SOLD OUT!
Our 4th Red, Black & White Valentines Ball is on Saturday 3rd February at our Dartford venue.
Here's a link to our Gallery where there are photos of previous Valentines Balls, as you will see, it's a great night of colour (red, black & white to be precise!).
We've recently changed our Workshop format so that it's 4 hours of dedicated teaching of moves, technique, confidence building and questions and answers from our wonderful teachers.
We have an Intermediate Workshop on Sunday 11th February at our Dartford venue.
If you're wondering whether it's suitable for you, think about the following questions:
We will be teaching technique for lead/follow, tension and compression, trusting your partner, connection plus you'll learn 3 routines and moves that are not usually taught during the weekly classes.
There is a maximum of 30 people so there's time for questions, answers and teachers are available to help you through moves you're having difficultly with. It's a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Check out these comments from last time's workshop and if you have any questions, please call Nicky on 020 8692 3821 to discuss further. Click here!
Adam & Tonia teaching a Latin Jive Intermediate ClassAdam & Tonia are the UK's leading Latin Jive teachers. They teach at the big dance weekenders plus European dance holidays. We don't know how Adam's hips do what they do, but it's great fun to watch them! Tonia's bubbly personality make them a great teaching team.
Come along on Thursday 8th February, usual 7 pounds entrance applies - BRING YOUR FRIENDS!
Nicky
Hiya all, Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you had a brilliant festive period - we spent the time over in South Africa with my sister and her family and had a great time. No, that is not the new me, that was a huge rhino we saw on safari one day along with the hippos, giraffe and zebra! We also managed to go quad biking, scuba diving and snorkelling with the sharks!!!! (Sam and Cally had no fear at all but I was a quivering wreck the whole time!) - lots of fun.
Anyway we are now back in sunny Gozo (temp 20 degrees - sorry just had to rub it in a bit!!!!) - and getting ourselves ready to start our new adventure - "Bo Jangles" our new bar is all set to open on the 1st March - there is still lots to do but fingers crossed it will all come together in time - I will keep you posted on how it all goes.
I had a brilliant few days while I was back in the UK last week, managed to see a few of you at Dartford Thursday and also at the Rivoli on Saturday night - what a great night that was, I didnt stop dancing, I had forgotten just how sweaty you get!!!!! Thanks to all my dance partners those nights, it was lovely to get back into it and have so much fun. That will have to keep me going now til Camber in November as Pete has said I have to work this year for a change!!!!!
Anyway lovely to see some of you, and sorry I couldnt catch up with the rest of you but hope everything is going well and hope to hear from you soon - lots of love Shelagh xxxx
Just a reminder that we will be dancing in the Orchards Centre, Dartford this Saturday 27th January between 12 and 2pm.
Please come along and strut your stuff and help us to raise money for our breast cancer charity appeal.
If you need any further details please contact Tracy at tracy@danceriviera.com.
Look forward to seeing you there!
Interesting research...
A study found patients with depression received a huge boost in confidence and contentment after they attended dance classes.
Mental health researchers at the UK's University of Derby tested the levels of depression in volunteers before sending them off for 9 weeks of dancing.
The results showed significant improvement for all class members who completed the experiment, lecturer Matt Birks said. Social interaction, shared experience, concentrating on learning a new skill and the confidence this can bring.These probably all played a part.
One of the volunteers - Daniel Cohen who works for a trade union said:
I sometimes dance four nights a week.I absolutely love it, I'm not surprised it helps people deal with depression. I always tell my family and friends that dancing makes me feel better if I've had a tough day at work.
Dancing has a social side as well. There's a strong network of people in my classes and we have a lot of fun together. Dancing's just a great way to give yourself a lift.
The Beginners Plus workshop went extremely well on Sunday with a great crowd of people who all got a lot out of it.
Jill & Pete (who were teaching) would like to say a personal thank you to Dance Coaches Sue, Wes, Dee, Pete, Dave and David who helped out on the day, it was much appreciated.
Our intermediate workshop is on Sunday 11th February, click here for the flyer.
