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Learn To Dance Newsletter 24th October 2012

learndance — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 08:00:28 +0000

Learn To Dance Newsletter

Strictly Blog; Thursday Zumba; Halloween themed social; Exam session Sunday; Blackpool Weekend deposits deadline; Argentine Tango Master Class; Ken Bateman Memorial Ball; Over 50’s Daytime Tenpin Bowling; Beginner Viennese Waltz Workshop; No dancing Wednesday 12th December; Social Events in 2013; Private Lessons available and up to end of year

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Upcoming Social Events

Next Social

Our next social night is on Friday 26th October at Burnham Park Hall.

The workshop on 26th will cover Rumba and costs £7.50 per person.

Remember it’s £6 for the social (£5 if paid in advance) or £10 for both the workshop and social.

Ken Bateman Memorial Ball

Saturday 10th November

The Centre, Slough.

Black tie is appreciated, there is a licensed bar and a large free car park.

A chance to come along for a good night of dancing, there will also be professional demonstrations of Ballroom and Latin American dancing.

Tickets are £15 in advance or £20 on the door please let us know if you’re interested in coming along to guarantee a seat.

Tenpin Bowling

Our monthly daytime Tenpin Bowling visit will be on Thursday 15th November.

We go to Absolute Tenpin in Slough and it’s £3 for 2 games of bowling including tea or coffee and runs 2pm-5pm.

If you’re interested in coming along please let us know.

Blackpool Dance Break

4th-6th January 2013

Weekend Break.

On this trip we will be going to watch the Champions Of Tomorrow dance championship at Blackpool Winter Gardens. On the Sunday we then take you to Blackpool Tower where you can dance at the world famous Tower Ballroom.

The break costs £200 for DB&B including coach transport from Eton Wick. A £25 per person deposit is required by 31st October, with the balance payable by 30th November.

Strictly Come & Dance Charity Event

9th February 2013

Maidenhead Town Hall.

Antony has agreed to defend his title in a charity competition in February, he’ll have 10 hours over 4 weeks to train a novice to perform at the Strictly inspired event and see if he can win for the second year.

There’ll be judges marking the dances but the audience also get a vote so the more supporters we have the better!

The winning couple will have at least £250 to donate to their charity of choice.

Ticket prices TBC.

Brendan Cole “License To Thrill”

Saturday 16th February

Basingstoke Anvil.

We have an allocation of tickets for this show at £34.50 per person, if enough people are interested we will look into arranging transport. We need to confirm numbers with the theatre by 30th November.

Great Yarmouth Dance Break

8th-10th March 2013

Weekend Break.

This weekend will feature dance workshops and Q&A sessions by Special Guests

Ian Waite and Natalie Lowe

Prices shown are based on Full Board in a Standard Bungalow Accommodation, for Bungalow Plus and Hotel

accommodation supplements apply.

The break costs £199 per person, deposits of £30 per person are required by 16th December 2012, some single accommodation is available otherwise single supplements would apply. We will arrange transport for £50 per person.

Anton & Erin “Go To Hollywood”

Friday 15th March

Reading Hexagon.

We have an allocation of tickets for this show at £34.50 per person, if enough people are interested we will look into arranging transport. We need to confirm numbers with the theatre asap.

Vincent & Flavia “Midnight Tango “

Wednesday 1st May

Wycombe Swan.

We have an allocation of tickets for this show at £23.00 per person, if enough people are interested we will look into arranging transport. Tickets are on a first-come, first-served basis.

Torquay Dance Break

6th May-10th May 2013 Midweek Break

Next year’s break will cover Foxtrot & Samba. This break is aimed at those that already have some Ballroom and Latin American dance experience.

£209 per person. Prices quoted are for dinner, bed and breakfast per person, and are based on 2 adults sharing standard double or twin bedded rooms.

To book this break you need to contact the hotel directly which you can do by calling 01803 400 500 or emailing rooms@tlh.co.uk.

International Ballroom Dance Championships

Thursday 3rd October 2013.

We have purchased our box tickets for next year (they sell out fast!). Should you wish to attend next year you can purchase tickets at this year’s price of £37.50pp until 30th November, £39pp after this date.

Bournemouth Dance Break

11th-13th October 2013 Weekend Break.

We will be hosting a weekend of Quickstep & Jive dancing at the Hotel Piccadilly , Bournemouth between Friday 11th and Sunday 13th October 2013.

