Travel Notes | This small village even dances swing on the floor

"Paradise Village" by Swing Dancer

The article is about 5,600 words, is during the epidemic,

Hua Hua, a Shanghai dancer based in Denmark, wrote with heartfelt memories.

I hope you like it and I hope she's doing well.

Return to China as soon as possible and let’s swing together~

Everyone who loves to dance Swing has heard to some extent that there is such a legendary village in Sweden: every summer, dancers from all over the world arrive here through various channels to participate in a five-week Swing Camp. During these five weeks, everyone will be dancing day and night.

It is the largest and longest-lasting Swing Camp in the world.

Almost any Swing master whose name you can think of has shared it there. Frankie Manning also taught Swing Dancers from all over the world there,

There, from the organizers to the waiters and even the cleaners, everyone is a Swing Dancer. Some people even say that there, even the floor can dance Swing.

——This is the legendary Herrang.

I am called Huahua, a Shanghainese living in Denmark, a Swing Dancer from Shanghai...

Now that Denmark is gradually unblocking the epidemic, I will record the week I spent at HDC in 2019 in the form of a weekly diary. For the reference of interested friends, and to reminisce about those unscrupulous Swing times.

About HDC

HDC (Herrang Dance Camp) takes place approximately from July to August every year, which should be considered the hottest time in Northern Europe.

But the temperature is only around 20 degrees, and it might be even colder if it rains. But for outdoor dancing, the physical comfort is still very good.

HDC lasts for five weeks in total, and friends who live farther away usually stay for 3-5 weeks.

I put it all together and decided to go for a week first. Firstly, the cost of a single camp per week is almost 5,000SEK (equivalent to about 3,800 yuan); secondly, due to my work, I cannot take more leave in the summer.

Friends in Copenhagen meet every year to go to the Fourth Week. They rented a large single-family house. Three cars drove by themselves. It's very tempting to think about it.

But just as I was hesitating, the last spot was taken by another girl. After finalizing my schedule, I decided to go for the fifth week.

Although HDC is mainly about dancing Lindy, there are actually different themes every week:

Balboa/Blues/SoloJazz/Boogiewoogie/Shag.

2019HDC Schedule

The fifth week is Shag. In fact, not many people dance Shag in Europe.

But compared to Lindy, I like it better and am more suitable to dance Shag. The fast-paced music makes me feel excited easily. Maybe it’s because there are so few people dancing, but Shag’s Community always makes me feel extra warm and loving.

Surprise after flight cancellation

In my opinion, Swing belongs to Social Dance. In addition to the fun brought by dancing itself, I am also fascinated by the surprises brought by Social.

When I decided to go alone for the fifth week, my social journey officially began.

There are many types of accommodation in HDC, the cheapest one in Datongpu costs only 500SEK per week.

But according to my Festival experience, it is really important to get 4-5 hours of good sleep every day. So I found a girl who, like me, went to share a room alone in the fifth week. The young lady is also a teacher teaching Collegiate Shag in Guangzhou.

In addition to excitement, my current mood is more of peace of mind. While it’s cool to go alone, it’s always so sweet to have someone with you.

On Saturday, July 27, 2019, I arrived at the airport early. When I swiped my boarding pass and couldn't get in, I learned that the flight from Copenhagen to Stockholm was cancelled.

It was the first time in my life that my flight was cancelled, OMG!

The earliest it can be changed is the afternoon of the next day. This means that the last bus from Stockholm to the small village of Herrang will not be able to catch up. The bus transfers four times and can only reach a small town 10 kilometers away.

At this time, I received a message from a girl in Guangzhou, saying that she had arrived at our little home this week.

At this moment, all I can think about is what I should do if I miss the first night of class, how much it will cost to take a taxi to Camp tomorrow, and whether the insurance company will reimburse the air ticket...

After spending 3-4 hours at the airport, dragging my helpless body, I returned home. Start posting in the Facebook HDC group.

I chatted with people who didn’t have a ride, how their flight was cancelled, when the new flight would arrive, whether there was a chance to get an Uber... As we chatted, we came to know that there are many Shag dancers in Spain. , we were chatting about my next festival going to Barcelona...

In this way, the first good friend I made at HDC turned out to be a Spanish guy I met online who was even more unlucky than me.

