Crystal Blues Programme 2022

Welcome to our Crystal Blues Challenge – 2022

This is the 12th National Crystal Blues Challenge, and each year we are blown away by
the atmosphere at this event, created by the attitudes of all those who attend.
We believe that this is the most supportive and inclusive of any event that has an
element of competition attached to it.

From Day One our aim was to create an occasion where we, as dancers, could
collectively enjoy and appreciate the talent and efforts of our fellow dancers – at
whatever stage of their dance journey they are currently at. And you guys have risen

to that challenge in all the best ways!

Modern Blues is a dance of connection, between two partners and the music.
It is a dance that demands both partners give their all to each other, as they are driven

to strive for the ultimate in connection, flair and creativity.
Each moment directed by music that demands to be danced to.

It can be intimate and introspective or flamboyant and expressive, it can be as
dramatic as it is heart-rending and it all depends upon the music played.

So as an audience we are gifted with a unique opportunity to feast upon the most
beautiful moments of connection as a spectator invited to enjoy and appreciate.

Yes, we do get to choose the couples that we feel reflect the dance the best in each
category on the day - from a position of uplifting appreciation. All the while

acknowledging the courage it takes for our fellow dancers to come forward and to
dance for their peers to enjoy.

What a joy and a privilege that is!

It’s all about the music – and the people who play it!

So let me introduce you to our team of amazing DJs, who will not only be playing
fabulous music for you to freestyle to all weekend – they are responsible for finding the

perfect tracks for all of the Challenges too!
That’s a lot of pressure!

But these guys are the best of the best, so they are really looking forward to the
challenge of being your Crystal Blues Challenge DJs.

Crystal Blues is a two-room event so you’ll get to enjoy music from all of our DJs over the
course of the weekend.

Our main room will be Modern Blues focussed with all the music you already know you
love to dance to – as well as treats that our DJs have spent hours and hours over
months and months sourcing for you.

In our second room you’ll be offered sets specific to different influences, such as Alt-
Tango, Expressive, Funky, Alternative Blues and more.
It’s all about the music!

Freestyle Programme

Friday Evening – 8pm til 1am

Everything starts on Friday. No competitions, no pressure, just a chance to meet up with
and enjoy all your favourite dancers and make a whole bunch of new friends.

Traditionally lots of people choose to enter competitions on Saturday and Sunday with
people that they meet on Friday evening!

We’ve got two rooms playing some of your favourite tracks (and some new favourites
too) so relax and enjoy the evening!

Saturday Evening – 8pm til 1am (with presentations at 9:30pm)

On Saturday night we’ll be dancing through until 1am. Two rooms, lots of choice and
variety and everyone in the zone after a fabulous day at CBC.

At 9:30pm we take a short break to celebrate all those who have taken part in
competitions during the day. We even get a chance to see our winners in action very
briefly!

Sunday evening – 7:00pm til 11pm (with presentations at 8:30pm)

This is the last Hurrah of the weekend! Where we celebrate everything we love about
this dance we do.

New friendships, dances shared, crystals won, our best given and memories made.
Before we go our merry ways and look forward to the next time…

Daytime Dancing – from 9:30am on Saturday and Sunday

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you only get to dance in the evenings!
Oh no! This is an event run by Blues dancers FOR Blues dancers! So we know that it is
all about the dancing…

From 9:30am the doors will be open. Breakfast will be available and our Kitchen
Queens will have full control of the music until our first DJ takes over at 10am! So if
you’re looking for fab food, lots of fun and, quite likely, some McFly – this is your dream
come true! Lunch and cake will be available later in the day. And when I say cake, I
mean serious amounts of seriously good cake! So many to choose from and all home-
made!

From 10am (after they have had breakfast) our DJs will be ready to do their thing!

There is nothing quite like sharing daytime dances with like-minded souls – and we
make sure we create as much opportunity to keep everyone on the floor as possible.
This is one BIG freestyle event – interspersed with the opportunities to enjoy our fellow
dancers as they allow us to share in their moment in the centre.

