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BLUE SKIES: A TWELVE-HOUR SWING DANCE TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE OF BARRY MOODYFeaturing: * Rhythm & Grace * Bombshell Rheanne * Lizzie Blissett * Adam Jarrett * Kenny Lovick * KC Swing * ‘Pinball’ Paul Claydon * Swingymabob Dance with Helen Hart, Ali Willis & Grace Ashby * Bic & Simone * Mark & Tracey * Bryan Warnett * Andy AV8 * The Jenny Thomas Jammers * David 'The Mailman' Willis * DixieMix Jazz Band *
Blue Skies is a twelve-hour musical memorial in celebration of a truly remarkable person and in aid of a very important cause.
From 11am to 11pm, the Assembly House in Norwich will play host to a swinging smorgasbord of classes, DJ sets and live music performances, culminating in an evening dance with our brilliant band, DixieMix Jazz. The memorial will raise money for the East Anglian Air Ambulance – a cause which is very close to our hearts.
This celebration of Barry's life and legacy will be held in the beautiful Noverre Ballroom and will feature twelve hours of DJ sets, dance classes and live performances, with a band to round off the evening. Our aim is to bring together the music, the dance and most importantly, the people who Barry loved and who loved him dearly in return. So please place a big blue circle around this date in your dancing diaries and prepare to commemorate a man who gave so much to the swing community and who is the reason that so many of us are dancing to this day.
TICKET INFORMATION
Full tickets will be £25. These tickets are limited in number and will allow you to participate in as much of the daytime schedule as you wish, plus the evening live band night. Ticket sales will open on Monday 21st October 2024 at 6pm. We are expecting the whole-day tickets to sell out quickly, so we strongly suggest that you purchase your ticket in advance as we are unlikely to have available tickets on the door.
Alternatively, if you wish to dip into the daytime classes and musical sets on a drop-in basis, you do not need to purchase a ticket – we just ask for discretionary donations on the door for the sessions you attend. The daytime part of the memorial ends at 7.30pm.
We have planned the schedule to encompass as many aspects of Barry's dancing life as possible. Within this programme, you'll find a few surprises and plenty of predictable favourites, delivered by his close friends who have given their time and hearts to ensuring that we remember Barry with music and dancing, but most of all, with a smile.
BLUE SKIES: A MEMORIAL DANCE FOR BARRY MOODY
SATURDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2024, 11AM-11PM
11am: WALTZ CLASS with RHYTHM & GRACE
Most of us tend to think of Barry as a swing dancer, but his love of music and dance encompassed a huge range of styles and genres and he was very much in demand as a DJ for ballroom events and tea dances. As the opening class of Blue Skies, Claire from Rhythm & Grace will teach Barry’s favourite ballroom dance: the Waltz. After all, is there anything more delightful than dancing cheek to cheek?
12pm: LIVE MUSIC with BOMBSHELL RHEANNE, KENNY LOVICK, LIZZIE BLISSETT & ADAM JARRETT
All four of these swinging songsters were familiar faces at Barry and Helen’s Swingymabob classes and Barry is the reason that they took their very first triple-steps on to the dancefloor. Rheanne, Kenny and Lizzie can often be found singing at vintage events around the county and beyond, whilst Adam fronts The Hardworking Blues Band, who headlined several times at Barry and Hannah’s Sunday evening Bowling House Blues nights. Together, they’ll be performing a range of songs which reflect Barry’s passion for jazz, swing and blues.
1pm: AN INTRODUCTION TO BALBOA with KC SWING
Many of you will recognise Keith and Caroline from their attendance at Barry’s events, but now, fresh from running classes at Twinwood and their own workshops in Cambridgeshire, they don their teaching hats once more to introduce you to another dance which Barry and Helen taught: Balboa. Prepare to learn a series of smooth moves that will see you gliding around the floor.
2pm: DJ SET with PAUL ‘PINBALL’ CLAYDON
Paul’s reputation as both teacher and DJ stretches far beyond the bounds of East Anglia. Wherever you’ve danced around the country, there’s a high chance that you will have Lindy Hopped your socks off to his sets at Twinwood, Camp Savoy, DJam, Fine City Swing and Hullzapoppin’, to name but a few. As a long-time friend of Barry and a steadfast supporter of his events, it’s a pleasure to have Paul behind the decks – and when he’s not DJing, make sure you ask him for a dance!