On Sunday, before I boarded my flight, I received a message on FB from an Austrian dancer. They rented a car and drove from Stockholm to Herrang. There was an empty seat in the car and they could take me there for free.

I don’t know whether I should say it’s because I’m lucky, or because the Swing community is so loving. In this way, after a series of bumps, I arrived at Herrang very smoothly.

Nice Austrian dancer

The master floats by on a bicycle and begins a magical journey

The moment I got off the bus, I saw Sky floating past me on a bicycle. Oh my god! This is Herrang...All the masters who have appeared in videos and dreams are here!

After parking the car, I went to the sign-in area and unexpectedly missed the placement test.

I enrolled in the intermediate to advanced class, which is also the highest level class among the options that can be freely chosen. After that, you have to pass the placement test to decide whether to stay in the intermediate and advanced classes or go to the advanced classes.

Materials received after signing in

There is no way to take the placement test, so the person at the sign-in office asked me to report directly to the intermediate and advanced classes tomorrow morning. I still feel a little disappointed in my heart. Although I am not that good at dancing, I still secretly hope that I can enter the advanced class. On top of that, I missed a full day of classes and a welcome dance.

Hey... Just as I was thinking about it, I received a WeChat message from my roommate. She said that get out of class was over and she was waiting for me in her "little home". I expressed my gratitude and farewell to my friends who were riding along and rushed to my residence.

The young lady I live with was waiting for me at the intersection, and rushed to help me carry my luggage when we met. It feels great to be able to speak Chinese all week long! We rented a house in the basement, which is very large and comfortable, like a natural air conditioner. In addition to the toilet, living room and kitchenette, there are two rooms in the basement. We had a double room and a single room. It felt like someone was sleeping inside.

At this time, it was probably about five o'clock in the afternoon. There is a very interesting phenomenon in HDC. People are sleeping anytime and anywhere, and everyone has their own strange schedule.

The landlord sat on the sofa, feeling like he had been waiting for me for a long time. After a few brief greetings, he began to tell me the rules of living here. There was an entire A4 sheet of terms and conditions, so I nodded in agreement.

Then he started to introduce that the person living in the single room was a German girl named M. When I heard about it, I said that my Swing teacher in Copenhagen was also named M, so it was probably not the same one. Then I was slapped in the face. M walked out sleepily and hugged me happily. She said she was asleep inside and heard a familiar voice, so she came out to take a look, but she didn't expect it was really me.

In Copenhagen, because there are very few people dancing Shag, there are usually only 2-3 pairs in a class. Therefore, the relationship between teachers and us is more like friends. Dance together, drink and chat together, swap clothes...

My roommate and I simply ate some instant noodles that she brought from China, and we walked to the dance party together.

This may be the magic of HDC, there are surprises and warmth...

Shag in

It was at the dance that I felt the magic of Herrang flooring for the first time. There has always been a saying that in Herrang, even the floor can dance.

In fact, it's because the dance floor is a tent set up outdoors, so even if it's just standing. Also because everyone is dancing, you will unconsciously follow the Bounce.

Swing to blur, haha

At this time, I thought of The best is yet to come. Best is yet to come and babe won't that be fine... Although the beginning of the story is a bit hiccup, I believe it will be a great week and the best is yet to come~

The band is interacting with the dancers

Adventures of taking classes

At 10 o'clock sharp, I rushed into the intermediate and advanced class 2. There are probably too many people. The usual circle mode of class can no longer satisfy the crowded classroom. The teacher can only arrange everyone in a snake shape.

The first two periods are the classes of Skye and Frida, which I love. I have been watching their videos online, but this is the first time I have taken their class.

Soon, it was discovered that they were actually quite strict teachers. When the teacher was explaining, I liked to sit or squat on the ground to rest, but Frida called me directly and asked me to stand up. Thinking about it afterwards, I was really embarrassed about my "laziness", but I never did that again in future Swing classes.

Midway through the second period, a boy came into the class dragging a suitcase. I immediately recognized the Spanish boy I was chatting with on FB. His flight was also canceled for no reason, so he could only buy a flight on Monday morning. I also slept one night at Barcelona Airport. After getting off the plane, I took an Uber alone for more than 300 euros. I seem to be much luckier than him.

After class, he enthusiastically introduced his friends to me, and we found a place to sit down and chat.

I have to say that this rarely happens with Danes. Even in such a friendly Swing circle, Danes rarely take the initiative to be so enthusiastic towards strangers.

