21/10/24 Nothing brand new this week but revised an oldie COMMITMENT (John Sandham).
Also danced: Islands In The Stream, Space In My Heart, Jealous Of The Sun, I Close My Eyes, A Rattlesnake Kiss, Hold Me Now, King Of The Road and Heaven’s Jukebox.
14/10/24 New dance this week was A RATTLESNAKE KISS (Maddison Glover). After introducing one from a couple of years ago last time, it was time to do something more current and this one has been top of the download charts recently Took a couple of goes for everyone to get the hang of it but hopefully it is one that will be enjoyed over the coming months.
Also danced: Scotia Samba, Gypsy Queen, Broken Soul, Something In The Water, Cross My heart, Take A Breather and Heaven’s Jukebox.
07/10/24 No new dance this week.
We just danced: My New Life, Jealous Of The Sun, Things, Heaven’s Jukebox, Blue Night Cha, Impossible Love, Hold Me Now and Neon Hearts.
30/09/24 HEAVEN’S JUKEBOX (Jose M B Vane & Willie Brown) I toyed with the idea of doing a brand new current improver dance but decided to go back a bit and catch up with one from a couple of years back. I don’t think anyone in the class had already done it and it seemed to be well received.
We also danced: Space In My Heart, Memory Lane, Hold Me Now, Come Dance With Me, Cross My Heart, Take A Breather and Champagne Promise.
23/09/24 This week we had another go at Hold Me Now which seems to be falling into place a little quicker than some of the other recent new dances.
We also danced: Ribbon Of Highway, Jealous Of The Sun, Broken Soul, Some Kind Of Wonderful, This & That, Eyes Like Diamond and Take A Breather.
16/09/24 New dance this week was HOLD ME NOW (Jonas Dahlgren, Raymond Sarlemijn & Roy Hadisubroto).
Quite a nippy little dance and just the coaster step near the end catching a few out to start with but I think this is one the class will enjoy over the next few weeks.
We also danced: Bonaparte’s Retreat, Memory Lane, Hold Me Now, Cold Heart, Take A Breather, Cross My Heart, Dark Side Of The Moon, We’re Good To Go and Islands In The Stream.
09/09/24 Our 2nd week of TAKE A BREATHER (Maggie Gallagher) and it seems to be falling into place nicely.
We also danced: Scotia Samba, I Close My Eyes, Neon Hearts, Jealous Of The Sun, Things, Space In My Heart, Cross My Heart, Champagne Promise, Eyes Like Diamonds and Impossible Love.
02/09/24 The “new” dance this week was from about 20 years ago! It was called TAKE A BREATHER (Maggie Gallagher) and we danced it twice. I think one or two may have done it before, but for most, it was new. The good news is that it seemed to get a thumbs up!
We also danced: My New Life, Little Heartbreak, Memory Lane, Bonaparte’s retreat, Eyes Like Diamonds, Some Kind Of Wonderful, and Broken Soul.
26/08/24 – No class due to bank holiday
19/08/24 – There wasn’t a new dance this week as we have another Monday off next week due to the Bank Holiday. So the next class will be on Monday 2nd September.
We danced: Shania’s Moment, Telepathy, Space In My Heart, Jealous Of The Sun. Islands In The Stream, Broken Soul, Cross My Heart, Dark Side Of The Moon, This & That and Impossible Love.
12/08/24 – No class
05/08/24 No new dance but a chance to recap the three most recent dances we have learnt plus a few older ones. Next class is on the 19th August and there is no class on the 26th as the centre is closed for the bank holiday.
We danced: We’re Good To Go, Inspiration, Jealous Of The Sun, Some Kind Of Wonderful, Eyes Like Diamonds, Impossible Love, Broken Soul, Things and Southern Dreams.
29/07/24 New dance this week was called JEALOUS OF THE SUN (Lee Hamilton & Jose Miguel Belloque Vane). A little tricky for some with the offbeat timing, especially in the last section, but I’m sure it will feel a lot easier next week…fingers crossed! Here’s a link to a video of the dance with step by step instruction from around three and a half minutes in.
Link to step sheet – just click Here
Also danced: Come Dance With Me, Dark Side Of The Moon, Broken Soul, This & That, Cross My Heart, Champagne Promise, Space In My Heart and Gypsy Queen.
22/07/24 No new dance today as we had our second week of BROKEN SOUL. A few turns in this so by no means an easy one but we danced it twice and I think the extra practice helped.