Some delights to look forward to include a bubbly reception, fun dance workshops, a gala dinner and ‘Guys & Molls’ themed ball on the Saturday night.

The break costs £165 per person and you can book direct with the hotel by calling 01202 298024.

In this issue: Strictly Blog; Thursday Zumba; Halloween themed social; Exam session Sunday; Blackpool Weekend deposits deadline; Argentine Tango Master Class; Ken Bateman Memorial Ball; Over 50’s Daytime Tenpin Bowling; Beginner Viennese Waltz Workshop; No dancing Wednesday 12th December; Social Events in 2013; Private Lessons available and up to end of year.

Strictly is in full swing and we think it’s one of the strongest line-ups we’ve seen (especially in recent years). Remember you can read our blog to see Antony’s views on the show, as well as other dance-related musings.

We’ve got a whole host of new Social Events over the next 12 months and they’re likely to be very popular so make sure you let us know as soon as possible if you wish to attend any of them, more details below or in the bar on the left.

Christmas is soon approaching, don’t forget that we sell gift vouchers in denominations starting from £5; or how about something different for your annual Christmas party?

We have experience of creating a ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ themed Christmas party, including training couples to compete for fun at the event, and can even arrange professional demonstrations.

Blackpool Dance Weekend Deposit Deadline

Tuesday 31st October: Remember if you want to come on our Blackpool Dance Weekend the deadline for deposits is next Tuesday.

You can see more details on our online events page.

This is a great weekend, with an opportunity to spectate at a national level competition (Antony’s name should still be in the back of the programme as a past winner!); as well as an opportunity to dance in the world famous Blackpool Tower ballroom.

Strictly Blog

The 5th Judge: In case you haven’t been following it, our Strictly blog is in full swing; with Antony updating with his comments on the weekend’s action on a Monday morning.

If you missed it you can read Antony’s take on Hollywood week, and our homepage is also updated regularly with the current news/blog posts.

Please let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to see us talking about in the blog.

Thursday Zumba

Final Session Tomorrow: Unfortunately we have made the decision to drop our Thursday night Zumba classes after our 25th October session.

We have not had a consistently sufficient number of students attending on a regular basis, and have been offered a private class elsewhere which fits into our schedule better.

We apologise to those that attend and enjoy the Thursday class but hope you can make our Friday class at 6.30pm instead.

There are plans to start a new class on a Monday evening (around 6.30pm) and we are just trying to find a suitable venue. If anyone knows somewhere suitable please let us know.

Zombie Zumba

Thursday 25th & Friday 26th September: Halloween is fast approaching and along with our Spooky Social we’ll be holding our ‘Thriller’ of a Zombie Zumba sessions.

Remember there’s a £1 discount if you come dressed in costume.

This week’s Zumba sessions take place on a Thursday at 6.10pm & a Friday at 6.30pm at Burnham Park Hall.

Rumba Workshop & Halloween Social

Friday 26th October: Our next social will take place on Friday 26th October and will be proceeded by a Rumba workshop.

This will also be our Halloween Social so we recommend you dress appropriately (not compulsory)!

Please remember that the Friday night workshops are generally not suitable for beginners as we don’t cover the basics of the dances.

For beginner workshops please see our monthly Sunday workshops.

The workshop starts at 7.30pm and costs £7.50 or £10 to include the following social.

The social starts at 8.30pm and costs £6 or £5 if you pay in advance.

Next Exam Session

Sunday 28th October: Our next exam session takes place on Sunday 28th October

Exams are available from complete beginners up to gold level and above.

Please contact us if you’re interested in taking an exam. Private lessons are normally recommended in preparation.

Also taking exams entitles you to compete in inter-school competitions if you’re interested in this side of dancing.

Argentine Tango Master Class

Sunday 4th November: Our next Master Class will be the Argentine Tango on Sunday 4th November, 12.30pm-3.30pm.

These master classes concentrate on the technique of the dance in more detail, as well as looking at more difficult steps or complicated sequences that we don’t generally cover in our other dance classes.

If you’re interested in attending please let us know. The classes cost £30 per person or £25 if you book at least a week in advance.

Over 50’s Tenpin Bowling

Thursday 15th November: Our next Tenpin Bowling session will be on Thursday 15th November at Absolutely Ten Pin , Salt Hill Park, Bath Road, Slough, SL1 3SR.

The session starts at 2pm and typically finishes by 5pm, costing £2 per person.

If you’re interested in attending please let us know.

