Just got this from one of our ladies at Crayford.....
I just love the dancing and all the friendly people. No matter how tired I am when I get in from work as soon as I hear the music I just want to be up - the only trouble is I can never sleep when I get home again ....
Angela
On Thursday 7th September we have a guest teacher taking our Advanced Smooth Jive Class.
Nigel is very "famous" in our dance world and for those of you who have been dancing a few years and gone to Camber/Bognor etc will know of Nigel & Nina as the top teachers of modern jive in the country.
So as you can imagine, we're proud as punch that he's agreed to take our Advanced class - we hope he doesn't spoil you too much and that you welcome Jim & I back!
We have no lady places left but have 2 guy places available.
We know these places will fill due to the popularity of the Advanced class, however, we thought we'd give you a chance to get in first if you haven't already!
Ring Nicky on 020 8692 3821 or email info@danceriviera.com to let us know if you'd like a place.
As always, if you're unable to turn up, please let Nicky know so that other people can have your place. Thanks.
No refreshments will be provided however there is a bar available for drinks and snacks.
Tango Dance World Championship ends in Bs. Aires
The jury of the IV Tango Dance World Championship crowned a Colombian couple with the top award for the Stage Tango category, while Argentine dancers were honoured with the accolade for the Dancehall Tango style.
Colombian dancers Carlos Alberto Paredes and Diana Giraldo Rivera, who have been dancing together for six years, presented a choreography created for Francisco Canaro’s song Pájaro Azul. This couple became the first non-Argentine performers to win the Stage Tango award, the local dancers obtaining this recognition in the first three editions of the championship.
Natacha Poberaj and Gustavo Peralta were the two Argentines considered the best in the Dancehall Tango category. Second place went to Aoniken Quiroga and Pablo Rodríguez from the province of La Pampa, while Soledad Cantarini and Diego Pérez of Santa Fe came in third.
The competition, now in its fourth year in this Tango-crazed capital, lasted 10 days.The Stage Tango event features dancers exhibiting feats of strength and acrobatic techniques while the Dancehall Tango event pitted couples against each other in traditional dancehall styles of tango enjoyed in Argentine since its origins early last century.
A total of 35 couples participated in the finals, which took place yesterday at Palermo’s La Rural, with the presence of Vice-President Daniel Scioli and the US actor Robert Duval, whose passion for tango is widely known.
The winning couples received 5,000 pesos and a contract signed with the Japanese company Minon to perform for two months in Japan.
Over 100,000 people were present at the championship, thereby doubling the audience that attended last year’s edition. The foreign country with the highest number of contestants was Colombia, with 25 couples in both categories. Other nations represented at the championship were Japan, Italy, Rusia and Finland, among others.
Some of the artists who presented a show during the night of the finals were Ariel Ardit, the Salgán-De Lío Duet, and María Nieves and Miguel Angel Zotto.The show El humor del tango (The Humour Of Tango) was performed and directed by Héctor Malamud, while renowned dancers Mora Godoy and Junior Cervilla presented Tangodisea.
Sunday also marked the end of the milongas organized at the venue of the World Championship.
The success was remarkable as many amateur and profesional dancers crowded the dance-floor every night. Bien Frappé, Tubatango, Yunta Tango and El Caburé were some of the orchestras playing live.
Next week's Advanced Smooth Jive class on Thursday 31st August is FULLY BOOKED, however, please check back on the Blog and Website as sometimes places become available.
Nicky
On Wednesday night I taught at Broadstairs and once again experienced a great night. Part of the night included the finale of the fireworks which has taken place through August. At 9.45pm we watched fantastic fireworks with lots of oohs and aahs from everyone. John Ford (DJ for the night) played some excellent and perfect music to accompany them - Sandstorm, Ecuador and Boom Boom Bar (excuse me if I got that name wrong!).
Don't forget that Broadstairs is closed on Wednesday 31st August. Back open the following week.
Nicky
The American version of Strictly Come Dancing has unveiled one of it's celebrity dancers....
Are you ready..
Are you sitting down..
It's none other than Jerry Springer!
omg I can't wait to see that.
