Gareth & Jeryl
Rock 'n' Roll is:
- easy to learn. Most people can do it -
- extremely versatile. It suits a large range of modern and older popular music -
- a great social activity for meeting new friends and partners -
- inexpensive. Anywhere there is suitable music you can dance -
- suitable for young and old -
- well established. Its practised around the world -
- very suitable for amateurs as well as pro dancers. You don't need to be perfect for fear of being laughed at -
- a great fitness activity -
- a socially acceptable way for ladies to show their knickers in public (but gentlemen don't notice!) -
Sandra trusts Trevor
to have a firm grip on things
James and Ann
dance with color and style
Sandy and Annette
strut their stuff!
No butterfingers here!
Hands up those who
love to dance!
George & Sue can step
with the best of them
Sandy & Annette have a
laid back approach
Gareth & Jeryl
What time is it? Time to dance!
Dancing Doubles
Heather, Rod & Leslie
Gareth & Jeryl
Rock 'n' Roll is:
- easy to learn. Most people can do it -
- extremely versatile. It suits a large range of modern and older popular music -
- a great social activity for meeting new friends and partners -
- inexpensive. Anywhere there is suitable music you can dance -
- suitable for young and old -
- well established. Its practised around the world -
- very suitable for amateurs as well as pro dancers. You don't need to be perfect for fear of being laughed at -
- a great fitness activity -
- a socially acceptable way for ladies to show their knickers in public (but gentlemen don't notice!) -
Sandra trusts Trevor
to have a firm grip on things
James and Ann
dance with color and style
Sandy and Annette
strut their stuff!
No butterfingers here!
Hands up those who
love to dance!
George & Sue can step
with the best of them
Sandy & Annette have a
laid back approach
Gareth & Jeryl
What time is it? Time to dance!
Dancing Doubles
Heather, Rod & Leslie
reported by Gareth
Sandy and Annette bend over backwards to please the crowd.
Each year the Adelaide Rock 'n' Roll Club arranges a week-long festival of Rock 'n' Roll and Swing Dancing with daily events featuring bands and dancers from around Australia. The festival culminates in a day-long outdoor event at a public reserve in Glenelg, a popular beachside suburb, which is free to attend. The dancing is flashy, fast and furious as thousands of members of the public get to see just exactly what Rock 'n' Roll is all about.
In previous years the festival has been called "That'll Be The Day". This year the name changed but the fun continued unabated. It commenced on Tuesday 8th November with "That’ll Be Club Night" at the European Convention Centre. The Clubs regular dance meetings are held there on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday each month. On the Wednesday night there was a fashion Parade and Dinner/Dance at the Clovercrest Hotel, a prodigal Rock 'n' Roll venue with a favourite Adelaide band 'Jump ‘n’ Jive' entertaining. On the Thursday night a Swing Dance was presented by 'Swingshift', a division of the Rock 'n' Roll Club. Friday saw enthusiasts enjoying a hotrod, custom or classic car cruise ending at a dance at the Marion Sports & Community Club featuring Adelaide 4-piece band '8 Balls' (we'll take their word for it!). On Saturday 12th November a massive crowd of around 900 people crowded into the giant Mitsubishi Canteen at the Mitsubishi car plant, Tonsley Park, for a spectacular display of Rock 'n' Roll music and dance featuring Melbourne band 'Crash and the Fender Benders' along with Adelaide band 'Twenty Flight Rock'.
You could be forgiven for thinking that by Sunday Adelaide's Rock 'n' Rollers were worn out but that wasn't the case. At Glenelg's Wigley Reserve on the banks of the Patawolonga lake overlooked by a replica of HMS Buffalo, a square-rigger of great historical importance in the settling of sunny South Australia, the Rock 'n' Roll music and dancing flowed like a King tide. Elvis would have been impressed! On display were many cars of the nineteen fifties and sixties, some stock production vehicles and some hotrods, but all capturing the charm of the great Rock 'n' Roll era.
Thousands of people flocked to the reserve on a warm and sunny day to see some great Rock 'n' Roll bands and dancing. Acts included Jump Daddys, 60's Adelaide recording star Bev Harrell, The Cruze Bros, Happy Daze, Rockafellas, Crash & The Fender Benders, Getback and Jump 'n' Jive. It was a day of fabulous fun and entertainment and two large dance floors were kept very full, along with a children's dance floor that had plenty of budding Rockers getting early practice.
These pictures courtesy of Geoff Kittell show just how well some of our locals can dance. At sixty Sandy is doing things most of us couldn't do when we were sixteen!