Beginner Viennese Waltz Workshop

Sunday 18th November: Our next beginner workshop will be the Viennese Waltz on Sunday 18th November.

Our beginner workshops run from 1.30pm-3.30pm and cost £20 per person (£30 for a couple dancing together).

They cover the basics of the dance as well as trying to give you a basic routine you can use to get round the floor.

Workshops are a great way to concentrate on learning just one dance.

No Evening Classes Wednesday 12th December

Hall Unavailable: There will be no evening dancing on Wednesday 12th December as the hall is unavailable.

Classes will recommence then in the New Year and further details will be released nearer the time.

Social Events for 2013

How do we find the time for it all?!: The online events section of our website has been updated to reflect all our currently organised trips/events for the next 12 months.

As a summary we have the following events coming up in the next 12 months:

November

Ken Bateman Memorial Ball ; 10th November – Night of dancing in Slough

December

Christmas Social; 14th December – Our last social of the year

January

Blackpool Dance Weekend; 4th-6th January – Dance in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom

February

Strictly Come and Dance Charity Event; Saturday 9th February – Can Antony defend his title?
Brendan Cole “License to Thrill”; Saturday 16th February – Basingstoke Anvil
‘Forget-Me-Not’ Ball (date TBC) – Details to follow

March

Great Yarmouth Weekend; 8th-10th March – Ian Waite & Natalie Lowe workshop, Q&A and demo
Anton & Erin “Go To Hollywood”; Friday 15th March – Reading Hexagon

May

Vincent & Flavia’s “Midnight Tango”; Wednesday 1st May – Wycombe Swan
Torquay Dance Break; 6th-10th May – Foxtrot & Samba

October

International Ballroom Dance Championships; Thursday 3rd October – Tickets available now!
Bournemouth Dance Weekend; 11th-13th October – Quickstep & Jive

Private Lessons

Book us while you can : The online calendar has been updated with availability up to the end of the year (Denise’s to follow shortly).

We have the following slots available over the next couple of weeks.

Lessons cost £35 for 45 minutes or £200 for a group of 6.

Antony:

Friday 26th October

9.30am, 10.15am

Sunday 28th October

3.45pm, 9pm, 9.45pm

Tuesday 30th October

12.15pm, 1pm, 3.45pm, 5pm, 5.45pm, 9.45pm

Wednesday 31st October

10am, 10.45pm, 11.30pm, 12.15pm, 3pm, 3.45pm, 4.30pm

Friday 2nd November

10.15am, 11am

Sunday 4th November

3.45pm, 4.30pm, 5.15pm, 6pm

Tuesday 6th November

12.15pm, 1pm, 3.45pm, 5pm, 5.45pm, 9pm, 9.45pm

Wednesday 7th November

10am, 10.45pm, 11.30pm, 12.15pm, 3pm, 3.45pm, 4.30pm

Emma:

Sunday 28th October

3.45pm

Friday 2nd November

11am, 11.45am

Sunday 4th November

3.45pm, 4.30pm, 5.15pm, 6pm

Friday 9th November

11am, 11.45am, 12.30pm

Denise:

Sunday 28th October

5pm, 6pm, 7pm

Tuesday 30th October

7pm, 8pm, 9pm

Wednesday 31st October

12pm, 1pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm

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The post Learn To Dance Newsletter 24th October 2012 appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Strictly Posh Dancing?

learndance — Sat, 22 May 2010 21:13:00 +0000

So a new series of Strictly Come Dancing is fast approaching and talk turns to who could be taking part this year. Last year’s show was a bit of a letdown for some in terms of the celebrities selected and the BBC want to make amends this year.

According to The Sun Strictly are lining up a number of high profile celebrities for this year’s competition, top targets include Victoria Beckham, Amy Winehouse, Chelsea Clinton (ex-US president Bill’s daughter) and [controversially if Chelsea signs up too] Monica Lewinsky [Bill’s former ‘secretary with benefits’].

Other targets are said to include Kimberley Walsh (Girls Aloud) and Patsy Kensit (Lethal Weapon 2 and currently Holby City).

It’s not all glitz and glamour though as they’re also purportedly considering former Cheeky Girl fancier, oh and ex-Lib Dem MP, Lembit Opik!

There are also going to be more planned recordings from Blackpool Tower (though not a complete move – something Ian Waite agrees isn’t feasible in an interview with Digital Spy).

Talk is also abound of changes in the professional lineup, with the new producer having flown out to the States to audition potential new pro’s…why they couldn’t start with more homegrown talent is beyond me (hint BBC if you’re listening…give me a call!!!)

Alesha Dixon is currently continuing as a judge (though no offense Alesha but I hope they drop you for someone with even a little bit more knowledge). Surely a departing female professional could’ve been a viable option.

Regardless of the changes, or non-, i’ll still be avidly watching and giving my own views on the performances.

Who knows, one day I might even be on the show – even if it’s in the dark recesses of the public audience!

How would you change this year’s Strictly, and who would you like to see on the show?

The post Strictly Posh Dancing? appeared first on Learn To Dance.

We're famous!

learndance — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:15:00 +0000

Well the BBC have finally uploaded one solitary picture of us from the ‘Come Dancing With Strictly’ event in Blackpool!

Not the best photo they took of us during the day so i’m sure there’ll be more…maybe.

For more photos from Blackpool visit the BBC website.

The post We're famous! appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Evening Show

learndance — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:43:00 +0000

A packed theatre in Blackpool’s Winter Garden Opera House was the setting for the evening screening of Strictly Come Dancing.

There was an almost feverish party atmosphere in the theatre, and even though they were re-showing the highlight reel that we’d been subjected to earlier in the day, people were in the mood to cheer (Mark Ramprakash’s Argentine Tango, Jill Halfpenny’s Jive) or laugh (John Sergeant’s Paso Doble, Fiona Bruce’s Jive) at the various scenes.

Dominic Littlewood and Karen Hardy returned to host the evening show, we were told that the videos and pictures that had been taken throughout the day would be appearing on the BBC website during the coming week – none of us yet though!

We were shown a highlights reel of the morning dance sessions (we were on the afternoon session) and this was pretty much the same video you’ll have seen on the live show.

Rav Wilding and Mark Foster were re-introduced onto the stage and we were shown some highlights of their appearances on the show before they had to duck out to head over to the Tower, but not before Mark put his arm round Karen and commented on how great she looked, how she should still be in the show, and ‘You’re my favourite’.

Dominic then introduced highlights of Karen’s appearances on Strictly, including Gary Rhodes Cha Cha (receiving a lowly 1 from Craig) and Mark Ramprakash’s Salsa. Karen talked about how much she loved dancing, which she’d being doing since the age of 5, and had been so honoured when Strictly had convinced her to come out of retirement after her 6 year break (and a baby).

Matthew and Aliona made a surprise visit to perform an elegant Viennese Waltz

Matthew talked about how everyone at the Tower was so excited, and due to the significantly increased audience numbers there was a really great atmosphere.

Aliona talked about how this was her first time visiting in Blackpool, and how much she was enjoying it.

Before the live show was due to start Karen gave her comments and predictions on the show to follow:

Ali Bastian was still suffering from her injured foot, and with a dance such as the Viennese Waltz – heavy on technique – she could find it difficult to perform.

Craig Kelly would most likely be going out as it was definitely his time to go.

Ricky Groves started as a clown but is now taking it seriously and could be a real dark horse in the competition.

It was then time for the live show, Karen told us she’d be sticking around to comment on the show at intervals, and I settled down ready to make my notes on the evening performances…

The post Evening Show appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Come Dancing with Strictly in Blackpool

learndance — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:34:00 +0000

So with a last minute shuffle around we were able to rearrange our schedule and make it to Blackpool for this one-off event. Sorry it’s taken so long for the weekend updates but we were waiting to see if any of the pictures or videos from the weekend, uploaded today, included us (none so far).

Setting off at 7am in the morning, with a couple of stops on the way, we arrived in Blackpool by midday. We popped into our favourite B&B (Lolly’s Hotel, Regents Road) and luckily they could fit us in so we didn’t have to worry about driving back that night.

Braving the rain (even with Emma’s broken umbrella) we made the short walk to Winter Gardens and joined the queue (thankfully inside, unlike those at the Tower who had to queue outside in the rain – purportedly due to Rod wanting a closed set for his rehearsal).

It didn’t take long to clear the queues and get our wristbands, only to find we had to join a new queue before we could get into the Opera House, though this did give us a chance to grab a sandwich for lunch.

Once settled in our chairs we watched a rolling highlights reel of the dances and past performances on Strictly, whilst the rest of the people were seated. By the 4th repeat though it was getting a little tiresome!

