So after a 3 year break since Covid 19 hit in March 2020 which was the last time I attended a LTP bachata party I decided it was time to head back to Nottingham to check out the LTP 10 year anniversary on Friday 10th March 2023 to see how the dancing in Nottingham has progressed since in restarted in July 2021 and here is my full review of the event.

Overall personally I thought it was a great evening with a great vibe and attended well by so many dancers from across the region.

However my fellow friends who dance mainly bachata raised a few questions on the night which made me think too. I certainly felt the 10 year anniversary presentation went on for way to long for about an hour from midnight til 1am which needs better preperation to limit the time it goes to get to strike the right balance between doing a presentation and keeping dancers not waiting for to long before restarting the party (the video presentation  created by the LTP student dance team was a surprise presentation for Sol and Laura) followed by a flawed music policy after from 1am til 2am. To attend a advertised bachata night to only hear 5 bachata tracks and at one point 5 consecutive kizomba tracks played between midnight and 2am isn’t really acceptable.

As I personally recommended the LTP bachata night to a few of my bachata friends from Leeds who decided to travel 80 miles down to Nottingham with me whose 1st time it was to dance in Nottingham, I feel responsible that the LTP bachata party fell below the high standards I had made my recommendation on. My friends asked me on the night:-

is it standard that 5 consecutive kizomba tracks are played on a LTP bachata night?

Is it standard that the 10 year anniversary presentation lasts an hour?

Is it normally as busy as this?

So many fundamental questions being asked and it was so difficult for me to give answers for the way the party had turned out from midnight onwards. By the time the presentation had finished at 1am there was significantly more space to dance as it appears alot of the other dancers had left at some point during the presentation as they felt it had gone on for to long and got bored.

Good points on the event

1 the bachata lesson by Sol and Laura at 8pm was really good and a great warm up
2 the vibe and atmosphere felt really good. From 9pm til midnight
3 the music played from 9pm til midnight was done really well.

Points which need significant improvement on

1 the venue was way to small (this isn’t the organisers fault as I recognise that venue availability is a issue). There was hardly any space to dance with so many people in the venue and this is the smallest venue LTP have hosted their monthly party in 10 years i have seen.
2 The music policy was fundamentally flawed from 1am til 2am with 5 kizomba tracks played consecutively at a advertised bachata night followed by a load of animation tracks at 2am. (I haven’t ever heard of so much animation at LTP piror to March 2020 when i last went)
3 After the long 1 hour presentation the vibe seemed to have died down and it was very difficult to raise the energy level in the room at 1am especially when 5 kizomba tracks are being played consecutively.
4 The LTP presentation needs better planning as the video presentation was created as a surprise by Sol and Laura's dance team which ran on for a bit to long. Yes while it was a significant milestone for LTP which should be recognised the presentation and video should be limited to around 30 mins, 40 mins absolute maximum so we don't lose the dancer's energy levels. This is because dancers like myself who have attended LTP for many years (I attended LTP monthly bachata parties for 8 years since 2014) don’t mind as much reflecting on the 10 year anniversary having been a part of the journey. However any new bachata dancer who is trying this night will remember their 1st night dancing night at a LTP bachata party as having a very long presentation and will be asking themselves was it worth the 80 mile return journey to listen to a presentation?

In summary, the LTP bachata parties were much better prior to March 2020 precovid because Sol and Laura were personally involved with the running of the event as I do believe they know how to throw a fantastic party when there was a much better larger venue and much better music policy. With so many basic fundamental flaws after midnight and an over reliance of outsourcing of certain functions which has led to a reduction in the quality of the event and I think a message needs to go back to the organisers.

“Sol/Laura I have been going to your events since 2014 when we were at The Lacehouse and I miss the way how you were so much more involved in organising those original parties by being on the door collecting the money, teaching the 1st lesson yourself followed by a guest teacher for the 2nd lesson and djing the night yourself for us. If you ever lose your way always go back to the beginning where you started as it is those original values which form the bedrock of the LTP bachata values which is how I remembered LTP bachata, which my friends did not experience last night”.