Personal History of Jive My own ‘History of Jive’ has been a special one because the jive has always been a better dance for me. Not because I studied it more than the others or because I practised it more. Jive was so natural for me that I didn’t have to practice it much. Possibly…
Ballroom & Latin Competitions: New Ambitions
Ballroom & Latin Competitions in 2020 The new year is upon us and the Ballroom & Latin competitions are about to start in earnest. I will be pushing my school and my competitive team more than they have ever been pushed before. The new methods and the training I have planned is going to sort…
How to Practice Ballroom Dancing Part 2
How to Practice Ballroom Dancing Part 2 – So Far So you have hopefully started with part one of this series – How to Practice Ballroom Dancing. Hopefully, you have started to follow the simple rules which we set out in that first part. If you haven’t yet, I would suggest you stop reading this….
Learn to Dance the Cha Cha Cha Basics in Surrey!
Learn to Dance the Cha Cha Cha Basics in Surrey – Understanding what you are learning! Before we discuss learning to dance the Cha Cha Cha basics, let’s put the dance in context. Five is the number of balance. It also symbolises man, health and love. According to some, it’s the number for marriage. The…
Social Dances in Surrey
If you live in the dance world for over 30 years, you tend to see trends come and go. Social dances are one of those top trends. At any one time there can be social dances everywhere and then six months later you are wondering where they have all gone. Most of my pupils are…
Learning to Dance in Egham
The dream of dancing The darkness of the night seems to be overwhelming. A blackness covering everything with a sheet of gloom. The wind blows. It howls into the blackness as the rain lashes down. Everything gains a glistening shine. Inside, you look out into the darkness and you settle in for the evening warm…
Do we need to lead in Ballroom and Latin Dancing?
The art form that is leading is dying a slow but real death, leading to the question, Do we need to lead in Ballroom and Latin Dancing? A couple of years ago, the World Champions Michael and Joanna kept leading and following alive. Every time they went on the floor their impressive displays of seamless…
Learning to Dance: 6+ Plus Reasons to Learn
Learning to Dance: 6+ Plus Reasons to Learn – Curriculum You would have to go a long way back to find learning to dance ballroom or latin, as part of normal school curriculum. The last year that it was mandatory for schools to teach ballroom or Latin was 1939. Some schools did keep dance classes…
How to Follow In Ballroom Dancing…
Throughout my 20 year career, I have heard so many women accuse the dance teacher of being sexist. I have even been accused of it too. Women have even accused other female dance teachers with the same slur. Unfortunately, I do admit that when dancing was introduced and Queen Victoria decreed that men should lead,…
How to Lead in Ballroom Dancing…
The phrase I hear most often in my job is “he doesn’t lead me”. I never knew this was going to be the echo in my dance halls. Hearing this at least three to four times a week is like having three or four extra nagging wives. The first question I always ask the girl…