3pm: ST LOUIS SHIM SHAM with HELEN HART & ALI MARTINEZ
Barry and Helen were preparing to teach the St Louis Shim Sham at Fine City Swing earlier this year, and it’s Helen’s wish that the opportunity to learn this classic routine continues as a tribute to Barry. There will also be a chance to perform the routine later in the evening if you wish to try out your new skills! Helen would like to extend her gratitude to Ali Willis for stepping up to her side in teaching this session and to thank her for her continued support and friendship.
4pm: DJ SET with BIC & SIMONE: ‘SONGS IN THE KEY OF BARRY’
Barry’s musical taste could be described in many ways – and at the very least, eclectic. No one knows this better than Bic and Simone from The Lindy Club in Fareham, who have been constant friends and dancing companions of Barry for many years. Prepare to expect the unexpected with this set, for as we’re all very much aware, when it comes to Barry’s tunes of choice, who knows what could happen…
5pm: LINDY HOP CLASS with MARK & TRACEY
It couldn’t be a memorial for Barry without a Lindy Hop class. Mark and Tracey are two of Norwich’s most loved and respected dancers, hailing from Norfolk but regularly trotting the globe to attend international workshops and hone their Lindy Hop and jazz skills. They would always take the Swingymabob helm whenever Barry and Helen were away and we're very happy to welcome this wonderful twosome back to the floor to run you through their favourite moves.
6pm: DJ SET with BRYAN WARNETT: ‘BARRY’S PLACE’
Bopping his way up from the south coast, Bryan packs a wealth of DJ experience in his musical suitcase. He’s stepped behind the decks at CarFest, The Nostalgia Show, Lindy Academy, Maytime Mess Around and the Hayling Hop on multiple occasions and broadcast his own show on 1940sUK Radio, and now he’s ready to unleash his own unique mix of music for your dancing pleasure. In his words, it doesn’t matter if it’s Big Band Swing, Soul, Northern Soul or R&B – if it swings, it’s in!
7pm: BEGINNERS’ LINDY HOP CLASS with HELEN HART & GRACE ASHBY
Friends for over two decades, Grace and Barry formed a highly successful teaching partnership in the Guildford area, sharing their mutual joy of dance and competing together in events – most notably, with a first-place finish at Lindy Academy. Many happy weekends were spent with Grace and her husband and Barry and Helen all together. In tribute to that friendship and to the encouragement and support that Barry always gave to new dancers, Grace and Helen will teach an introduction to Lindy Hop. If you’ve always wanted to venture on to a dancefloor but never found your opportunity, this is the class for you.
EVENING DANCE FOR FULL TICKET HOLDERS ONLY
7.30pm: DJ SETS with ANDY ‘AV8’ GARNER & DAVE ‘THE MAILMAN’ WILLIS
Watch out, there’s double trouble about! The dashing duo that cause chaos with The Hot Club are here to raise the temperature and warm you up for a night of non-stop dancing. Both Andy and Dave are formidable forces on the local and national DJ scene; Andy has taken his vast collection of 78s to Frisking The Whiskers, Nighthawks and Rhythm Riot, amongst many others, whilst Dave has made his mark on the Hillbilly Hoedown, Jump Back Boogie, Fine City Swing, Frisking The Whiskers and plenty more to boot. They’ll have you up and blazing a trail across that dancefloor before you can say Anything Goes…
8.00pm: LIVE MUSIC from DIXIEMIX JAZZ
The region’s hottest jazz band are ready to take Blue Skies by storm! For over seventeen years, DixieMix have been wowing audiences and dancers with fresh arrangements of jazz favourites old and new, performed with pizzazz, humour and their own DixieMix twist. Their top-notch musicianship has led to national recognition for the band, including a tour with Rod Stewart, frequent TV appearances, an annual slot at Guernsey Jazz Festival and multiple festival and theatre gigs. Barry danced in the DixieMix showreel in May and was so impressed with their talent and engagement that he expressed a wish to organise an event where they headlined. Now, at Blue Skies, we can at last fulfil that wish.
9.00pm: DJ SETS with ANDY AV8 & THE MAILMAN and a performance from THE JENNY THOMAS JAMMERS
Plus you can take to the floor to join in with the St Louis Shim Sham – and for those of you who love to put the Shimmy into the Shim Sham, there’ll be a little something just for you…
9.30pm – 10.30pm: DIXIEMIX JAZZ with support from Andy AV8 & The Mailman.
11.00pm: CLOSE
More information on all of our teachers, DJs and performers will follow over the coming weeks, but for now, we look forward to welcoming you to Norwich with open arms and hearts on Saturday 30th November 2024.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Assembly House, Norwich, United Kingdom
