Last night saw the first public announcing (previous year’s have just announced the winner in the magazine) of the winner of Dance Today magazine’s 2015 Dance Teacher of the Year.

The results were announced at a special Gala Night being held at Blackpool Tower, considered by many to be the home of Ballroom Dancing.

There were four shortlisted teachers from the National competition.  As many of you know, our principal and co-founder, Antony Holeksa made it onto this shortlist.

Joining Antony were Ballroom and Latin teachers Warren and Jane Bullock (pictured left), who have represented the UK in major competitions around the globe and featured in numerous British, European and World finals, run a large dance school, Zig Zag Dance Factory, in the Midlands.

Also, Strictly Come Dancing‘s assistant Charleston choreographer Scott Cupit (pictured right) moved to London in 2009 to open Swing Patrol London, which now runs classes and weekly social dances in venues all over the capital and last year received investment from Deborah Meaden on Dragons’ Den to spread the love for swing further afield.

And finally, Michelle Moss (pictured left) has run the Michelle Moss School of Performing Arts, in Stoke-on-Trent, for 14 years. She teaches ballet and tap and many of her students now train at the Royal Ballet School, the Hammond and Northern Ballet, to name but a few.

The evening kicked off with a workshop run by Warren & Jane Bullock, covering a simple but elegant line sequence for Foxtrot and a fiesty Cha Cha step.  We then had general dancing first to recorded music and then later, from the iconic Ross Mitchell Orchestra.

After a cabaret from some rising stars it was time to announce the winner.

Nicola Rayner, the editor of Dance Today magazine, took to the stage and gave a brief bio of each of the shortlisted teachers before passing to Ross Mitchell to announce the winner.

…

The winner of the 2015 Dance Today Dance Teacher of the Year is Scott Cupit from Swing Patrol London.  You can read the full announcement on the Dance Today website.

Whilst Antony was obviously disappointed not to have won, the achievement of a second consecutive shortlisting, in such a big national competition is an amazing result and we can’t thank our student and their friends and families enough for all the votes they placed.

This was apparently the closest year of the competition and we congratulate Scott on his win.  Not only is he a really great guy but Antony & Emma have been to a Swing Patrol workshop a few years ago (back when they had spare time!) and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We look forward to the 2016 competition and another chance to go for the title!

The post 2015 Dance Teacher of the Year Results appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Christmas Dance Social 2014

WHEN: FRIDAY 12th DECEMBER

WHERE: BURNHAM PARK HALL

TIME: 8.30PM-11PM
(Tango Workshops from 7.30pm)

PRICE: £6pp
(£5 if you BOOK ONLINE in advance)

Our Christmas Dance Social will take place on Friday 12th December at Burnham Park Hall, Windsor Lane, Burnham, SL1 7HR.

Costumes are highly recommended (and appreciated) or we do ask for a red, white or green theme to your outfit in keeping with the Christmas spirit.  However this is not compulsory.

The evening features a variety of Ballroom and Latin American dances and also has Tango Workshops (two levels – ‘Beginner’ and ‘Improver II + Above’) beforehand at 7.30pm.

The post Christmas Social Friday 12th December appeared first on Learn To Dance.

FitSteps® takes the very best of Ballroom and Latin, mixes it with the latest, proven ways to get fit FAST and deliver the most exciting, fun, fabulous fitness experience you’ve ever had.

LearnToDance Adult Ballroom and Latin American Beginner Classes are designed for complete beginners, with only a few basic steps covered per dance and you can attend either with a partner or on your own.

We cover the basics of 12 popular dances in rotation, incorporating Waltz, Rumba, Foxtrot, Samba, Tango, Jive, Quickstep, Cha Cha, Viennese Waltz, Salsa, Argentine Tango & Merengue.

Our classes are a fun and friendly way to LearnToDance and you can either pay £7.50 per week, or buy in bulk for discounts.

To book online please visit out online booking portal, we look forward to seeing you at classes soon.

About LearnToDance

LearnToDance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School run by husband and wife team Antony & Emma-Louise Holeksa and has been running since 2006.  Classes for all levels and ages, and personal tuition, take place throughout the week, as well as dance breaks and private events.

The post Brand New Classes in Maidenhead appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Dancing publication Dance Today are running a competition to decide their 2014 Dance Teacher Of The Year.

To vote for any of our teachers at LearnToDance all you have to do is send your chosen teacher’s name, along with an explanation of why you’d love to see your teacher win, to Dance Today by Thursday 1^st May.

