Not many beginners come along to modern jive classes and announce themselves a dancer after a few lessons. But why not? Maybe as soon as we start learning we should call ourselves dancers in hope and with optimism that it will come true and we will all become proficient, if not great, dancers. Say the…
Ballet Central Summer tour 2019
Quite by accident I spotted an ad for the Ballet Central summer show at Chipping Norton theatre. Each year the graduating students from Central Ballet School do a summer tour around the UK as part of the Ballet Central touring company, so I decided it was worth checking out. I’ve not been to the ballet…
Flirty Dancing on tv – the dancing connection
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…