On Saturday 20 January Dancing on Ice returns to ITV! Slipping into their skates are World Cup winning rugby star Kyran Bracken, actress Clare Buckfield, Sky News presenter Kay Burley, Magic 105.4 FM DJ Neil Fox, Boyzone star Stephen Gately, news reader Phil Gayle, heartthrob and former Blue singer Duncan James, TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson, former Steps stunner Lisa Scott-Lee, football legend Lee Sharpe and Emmerdale actress Emily Symons.
The World famous ice dancing duo, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are back to coach the novices in the expert art of Dancing on Ice.
The celebrity skaters will each be paired with a professional ice skater and coached by the superstar duo to perform even more daring and exciting skating routines. Armed with their ice skates, an array of glittering costumes and a lot of nerve they will take to the ice live each week to perform specially choreographed routines in a hope to win the publics vote.
As well as impressing the public, our celebrity skaters will also be hoping to dazzle the panel of expert judges but each week it will be the viewers who judge the talent and make the ultimate decision on who should skate on … or off the championship.
Just under 12 million viewers tuned in to see actress Gaynor Faye crowned Dancing On Ice champion in the first series, after a nail biting final with Bonnie Langford and Stefan Booth which saw the finalists flying and performing their own version of Torvill and Dean’s legendary Bolero.
Jayne Torvill said: Its fantastic to be back after the success of the first series and we are looking forward to joining a new batch of celebrities on the ice.
Chris Dean said: We have a great mix of stars from the worlds of sport, radio and TV who have the potential to match some of the outstanding talent we saw on the first series.
Presenter Phillip Schofield said: Holly and I had so much fun last year presenting the show and we are looking forward to it again. Personal highlights would be Andi Peters falling over and wiping out his partner at the same time and John Barrowman's rhinestone Elvis jumpsuit. We know there will be even more fun this series, so cannot wait!
And I heard a rumour that the celebrities will be wearing more padding to try and protect them but then another nothing will prepare them from landing face down on a cold ice floor! Emmerdale star Emily Symons, 37, has missed three weeks of training after breaking a rib while practising. Ex-Steps singer Lisa Scott-Lee, 30, also hurt a rib and expert Christopher Dean, 48, dropped a pro partner when she messed up.
Still I cant talk the only time I went ice skating I spent more time sliding around on my knees then I did upright on my skates!
Kyran Bracken (Rugby Player - wonder if he can cook too) and professional partner Melanie Lambert
Clare Buckfield (Actress) and professional partner Andre Lipanov
Kay Burley (TV Presenter) and professional partner Fred Palasck
Neil Fox (Radio DJ) and professional partner Pam O'Connor (who partnered David Seaman in Series 1)
Stephen Gately (Singer/Actor) and professional partner Kristina Lenko
Phil Gayle (Newsreader) and professional partner Natalia Pestova
Duncan James (Singer/TV Presenter) and professional partner Maria Filippov
Ulrika Jonsson (TV Presenter) and professional partner Pavel Aubrecht
Lisa Scott-Lee (Singer) and professional partner Matt Evers (who partnered Bonnie Langton previously)
Lee Sharpe (Ex-Manchester United Footballer) and professional partner Frankie Poultney
Emily Symons (Actress) and professional partner Daniel Whiston (who won Series 1 with Gaynor Faye)
Gabby Logan (TV Presenter) was expected to take part, but has reportedly refused to do so as a retaliation for being refused permission to take part in rival show Strictly Come Dancing by her ex-ITV bosses. Sarah Greene (Blue Peter Presenter) was expected to take part, but has dropped out for personal reasons.
Also the professional skaters not re-appearing this series are Kristina Cousins , Todd Sand, Marika Humphreys, Olga Sharutenko, Doug Webster, Tamara Sharp and Sergey Malyshev.
The Ice Panel (boo hiss AKA The Baddies) or Judges are Karen Barber, Robin Cousins, Jason Gardiner (also a judge on BBC Television's Strictly Dance Fever), Karen Kresge and Nicky Slater.
Tune in - its dancing with all the frills and a cold cold floor!
Christine
x
HE spent a lifetime competing with Matt Dawson to be England scrumhalf. Now Kyran Bracken is challenging his rival's status as rugby's top dancer.
Bracken insists it is sheer coincidence, that he did not know Dawson had signed up for BBC's Strictly Come Dancing when he agreed to take part in ITV's Dancing on Ice.
