East Sussex Dance Highlights 2014

Night of 100 Stars - Adult Ballroom Classes Trip, October 2014

Meeting Professional Latin dancers at Night of 100 Stars

Night of 100 Stars was a feast of world -class demonstations in Ballroom, Latin American and Show dance from the very best dancers (in the UK for the international championships the following week). Held at the Effingham Park Copthorne hotel, East Sussex Dance were lucky enough to secure 2 tables so that our dancers could enjoy the amazing standard of professional dancing. The evening also had time for social dancing so that our students could practice all the steps they have been learning in their dance classes!

Some of our younger Ballroom dancers at the Empress Ballroom, Blackpool 

The East Sussex Dance Ballroom & Latin competition team danced their way to success at the Blackpool Grand Finals in November. Our dancers reached quarter - finals, semi - finals and we even had 3 placings in the finals, including a 1st place in Ballroom!

Our Blackpool Ballroom champions receiving their awards

 Each of the dancers had qualified for the National Event at Regional competitions throughout the year and had worked hard to prepare for the prestigious Finals in the Empress Ballroom. The kids were especially supportive of each other, and everyone enjoyed the weekend of dancing.

Latin Finalist with proud dance teacher!

Back in Sussex, Lewes Goes Strictly, a Ballroom & Latin dance class for beginners and improvers returned for a 7 week course and culminated in a Tea Dance at the end of November. Dancers of all levels came together to enjoy an afternoon of dancing with tea and cake at Southover Church in Lewes. 

The following weekend was our ISTD exam session in Patcham, Brighton. Students from our children's and adult's dance classes took part, entering for medal tests at all levels from Under 6 and Under 8 ' tests through to Gold Star and Awards. Results, along with certificates and medals will arrive in January. 

The last week of term was "Watching Week" where friends and family were invited to watch their children's dance class. At the end of each class we took a retiring collection for Chestnut Tree House (the Sussex childrens hospice) and we raised over £100! 

Looking ahead to the month of January, we have New Beginners classes for Adults and Kids as well as specialist dance workshops, regional dance competitions and social dancing events for all levels.

Fitsteps dance fitness is coming to Brighton (Patcham) and Lewes with East Sussex Dance

BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Ian Waite and Natalie Lowe

"It's time to put on your dancing shoes, even if you can’t dance, as the UK is about to go Strictly mad with the addition of FitSteps®!"

But what IS Fitsteps?

Fitsteps is a 45 minute class, designed by BBC Strictly's Ian Waite and Natalie Lowe, which uses the most popular Ballroom & Latin dances to tone, strengthen and burn calories whilst improving co-ordination, poise and posture.

Burning up to 450 calories in 45 minutes, Fitsteps is a dance fitness programme that delivers results fast.

And the best bit? It's Ballroom & Latin but you don't need a partner!

“People taking part in the classes will enjoy learning the 10 dances, picking up a great skill and having a good time. It’s not; “Oh no I have to go to the gym," the physical rewards come almost without you noticing.” 

- professional dancer Natalie Lowe (BBC Strictly Come Dancing)

East Sussex Dance launch their Fitsteps dance fitness classes in Brighton on 7th May and Lewes on 22nd May. To secure your place call Alex on 07901 962163 or email info@eastsussexdance.com
For more adults, childrens and toddler dance classes visit www.eastsussexdance.com

Alex with Strictly's Ian Waite

Patcham Fitsteps Poster

Easter holiday dancing antics - not just in Sussex!

The Easter holidays began with a week of private tuition and exam rehearsal classes (in preparation for ISTD dancing exams in Brighton on April 27th) plus Adult Social Ballroom & Latin dance classes running as usual in the evenings. 

Alongside the Easter holiday dancing lessons, we've been up to lots more...

The Spring of Youth

On Saturday 12th April was "The Spring of Youth" at Chequer Mead Theatre, East Grinstead. This was an evening performance showcasing different performing arts groups from across East Sussex. East Sussex Dance had three students invited to perform; Oscar (11) from our Brighton Ballroom class, Camille (12) from our Lewes Ballroom class, and Tessa (16) from our Danehill Ballroom class, who was also involved in several Jazz numbers with Sussex Youth Dance Company.

This was Oscar and Camille's first performance together on stage and would be very different to their previous competition dancing experience. Usually there would be another 6-10 couples sharing the competition dance floor but here they had a big stage all to themselves. On the night the kids gave their Jive routine energy and attack as well as projecting and performing to their audience - a job well done.

An experienced stage performer, Tessa danced a beautifully presented Tango and expressive Rumba. She managed some very swift costume changes and remained focused and professional throughout the show. Tessa is an elegant dancer who really shone both on stage and off. Thank you Tess!

Fitsteps

Meanwhile, Alex was on her way to Oxford for her Fitsteps Instructor training course.

Fitsteps is the new dance fitness craze sweeping the nation, designed by BBC Strictly Stars Ian Waite and Natalie Lowe. Fitsteps uses the contrasting Ballroom and Latin dance styles to create a balanced workout that will tone, strengthen and increase cardiovascular fitness as well as teaching the basic steps in each dance with style and flair. Fitsteps classes are fun, varied and "Fab-u-lous" so Alex is very excited to be able to teach Fitsteps classes in Brighton and Lewes.

