To keep modern jive (and other social dances) alive, we need to keep bringing beginners through. In recent years, venues have closed, or sometimes changed to focus on freestyles rather than the 2 class format. That means as a community we’re reliant on people learning dance elsewhere, then transferring over. In some areas, the modern…
When you’re watching someone on the dance floor what are your thoughts? Assuming they’re not falling over or making huge over the top movement that you can’t fail to see. Mostly you watch people dance because they’ve got a spark, something that makes you notice them. It could be what they’re wearing. It could be…
Harking back to the days of our grandparents and earlier, a social dance was where you went on dates and met friends. It was a huge social occasion, largely based on social ballroom style. There were dance halls in most towns and cities, compared with recent years where there’s few dance venues left. However my…
When you start social dancing you might not know about modern jive freestyles. You might just be looking to learn how to dance. Maybe learn to dance for your wedding. Or you’ve been dragged along by a friend or partner under duress. But even after one modern jive beginners class you’re encouraged to get on…
After years of ballet lessons and going to see the ballet, it has been some time since I’ve been to big ballet production. I’d managed to buy tickets for the last night of Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella at the Birmingham Hippodrome and Saturday was our time to go. I quite often go to the theatre on…
One of the hardest things in social dancing, for leaders in particular, is knowing what you’re going to lead. As a beginner it’s probably the hardest thing to get past. I call it the improvisation block, and is something we need to get over. Even as someone coming to modern jive and leading from another…
So many people go through life saying they wish they could dance, but don’t do anything about it. I believe if more people knew about social dancing there’d be a lot more people out there on the dancefloor. They may love watching others dance, at the theatre or on tv through Strictly Come Dancing and…