Jimx
I taught at Deal last night (which is always a pleasure) and what made my night was a new lady whom I got chatting to. She said that she'd had a fantastic time as it was her first night at Dance Riviera.
She then said she'd been to another company's venue in her home town (half an hour's drive) and found it unfriendly, difficult to understand and nobody asked her to dance. She said that she had found Dance Riviera to be the complete opposite and will drive half an hour every week with friends just to come to us. I was so pleased that she's going to carry on dancing as she loves it and of course that she's chosen to belong to the friendliest dance club in Kent. Thanks to all the crew at Deal who make it so special.
Nicky
I came across an advert for this in one of my trashy gossip magazines! I've never heard of it but it has dancing in it so I'll probably rent it.
What's the Story?.......Widower Frank (Robert "Full Monty" Carlyle) stumbles across the scene of a terrible car crash and accompanies victim Steve (John "Roseanne" Goodman) to hospital. Steve was on his way to keep a promise he made years ago - to meet his childhood sweetheart Lisa at their own dancing class - so Frank vows to take the dying man's place.
Click here to read more
Nicky
As you know we raise money for Breast Cancer Research when we do our Dance Experiences in shopping centres and festivals around Kent, plus we sell our car stickers for £1. We recently sent off £202 which was raised though Dance Experiences at Westwood Cross Broadstairs, and Dartford's Orchard Shopping Center, plus quite a few car stickers.
So a BIG THANK YOU to everyone that supported these events, danced, collected money or bought a sticker.
We recently held a Charity 3rd Anniversary dance and raised nearly £400 on the night, I'll post the letter when it arrives.
Jim, Nicky & Tracy
Another successful Dance Experience took place at Herne Bay Festival on Saturday, with big thanks to over 50 people who came to support this event.
A word from Tracy who managed the event on Saturday.....
Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along to Herne Bay on Saturday and danced with us by the clocktower. Despite the chaos on the M2 and horrendous traffic jams we still kicked off on time and 'rocked' Herne Bay with our 'smooth jive' and 'dirty dancing' performances! Even the weather was perfect- a mixture of warm sunshine, blue sky and gentle breeze to keep us cool. Thanks again to everyone who came along to dance and not forgetting Wally who did a great job with handing out flyers....Tracy x
another word from Joe, one of our Broadstairs dance coaches....
Hi. We danced for an hour in a superb seaside setting, the dancing and music was excellent.
I don't know what the public thought, but I had a great time followed by a cappucino and a 99 icecream . Bliss! Thank you Dance Riviera for making my dreams of being a performer come true! Joe xx
Next Dance Experience will take place in Dartford Orchard Shopping Centre on Saturday 16th September....come along and make your dreams of being a performer come true :-)
Hiya all, we are back in Gozo - we travelled home yesterday, leaving the torrential rain behind at Stansted airport!!!!!
We had a great time back in the UK, Sam and Cally spent nearly all their time staying over at various friends houses, catching up on lost time - Pete managed to fit in a visit to Mallorca and I stayed with my little sis, Cathleen, her boyfriend and their gorgeous little baby Harry (see the picture).
I fitted in as much dancing as possible and it was lovely to see so many of you. Thanks to everyone for making me feel so welcome and also putting up with me being just a little rusty to begin with - I soon found my dancing feet again thank goodness!!! I will be back again in November for both the Warmwell and Camber weekends (how convenient that they follow each other!!!!), so will catch up with everyone again then - time flies when you are having fun so it will come around in no time at all.
I hope you all enjoy the rest of the summer (fingers crossed the sun will come back out!) and I will keep you posted on life in Gozo. If any of you have a spare moment I would love to hear from you too so post your comments when you can - happy dancing and see you all very soon, lots of love Shelagh xxx
For all you Steve Strong fans out there will be pleased to know that he's DJing at Dartford TONIGHT. Steve regularly DJs at our Gravesend venue every week and is a professional DJ and Video/DVD editor and creator, he DJs all over the UK and Europe plus he's a lovely man :-) His sets are wide and varied and he knows how to keep a dance floor full with your favourite tracks.
Jenni will be doing her first intermediate teach tonight, so why not pop down and support them both.