Friday Freestyle DJ schedule

Main Room 2nd Room
20:00 - 21:00 Alan 21:00 - 22:00 Graham - Expressive Blues
21:00 - 22:00 Myra 22:00 - 23:00 Alan - Tango Blues
22:00 - 23:00 Morris 23:00 - 00:00 Myra - Blues Emotion
23:00 - 00:00 Sara
00:00 - 01:00 Graham

Saturday Evening 2nd Room
20:30 – 21:30 Alan - Unconditional Blues
Main Room 21:30 - 22:00 Closed for Presentations
20:00 – 21:30 Graham 22:00 - 23:00 Myra - Tango Blues
21:30 - 22:00 Presentations 23:00 - 00:00 Morris - Expressive Blues
22:00 - 23:00 Morris
23:00 - 00:00 Sara
00:00 - 01:00 Myra

Sunday Evening
19:00 - 20.30 Alan
20.30 - 21:00 Presentations
21:00 - 22:00 Morris
22:00 - 23:00 Myra

Challenge Schedule

This year we return with a full line up of our favourite challenges designed to celebrate
our shared love of this dance we do!

Saturday Challenge Schedule

9:30 Breakfast & the Kitchen Queens’ mix

10:00 Time for Dancing!

11:00 Blues Inclusive Challenge

12:00 Debut Blues Challenge

13:00 Funkified Blues Challenge

14:30 It Takes 2 Challenge

16:00 Blues Is Blues is Blues Challenge

17:15 Best-of-Luck Challenge

Please note: all timings subject to change – especially Best of Luck!

Sunday Challenge Schedule

9:30 Breakfast & the Kitchen Queens’ mix

10:00 Time for Dancing!

11:00 Beat-Up Blues Challenge

12:00 Bluest Blues Challenge

13:30 Dance Like Sara White Is Watching

14:30 Ultimate Challenge

16:30 Best-of-Luck Challenge

Please note: all timings subject to change – especially Best of Luck!

Things you need to know..!

Catering
Food will be available to purchase on both Saturday and Sunday.
Breakfast will start at 9:30am am and is delicious! Our fabulous catering team will be
serving bacon sandwiches, mini eggy omelettes, toast etc as well as tea/coffee.
Lunch will be available from 12 – 2:30 with home-made soup, sandwiches and more to
choose from.
Tea/coffee and cakes will be available right up until 5pm each day.
It is a fact that people reserve slices of Lemon Tart a whole year in advance!
Personally, I’m all about the home-made soup. And the cake! Definitely the cake!
*For those with food intolerances please be aware that food is made and prepared in a
kitchen where cross contamination is actively avoided but cannot be guaranteed.
There will be VLG (very low gluten) options available but if you are allergic you would
be best to bring your own food.

Our catering team!
Bring-your-own Drinks
As usual there will be NO BAR at Crystal Blues.
But you are very welcome to bring your own drinks.
We will have water available for you in the evenings, and you can purchase tea and
coffee during the day – but do please bring your own alcoholic drinks with you if you

want them.
There is a local shop near by that will happily sell you a wide range of alcoholic

beverages at good prices if you forget to stock up before you arrive.
We only have one favour to ask… We would very much prefer if you bring your own
cups etc for your own drinks and we do ask that you take your empties away with you

for recycling.

Meet the Team

As well as our DJs, and our judges, we are blessed with an efficient, effective and all-
round amazing team of people who ensure that Crystal Blues runs smoothly.

These are the smiley people who meet you at the door…
Who organise your competition paperwork and do the maths…
Who collect in the Crystals when you vote and ensure they are counted…

Who help you to find a partner to compete with…
Who look out for you…

Who resolve every issue way before it can become a problem…
Who are always on hand with healing hugs to calm your nerves…

Here is your Crystal Blues Team

Tim, Debs, Zareh, Rachel and Laura

The Crystals of Crystal Blues!

It’s all about the Crystals at Crystal Blues.
From the voting to the prize giving.