It was an intense 9-hour day of gruelling workouts, theory and practical assessments but the fantastic course instructors, great music and quality choreography kept the delegates motivated and excited. Strictly's Ian Waite even dropped in at lunchtime to give everyone some encouragement.

Alex will be launching Fitsteps Brighton at Patcham Community Centre on Wednesday 30th April, 9.30am. 

Fitsteps Lewes will be on a Thursday at 6.30pm to begin with, start date tbc.

Entertaining the Senior Citizens - Short Performance in Eastbourne

On Thursday 16th April a completely different East Sussex Dance fixture was booked in. Six boys and one girl headed over to Eastbourne to entertain the senior citizens at a local care home. 

Our Lewes Street dance boys wowed the residents with their fast-paced, high energy routines whilst Joe, Colombo and Olivia (from our Brighton dance classes) did the Waltz, Rumba and Cha Cha Cha. Olivia was brave enough to dance a solo Jive to Jailhouse Rock which went down a storm (you can't beat a bit of Elvis...) 

After the short performance we were rewarded with lemonade and cupcakes and the residents asked the Lewes Street dance boys to recreate their "baby freeze" (see photo below). Of course the boys were only too happy to oblige! 

For more information about our classes, visit our website or call Alex on 07901962163.
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Spring-Summer dancing at a glance

5th April Social dancing / Practice session, Lewes

12th April Youth Dance Show, Chequer Mead Theatre, East Grinstead

17th April Entertaining the Senior Citizens at Milton Grange, Eastbourne

17th April Fitsteps Launch, Lewes

24th April Ballroom & Latin Beginners Class and Social dancing, The Inn on the Park, Golden Cross

27th April ISTD Medal Tests, Patcham

3rd May Danehill/West Hoathly Adult Improvers Class - Summer Term commences

5th May Bank Holiday, although Ballet classes will run as normal

11th May ISTD Ballroom dancing Competition, Brighton & Hove

17th May Dress Rehearsals for School Show

8th June ISTD Ballroom dancing Competition for kids, Brighton & Hove

28th June Cologne dance festival

21st June ARBTA Dancing Exams, Patcham

5th July School Show at Michael Hall Theatre

March Update : Ballroom and Jive dancing events

The Story of Glenn Miller

On Sunday 2nd March, Marcus and Alex were accompanied by Peter (student at our Lewes dance classes) and Chloe (student at our Brighton dance classes) to the Pavilion Theatre in Worthing to perform as guest dancers for The Story of Glenn Miller.

In the dressing rooms

The theatre was an impressive venue with traditional decor, and was a nice warm haven compared to the howling wind outside! Once the band had warmed up we were then ready for a quick rehearsal on stage before finding our dressing rooms.

First on were Alex and Peter dancing the Quick Rhythm to "American Patrol". They even threw in a few Charleston and Lindy hop moves to showcase some of the major dance styles from the early 20th Century.

In the second half were Chloe and Marcus, dancing to "A String of Pearls". The choreoraphy started with American Smooth Foxtrot, going into the Ballroom Jive, which complimented the Big Band sound really well.

Finally Marcus and Alex performed a professional, high energy Jive routine to "People like you and Me" which only seemed to get faster as it went on!

The live band were amazing and seemed to give our dancing a real boost; no recorded track or digital media could beat it. A big Thank you to the Astor Big Band for inviting us - we look forward to dancing with you again!

The Team - about to go on!

Sussex "Got To Dance"

The very next day, Marcus was Jiving again at the Sussex "Got to Dance" competition with Jo Dearden, ESD student and president of the Ballroom and Latin dance society at the University of Sussex.

The variety and quality of the dance acts was amazing. There were great contemporary and street dance groups, super cool swing and salsa dance groups, some truly amazing break dancers and, something I don’t think I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing, the Asian dance styles whose music and dancing we could have listened to and watched all day.

Because of the high standard of competitors, we went on with the attitude that we may only dance this once and after the speed, energy and attack we threw into the jive I admit I was glad we didn't have to muster a repeat performance!

In fact, it was so high energy that one of our students from the university dance class came up to me at the end and said ‘I hope our jive doesn’t get as fast as that!’

In all, it has been a very successful week showcasing our dancers' talent at East Sussex Dance and we only have a week before our next performance at the "Sussex Live" show on Friday 14th March.

Then its back to teaching our weekly dance classes until April when we have another show to do at Chequer Mead on 12th April, entertaining Senior Citizens on 17th April as well as school medal tests on 27th April. Phew!

None of these events would be possible without the talent of the wonderful students at East Sussex Dance.

You can view all 3 dance performances at the Glenn Miller show as well as the high energy jive from Sussex Got to Dance on our YouTube page.

Visit www.eastsussexdance.com for more news about our toddler, childrens, teenagers and adult dance classes, competitions, exams and shows across Brighton, Lewes and East Sussex and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook