Dancing with Brad Pitt?

Low wattage celebs like Willa Ford and Harry Hamlin are a dime-a-dozen on "Dancing with the Stars," but A-list stars like super couple Brangelina? Not a chance, right?On Tuesday the parking lot outside the "Dancing" set featured assigned spaces with the names of contestants like Mario Lopez, Jerry Springer and Hamlin's wife, Lisa Rinna. While there's nothing unusual about that, there was one space that seemed oddly out of place -- Brad Pitt's!Brad, who is obviously not a contestant on the ABC show, had a parking spot with a sign baring his name and the show's logo on it.So was Brangelina going to make a surprise appearance on the C-list emporium and show off their best Paso Doble moves? Probably not.Perhaps, like the rest of us mere mortals, they're just fans of Joey Lawrence's tango.Tune in to Wednesday's episode of "Dancing with the Stars" to see who gets voted off and if the Brad Pitt mystery is solved.

School Disco Gallery Now Up

Apologies, but weve had a little problem with our web hosting which I've just sorted out.

The pics are now up!

Go here

School Disco success!!

What a fantastic Saturday night School Disco we had, it surpassed every other Saturday special we've done. BIG thanks to everyone that came and especially to those who dressed up as naughty schoolboys and girls.

The evening got off to a great start with Jim & Nicky's fun disco routine, which involved the confiscation of catapults, waterpistols and whistles :-) After some excellent music and freestyle by DJ Colin Shaul (Dorking LeRoc), we then did the pure luck not skill "run around" card game (thought up by our fabulous Frances), where lots of people won FREE tickets and our winners got 3 FREE tickets to our weekly venues.

We then had to do the "oops upside your head" laying on the floor dance - this was introduced at Flicks disco at Dartford in 1980, so it seems only fitting, thanks to everyone that joined in and made it a lot of fun.

After another 2 hours of freestyle, we called it a night at 1am with the majority ofthe dancers still wanting more.

We had a fantastic night, and we thank you all for being so much fun and getting into the spirit of the night.

Here are some of the comments we received on the night and through email since.........if you'd like to give us some feedback, don't forget to email us at info@danceriviera.com

.....thanks for putting the heart and your personality back into dancing

......I wasn't going to come tonight, thought it was going to be a bit cheesy with the dressing up thing, but I can honestly say it's blown my mind and I would have missed out if I'd have stayed in, a fantastic night!!

......each Saturday night just keeps on getting better and better, keep up the good work

......nobody puts on a Saturday special like you guys

.......Just to say thanks for an amazing night. Got home at 1.45am and was still buzzing at 3am! Enjoyed Herne Bay but last night surpassed all my expectations. Best £10 I have spent in years!

......everyone's so friendly at Dance Riviera, I can't believe how many people have dressed up, I'll definitely do it next time!

Spice is right for dancer Darren

SOUTH Yorkshire dance star Darren Bennett is set to spice up Saturday night TV viewing - after being paired with Emma Bunton for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing.
The twinkle-toed 29-year-old has been matched with the singer formerly known as Baby Spice for the hit BBC1 show.Meanwhile Darren's wife and professional dance partner, Lilia Kopylova, will be hoping to repeat her victory of last year by tutoring former England rugby player Matt Dawson.It's a second sporting pairing for Russian-born Lilia - she won the last series of the show with Barnsley-born fast-bowler Darren Gough.Today Darren's dad Tony Bennett, who runs the City Limits Dance School in Walkley with his wife Judith, confirmed that Darren and Emma, and Lilia and Matt, had begun their gruelling schedules of dance training this week.Taking part in Strictly Come Dancing means long hours and long journeys for Darren and Lilia, as they travel to and from London to meet up with their celebrity partners and teach them the dances.The show returns to TV screens next month with presenters Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly.This year there will be 14 celebrity contestants - two more than last series - paired with the professional ballroom dancers.Darren, who was born in Deepcar, brought up in Todwick, and now lives with Lilia in Treeton, won series two of Strictly Come Dancing with EastEnders actress Jill Halfpenny.More than 10 million viewers tuned in to see him crowned king of the ballroom.He was voted off the last series with his partner Gloria Hunniford in the fourth round - and cheered on wife Lilia, 27, as she waltzed to victory with Darren Gough.As well as Emma Bunton the female celebrities are Changing Rooms presenter Carol Smillie, ex-Bad Girls star Claire King, singer Mica Paris, comedy actress Jan Ravens and Casualty's Georgina Bouzova. The youngest contestant is EastEnders actress Louisa Lytton, 17, who plays gangster's daughter Ruby Allen.Besides Matt Dawson the male celebs are former Manchester United goalie Peter Schmeichel, comedian Jimmy Tarbuck, newsreader Nicholas Owen, cricketer Mark Ramprakash, Radio 1's DJ Spoony, and actor Ray Fearon - hunky mechanic Nathan in Coronation Street.Tess Daly said: "With a line-up like this, the new series is set to be bigger and better than ever before. Where else could you see a Spice Girl dancing alongside Jimmy Tarbuck?"In a change to last year's show, week one will see the boys dancing to stay in the competition while the girls entertain with a group mambo. The format will be reversed in week two.Money raised from viewer voting will go towards BBC Children In Need.