OH......Jim & I have 2 lady spaces on our Advanced Smooth Jive workshop night at Dartford downstairs in the Darent Suite. If you want to come along, ring Nicky on 020 8692 3821 to book your place.
Nicky
Last night I had to DJ and teach intermediates at Crayford as our DJ Claire was unwell (get better soon!). I have to say that after trying to get cover, it was left down to me - and I wasn't particularly looking forward to it!
Teaching and running the night is hard work in itself but to DJ and try and please everyone in the room is added pressure that no-one wants. Anyway, it turned out to be a fantastic night! I got Jenni (our teacher) to DJ whilst Paul (Zoolander) and I did beginners, she was hilarious, talk about fast music :-) everyone loved it though.
When it came to freestyle, I was a little indulgent and played a lot of my favourite songs to dance to whilst catering for requests, beginners and our more experienced dancers. I got a lot compliments about my set which is nice because people only talk to you to when they don't like something!
Anyway, a big thanks for Tony, Pete, Zoolander, Terry & Christine especially for helping me to pack away the big kit, it's always much appreciated.
If anyone wants to post some 'nice' comments, please feel free to do so :-)
Nicky x
I like to wake up each morning felling a new man. -
Author: Jean HarlowI love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by
Author: Douglas AdamsI love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known.
Author: Walt DisneyI married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up
Author: Barbara BushI never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception.
Author: Groucho MarxI never made a mistake in my life; at least, never one that I couldn't explain away afterwards.
Author: Rudyard KiplingI never married because I have three pets at home that answer the same purpose as a husband. I have a dog that growls every morning, a parrot that swears all afternoon and a cat that comes home late at night. -
Author: Marie CorelliI once heard two ladies going on and on about the pains of childbirth and how men don't seem to know what real pain is. I asked if either of them ever got themselves caught in a zipper.
Author: Emo PhilipsI played a lot of tough clubs in my time. Once a guy in one of those clubs wanted to bet me $10 that I was dead. I was afraid to bet
Author: Henry YoungmanIf you work on a lobster boat, sneaking up behind someone and pinching him is probably a joke that gets old real fast.
Author: Jack HandeyIf you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.
Author: John WayneIf your friend is already dead, and being eaten by vultures, I think it's okay to feed some bits of your friend to one of the vultures, to teach him to do some tricks. But ONLY if you're serious about adopting the vulture.
- Deep Thoughts (Saturday Night Live)
Author: Jack HandeyIf your parents never had children, chances are you won't either.
Author: Dick CavettIn our school you were searched for guns and knifes on the way in and if you didn't have any, they gave you some.
Author: Emo PhilipsIn Russia we only had two TV channels. Channel One was pro da. Channel Two consisted of a KGB officer telling you: Turn back at once to Channel One.
Author: Yakov SmirnoffIn the first place God made idiots; that was for practice; then he made school boards.
Author: Mark Twain
If you fancy taking a look at our photos from the Dance Riviera crew day out, then click this link
Dancing is a craze on television.
Adults and children show their dancing skills and compete for prizes.
But dancing has been popular for a long time. About 1920, the famous Steiff company of Germany made dancing bears. The bears were dressed like humans and stitched together to make a couple. One couple was a 14-inch golden mohair boy and a 13-inch white mohair girl.
It must have been hard to make the teddy bears dance, but they seem to have special charm — because they sold for $20,900 recently.
Shakira will now be shaking it to Bollywood choreographer Farah Khan's tune.
Shakira, the blond-locked Colombian songstress who has the world grooving to her latest chartbuster Hips Don't Lie will now be shaking it to Bollywood choreographer Farah Khan's tune.
Farah will be choreographing Shakira for a performance on a show in LA and it is also the first time that she will be meeting the sexy Latina.
The show will be held at Radio City Hall on August 31.
For Farah this is her first major international act as far as choreography goes. "It is an honour to represent the Bollywood fraternity on a world platform.
When the show producers called and asked me if I knew Shakira, I told them our whole country was obsessed with her! I think Shakira is one of the best dancers in the world right now and is undoubtedly the hottest thing," says an excited Farah.