Also danced: Ribbon Of Highway, Codigo, Eyes Like Diamonds, Memory Lane, We’re Good To Go, Bonaparte’s Retreat, 5 Leaf Clover and Impossible Love.
15/07/24 Sorry there was no class this week – I was laid low for several days with a gastric bug. Classes will be back to normal next week.
08/07/24 After checking with the class, we decided not to continue with the dance I’d taught last week to a new version of the old hit by Abba – Dancing Queen. Instead, I taught BROKEN SOUL (Niels Poulsen & Simon Ward). With turns in each of its four sections, two tags, and one restart, it took a bit of practice to perfect, but I think they liked this one better.
Also danced: Islands In The Stream, Two Lane Highway, Space In My Heart, Cross My Heart, Eyes Like Diamonds, Something In The Water and I Close My Eyes.
01/07/2024 Thought I’d give them something a bit easier this week, but not sure the dance DANCING QUEEN (Alexis Tait) was that well received by the improvers. Might just try it again next week to give it one more chance.
Also danced: Shania’s Moments, Cold Heart, Glass Of Wine, Memory Lane, Impossible Love, Eyes Like Diamonds, Things and Dark Side Of The Moon.
24/06/24 Good to be inside an air conditioned room when it was 25C outside! No new dance this week as we are still getting to grips with last week’s new one EYES LIKE DIAMONDS which has gone down well with the class.
Also danced: Scotia Samba, Champagne Promise, Gypsy Queen, Some Kind Of Wonderful, Cross My Heart, Southern Dreams, Space In My Heart and This And That.
17/06/24 After a long break, it was great to be back dancing again. I taught a new dance EYES LIKE DIAMONDS (Glynn Rodgers & Michelle Risley). We don’t do that many 64 count dances at this class so it took a little longer to teach. To make it a little easier I changed the shuffle turns in the final section to two shuffles straight back. I think they liked the track and the fairly gentle pace of the dance.
Also danced: Neon Hearts, Glass Of Wine, Impossible Love, Space in My Heart and Little Heartbreak.
20/05/24 Due to bank holidays and our own week away, this is the only Monday class during May. Thanks to those who came out to dance, although slightly reduced in number, we got through a few dances and recaps. I didn’t teach anything new this week. **NEXT CLASS IS ON MONDAY 17TH JUNE**
We danced: Islands In The Stream, Bosa Nova, Impossible Love, Beer For My Horses, Dark Side Of The Moon, Things, Space In My Heart, Cross My Heart, Memory Lane and Southern Dreams.
29/04/24 No new dance this week so a chance to go over one or two older dances we haven’t danced for some time.
We danced: Champagne Promise, Cold Heart, Cross My Heart, Space In My Heart, Glass Of Wine, Come Dance With Me, Dark Side Of The Moon, This & That, Rio, Impossible Love and We’re Good to Go.
22/04/24 This week we did a new dance called SPACE IN MY HEART (Gary O’Reilly & Maggie Gallagher). It didn’t seem to be a massive hit but went down OK with nothing too hard in it. It was nice to have the beginners come in early to dance Glass Of Wine with the Improvers. The next three classes @12.00 will be on the following dates: –
Monday 29th April – Monday 20th May – Monday 17th June
Also danced: Two Lane Highway, Bonaparte’s Retreat, Southern Dreams, Ribbon Of Highway (to Carpenters Top Of The World), Hitch A Ride, Impossible Love, Cross My Heart, Codigo and Glass Of Wine.
15/04/24 Second week of Dark Side Of The Moon and this time I taught it without the step half pivot and shuffle half turn. This seemed to make it a lot more manageable for everyone. I also slipped in a new dance GLASS OF WINE (Malene Jakobsen) that I’d previously taught at my beginner class. I’ll go over this at the very end of the class next week and ask the beginners (who want to) to come in and dance it together with the first class.
Also danced: Amame, Scotia Samba, My New Life, Neon Hearts, La Fiesta Cubana, Memory Lane, Things, Impossible Love, Little Heartbreak and Cross My Heart.
08/04/24 New dance this week was DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (Tina Argyle). First two sections were nice and easy but some struggled a little with the combination of turns in sections 3,4 and 5. I did the two walks option instead of the full turn in section 4 and suggested to some that they could do a forward rock shuffle back, instead of a step 1/2 pivot, shuffle 1/2 turn in section 5. But with some doing the turns and some not, it seemed to cause more confusion! Will go again next week and try and maybe get everyone to do the same version.
