If you’re in the UK, you might have come across a Channel 4 tv show presented by Ashley Banjo (of Diversity fame), called Flirty Dancing. Usually it’s the type of show I’d read the excerpt for, sigh and ignore. But I can’t resist a dancing tv show. When I came across it while flicking channels…
How to make your Christmas season dance calendar happen
Yes, Christmas is a long time away (well a few months), but the time will whizz by in a blur of work dos, freestyles and various other fun activities you have to coordinate in your seasonal dance calendar. With some Christmas and new year events requiring tickets to be bought in advance, it requires some…
The closeness of dance and dancing with a partner
Before starting dance classes most people’s experience of partner dancing is limited to dancing at home with a parent, country dancing at school, or a slow shuffle round the dance floor at teenage school discos. So starting social dancing and dancing with a partner isn’t always easy. You need to get fairly close (and yes,…
The anatomy of a dance from start to finish
When we social dance, we give ourselves over to the dance. Sometimes to the partner as well. But to the music, the space, the feel of the dance. It can feel like a dream. But even if it’s not that perfect dance, the dance can often be broken down in a similar way. It feels…
Partner dancing – dubious leading habits
Leading is one of the hardest things about partner dancing. Yes you need to know the moves, but you also need to think ahead, think of your follower, have good spatial awareness and be able to think on your feet. No pun intended. But some leaders develop bad habits, in particular how they lead. Some…
When is a dance freestyle not just a freestyle
When I first started social dancing, salsa in my case, I was oblivious to the idea of a dance freestyle night. I went along for a class night which was held in a dance studio and when the two classes beginner and intermediate finished there was no dancing afterwards. Everyone just headed off to the…
How dances change with the same people
Dance is about movement. For modern jive like any partner dance, that movement is of individuals in a partnership, and hopefully a great connection with our partner. But even outside the movement of the dancers, the experience of dance isn’t static. The dance experience changes every time we dance and that makes it more exciting…
