The Strange World of Axel Fendersson

‘Tis the turning of the year, and hopes are all renewed Mind you, we said the same last year and nothing much ensued. That rhyme appears on the Kipper Family album The Ever-Decreasing Circle. I’ve always liked it and been prone to trotting it out at around this time as it appeals to the more [...]

Since I started dancing, I’ve attended several events at which Black Tie is, although not compulsory, quite commonplace. After the first of these, at which I dressed informally, I decided to adopt this mode of dress myself at future events. I was aware at that time that Black Tie was a fairly precisely defined dress [...]

Back in 2006, when Tim Healey first put together Melomania to play at Oxford Folk Festival, I was given an old second-hand tailcoat to wear as part of the costume. At the time, I thought it was quite a nice garment, but only really in the sense that a bit of old-fashioned formal-wear had a [...]

As of last Thursday evening it has been a whole year since I first went along to Jive+ in Witney to try a free evening’s dancing. Somehow it seems simultaneously to have been very recent and a long, long time ago. On the one hand, dancing still has a vast amount of novelty value for [...]

Well, there goes another rite of passage; I have now had my first car accident. I attended a dance workshop in Abingdon yesterday afternoon, which was very good, and was planning on attending the freestyle in the evening. However, I had a couple of hours between the two, so I decided to drive home to [...]

I’m pretty sure that I ought to hate Michael Bublé. I deeply loathe the old crooners he apes; surely I should equally despise their upstart modern imitator? And yet, I can muster nothing more than indifference for him. Almost as puzzling is the fact I don’t hate what I’ve heard of the new Duran Duran [...]

Until Christmas, I wasn’t really doing very much. I went out to Morris practice on Tuesday evening and Jive+ on Wednesday, and that was about it. Other than that, I was doing pretty much nothing all week. And now, all of a sudden, I am busy all the time. Firstly, I am now busy in [...]

I had an interview this morning. As ever, I don’t really know for sure how it went, but I do think I’m in with a decent chance with this one. I was going to say I have a good feeling about this one, but that wouldn’t be true. Honestly, I am filled with dread. Which [...]

And so another year has passed and we find ourselves in 2011. 2010 ended the way it started: with a barbecue. There were also clockfails and there was merriment, although it was a little more subdued than usual. We started too early and peaked too soon. 2010 has been a mixed year. At a glance, [...]

So my latest news on the Jive front is that I’ve been asked and have agreed to become a ‘taxi dancer’. Within the context of a Modern Jive class, taxi dancers are experienced dancers who help beginners by dancing with them and giving them help and advice. This can include teaching the beginner review sessions [...]