When I went to the BCN Shag Festival in November, they enthusiastically gave me advice on which taxi app to use, introduced local specialty restaurants, and took me around Barcelona.

I had to convince myself that Spanish people are really different from Northern Europeans. Maybe it’s because the weather in Spain is hotter than that in Northern Europe.

Except for Lindy, they both dance Shag, and this time they signed up for intermediate and advanced classes. They have the same background, so we quickly chatted together.

His friend said that he did not catch up with the placement test and went directly to the advanced class. The senior class is sorely lacking a leader, and he feels good coming on and off. Although there was some pressure, I still chose to stay there.

We immediately became excited when we heard it. The two classes in the morning were very good. But you can feel that both of our levels can learn the content easily and quickly, and we both want to learn more.

I immediately suggested that since there were no classes in the intermediate and advanced classes in the afternoon, we could take classes in the advanced classes. It just so happens that we all missed a whole day of class on Sunday, so 5,000 yuan cannot be wasted. We have to make up for it ourselves, haha...

When he heard it, he thought what I said made sense. I immediately decided to join the advanced class. I hurriedly opened the class schedule and found that class started in 10 minutes. There was no time for lunch, no matter what... The three of us put our bags on our backs and ran to the place where we had our afternoon classes.

On the way, the Spanish guy was still hesitant and said that it would be unfair to those who had passed the exam if we took the advanced class without taking the placement test.

But when we walked to the tent and found out that the teachers were Nils and Bianca, he was so excited that he screamed with me.

Before the class started, we walked over and briefly talked to Bianca about the situation. We did not take the placement test, but we really hope to be in this class. She said of course it's no problem, just come if you want. If you feel comfortable, just stay in the advanced class. It went surprisingly smoothly!

Swing's teachers are particularly cute because they have different personalities.

I feel that if we met Frida, she would definitely not agree to our joining the class. Although at the beginning, talking to Bianca felt like talking to a celebrity, her humor soon brought us closer and completely conquered me.

The leaders of the advanced class are also great! They only need to watch the movements taught by the teacher once, and they can imitate them immediately. I felt like I had simply fallen into a pile of male gods, and I felt so happy...

After class, the Spanish guy and I put it together and decided to stay in the advanced class.

When I have time, I go outside the tent to listen to intermediate and advanced classes. Then when I have free time, I will take Shag’s class. Anyway, we are a leader and a follower, so we can practice at any time. The tent is open-air, so there is no problem standing outside and listening to the class. After scribbling on the Schedule with a pen, we were both quite satisfied.

There was an advanced class class for Skye and Frida next, and I wanted to drag him along. But he really couldn't bear it anymore, and he had booked a full bed for 500 yuan a week. He needed to find a bed first and sleep for a few hours, so he could only see him at the dance party in the evening. I stopped forcing myself and went to the classroom shamelessly.

You can see happy dancing friends everywhere on the road

Skye and Frida are indeed strict. Skye walked up to me and asked me if I was in this class. I gritted my teeth and said: Yes.

I thought to myself that I would not be remembered for that morning class. In the eyes of foreigners, Asians all look similar. Even if he recognized it, he would still doubt that he had made a mistake. Sure enough, seeing how determined I was, he said nothing more.

In fact, my voice was shaking with nervousness. At that time, I had already decided to stay in the advanced class, so I had no choice but to bite the bullet and be determined. (Of course, it is not a good phenomenon to skip classes. After all, it is necessary to be fair to every student. We really do not encourage everyone to do this) .

They taught the same content as in the morning, but the progress was so fast that it would be unimaginable for intermediate and advanced classes. What you learn in two classes in the intermediate and advanced classes only lasts 15 minutes in the advanced class. After they danced once, they asked us to dance directly and asked questions where we didn't know how to do it. Fortunately, as a follower, I always feel that the requirements are not that high. If the leader is good, I can keep up. But after one class, I learned the entire routine and felt a bit overloaded. What I am sure of is that if I don’t practice with the leader after class, I will definitely forget these actions tomorrow.

Although I have attended classes for a few days, I am not very familiar with the classmates in the class.

Until the last day of Åsa and Daniel's class, the teacher asked us to work in pairs and sing the rhythm to each other. I slowly started to get to know the classmates in the class. It turns out that the girl with an Asian face is Taiwanese. She said she had been here for three weeks and this was her last week.