Eventually the lights went down and we were introduced to our hosts for the day:

Dominic Littlewood and Karen Hardy opened by telling us how there had been over 21,000 applicants for tickets for the event, not bad considering the event was only publicised via online sources!

The event was set up by the BBC Learning Program to offer the complimentary lessons to allow anyone to try Ballroom dancing (not everyone is as lucky as myself and Karen – I started at 3 and Karen at 5)

Dominic then decided to interview a couple of the guys in the audience to ascertain just how many had been unwillingly dragged along, a pretty even split.

It was then revealed that we would be learning (well Emma and I didn’t really need the lessons…) the basics of the Cha Cha Cha and Karen introduced two professional dancers [Sean and Emma] to give a quick demonstration.

They danced to Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Let’s Get Loud’ and for those that came with us to dancing in Battersea park over the summer may recognise Sean as he was there dancing with one of his students.

Dominic and Karen revealed that there would be additional help during the classes from three celebrities who had previously competed on Strictly; Jo Wood, Rav Wilding and Mark Foster.

Mark was asked how he found the Strictly experience in last year’s competition, and he went on to explain how difficult he’d found it – what with his height and the fact that in swimming it didn’t matter what you looked like, just how long it took you to finish. Also he found stamina to be a real issue when you compare the 20 seconds of the average swimming race to the 1 1/2 minutes of dancing. Rav said that he’d found it very scary but lots of fun and Jo still adores Brendan.

Karen then introduced the professional teachers that would be running the classes (we were to be split up into 3 groups, which had been decided when we registered and received one of 3 coloured wristbands) and she told us how dancing was all about having fun.

Everyone on stage then proceeded to give us a ‘rhythm demo’, getting their hips moving around, and Karen asked us all to stand up so that we could practice our chasses – a little difficult considering we were seated in a theatre! Then we moved onto hips practice, to which Karen commented we all looked like Kangaroos (a jokey reference to Jo Wood on stage).

We were then led to the different rooms in which our lessons were going to take place, and we were in The Spanish Hall along with our celebrity Rav Wilding.

The class consisted of the basic Cha Cha movement, followed by 4 New Yorks, 2 Spot Turns, some timing steps (closing on the spot rather than rocking back or forward) and 2 Cuban Breaks. This was repeated 3 times and on the 3rd and final run through the last Cuban Break was turned into a big finish.

Rav opened up the floor to questions:

Did you enjoy SCD-Very much
What was the one dance that you wished you’d had the chance to do-Paso Doble, on the week he went out there was a running rivalry with Joe Calzaghe because Joe got Paso and Rav didn’t
Are you still dancing-not currently as he had to have an operation on his knee and he’s still recovering
One woman then cheekily piped up with a request for a Cha Cah with Rav-He had to refuse due to still recovering from the operation, and a lack of time left in the session
Finally he was asked whether he’d lost any weight on the show-Rav apparently lost about 1/2 stone in the 8 weeks he was involved in the show, nothing [he said] compared to the over 2 stone lost by Ricky Groves and Natalie Cassidy

Then there was a surprise visit from Lilia and Darren

who told us a bit about what the day had been like over in the Tower (the girls had been in make-up since 7.30am!), they also told us that we were to receive a free DVD each with some basic dance tuition on.

We then broke up to get ready for the evening screening

The post Come Dancing with Strictly in Blackpool appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Blogging from Blackpool?

learndance — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:18:00 +0000

Well we’ve managed to get tickets for Blackpool this weekend, ok so it’s not the live show but rather a dance class during the day with Karen Hardy and then a live ‘screening’ in Winter Gardens afterwards, but we’ll still be up there!

Unless of course Ian can pull some favours and get us in to the Tower that is…!

Either way i’ll do my best to blog the show live but i’m guessing they probably won’t let me in with my laptop and dongle, so you may have to wait for my comments this week.

If I can’t blog live i’ll have to make do with bog-standard pen and paper then write it up afterwards.

Anyone else going to Blackpool? Anyone lucky enough to get the actual live show tickets?

The post Blogging from Blackpool? appeared first on Learn To Dance.

Strictly's Blackpool visit

learndance — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:19:00 +0000

What are the dancers most looking forward to in Blackpool this weekend?

Sadly we didn’t get tickets for the live show (though a student did pass us tickets for the live screening at Winter Gardens, but not sure if we’re going to go yet!)

As ever for more details on Strictly please visit the BBC’s dedicated website.

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