Dark Side Of The Moon step sheet
Also danced: Cold Heart, This & That, Southern Dreams, Impossible Love, Champagne Promise, Save It For A Sunny Day, Cross My Heart and Beer For My Horses.
25/03/24 Second week of Save It For A Sunny Day which seemed to go a bit better this week.
Also danced: Blue Night Cha, Shania’s Moment, Neon Hearts, Impossible Love, Islands In The Stream, Eliot’s Dream, 2 Lane Highway, Something In The Water, Cross My Heart, We’re Good To Go.
18/03/24 New dance this week was SAVE IT FOR A SUNNY DAY (Karl-Harry Winson). A steady 32 count dance without any tags or restarts but a couple of three quarter turns which some struggled a bit with at first.
Save It For A Sunny Day step sheet
Also danced: Scotia Samba, Gypsy Queen, Memory Lane, Impossible Love, Cross My Heart, Beer For My Horses, Southern Dreams and Bosa Nova.
11/03/24 Nothing new this week but caught up with some we hadn’t danced for a couple of weeks. With just a one hour class, we don’t have time to do them all every week.
Danced: I Close My Eyes, Hitch A Ride, King Of The Road, Impossible Love, We’re Good To Go, Mona Lisa, This & That, Cross My Heart, 5 Leaf Clover and Little Heartbreak.
04/03/24 IMPOSSIBLE LOVE (Niels Poulsen) I saw this one being danced at a recent local social and liked the look of it so even though it first came out in 2022, I decided to try it out on the class….and they seemed to really enjoy it!
Also danced: Bonaparte’s Retreat, Beer For My Horses, Things, Southern Dreams, Memory Lane, Cross My Heart, Champagne Promise and Ribbon Of Highway.
26/02/24 A fairly easy new one this week, just a bit fast – CROSS MY HEART (Karl-Harry Winson). The class liked this one even with the 3 restarts. I also went over Beer For My Horses which was new to some.
Also danced: Islands In The Stream, Some Kind Of Wonderful, 2 Lane Highway, We’re Good To Go, This & That, Mona Lisa, Beer For My Horses and Neon Hearts.
19/02/24 Last week’s new dance, Mona Lisa, seemed to go better this week although some still find it a bit tricky in places.
Also danced: Scotia Samba, Shania’s Moments, Bosa Nova, Things, Southern Dreams, Blue Rose Is, 5 Leaf Clover, Little Heartbreak and I Close My Eyes.
12/02/24 New dance was MONA LISA (Alison & Peter Metelnick) which proved to be a little trickier for the class than I first expected. I’m sure it will seem a lot easier next week. For those who want some homework, I’ve attached a link below to the video of it being danced followed by a walk through of the steps.
Also danced: I Close My Eyes, Cold Heart, Memory Lane, This & That, Southern Dreams and Ribbon Of Highway.
05/02/24 Another go at last week’s new one, Southern Dreams.
Also danced: My New Life, Islands In The Stream (to Poker Face), La Fiesta Cubana, Hitch A Ride, Waltz Across Texas (to Someone Must Feel Like A Fool Tonight by Kenny Rogers), Neon Hearts, Gypsy Queen, We’re Good To Go, 5 Leaf Clover and Little Heartbreak.
29/01/24 New dance this week is actually a few years old. I was struggling to find a brand new dance that was suitable for this class so taught SOUTHERN DREAMS (Madison Glover) which first came out in 2020. Quite a variety of shuffles in it but we danced it twice and it seemed to be fairly well received.
Also danced: Champagne Promise, Bosa Nova, Some Kind Of Wonderful, 5 Leaf Clover, Things and Memory Lane.
22/01/24 No new one this week as some in the class were missing last week when I taught 5 LEAF CLOVER so we had another go at that.
Also danced: Ribbon Of Highway (to Too Many Pockets by Darryl Worley), Memory Lane, Blue Rose Is, This And That, Eliot’s Dream, Little Heartbreak, Inspiration and Hitch A Ride.
15/01/24 This week’s new dance was a waltz – the first one I’ve taught at this class – called 5 LEAF CLOVER (Tina Argyle) – it seemed to go down well and we danced it twice.
Also danced: Black Coffee, Something In The Water, Neon Hearts, I Close My Ears, Bosa Nova, Green Green Grass and Un Poquito.
08/01/24 After a couple of weeks off, I didn’t teach a new one today but revised BOSA NOVA (Phil Dennington). The first bit took a bit of getting into but they seemed to enjoy doing it again after a few walls.