Happy Birthday to Me!

As my final blog as Blog Queen I thought I would wish myself a very happy 40th Birthday - please keep telling me how young I look.

Its been great being a blogger and I hope one day to do it again!

Christine
x

Goodbye and Farewell to the Blog!

Jim & I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported and viewed our Blog for the past couple of years. We're closing it down now as Dance Riviera is now part of Evolution Dance (Jules Jive).

Special thanks goes to Tracy Armstrong and Christine "blog queen" Scally who alongside Jim & I have made the blog a true success in building a dance community. We have nearly 1,000 looking at it a month.

Jim & I will most likely do our own blog which will tell you where we're teaching, dancing and of course pregnancy and baby news (sorry to bore you all!). Our new website www.jimandnicky.co.uk will be up and running soon, where you'll see our news, schedule and buy DVDs etc.

Finally, we'll see you soon at a venue for dancing or a guest teach or two when I've stopped feeling so sick and tired and we've finally got our house sorted out. After 5 years of running Dance Riviera we've finally got some time to ourselves for a while, so we're going to enjoy it.

Keep dancing! Jim & Nicky x

Happy Birthday Karen

Happy Birthday to Rochester Dance Coach Karen.

Have a fantastic day Karen - you deserve it.

Love from all your friends at Dance Riviera with Jules Jive
x

Its getting hotter!!!!

Just as July is starting to heat up we thought we should remind you that the following venues have air conditioning ...

Rochester

Dartford

Brighton

All other venues have fans to help keep you cool - but remember a change of top and some deodorant and a towel are essential items in this hot weather! It makes the joy of dancing that much more pleasurable for all those concerned!

Happy Birthday Teacher Keith

Happy Birthday to Teacher Keith.

Have a great day Keith and make sure Frances spoils you on your special day.

With love from all your friends at

Dance Riviera with Jules Jive

x

Relaunch Party Night - What a great night!

Well done to Jules for a fantastic night at a wonderful venue.

DJ Jules and Dwain (with help from Steve Strong) kept the floor filled for the whole night with their great music sets.

If you werent there you missed out on a great night - put these dates in your diary for the Rochester Funky Friday Freestyles (8pm to midnight - £8)

• Friday 15 August
• Friday 12 September
• Friday 10 October
• Friday 28 November
• Friday 12 December - Christmas Special

TWO Great events this Friday .....take your pick!!!

Launch Party for Dance Riviera with Jules - Friday 18 July

• Venue – Dance Junction, Maidstone Road, Rochester - Probably the best dance venue in the south of England
• Freestyle dancing from 8 to midnight
• Music with DJ Jules and the DJ Crew; Dwain and Steve ‘The Hitman’ Strong
• £5 - no tickets - pay on the door
  

Flapjacks Friday - Friday 18 July – Double Bubble!!!!

• Venue - The King Alfred Suite, Kingsway, Brighton and Hove
• Latin Jive style icebreaker from James and Alexandra, music from Bob Ball
• Dancing to midnight in the wonderful art deco Ballroom
• Complimentary flapjacks (will still be available in Jules’ absence) and teas/coffee
• £9 (or £8 for freestyle only after 9.15pm)

We look forward to seeing you enjoying an evening with us.

Jules
Evolution Dance and Entertainment

Dancing Sunshine at Rochester tonight

Rain or shine (bearing in mind its St Swithins Day) - you are in for a bright and sunny night at Rochester tonight - Paul will be teaching with DJ Jules keeping the floor filled until 11pm.

If you haven't been to Rochester yet - you are missing out on a great night at a great venue.

Why not check out the venue before the Launch Party this Friday evening. Remember its freestyle from 8pm until midnight for only £5 – no ticket required.

St Swithins Day - Rain or Shine for 40 days???

Britain's short-term meteorological future hangs in the balance today, and it's all down to a modest bishop and some over-enthusiastic monks. Some of you may well be familiar with the weather lore associated with this day:
St Swithin’s Day, if it does rain
Full forty days, it will remain
St Swithin’s Day, if it be fair
For forty days, t’will rain no more.

St Swithin, an Anglo Saxon Bishop of Winchester, died in 862. Legend says that as he lay on his deathbed he asked to be buried in a churchyard "where the rain would fall on him and the feet of ordinary men could pass over him." His wishes were followed for nine years but then the monks of Winchester felt it wasn't a fitting resting place and decided to move his remains to a shrine in Winchester Cathedral on the 15th July 971. Legend has it that torrential rains poured down on that day and every one after for the following 40 days and 40 nights. Believing that it was St Swithin showing his displeasure by weeping in despair, the monks decided against moving his remains. Hence the rhyme.

Basically this myth states that if it rains on St Swithin’s Day it will rain for the next 40 days, or if it is fine it will be fine for the next 40 days - well, I wish we could all be that certain in our forecasts! But according to the Meteorological Office this is untrue. They have tested the myth on 55 occasions and each time 40 days of similar weather did not follow. Despite having dismissed this just now as ‘rubbish’ there is quite an interesting story behind the legend.

To mark St Swithin's Day, I thought I would let you know about some other international weather wisdom with such gems as

• "snow is due when the cat washes behind both ears"
• Killing a spider will make it rain the next day.
• When you see that the ants are excited and coming out at unusual hours to do their work, it means that it is going to rain.
• If ant hills are high in July, winter will be snowy.
• Worms plug the entrances to their holes when it gets cold.
• If the day starts cloudy, once there is a patch of clear blue sky big enough to make a sailor a pair of trousers, the weather will improve (I have heard that one before!)
• If you sneeze three times within a few seconds, the next day will be sunny.

Happy Birthday Teacher Clem

Happy Birthday to Teacher Clem who is celebrating his birthday today!

Have a great day Clem and make sure Tracy and the family spoil you properly!

Clem and Tracy are teaching at Swanley tonight so we can all wish him a very happy Birthday then too! Clem you may need these energy mints if all the ladies want a dance!

Love from all your friends at Dance Riviera xxx

Race for Life - Press Photograph!!!

A press photographer from the South London Press just emailed me this photograph - look at the great friends we made and will be running with again next year - sadly Alison missed this photograph, but the rest of us are all proudly wearing our medals and striking a pose.

If anyone gets the South London Press - take a peek and see if we are in there. Let us know!

Race for Life - WE DID IT!!!

WOW what a wonderful time we all had this morning - Swanley Dance coaches Sarah and Christine, Sarah's mum Brenda and Christine's friends Alison and Carol all took part in the Race for Life at Blackheath!

Just like Herne Bay Dance Coach Lynne (who did her Race for Life on Sunday 22 June - see earlier Blog article) we all got ourselves off the couch, did some training and raised money for Cancer Research UK. The order of the day was to dress in pink, which you can see we did, and raise money (which we are still doing) and awareness for Cancer Research - we had all lost family and friends to this disease and walked/ran/danced in memory of them as well as in celebration of friends and family who had survived thanks to the work of Cancer Research. We had a great time and made some great friends with whom we congo-ed over the finishing line! We had made a date to enter the Race again next year - so cant wait to meet up with our new friends from Oxleas NHS Trust and Dartford - ladies we also hope to see you on the dance floor soon!

You can see from the photographs that we had a great time - come on you coach potatoes join us next year (http://www.raceforlife.org/) - I have some spare pink material ....! Lads - dont feel left out the Run for Moore (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/runformoore) takes place straight after the ladies race!

Thanks to everyone who sponsored us - we will be collecting the money soon - if you didn't sponsor us but wish to donate some money we will be at Swanley tomorrow in our race outfits (wigs, skirts and shiny new run medals) - the collection box will be on the front desk!

Today is Beatles Day in Liverpool

Liverpool is celebrating the musical achievements of the Fab Four with the world's first ever Beatles Day. The event has been organised to coincide with the 44th anniversary of the legendary band's triumphant homecoming after conquering the USA in 1964. On July 10, 1964, The Beatles were greeted by thousands of screaming fans when they landed at Speke Airport - now John Lennon Airport - after a hugely successful American tour.That evening a crowd of 100,000 people lined the city's streets as John, Paul, George and Ringo made their way to a civic reception for the premiere of A Hard Day's Night.

Fans are being asked to vote for their favourite Beatles hit and celebrations will include a special concert at the Liverpool Echo Arena. So whats your favourite Beatles track??The event will be hosted by Ricky Tomlinson and include bands from across Britain playing cover versions of the band's biggest hits. There will also be a special fun run and parades through locations the band made world-famous, like Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields.