So, how did she land this act? "The producers were looking for an Indian choreographer as they wanted Shakira to perform to a Bollywoodised version of her hit Hips Don't Lie. So they called me."
Has she rehearsed with Shakira yet? "
No, I will be auditioning dancers from New York when I go there." Any pelvic thrusts for the Latina? "Of course! No one can move the pelvis quite like she does!" exclaims Farah.
Dance fever infects Step Up star
LOS ANGELES - Asked how his new dancing movie Step Up sets itself apart from films like Honey and Take the Lead and Save the Last Dance, star Channing Tatum gives a refreshingly honest answer.
Read more here
Jim x
August and rain shouldn't go together in a sentence should it?! When you book a busking event for outside, you pray for no rain. Obviously the weather gods weren't listening on Saturday.
We met in Starbucks and whilst drinking our lattes and cappucinos we debated on what we would do. Then our heros, David & Chris (from the mall and town centre management) arrived and answered our prayers. We could dance inside with our very own DJ Ian from Time FM!
Luckily, most of our dancers had turned up and so we danced from 2pm - 3pm handing out loads of flyers with many people taking photos and filming us!
Big thanks to the staff at the Mall, Ian the DJ and approx 40 dancers including our wonderful crew who helped to dance and promote Dance Riviera.
Here's an email we received from 2 of our crew about Saturday.....
About to tuck into our tea but just had to say ...Brilliant busk at Bexleyheath today - probably the best we have ever been to! The crowd watching us was about 5-6 people deep - and all seemed to be taking photographs and leaflets! Mind you we all put on quite a show - and it was a great atmosphere. I am sure the infectious friendliness of Dance Riviera will bring along a lot of people to the venues - I think I managed to persuade the centre manager too!!! We had such a great time that even when the official busk was over it took a while for a few of us to leave the dance floor since the DJ continued to play music - whoops! And still people stayed to watch!!!Got to the pub eventually!!!Thanks to Nicky and Tracy (and Jim from afar) for their organisation! Christine & Terry
If you've not experienced the Jive Aces yet, then you're in for a treat!
BEXLEYHEATHSaturday 12th August 1pm - 3pm Clock Tower, Marketplace (outside The Broadway Mall)
Come along and dance, hand out flyers or collect money for Breast Cancer Research. Get a FREE ticket as a thank you. Wear Black & White.
HERNE BAY
Saturday 19th August 3pm - 4pm Clock Tower Plaza, Herne Bay
As part of the Herne Bay Festival, come along and dance, hand out flyers and get a FREE ticket as a thank you. Wear Black & White.
Longest Distance Morris Danced
A team of six Morris dancers from the Shakespeare's Revenge Morris (UK) danced from Madder Market to South Walsham, Norfolk, UK, in a choreographed Morris-dance routine that covered a distance of 42.0628 km (26.1 miles) in a time of 8 hours 4 minutes on April 21, 2002.
Morris dancing is an English folk tradition in which stories could told in the form of dance, usually by costumed men.
Shakespeare's Revenge Morris
April 21, 2002
Norfolk, UK
26.1 miles
What ever rings your bell, Jim x
Two of the nation's best-known dance stars are backing a Preston troupe's vital cash bid.
West End in a sexy display of Brazil's other great passion - the samba.
"How hilarious would this be if we did this in the nude?"
Jx
It's always good to hear that our dancers enjoy Dance Riviera nights, here's one that we thought you might enjoy reading.....
Dance Riviera (Smooth Jive Dancing) is one of the friendliest social groups I've ever met. I go on a Thursday, and for the first time going somewhere on my own, I felt at ease and welcome. Everyone is so friendly and good fun. The dancing is great exercise and not so complicated that you feel you'll never pick it up. The dance tutors and coaches aren't pushy nor do they show off, they love helping you learn. I found after about 8 weeks, things started to get easier and I picked up the dance moves much quicker. I've found it a really 'safe' place to be, where I can enjoy myself without feeling stupid or on the sidelines. It's been a fantastic place for me to build up my confidence, and I would recommend it to anyone (male or female), who find themselves on their own, or in a relationship but looking for something different to do. You get to meet some great people who simply love dancing, and it's a great night out". Patricia Fry (People Face2Face Ltd)
This Saturday 12th August 1pm - 3pm we'll be busking by the Bexleyheath Clock Tower. We'll be there to show off our stuff to the shoppers and hopefully get a few people involved too! We'll be collecting money for Breast Cancer Research so please come along and help to dance, hand out flyers and collect for charity.