"I signed to do it and then a few days later I read that Matt was doing Strictly," he said. "I thought: 'Oh God, people will think I'm still trying to compete with him, even after rugby'.
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"I don't know what Matt's intentions were. But I'm certainly not doing this to raise my profile or to get on TV. I just see it as a great laugh - and a real adrenalin rush."
However, after training Monday to Friday, two hours a day, for the past four months you can bet he is out to improve on Dawson's runners-up finish in the ballroom. "I hate losing and I always have," admitted Bracken as he prepared for his first performance with American skate partner Melanie Lambert a week today.
"Ask my brother John. I can't lose at chess or marbles or anything. Even if it's Saracens training and we're playing a game of touch, it riles me to finish on the losing side."
During their playing days Dawson and Bracken had a fierce rivalry, Dawson winning 71 caps, Bracken 51. Both were World Cup winners but only Dawson played in the final.
Bracken admitted in his autobiography that his rival became 'the barrier between me and my dream'. But that was more than three years ago. The other week he picked up the phone and voted for Dawson.
He knows the pressure is on him to match the achievements of his longtime rival, who also won Celebrity Masterchef, and England prop Matt Stevens, who was runner-up last summer in X Factor: Battle of the Stars. But Dawson yesterday warned: "Nothing will prepare Kyran for that five seconds before the live performance.
"You take a few deep breaths and hope the training pays off. Strictly Come Dancing was the most nerve-wracking thing I have ever done - though probably the most satisfying when completed."
Bracken had never skated before he signed up and began working with ice dance legends Torvill and Dean. "I think they think I'm a bit of a nutter on the ice because I consider it a contact sport," he said. "It gives me the same buzz I got when I was younger going rugby training.
"The difference is that I'm crap at skating. When a couple of my rugby mates came to watch me training the other day I fell three or four times - though, to be fair to me, I was attempting a three-turn jump, landing going backwards on one leg." Can this really be the same bloke who retired from playing rugby due largely to the fact his battered body, and in particular his back, was no longer fit for purpose?
"Funnily enough, this has been very good for my back," he said. "The core stability that is required to look elegant and stand straight and skate is huge.
"If you speak to rugby players with chronic injuries, when they stop playing, certainly initially, those chronic injuries become even worse. That's because at least rugby keeps your joints moving. So this has been good for me." If only English rugby's other problems could be solved by a trip to the ice rink.
Bracken's rivals for the ice crown are former soccer star Lee Sharpe, TV presenters Ulrika Jonsson and Kay Burley, disc jockey Neil Fox, former Boyzone star Stephen Gately, news reader Phil Gayle, ex-Blue singer Duncan James, former Steps band member Lisa Scott- Lee, and actresses Emily Symons and Clare Buckfield.
We look forward to seeing all the regulars and new dancers at Crayford this Wednesday, it's back open after a 3 week break for refurbishment.
Nicky
LOS ANGELES - The dance flick "Stomp the Yard" was a step ahead of the competition at the box office, debuting as the No. 1 weekend movie with $22 million.
Starring Columbus Short as a raw but talented dancer at the center of a step competition between rival college fraternities, the Sony Screen Gems movie knocked off 20th Century Fox's "Night at the Museum," which had been the top film for three straight weekends.
"Night at the Museum" slipped to second place with $17.1 million, raising its total to $185.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The weekend's other new movies had ho-hum debuts. Universal's "Alpha Dog," featuring Emile Hirsch and Justin Timberlake in a tale of drugs, kidnapping and murder, opened at No. 7.
Disney's "Primeval" premiered at No. 8 with $6 million.
Expanding to nationwide release after a limited run in December to qualify for the Academy Awards, "Arthur and the Invisibles," a live-action and animated family film from the Weinstein Co. and MGM, was No. 9 with $4.3 million.
Strong turnout by black movie-goers - who accounted for nearly two-thirds of the audience, according to Sony - pushed "Stomp the Yard" over the top. The movie followed in the footsteps of other black-themed films that debuted at No. 1 over previous Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekends, including "Glory Road" last year.
"Sony picked a great weekend to release the film," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
"The urban audience wields a lot of clout at the box office. If you put a film in the marketplace that has that built-in appeal to that audience, look at the numbers. The numbers speak for themselves."
