The ESDS AGM was held on 23rd January 2020 at LifeCare Centre. Here’s a quick rundown of what was covered in the meeting.

What we did in 2019

Classes and workshops

• 6 terms of Lindy on Thursdays, a taster in collegiate shag, 3 solo jazz classes, and an “intro to solo jazz”
• 5 Thursday band nights (one part of Edinburgh Swings into Spring weekend)
• 8 mini workshops including Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 Refresher workshops, and one on solo jazz.
• April workshop weekend – “Edinburgh Swings into Spring”

Guest teachers

• Pippa for shag taster
• Katie and Jamie from EUSDS
• Shell and Tim for Advanced workshop

Events and other stuff

• Regular visits to the pub to make beginners feel welcome and get to know others
• Conducted a members survey to find out what they would like to see us doing
• Introduced 10 Class Pass Card
• Implemented new teaching plan to develop our teachers and enhance the class experience for our members
• Launched new Thursday structure
• 5 Outdoor dancing events
• Members raised and donated £150 to local charity Health in Mind

Thanks to Volunteers

• Thursday volunteers : Alice, Amy, Jarek, Emily, Doug and Karen
• DJs : Minna; Eva, Valerie, Paddy, Lottie, Michael, Niall, Kate and Siggy
• Teachers : Paddy, Katie, George, Migle, Dimitris, Minna; Alex, Lottie, Jane, Vicky, Rhona, Niall and Graeme.
• Committee : Cristina, Vicky; Rhona, Lottie, Niall, Pippa, Will, Emma and Scott.

Plans for 2020

• More weekend workshops
• Winter Swing Weekend 2020
• Plus whatever the new committee dreams up.

Summary of financial report

• Money generated by Thursday classes continues to be our main source of income.
• This income covers our overheads such as hall hire and insurance.
• All teaching/running of the ESDS is by unpaid volunteers.
• Events such large workshop weekends continue to be subsidised for the benefit of members.
• Refresher workshops are run on a break-even basis, but generated a small income this year.
• We continue to donate to charity on an ad-hoc basis (£150 raised for MIND this year)

Changes to the constitution

The meeting unanimously approved the plans that “All Committee members shall be determined by election by the ESDS membership at an ESDS General Meeting. Specific roles shall be determined by the Committee members.”. The main benefit of this is that the AGM can be a LOT shorter 🙂

Committee Elections. 

Karen, Ross, and Jeff volunteered to join the committee to replace those standing down. All were proposed and seconded. Welcome, one and all!

Just a quick Thank You to everyone who attended our recent AGM, and everyone who supported the OpenStreets event on Sunday – the weather stayed pretty good, despite how it had looked early in the day!

The AGM is a chance to reflect on the society’s activities this past year and elect our 2020 Committee who will take the society forward!

The AGM will be held in the room upstairs and should only last about 15 minutes. Social dancing will go ahead as normal at 9:15pm in the main hall.

As per our constitution, only those who have held membership this past year are eligible for nomination. The AGM cannot be attended by non-members.

It is not compulsory for committee members to attend every Thursday, but we encourage committee members to do so as much as possible so that we are on hand where help is needed.

Thank you!

Please be aware of MAJOR roadworks affecting the Stockbridge area – effectively closing the bridge, with diversions via the Botanics. Please allow extra time for travel and parking. https://www.sgn.co.uk/our-gas-works/major-planned-projects/raeburn-place-area-edinburgh  

Let us Swing! Let us Swing! Let us Swing!

On Thursday December 12th, please join us for our Christmas Social with live music from King Louis and the Primas. On that night we won’t be running any classes. We will have a DJ from 7.30pm nicely warming you up for the band on stage at 8pm.

Tickets are available on the night at £8 for members and concessions, £10 for non-members.

BYOB and we’ll provide the snacks.

Dress Code (optional): festive sparkle!

When we return on Thursday 9 January 2020 we will be piloting changes to our Thursday night structure as follows:  

7:15-8:10pm: Technique and Core Moves – replacing Level 2 and at an earlier start time. Dancers are encouraged to stay and work on refining basics or learn new moves after this class.
8:15-9:10pm: Fundamentals Eight Beat and Fundamentals C/S (Charleston/Six Beat) – replacing Level 1 and at a later start time. These will rotate per term.
8:15-9:10pm: Advanced styling and Improvisation – replacing Level 3 and at a later start time.
9:15-10:15pm: Social dancing – a later start time but extended social.

Why is this happening?
We have received feedback from our members that it can be challenging to learn new skills late at night hence the decision to bring class start times forward. It also means we get more time for social dancing – hurrah!

Prices will remain the same: £6/5. Don’t forget our 10 Class Pass Card!