, it would have been nice to see a larger roster of Ladies throwing it down, but it was still a good contest.  Third place went to Morgan Kestner, second place to Breanna Perry, and first place to Joanna Lucero.

Sunday I was assisting only two classes, the first at 1:30pm with Ramona on Spins and Turns.  She began with an excellent warm-up on the floor; and then progressed to do a lot of work up and down the floor with various turns.  The Decatur Gym was really ideal for this class and the students worked really diligently throughout the class.  I played DJ for most of the class but we managed to integrate some partner work close to the end of the class.

My second class of the day was with Gina.  The class focused on Momentum and how followers can use it and maintain it throughout a dance.  It was an interesting class and leads definitely had to be in top form to allow the followers to work through the concept.

With two classes being the end of my day, I ended up relaxing on the lawn of Agnes Scott and practicing aerials with Teni while others attended their final classes.

The Sunday wrap party happened at Graveyard, a bar in Decatur.  The Gravediggers, a local band, was playing, which instantly reminded me of a band from Montreal that I’ve heard many times (Colin Perry & Blind), and the food was quite good, the favorite being the tomato bisque (which I managed to get one of the last bowls of).  While people were departing or on their way out, the energy remained high throughout and there was even a tap jam with Ramona, Evita and Nathan in front of the band.  It was a nice relaxing way to finish up the weekend.

Overall, Southern Belle was a well-organized and exceptionally lively event.  With good DJs, fun contests, and top-notch classes it surpassed all of my expectations.  If you are looking for a follower-focused event for next year, definitely check out Southern Belle, with true southern hospitality it is an event worth going to.

Did you go to Southern Belle this year or prior years?  What’d you think of it?  Favorite classes, parts.  Let everyone know and drop a comment.

Photos courtesy of Alan Annicella.

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