BOX OFFICE TOP 10
1. "Stomp the Yard," $22 million.
2. "Night at the Museum," $17.1 million.
3. "The Pursuit of Happyness," $9.1 million.
4. "Dreamgirls," $8.1 million.
5. "Freedom Writers," $7.1 million.
6. "Children of Men," $6.4 million.
7. "Alpha Dog," $6.1 million.
8. "Primeval," $6 million.
9. "Arthur and the Invisibles," $4.3 million.
10. "The Good Shepherd," $3.9 million.
Mikey's back! Come along to our Dartford venue to enjoy a fun intermediate class with the cheekiest teacher in the UK. Mikey always enjoys teaching for Dance Riviera as he reckons we're the club with the most fun people in it!
Beginners Class is at 8pm and Mikey's on at 9pm. Tell and bring your friends.
Come along to our Beginners Plus Workshop on Sunday 14th January. It's not just for purely beginners, if you're someone that wants to master the beginner moves, add style and learn to freestyle with confidence then this is the workshop for you.
Jill & Pete will be teaching the workshop and giving lots of one-to-one attention to help you increase your confidence. It's a great afternoon and you'll make friends as well as learn how to dance better.
Ring Nicky on 020 8692 3821 to book your place. Men will be given priority as we need to even up the numbers.
Please tell any friends who aren't on our email system that Herne Bay is closed for one night only this Thursday 11th January due to a prior booking in the hall.
Thanks, Nicky
This article has been written and published by our very own Broadstairs Dance Coach - Joe.
Have a read and pass on the benefits to your friends!
Tracy x
'Strictly Dancing Doctor '
GPs to prescribe dance ... said the headline (Times Dec 6th 2006). Well, we are used to signing the exercise prescriptions for selected groups to attend the local gym, so why not do the same for dance classes?
There is good published evidence that dancing improves cardiovascular and mental health and that it can also help in weight loss. The biggest drawback to us implementing this policy will be our own attitudes to dance.
Embarrassment is a huge obstacle for anyone contemplating dancing as a pastime. My first dance experience was at primary school when I was selected for the country dancing team. Coming from a family of six brothers I came in for some ribbing and taunts of ‘sissy!’ This I could cope with. My main concern was how to avoid dancing with Celia who had hand warts.
Later in life I did some Morris dancing. Again embarrassment might have inhibited me especially as the dancing was often on my patch and patients were highly delighted to see their doctor oddly attired and flourishing hankies or sticks. Morris dancing can be very healthy exercise but there is a culture of beer drinking that goes with it and rather cancels out some of the health benefits. Injuries from careless stick clashing are also a regular occurrence and I have on one occasion sutured the head of a fellow dancer, and sent in the claim form for ‘immediate and necessary treatment’!
About twenty years ago I took up Ballroom and Latin classes. This was in the days before Strictly Come Dancing had raised the profile of dancing to its present level. People thought of this as rather sedate and only for the elderly. Not so. An evening of quickstep, tango and ballroom jive can be every bit as vigorous as any gym based aerobics session. We often encountered teenagers and young adults training for dance competitions and realized this was a pastime for all ages.
In the last 8 years I have spent more and more time, often two or three evenings a week doing modern jive. Classes exist in most towns or cities marketed under various brand names; Ceroc, Leroc and my current favourite Smooth Jive with Dance Riviera.These classes attract large numbers of dancers of all ages. The reason they are popular is because on the very first night you will have learnt enough to effectively dance. The emphasis is less on accurate footwork and progress from beginner to intermediate is rapid taking only six weeks. There is almost continuous dancing in the freestyle sections of the evening in which you will dance with many partners of varying experience. There is a rule that anyone may approach anyone else for a dance and it is rude to say no. So shy men don’t have to make all the running, and no lady needs to be a wallflower. I have now been appointed a dance coach by the jive organisation I currently attend. A dance coach instructs beginners in the twenty or so beginners moves, gets in free and gets a tea-shirt with ‘Dance Coach’ embellished on it!
What is evident is that everyone jiving is having a very happy time judging by the smiles and chatter that goes on. Dancing continues outside the classes as weekend dances and parties arranged by ordinary members are a regular feature. Some people take their hobby further by entering national competitions in exotic venues like Blackpool or Brighton. I thought about it but the only category that seemed to fit was ‘the old gits’ category for the over forties! I decided to defer my entry for this year.