And none of that would happen without our wonderful Crystal Ladies!
Throughout the entire weekend, these lovely ladies quietly and unobtrusively make

the magic happen. They make sure that everyone in the voting audience has
their voting crystal at the start of each round and then gather them in and do the

all-important counting.
As well as that, they also ensure there is a general sense of smoothness, well-being

and glamour about the whole event. And wash up, tidy up and keep the kettle
boiling…phew!

Welcome to your Crystal Ladies!
Di, Lesley, Mary and Andrea

We’re also lucky to have John on the team who simply gets on with doing what
needs doing – washing up, tidying up, helping out… thanks John!

Photographs

This year we welcome a new photographer, Jenny, to our team. She’ll be taking
photos throughout the challenges..and the dancing..as well as making sure our

winners look fab!

Wellness and Massage

This year we are fortunate to have the services of Rob Docherty offering neck and
shoulder massages and foot massages to shake out all those cramps and aches.

Book in with Rob directly or with the team on the main desk.

Meet your Judges

Crystal Blues is run BY Blues dancers, FOR Blues dancers.

And our judging team reflects this ethos. Carefully chosen from the social dance-
floor, these are all people who believe in Modern Blues as a social dance.

In line with our desire to keep things fresh and ever-evolving at CBC, we think that
it is important to bring fresh eyes to our judging team from time to time too.

These are people with a hugely wide range of dance influences and who bring
with them a diverse and comprehensive experience of Modern Blues.

And they are prepared to work tirelessly to judge with care, integrity and complete
impartiality.

These are dancers who all have a passion for good, strong dance technique and
a clear comprehension of all the individual elements that make up Modern Blues.

These are the individuals entrusted to see beyond the obvious, and into the
minutiae of the dance. To understand the complexities of musicality and to

appreciate the subtleties of connection.
Our judging team, Rob, Alan, Maja, Craig and Paul understand that Modern Blues
is not necessarily a performance dance and so they don’t expect our couples to

become performers. They will engage in the opportunity to look beneath the
surface and appreciate the finer arts of musicality, connection, lead and follow,

music-led styling and more…

And let us not forget that YOU are part of our judging team.
Every person who attends Crystal Blues becomes a part of our Voting Audience –

collectively becoming one judge. Each individual vote matters.
Oooh, so much power and influence!

You are the dancers – your opinion matters.

Prizes

We totally get that it is the experience of taking part that encourages dancers to
put their all into Crystal Blues Challenges.

We understand that it is by pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone
sometimes that is how we grow. As dancers. As people.

We fully appreciate that winning is a bonus and not necessarily the expectation, or
even the main aim.

But prizes are always nice to have!
And Crystal Blues wouldn’t be the same without Crystals!

But of course, every competition needs prizes…
We believe that Modern Blues Dancing is an art form powered by music.

Our prizes this year will reflect that.

Parking

Buckden Village Hall (PE19 5UY) has a large on-site carpark – but with the large
numbers attending the event, this can get very full. We ask that you park as
closely and as considerately as possible to get maximum use from the space
available.

Buckden itself is a small village, and there is plenty of free on-street parking – but
we do ask that you DO NOT park on the street in Burberry Rd itself. (The street
leading to the hall) There will be cones in place – please don’t move them.

Our future at the hall depends on maintaining good and positive relationships with
the people living nearby.

The local school has offered us an additional 18 spaces and is less than a 3 minute
walk away too.

The full address for the venue is:
Buckden Village Hall
Burberry Road
Buckden
St Neots
Cambs
PE19 5UY

Village and parking map available HERE

Please note: there are no facilities at Buckden Village Hall for charging electric
vehicles. There are chargers at the local garages as well as a number in the local

towns.

Walk to Car
We've got volunteers available to accompany you to your car if you're going to
be on your own - helping you get home safely. They'll be wearing purple 'Walk to
Car' badges and of course you can always approach any of our team. Just ask
and they’ll be glad to walk you to your car. This is a wonderful safe dance world

we live in, and we just want to share some of that and help make the world a
better place for all of us.