She saw us dancing Shag and was very interested. She also asked me to teach her some basic steps of Shag in the evening. At this time, suddenly felt a little regretful and lost. We just met, so we didn’t get to chat more, but we had to go our separate ways the next day...

Åsa and Daniel's class

Food at HDC

There are not many places to eat in HDC, it is a village after all. There are several simple snack stalls: burgers and fries, Thai food, salads, grilled sandwiches...but they are all unexpectedly delicious.

Burgers and fries made by Dancer

When I was buying a sandwich, I discovered that the sandwich seller was a good friend of mine from Denmark. We chatted happily for a few words, and then she went to help me make a sandwich. She was very busy.

She told me before that she would volunteer at HDC from the third to fifth weeks. But when I saw her baking bread and making milkshakes in an orderly manner on the spot, I still found it all very interesting, as if I was back to playing house when I was a child.

The rest of the memory is rather vague now that I think about it. I only remember sleeping about 5-6 hours a day, but I feel like I sleep too much. I get up at around 10 o'clock every morning to go to class. When there is no class, I sit outside the tent. Eating salad and watching other people teach.

Outside the tent, eating salad and watching my friends in class

Nightlife in HDC

There is a "regular meeting" at 9pm every night. I thought it would be boring, but ended up being completely hooked the first time I attended. So every day after that, I would line up at 8 o'clock on time to grab a seat.

It is not so much a regular meeting, but more of a talk show performance by the organizers and teachers, coupled with various wonderful shows, it is really hard to blink.

There are various interesting programs in the evening

After the regular meeting, there will be a Library Talk and other Taster classes at 10 o'clock. The library talks a lot about history, and everyone sits together, as if listening to books.

I am not a person who is particularly interested in history. I enjoy the pure joy that music and dancing bring me more than the history of swing dance. But in HDC, this group of interesting people are actually very charming when talking about history.

It’s quite nice to have a day of classes and tell the truth, and then sit and watch performances or listen to historical stories in the evening. I also go to Taster at the end of the regular meeting, but I find that my legs are really weak, and there are really a lot of mosquitoes outside at night.

There will be Midnight Ramble, Midnight Movie, and other performances and activities starting at 12 o'clock. Of course, while all of this was happening, the dance went on forever. There were actually people on the dance floor until 6 or 7 in the morning.

For example, my Danish teacher M. The Party Pass she bought means she doesn't have to go to class during the day, so she usually goes to bed in the morning. So much so that although we live together, we have barely seen each other.

At the HDC dance party, I personally think it is relatively easy for a follower to find a leader to dance with.

But sometimes my legs are really weak and I don’t want to jump, so I just stand against the wall.

Listen to the Live Band and follow the floor of Herrang, bouncing up and down with the rhythm of the music. That feeling, how should I put it, is a little distorted, and I feel that I am far, far away from real life...

However, one has to return to real life eventually. Just like every trip comes to an end, HDC will also come to an end after such a fulfilling week.

On Friday's Savoy Night, I stayed up until four in the morning. I worked hard to find all the friends I met this week at the party and said goodbye one by one. We had a good chat and took advantage of the last opportunity to leave each other's contact information.

Early Saturday morning, I grabbed my suitcase and got on the bus to Stockholm Airport.

Here, everyone is about to go their separate ways...

postscript

After returning to Copenhagen, I slept for a full weekend. The kind of sleep that lasts for more than 10 hours without waking up. Fortunately, I only went there for a week. I don’t know how those who stayed there for five weeks could survive physically.

HDC has ended like this, but it seems that it is not over yet...

In 2020, due to the epidemic, I didn’t go out to dance for nearly half a year. This year's HDC was forced to be cancelled. It can be said that all Swing events in Europe in the second half of this year have been cancelled.

When I am at home, I occasionally receive condolences from dancing friends from all over the world. The condolences from friends in the Swing circle are more like mutual encouragement when everyone is isolated at home. It is warmer to be alone in a foreign country and have someone who cares about you than to face it alone.

Looking at the WeChat group, domestic dance parties are gradually resuming, and I feel itchy. The epidemic situation in Europe is now slowly improving, and I believe the world will one day return to normal.

I look forward to the day when I can safely hug every familiar or unfamiliar friend on the dance floor...

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