Matt in TV dance floor bid

Former Miss Northern Ireland Joanne Salley's rugby star boyfriend will be setting the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing ballroom on fire next month.
Question of Sport captain Matt Dawson will compete against 14 other celebrities including Emma Bunton and Jimmy Tarbuck.
Joanne, who went to ballet classes for 15 years, said: "He came home the other evening after his first dance session and we went over some of the moves - it was a giggle.
"I love dancing and I grew up watching Strictly Come Dancing and for Matt to be in it is really bizarre.
"I can't wait to go along and see him.
"Let's hope he stays in it for a while and I can dress up on a few Saturday nights."
Dawson said: "I'm looking forward to getting into the costumes.
"You can't really sign up for Strictly Come Dancing and then refuse to wear the sequins and ruffles.
"When I go down, I want to go down in a blaze of glory!"

Underwater Jiving

A final couple of pictures from gozo - this time from under the water.
In case you can't recognise us, Viv and I are in the left-hand picture and Shelagh's in the right-hand one!

Dancing's not easy underwater - the music's a bit blurry :-)

Advanced Smooth Jive class cancelled for Thursday 14th September

CANCELLED - Thur 14th September - just for this night

Just to let everyone know that we've cancelled the Advanced Smooth Jive class for Thursday 14th September because we have the Jive Aces playing upstairs at Dartford.

Jim & Nicky will be teaching upstairs and hosting the band, so come along for a fantastic night's entertainment.

10 pounds on the door.

The Jive Aces on at Dartford tomorrow night

Don't forget the Jive Aces are playing at Dartford tomorrow night (Thursday 14th September).

Admission is 10 pounds on the door, so get there early to guarantee your entrance.

They are a fantastic band who not only play music for us to dance to, they're entertaining as well.

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow night

Jim, Nicky & Tracy

Gozo Holiday

Following in Pete, Gill and Maria's fotsteps, Viv and I went on holiday to Gozo. We had a fantastic time - thanks so much to Shelagh and Pete!

Gozo's a great little island. It's small enough that you can get around really easily, but large enough that you're not gonna get bored. We drove around the island looking for cool beaches to sunbathe on and warm little coves to swim in. Our evenings were spent deciding which next gorgeous restaurant to try next!

Viv completed her PADI open water dive course while we were on the island (which gave me a couple of extra days of sunbathing!). After we'd finished, Shelagh, Pete, Viv and I went diving in the 'Inland Sea'. The underwater pictures are being developed at the moment, so here's a picture of us in all of our gear as a teaser - watch this space!

A regret? That we didn't get to have a dance - I'd even packed my dance trainers (I know, sad isn't it!). Ah well, roll on the dance weekends!

All in all a superb break. Come and get the goss from me next week!

Dapper Dan

Happy Birthday Maria!

A big "Happy Birthday" to Maria for tomorrow Friday 8th Sept - I know she will be at Dartford tonight celebrating with all the girls so grab her for a dance and make sure she has a brilliant time. Sorry I cant be there to join in the fun, you know I would just love to nip home for the night - I will be thinking of you all though (feeling very jealous!!!!). My daughter Cally is also celebrating her birthday tomorrow (she will be 9, slightly younger than Maria!!!) and then her brother Sam is 11 next Thursday - busy time for us over here (and expensive!!!)

Dan and Viv fly home today - we all went diving yesterday afternoon, Dan brought along an underwater camera and took lots of photos of us in various positions, should be some funny pictures when he gets them developed so keep an eye out on the blog. We had a lovely meal last night with them at a restaurant overlooking the harbour - good food, wine and company - a great way to end a great week.

Well you guys, you will be fed up with me, 2 blogs in 1 week!!!!! - I will leave you alone now - the girls are coming over next Thursday, Jo and Suzanne and Janice - cant wait, a girlie weekend, now that should be good fun!!!! Love to everyone and happy dancing, lots of love Shelagh xxx

Fun in the Sun!!!

Hiya all, how is everyone? Once again, we have had a busy week in the sun - Dapper Dan and Viv arrived Friday morning (4.30am!!!) and they have been busy exploring Gozo - the highlight so far being the Nadur Wine Festival!!!! Viv qualified for her PADI dive certificate today so "well done" to her - me and Pete also managed to fit in a dive with Dapper Dan to "The Blue Hole" which was great fun but tiring as we were very late to bed the night before courtesy of the karaoke night in Bo Jangles!!!!

This morning we went across to Comino (a tiny island near Gozo) with some other friends - once we had snorkelled in the Blue Lagoon, the kids forced us to go on the "banana boat" ride (see the picture) - its been years since I last went on one but still just as much fun - the kids loved it, and kept screaming "faster and faster" until we had fallen off at least 3 times!!!

We are off out tonight for more eating and drinking - I will be the size of a house next time you see me!!!! - hope everyone is well, take care and see you all soon, lots of love Shelagh xxx