Giving back
We're keen to share the love with others around us, and the past couple of years

have been tough on so many. This year we want to create an actual huge
mountain of kindness at our event – a colossal pile of real tangible help.

Everything from food for the food bank, toiletries, clothing and underwear will go
to help others.

If you have any foodbank items that you can donate, we'll be glad to take them
from you over the weekend and we’ll make sure they get to those who need them

most. Financial donations are welcome too – and we’ll turn those into food items
that will really be appreciated. Thank you.

Crystal Blues – Judging Criteria

Please remember, Blues is not a ‘performance’ dance, so join us in sharing the
privilege of watching as dancers invite us to share in their moment…

For us, Modern Blues dancing is a music-led, lead/follow partner dance that
incorporates and includes movement in both close-hold and at extension. 
We celebrate the joy that is to be found in spontaneously choreographing the
dance to the music as it plays, focussing on the interplay between lead and follow

and music.

We feel that Modern Blues dancing isn't constrained by the style of music or by the
style of dance but becomes a glorious amalgamation of all aspects of partner
dance.

When judging a dance we would expect to see appropriate time spent in close-
hold and potentially at extension - depending on musical style and category.

(Close-hold can vary between ‘open’ and ‘intimate’ styles of close-hold and may
or may not include travel as well as more rooted, on-the-spot movement).

And remember that while Modern Blues can incorporate elements of Tango, WCS,
Modern Jive and more, in this competition we would expect the emphasis to be
on what makes for Modern Blues dance – an emphasis on musicality and close
hold at the core of the dance.

Some specifics . . .

Musicality – Are the dancers listening for, and responding to, the changes within
the music (e.g. breaks, pauses, tempo change, accents)? Do they make effective
use of dynamics, time/half time/double time, pause, call & response and so on?
Does the style of the dance match the style of the music?

Interpretation – Are the moves/movements appropriate to the music in terms of
genre, feel and so on..? Are the dancers taking account of the vocals, lyrics,
instrumentation etc?

Style – Do the styles gel and complement each other and the music? Is the leader
leading and the follower following the lead? Is there an excess of unsolicited
styling? Are both partners combining to create a partnership that does justice to
the music, or working in opposition? Is the dance appropriate for the individual
challenge style? Is the follow seeking to embellish the dance rather than sabotage
or hijack it?

Connection – Are the dancers in touch with the music and with each other,
creating a synergy where, when musically appropriate, two become as one? Is
the lead forecast in an obvious way, or so subtle that it is seems that the follow is
reading the mind of the lead – but without anticipation or back-leading?

Aesthetics – Are the lines of both dancers visually pleasing? Are flourishes and
styling additions appropriate or distracting?
Technique - Are the dancers competent in both close-hold and extension? Do
they use lead/follow techniques effectively and fluidly? Do they utilise the basics
as well employing skills displaying a good degree of technical difficulty?

All of the above thoughts are designed to assist you in making your decisions.

You hold the voting crystal – your vote counts.

Crystal Blues and You

It isn’t easy for me to find the words to explain why I feel Crystal Blues is such a
special event.

It is complicated, and yet so simple.

As a dancer, a teacher, a passionate advocate of all that Modern Blues has
evolved to become, and as an organiser – I had a hope…

A hope that all of us who love our Blues could come together and celebrate.

Celebrate the dance.
Celebrate the dancers.
Celebrate the music and the music players.
Celebrate the art that is created in the movement and the silences, the art that
disappears when the music stops yet stays in our hearts and memories forever.

Celebrate and appreciate.

I have been moved to tears on more than one occasion at Crystal Blues. And not
always by those that shine the brightest on the day and win sparkly crystals.

I have been inspired by the courage, and the heart of all those who take part.

And I know why Crystal Blues is so special.

Crystal Blues could not exist without you.

You - the dancer - out there on the floor.
You - the audience - supporting and encouraging your peers.

You - the competitor - giving your all in the Challenges.
You - the DJ, the team, the judges, the friends, the family - doing your thing to

make everything better.
You - the believer - in this dance that we love.

You.

You are the magic.

You are the magic of Crystal Blues.