Cash raised will go towards Alder Hey Hospital and a fund to generate resources for a community centre in memory of murdered schoolboy Rhys Jones. "Liverpool has always been proud of The Beatles and it's a wonderful idea to combine an annual celebration of their music with a fundraising drive for charity," said promoter Chas Cole, who came up with the plan. "Beatles Day will really be about the ordinary people of this city and hopefully, in the future, cities in the UK and beyond." Thousands of inflatable guitars and £5 'mop-top' wigs will be on sale across Liverpool as the city honours its favourite sons. Ricky Tomlinson said: "No wig, no gig! I'll certainly be wearing my mop-top and looking forward to a right old knees-up."

Friday 18 July - Launch Party at Rochester

Come along to Dance Junction in Rochester on Friday 18 July for Dance Riviera with Jules' Jive's Launch Party.

At the Opening Party Night dance to classic sounds from Jules and the DJ Crew - DJ "Dirty D" Dwain and Steve "The Hitman" Strong!

Freestyle from 8pm until midnight

£5 only – no ticket required

See you at Rochester

Saving Crayford Town Hall!

Catch the BBC 6.30pm news tonight and you might catch Jules, Christine and Sarah dancing outside Crayford Town Hall with Len Goodman (Strictly Come Dancing) who's trying to save the town hall from being demolished!

Way to go, us dancers have to stick together :-)

Nicky

Business as usual ...

Yesterday saw the first night of dancing at Dance Riviera under the control of Jules following the announcement at Dartford last Thursday.

If you are still asking the question "who is Jules?" then please say hello to him - he was at Swanley last night and will at Rochester tonight and Dartford on Thursday. Jules is very approachable and friendly - and ladies he is a lovely dancer! If he is not around there are some fliers telling you all about him.

Last night Swanley's regular teachers Clem and Tracy gave a great lesson and DJ Gazza kept the floor filed all night. Rochester will be open as usual tomorrow night with its regular teacher Paul and DJ Jules.

See you on the dance floor

Race for Life - One week today

A week today Blackheath will be a sea of pink as another of its Race for Life runs take place!

Swanley Dance Coaches Christine and Sarah along with Sarah's mum Brenda and Christine's friends Alison and Carol will be there resplendant in their pink tutus - yes the colour in the picture is the actual colour of the material that Christine is fashioning into skirts!!

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored them already and there is still time to sponsor them or put money in their collection box. Christine and/or Sarah will be dancing at Swanley, Crayford and Dartford this week.

The training continues!!!

Saturday 5th July - Independence Day Dance at Worthing Town Hall

Come celebrate 232 years of independence from our special cousins over the pond. Why celebrate US independence? Let's have our shout! Get dressed in red, white and/or blue and dance Modern Jive to the early hours. There is a prize!!!

The venue is the wonderful art deco Worthing Assembly Hall (The Assembly Hall, Stoke Abbott Road, Worthing, West Sussex. BN11 1HQ).

Journey time from Dartford between one hour and one hour, 10-20 minutes.
1am finish.
Free Parking and a licensed bar plus a fantastic large dance floor.
Over 250 booked in, it’s going to be a good one.

Advance reservations just £10, Call Jules TODAY on 07900 993535 or email info@evolutiondance.co.uk to make a booking or it’s £11 on the door (if tickets are still available - the last two dances have Sold Out).

http://www.evolutiondance.co.uk/index.html

DANCE RIVIERA ... THE ANNOUNCEMENT

At last night's cracking 5 year anniversary party Jim and Nicky had a couple of surprise announcements to make.

1. Nicky is pregnant! Jim and Nicky, fingers crossed, are to be parents. Wonderful, wonderful news.
   
2. A friendly merger has been affected between Jules Jive and Dance Riviera such that Dance Riviera will, effective immediately, operate under the Evolution Dance and Entertainment banner. Jules' Jive currently operate from the Worthing Assembly Hall on a Wednesday and Brighton's King Alfred Ballroom Suite.

Julian Hansford (AKA Jules) has been dancing for about 17 years, and running/promoting Modern Jive with Evolution Dance since January 2000. Julian has been extremely successful with the south coasts two principal Modern Jive venues - the Worthing Assembly Hall and Brighton's King Alfred Ballroom. Jules has worked alongside many of the leading names in the industry.