The best reader nominations also win themselves a year’s subscription to Dance Today magazine.

Entries can be made via the following means:

• Post to The Dancing Times Limited, 45-47 Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0EB

• Email to nicola@dance-today.co.uk
• Twitter @DanceTodaymag
• Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Dance-Today/316422563395

They’ll announce the shortlisted candidates and overall winner – the teacher with the most reader votes – in their June issue. The Teacher of the Year will win a specially created Dance Today trophy – a cover of the magazine starring them, a feature about them and their studio in the magazine, and a year’s free subscription to Dance Today and sister magazine, Dancing Times, plus a pair of tickets to a dance show (details to be confirmed) and a selection of dance CDs and DVDs, as well as unprecedented bragging rights!

Antony Holeksa

Emma-Louise Holeksa

Denise Bainton

The post Vote for LearnToDance teachers appeared first on Learn To Dance.

LearnToDance

A local dance school has been voted among Britain’s best in a prestigious national competition.

The LearnToDance classes scooped one of the top awards in the Classes For You competition, run by Britain’s biggest parenting site Netmums.

The UK-wide competition was launched as a chance for people running adult classes to be recognized for their hard work serving and improving the local community.

Over 1.7 million members were eligible to vote in the competition.

Class organiser Antony Holeksa, 31, was delighted to be crowned a local favourite. The ex-competitive dancer set up the school with his wife Emma-Louise in 2006 and has seen it grow from a once-a-week hobby into a full-time dance school helping hundreds of students a week to LearnToDance.

Beaming, Antony said: “When we entered the competition we never dreamed we’d be one of the winners as there are over 300 different Classes For Adults listed in East Berkshire alone!  We just want to thank everyone that voted for us.  It really means a lot.”

The LearnToDance classes will now be honoured with a coveted gold listing on the Netmums site, used by over a million people each week, along with a special ‘Netmums Favourite’ certificate to display in their class. LearnToDance also wins a badge for the www.learndance.co.uk and www.want-to-dance.co.uk websites and a place on the Netmums Award Winners pages.

For more information, please contact Learn To Dance on info@want-to-dance.co.uk or 01753 360121 / 07736 272225

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Never know what to do on the dance floor at a party, worried at weddings, or planning a Caribbean cruise?  Even if you can’t dance, LearnToDance’s Beginner Merengue Workshop in Eton Wick is just the class for you on Sunday 16^th February at the Eton Wick Village Hall, Eton Wick Road, Eton Wick, SL4 6LT.

Our Monthly Beginner Workshops are fun and friendly classes that aim to give you simple routines that you can take away and dance anywhere.  The Merengue is an informal dance with a basic marching action and if you can walk, you can dance the Merengue.  We use a mixture of traditional Merengue music as well as modern pop songs such as ‘Pound the Alarm’ by Nicki Minaj to show just how versatile the dance can be.

Just a few of our most recent comments from students:

• ‘even as a complete beginner, I was made to feel like a dancer’
• ‘they make learning to dance such unbelievable fun’
• ‘great fun, great exercise and lovely people’
• ‘they are brilliant teachers and very patient’
• ‘A very friendly place to dance and learn to dance’

And for anyone who’s thinking, ‘But I can’t dance’ or ‘I don’t have anyone to dance with’, there’s no excuse – you don’t have to able to dance and you don’t need a partner! You just have to want to learn to dance and have fun.

So, if you’re ready to take to the floor and Merengue like you’ve never Merengue’d before, all you need to do is be at the Eton Wick Village Hall on Sunday 16^th February at 1.30pm where the team from LearnToDance will be waiting to teach you everything you need to know. For more information, you can contact Antony on 07736 272225, email us at info@want-to-dance.co.uk or check out our website at www.want-to-dance.co.uk.

The workshop is £20 per person or £30 for a couple dancing together.  You can book online directly on our website.

Sunday 16^th February 1.30pm-3.30pm

About LearnToDance

LearnToDance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School run by husband and wife team Antony & Emma-Louise Holeksa and has been running since 2006.  Classes for all levels and ages, and personal tuition, take place throughout the week, as well as dance breaks and private events.

The post Merengue Beginner Workshop this Sunday in Eton Wick with LearnToDance appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Our monthly afternoon tea dances are a chance to come along and practice your dancing in a fun and friendly environment.

