• Home
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact
  • Facebook

Blog Post

Shag-a-Bal weekend 2018

24 Feb 2018
0 Comment
Goga Pavlek
Rollin'&Strollin'

Another crazy weekend came to an end :) This was the third edition of Shag-a-Bal, a small festival in Zagreb, devoted exclusively to fast music dances, like shag and balboa. You can see our reviews from the last two editions here and here – written by Django LaForge, who unfortunately couldn’t make it this year due to technical difficulties, and not the lack of enthusiasm, as you may think 😀

Shag-a-Bal festival

The weekend started with the Friday party at Kaptol Boutique Cinema, in the very centre of  Zagreb. Actually this was the first time Vedran and I went there, and I must say I was quite impressed with the interior design of the cinema bar – it’s huge and cozy, modern and retro at the same time.

Shag-a-Bal festival

Maybe it wasn’t the ideal place for dancers, especially for those who were expecting something more similar to a dance hall, or at least a closed event, but, as one fellow dancer said, it kinda looked like you crashed a dance party at someone’s living room. So, yeah, it had some minor disadvantages, but the atmosphere was really pleasant, and even the carpet in front of the stage was good enough even for some balboa sliding.

Shag-a-Bal festival

Like the last year, Gadjo Manouche got the task to warm us up. And they did pretty well. We always enjoy their concerts, and their bass player’s solo outbursts, even though we have a chance to listen to them every Friday in Crafter’s Lav.

Shag-a-Bal festival

At some point they got a reinforcement in shape of Shorty George – one of this year’s teachers, who sang two songs with them, and the crowd went wild. He’s a pretty good singer and entertainer, we should invite him more often.

36

Not sure if anyone got that, but I played Who Said Shorty Wasn’t Coming Back two times, once when Shorty arrived, and once when he was on the go, since he’s already been in Zagreb once. They were so lucky they had me for a Friday party DJ.

Shag-a-Bal festival

Shag-a-Bal festival

Shag-a-Bal festival

Vedran in a good company :)

Shag-a-Bal festival

Workshops started at Saturday, and they were great as usual. I took the balboa classes, and again, I was blown away with the amount of new stuff, that can be applied to improve your skills. So, just when you think you’ve mastered the technique of basic steps, here comes someone like Nejc and Andrea to show you gaps in your knowledge :) This year’s lessons were mostly about the flow, and shaping your body movement.

Shag-a-Bal festival

Shag teachers this year were Gosia Aniolkowska and Matteo De Stefano, including some rising stars like our teachers Dado and Lea, Vid Milojković and Živa Šubelj from Slovenia, and Maria Shagfrau Grabherr from Austria.

Shag-a-Bal festival

Shorty George and Ira Ishchuk are a really nice dance couple, full of positive energy and craziness, and people, including me, really enjoyed their classes.

Shag-a-Bal festival
Saturday party was also held in the Boutique, but with another band. Retro Vibes Orchestra had a pretty good gig few months ago at the Christmas dance party, but now they were a bit too jazzy for most dancers. But – it didn’t stop us to make the most out of it.

Shag-a-Bal festival

The highlight of the evening was of course a Shag-a-Bal crew choreography. It was very hard to compete with the last year’s performance, though.

Shag-a-Bal festival

Shag-a-Bal festival

Shag-a-Bal festival

Shag-a-Bal festival

Shag-a-Bal festival

And like the night before, we stayed till the very end.

Shag-a-Bal festival

No video, didn’t happen. Literally :) When the class is over, teachers usually do a recap, and students record it with their smartphones. I wonder how many people would actually remember the class material without recording it. Maybe we should ask the guy who’s sitting on the floor, acting cool.

Shag-a-Bal festival

In the evening we moved to a newly opened Kulturni Centar Mesnička, where another band was waiting for us. Gungula is a young female band, who plays jazzy, gypsy, swingy music – and they were absolutely charming. They fit perfectly into the ambient, with both appearance and music, and we had the best time.

Shag-a-Bal festival
The gig was at the basement, so the atmosphere was cozy and friendly, even a bit tight for all the dancers who wanted to dance, but that also has its charms :) Just like Vedran’s shirt with the I Hate Shag title on it.

Shag-a-Bal festivalWe asked Gungula for another hundred sets, and when they had enough of us, it was time for Matteo to check out the strings 😀 True story.

Shorty George was announced as a DJ, but unexpectedly the basement had to close, so we didn’t hear much of Shorty’s playlist, but I must say that it ended in the perfect timing. The party was still at its peak, but most of the people already had to go and prepare themselves for the working week. The wild bunch went to an after party, so this is the official last man standing photo :)

Shag-a-Bal festival

All in all – one amazing weekend. A little bird told us that some of the teachers will be back in Zagreb in April, for a Streetcar named Lindy festival, so stay tuned!
Thanks Biba from Studio Studio for the photos!

If you like what you see, you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram :)

Share

  • google-share

Search

Categories

  • Build Log
  • Design Thing
  • Ford Capri Build Log
  • Misc
  • Movie Night
  • Old Stuff
  • People&Cars
  • Rollin'&Strollin'
  • Swingship Enterprise
Place your ad here
Place your ad here
AeroMagic
Miromax
OnAir
Solvis
Elly Prizeman
Janakis Lindyhopoulos

Archive

  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
© Craftomoto 2015.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.