Please email Nicky at info@danceriviera.com to let me know if you're coming along. A FREE ticket to everyone that helps support this event.
Thanks. Nicky
We have 1 Lady place left on this Thursday's (10th Aug) Advanced Smooth Jive's workshop class at Dartford.
If you'd like to book this place, please ring Nicky on 020 8692 3821. We like to keep the numbers even and there are only 30 limited places each week. However, not everyone turns up so if you'd like to be put on the reserve list or turn up on the night to see if there's any spare places, please do so. If you'd like to prebook any future weeks, please call Nicky.
Yep, the answer should be nothing!
Here are a couple of pics from our Crew Day Out that we had on Saturday. We spent the day in Deal and what a fantastic day it was. We had team games and a quiz for bucks fizz and sweets, yummy fish n chips by the sea, then games on the beach (naughty man Clem got half the crew wet or in the sea!), then we had well deserved and relaxing coffees and some of us had a curry in the evening - superb day and night. Thanks to everyone that came.
We've had so many lovely comments from our crew, about our crew!
Can't believe how nice and friendly everyone is......new crew member Pete
Dance riviera are really a lovely bunch of people, I'm glad to belong......Joe
Many thanks to all three of you for a lovely, friendly day on Saturday. It was good being able to fit names to faces and how clever of you to organise the weather. (So, even the "man upstairs" does as he is told!).......Joy & Wally
Thanks for such a great weekend, had loads of fun and learnt lots about the other crew members. Thanks again......Nick & Pete
It was a brilliant day out - thanks very much! Thanks again for having such a great crew and for including me as part of that crew - I love it!.......Christine
Thanks to you three!! We had a fabulous afternoon, and the friendly atmosphere shone through, you can only create atmosphere from the top down, so thanks for setting the tone. Dave also had a good time, and felt very welcome, thank you personally for that.......Kerry
Hiya all, 2 days to go til we fly home for our "holiday" - we are all getting very excited, Maria has my diary full up so I will be liaising with her once I land in the UK to see what she has planned (although Swanley on Monday night is a definite!!!)
We are all feeling very jaded here today, we went to a karoke night last night at our local bar Bo Jangles - after we had drunk many "house doubles" a couple of us ended up dancing on the bar to the Coyote Ugly song "Cant fight the Moonlight" - what a laugh that was, the only problem being that the bar was less than 5ft away from the ceiling so we had to bend down throughout the whole song (I know I am small but even I could not stand up straight!!!!).
We are back out tonight and we were aiming for a spot of "Gozo Clubbing" but not sure whether our feet (or stomachs) will carry us until the clubs open (around 1am!) so we may just settle for dinner and a couple of bars then home to bed - we are getting too old for all this!!!!
Take care and have a great weekend everyone - hope the Crew Day went well, wish I could have been there with you - see you next week - lots of love Shelagh xxxx
We always value your feedback and everyone has their own opinion about the music we play at Dance Riviera Venues. We try and please the majority of people but it would be nice to know what type of music YOU like to dance to and the mix during the night.
Please take 30 seconds out of your day to complete out survey so we can improve the quality of music played.
Click here for survey
Thank you!
This coming Thursday's Advanced workshop night with Jim & Nicky has been fully booked - apart from 1 lady place that has just become available!
However, not everyone turns up so if you'd like to be put on the reserve list or turn up on the night to see if there's any spare places, please do so.
If you'd like to prebook any future weeks, please call Nicky on 020 8692 3821.
Big CONGRATULATIONS to Tanya, Tony, Sam and proud grandparents, John & Linda on the birth of baby Isabelle Rose born on Thursday 27th July (Deal Carnival day!). She's beautiful, hope she brings you lots of joy and not so many sleepless nights :-)
Jim, Nicky & Tracy x