Jim and Nicky Bourgerie, known to many of you in the industry for their innovative teaching and personal manner, with appearances at many of the Jive's industries leading events will continue their involvement with the group at a social level, as a 'non-exec' to Jules, and continue to appear at Dartford as regular guest teachers. Jim and Nicky both have demanding daytime career jobs, and this together with the announcement of Nicky's pregnancy, means that they no longer have the time or energy required to maintain and develop Dance Riviera. See the attached announcement from Jim and Nicky.

Jim and Nicky leave a worthy legacy of five great venues, a wonderful and potentially excellent set of teachers (Clem & Tracey, Paul, Keith & Fran, Pete & Jill), a large and well trained Crew (too many to mention personally) and a couple of very good DJs (Dwain, Steve 'The Hitman' Strong and Gazza) and literally thousands of dancers who have learnt their first dancing steps with Dance Riviera. Quite an achievement.

Julian has implemented the following with immediate effect, saying "It's my belief that venues work best when teams work closely together and so each venue has been allotted a teacher and DJ who will, in the main, work out of that venue, and in so doing I believe, will gain the opportunity to teach to a level, and in a manner, that best suits the clientele at that venue".

It looks like this

• Swanley - Clem and Tracy working with Gazza


• Rochester - Paul working with Jules


• Crayford - Keith & Fran with Dwain


• Herne Bay - Keith & Fran, Keith DJ'ing


• Dartford - Pete & Jill with Jules


• Jim and Nicky are to be monthly guest teachers at Dartford.


• Steve 'The Hitman' Strong will be occassional guest DJ at all venues.


• Other guest teachers will be used.

The resident teachers named above will have one week off a month, to take a rest or appear at another DR venue in that week.

Jules
Evolution Dance and Entertainment
http://www.evolutiondance.co.uk/
07900 993535

Happy Birthday Dianne - Fabulous at 50!

Happy Birthday Dianne (Dance Coach at Crayford).

Have a great day and make sure Martin and the family spoil you absolutely rotten - you deserve it.

Love from all your friends at Dance Riviera xxx

July 4 - A day for Beer and Burgers

In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain (charming!). Today is the only holiday that celebrates the United States and is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays. A colourful Independence Day event is the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, which supposedly started on July 4, 1916 as a way to settle a dispute among four immigrants as to who was the most patriotic. It has been estimated that in previous years Americans have consumed about 150 million hot dogs on July 4, or almost one hot dog for every other person in the United States.

Whether or not you like hot-dogs July 4th is a good excuse to have a burger and a beer!

Happy 5th Birthday Dance Riviera

Congratulations Dance Riviera on your 5th Birthday!

Remember - tonight its Dance Riviera's Anniversary Charity Night Party Special.

So come to Dartford tonight for a great night ... Jim and Nicky are teaching with DJ Dwain ... plus a special announcement ....!

Get ready for a great Party Night at Dartford tomorrow ...

Come along to Dartford tomorrow night for a great night's dancing, Jim & Nicky will be teaching (they have got the all clear from their Doctors!), Dwain will be DJing and there is a special announcement for you all ...

Plus since its Dance Riviera's Anniversary night all the teachers will be there dancing - so if you have never danced with Keith, Frances, Paul, Pete, Jill, Clem or Tracy ... now is your chance ... All you need to do is ask them? Its Dance Riviera's policy that no one says no to a dance so none of our teachers and crew will ever say no to a dance!

Saturday's Charity Busk has been CANCELLED

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we're unable to busk this Saturday at The Pentagon Shopping Centre in Dartford.

Apologies especially if like me you had planned your shopping around the dancing!

REMINDER - Charity Party Night Special at Dartford this Thursday

Remember to take your dancing feet to Dartford on Thursday ... Dance Riviera is celebrating its 5th Birthday with an Anniversary Charity Night Party Special.

Come along and join in the celebrations and raise money for charity ... your admission money will go to Dance Riviera's charity Breast Cancer Research.

Join us on Thursday 3 July at the Acadia Hall Ballroom, Dartford from 8pm for a lesson with Jim & Nicky and then great freestyle dancing until 11pm. We look forward to a cracking night and don't forget we have a Special Announcement to make!

See you there