The afternoon will feature Ballroom and Latin American with a selection of classic Sequence dances in the middle.

There is no tuition at these sessions.

The tea dance is £5 per person.

No partner is required but we cannot guarantee there will be an even split, however we hope that everyone will get plenty of opportunities to dance.

The tea dances will take place on the last Wednesday of the month, commencing from Wednesday 26th February, at the Eton Wick Village Hall, Eton Wick Road, Eton Wick, SL4 6LT.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

LearnToDance also provide weekly classes specifically for the Over 50s in three different locations, please see our timetable or contact us for more information.

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‘Strictly Come Dancing’ dance stars Natalie Lowe and Ian Waite have teamed up with six time world champion swimmer Mark Foster, a former Strictly contestant and an expert in fitness and conditioning, to produce a unique dance and fitness programme – ‘FitSteps’.

They have combined, for the first time, the best known and most popular Latin and Ballroom dances with proven fitness techniques, to develop a dance/fitness programme that is capable of delivering fast fitness results, with a heap of fun thrown in!

Just look at what some of the lucky people who’ve already had the chance to try FitSteps have been saying:

• ‘It was like a dream I really enjoyed it’
• ‘It was fab! Good and easy to follow’
• ‘YES! YES!’
• ‘Absolutely give it a go; you’ll love it!!’
• ‘You should go because it is amazing’
• Do it and you feel like you’re on STRICTLY!!
• It was brilliant! Fun and fitness combined.
• A workout that doesn’t feel like it, it’s so much fun!!
• Great fun, great music and a great workout, without even realising it.
• Great workout, fun, and makes you feel like a star!!!

And for anyone who’s thinking, ‘But I can’t dance’ or ‘I don’t have anyone to dance with’, there’s no excuse – you don’t have to able to dance and you don’t need a partner! You just have to want to get fit and have fun.

So, if you’re ready to take to the floor and FitSteps your way to a new you, all you need to do is be at the Eton Wick Village Hall on Tuesday 4^th February at 8.30pm or Wednesday 5^th February at 10am where Antony Holeksa (an accredited FitSteps Instructor) from LearnToDance, will be waiting to put you through your FitSteps paces! Get there early, there’s going to be a rush!

For more information you can contact Antony on 07736 272225, email us at info@want-to-dance.co.uk, or check out our website at www.want-to-dance.co.uk/fitsteps.

Classes are £5 per person or £45 for 10 sessions.

Tuesday 8.30pm-9.15pm
Wednesday 10am-10.45am

LearnToDance is a Ballroom and Latin American Dance School run by husband and wife team Antony & Emma-Louise Holeksa and has been running since 2006.  Classes for all levels and ages, and personal tuition, take place throughout the week, as well as dance breaks and private events.

The post Fitness that’s ‘Strictly’ fun comes to Eton Wick with Learn To Dance appeared first on Learn To Dance.

There are currently no planned Zumba classes to replace them, however Antony will be starting brand new FitSteps classes from Tuesday 4th February.

Our brand new FitSteps classes start from Tuesday 4th February at The Eton Wick Village Hall, Eton Wick Road, Eton Wick, SL4 6LT.

Created by Natalie Lowe and Ian Waite of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, FitSteps® takes the very best of Ballroom and Latin, mixes it with the latest, proven ways to get fit FAST and deliver the most exciting, fun, fabulous fitness experience you’ve ever had.

These classes are a great way to learn and practice actual Ballroom and Latin American dance steps that wouldn’t look out of place on the floor of Strictly Come Dancing!  Add to that the fitness aspect and before you know it you’re getting fit whilst having fun.

Classes are £5 per session or 10 sessions for £45.

Tuesday 8.30pm-9.15pm
Wednesday 10am-10.45am

FitSteps Testimonials

You can sign up for our FitSteps classes using the following link Sign Me Up

The post Last Zumba Gold Class appeared first on Learn To Dance.

So whether your child has been to our kids dance classes before or not, they can come along and have free sessions during the summer.  Our classes use a mix of Ballroom, Latin American, party dances & Zumba (Zumbatomic for kids) to create a fun mix of dancing.

Classes take place at Eton Wick Village Hall, Eton Wick Road, Eton Wick, SL4 6LT.

Under 10s start at 10.30am and Under 16s from 11am.  There will be no classes on Sunday 1st September and then normal service will resume from 8th September.  Our classes are normally £3.50 per child or £18 for 6 sessions.

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