JdeBP's Ceroc events list 2009

14 days in a row

15 days in a row

Today was a visit to see DJ Kylie in Bicester.

16 days in a row

Today was a visit to Sutton Coldfield.

I said that I was ill, yesterday.

• Morris' and Judith's "Alternative Vicars and Tarts" party (1 vicar, only raspberry tarts) in some old dilapidated bingo hall, opposite the late night kebab takeaway.

  Dancing 20:00–01:00. Morris wants you to bring a cake. But don't bother with the supermarket or baking. The kebab shop really is right across the road. It does cappucino and potato wedges (and, indeed, cake, if you consider chocolate-coated-rice-crispies to be cake). Say hello to Mustafa and Veli.

  If you haven't managed to get a ticket to that, try the Cornbow Hall, Halesowen instead. It's, unfortunately, not some crummy old bingo hall. But it does go on until almost the stroke of quarter to midnight and it is quite popular nowadays.

• Morris' and Judith's charity freestyle in some old dilapidated bingo hall, opposite the late night kebab takeaway.

  Dancing 20:00–03:00. The kebab house will still be open when you get out.

  You think that I'm joking about the kebab shop. I'm not. It has a WWW site, you know.

• Ceroc Midlands freestyle at the Junction 11 Club

• Ceroc Passion freestyle at the British Rail Social Club, Wellingborough.

• Just2Jive Tea Dance at the Lickey End Working Men's Social Club

  My Mate Lieanne "I didn't steal the T-shirt!" the Taxi drove all of the way down from Darkest Wigan for this.

  This is the first venue on my list to be converted from silly postcodes that often don't work to proper navigational coördinates as used on — you know — maps.

Today was another jaunt off to Brierley Hill, where Steve the Scoutmaster was definitely not chasing after Toni. No, ma'am!

Last regular Tuesday classes for 2009 at Bicester.

Today in Bicester DJ Kylie proved that not all Christmas pop songs are good dance music.

Today at Sutton Coldfield Jane talked to me for 20 minutes solid on the subject of her new boyfriend. Maxine tells me that I got off with "the short version".

Today at Bromsgrove I made the mistake of telling someone that Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is very fast for Modern Jive.

Today in Halesowen was a demonstration that cabbages can be sexy.

• Ceroc Groove freestyle at Coppertops, Worcester

  It's another Coppertops 3-room 2-room shindig.

  One of the rooms apparently got lost on the M5.

• Strictly Ceroc Christmas Ball at the Pittville Pump Rooms, Cheltenham

• Ceroc Passion freestyle at the Cripps Social Club, Northampton.

• Ceroc Groove freestyle at Cox's Yard, Stratford-Upon-Avon

  Dancing 18:30–22:30. More upstairs-versus-downstairs with Ian Selby and Jem, I expect.

• Sunday Chill at the Rocklands Social Club, Redditch

Regular Monday classes not available this week at: Chipping Norton.

Regular Tuesday classes not available this week at: Bicester.

Last regular Wednesday classes for 2009 at Oxford Town Hall.

Last regular Thursday classes for 2009 at: Bromsgrove, Northampton St George's, Rugby Indian Centre. Regular Thursday classes not available this week at: Kidlington.

Today was snow and tinsel in Bromsgrove.

• Strictly Ceroc Christmas Party at the Walls Sports & Social Club, Gloucester

• JiveFever freestyle at the Jaguar Social Club, Coventry

• Ceroc Midlands "Beatles Tribute" freestyle at the Aquarius Ballroom, Hednesford

• Ceroc South Birmingham Christmas Party freestyle at the Park Hall, Wythall

• Ceroc Passion Christmas Party freestyle at the Indian Centre, Rugby.

  Dancing 20:00–00:30. Fire alarms optional.

• Ceroc Midlands "70s and Motown" freestyle at the Aquarius Ballroom, Hednesford

  Now I know why Mike was quizzing Gemma at Walsall about whether she could sing Motown.

• Ceroc Oxford Christmas Party freestyle at Headington School, Oxford

• Just2Jive Christmas Tea Dance at the Lickey End Working Men's Social Club

  Dancing 18:00–22:00. Don't buy that "£10 on the door" baloney on the WWW site. I've never known there to be tickets available on the day for a Lickey End Christmas do. It's tickets £9 in advance only, in reality. The WWW site also says "bring a plate". I suggest bringing food, on a plate. Bringing a plate won't make you any friends.

Regular Monday classes not available this week at: Chipping Norton. Also, the regular Monday class at Central Birmingham moves to Wednesday this week. Last regular Monday class for 2009 at: Brierley Hill.

• Ceroc Passion Christmas Party evening at the British Rail Social Club, Wellingborough.

Today was a Night of Three Carolines at Brierley Hill.

Last regular Tuesday classes for 2009 at: Wythall, Northampton Cripps. Regular Tuesday classes not available this week at: Bicester.

• Jive+ Christmas Party at the Trade and Labour Club, Banbury

Today was witnessing Lynn The Teach keeping up the Double Trouble tradition, in Coventry.

Last regular Wednesday classes for 2009 at: Sutton Coldfield, Wellingborough Embankment Club. Regular Wednesday classes not available this week at: Oxford Town Hall. The regular Monday class at Central Birmingham has been rescheduled to today.

Today was a Betty's Buffet in Sutton Coldfield.

• Ceroc Midlands Christmas Party freestyle at the Junction 11 Club

  Dancing 20:00–00:30. Tickets £10 in advance only.

• JiveFever Christmas Party at the Jaguar Social Club, Coventry

  Dancing 20:00–23:30. Tickets £7 on the door.

  It's a "uniform theme" evening, says Ian. If you don't come in a uniform, you'll have to "pay a penalty", whatever that means. It sounds a bit too sado-masochistic for my taste, so I've bought a J11 Club ticket. ☺

… and, wiggle for two beats!

They tell me that I'm going to have to get my passport out and head off to Wiltshire. I tell them that they've got a hope.

It's off to Jamës' Birthday party.

• Ceroc Groove Christmas Party at the Peartree Inn, Worcester

  Dancing from 19:45–00:00.

  This is going to open up as a regular weekly class venue from 2010-01-04.

• Sunday Chill at the Ivor Preece Centre, Binley Woods, Coventry

• Ceroc Midlands "Free Launch" freestyle at the Aquarius Ballroom, Hednesford

  Entry is free, apparently. Yes, you read that right. Like the Peartree, this is a launch of a new venue, according to the blurb. Although I'm slightly confused on that point, since Ceroc at the Aquarius Ballroom had its opening night over two years ago, on 2007-10-29. I listed it.

  Anyway, entry is free, dancing is from 20:00 onwards, there will be two rooms, and the DJs are Mike Sailsman and Ian "Oxo" Morgan.

Regular Monday classes not available this week at: Royal Leamington Spa, Brierley Hill, Chipping Norton, Central Birmingham.

You all know that this is a Bank Holiday in lieu of Boxing Day, right? So the usual Bank Holiday Monday closures would apply even if this weren't Christmas.

• Ceroc Passion Masquerade Ball freestyle at the Leisure Centre, Daventry

  Dancing 20:00–03:00 (in the Blues room). Black tie. Tickets £13 on the door.

There's a lot of "Betwixtmas" nonsense being put around about today. People, this isn't even the 120-some-year-old holiday of Newtonmas, let alone "Betwixtmas". The proper name for the Christian liturgical period between Christmas Eve and Epiphany is Christmastide.

Regular Tuesday classes not available this week at: Bicester, Wythall, Walsall, Northampton Cripps.

• Ceroc Passion freestyle at the Indian Centre, Rugby.

  Dancing 20:00–00:30 comme toujours.

Regular Wednesday classes not available this week at: Sutton Coldfield, Wellingborough Embankment Club, Oxford Town Hall.

Apparently, regular Wednesday classes will be run by Ceroc Oxford at the Curzon Centre, Beaconsfield.

• Ceroc Midlands "It's Not New Year's Eve Yet!" freestyle at the Junction 11 Club

  Dancing 20:00–00:00. Tickets £10 in advance only.

A choice of New Year's Eve celebrations:

• Ceroc Groove at the Cornbow Hall, Halesowen

  Dancing from 19:45, with a fun class at 20:00. Tickets £12 in advance only. DJs Marc Forster and Dave "I play heavy metal, me." Hardwick. (Ignore what the flyers and web sites say about Rachel Pears. She tells me in person that she isn't going to be a DJ.)

• DanceSin at the Greig Hall, Alcester

  Dancing 20:00–01:00. Tickets in advance only, but Monica hasn't advertised how much they are. If you have to ask, you cannot afford them, I expect. Black tie event.

• Ceroc Midlands at the Aquarius Ballroom, Hednesford

  Dancing times unknown. Tickets £12 in advance, or £15 on the door (which does not qualify for buffet). Smart dress required. This is a two-room event, with a Blues/Latin room opening at 22:00.

• Ceroc South Birmingham at the Park Hall, Wythall

  It's been cancelled. This is a shame because it was actually my first choice.

• Strictly Ceroc at the Land Rover Club, Solihull

  Dancing times unknown. Tickets £20 in advance only. Standard one-room event, with a buffet and something called "midnight toast". I don't know about you, but for me "midnight toast" brings to mind visions of Enid Blyton's Famous Five creeping down to the kitchen in the dead of night to sneakily toast bread and put lashings of … erm … strawberry jam on it.

• Want2Dance at the Kingsbury Country Club, Kingsbury.

  True to form with Want2Dance Burton, all of the tickets have been sold before the advertising even reaches most of us. I could tell you that tickets are £10 in advance only. I could tell you that dancing will be from 20:00 until some unspecified point after 00:00. But there are no tickets left. Again. ☺

Regular Thursday classes are not available anywhere, of course.

• Ceroc Oxford freestyle at the Curzon Centre, Beaconsfield