So what have been the benefits to me as a non-golf playing doctor? I have had regular evening and weekend exercise in a form that is interesting and enjoyable. I have very strong legs and arms: my lung function is excellent; I have a positive attitude to work and can counter stress by dancing it out of my system. Apparently, spatial functioning and coordination improve through dancing. There are also studies showing that it delays or prevents the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
At parties and reunions I have a social skill that takes me away from the bar and the buffet. It is a well known fact in the dancing world that it is unwise to drink and jive. As a life style change I have no hesitation in recommending dancing to everyone, both colleagues and patients.
Can't work out why you suddenly lose all co-ordination when you hit the dancefloor? Well, at last there is some good news. It's not your fault - blame your mother.Academics have discovered that men's ability to dance is dictated by what happens in the womb, specifically the amount of testosterone to which they are exposed. A team of British and German psychologists have found out that a man's expertise (or lack of it) is predetermined by levels of prenatal hormonal exposure.
Their findings will be welcomed by legions of men who know that their dancing style owes more to David Brent's crazed 'Flashdance fused with MC Hammer' routine in The Office than cricketer Mark Ramprakash's polished performance that won last week's Strictly Come Dancing
New research by Bernhard Fink of the University of Goettingen in Germany and colleagues, including John Manning from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, shows that the key indicator is the respective lengths of men's index finger and their ring finger - what scientists call the 2D:4D ratio.
According to tests they conducted, the lower a man's 2D:4D ratio, the more testosterone he will have been exposed to before being born and thus the better dancer he will be - and also the more likely to attract female admiration. Men with a high 2D:4D ratio, however, are likely to lumbered with the social handicap of chronic inability to dance.
The psychologists filmed 52 male students dancing and selected the 12 who had the highest and lowest 2D:4D ratios. After blurring the footage to obscure their height and body shape, they asked 104 female undergraduates to rate their efforts. Those with the lowest 2D:4D ratios got the highest marks for 'attractiveness', 'dominance' and 'masculinity'.
But mothers should not take all the blame for their sons' talent in this department, said Fink, as the full effects of 'foetal programming' - the influence of hormones on unborn children - are not yet known.
Jim x
B&Q said dancing is not part of its formal recruitment policy, but Unions have criticised retailer B&Q for asking job candidates if they wanted to dance before being interviewed. Applicants for jobs as van drivers at B&Q's Norwich store were asked if they wanted to dance and pull funny faces.
Several jobseekers danced to the Jackson Five tune Blame It On The Boogie and were photographed by bosses.
B&Q said the dance was meant as a "light-hearted" exercise before the interviews began and said nobody had been forced to participate.
But unions said the practice was "bizarre" and called on the home improvement retailer to stop it immediately.
'Nonsense'
It seems to reduce jobs our members do to some kind of joke
Ed Blissett, GMB union
One of those involved said he had found the experience "humiliating and embarrassing".
"We had to copy this bloke, one of the managers," Rodney Southern told the BBC.
"At no point was I told if you don't want to do it you don't have to do it. We were told we had to do it."
One union official called on B&Q to "stop this nonsense", saying it was demeaning for all involved.
"This is utterly bizarre," said the GMB's Ed Blissett.
"It seems to reduce jobs our members do to some kind of joke."
Relaxation
B&Q said the practice was not part of its formal recruitment policy but added that store managers had been encouraged to ensure candidates were "relaxed" before being interviewed.
"We made it clear to all of the candidates that they did not have to take part if they did not feel comfortable and that it would not influence the recruitment process at all," it said in a statement.
"The vast majority of interviewees said that it was a relaxed way to get the interview session under way."
I would love to see their faces if they had asked any of us to dance...... I think we would have blown them away..hehehehe
Jim x
Gravesend is only 13 miles from Crayford, so come along to the Gravesend Rugby Club, off Milton Road, DA12 2TL. Click here for map.
Just a reminder to let you know that Swanley is CLOSED Monday 1st January. Please let everyone know who might think of going. It's open the following week.
Hope you all had a wonderful new year. Wishing you all the best for 2007.
Nicky
