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

Brighton and Lewes Students at Kids Ballroom and Latin Dance Competition in Bournemouth

After the powerful storm on Friday and with parts of Bournemouth still underwater, we were almost certain last Sunday's competition would be cancelled or postponed.

However, as if someone had flicked a switch, the skies cleared on Sunday morning and the kids' and teenagers' dance competition ran as planned.

It was a successful day for East Sussex Dance; all of our dances looked fantastic and made good use of the very small dance floor.

Daniel danced the Waltz and Jive. This was Daniel's first ever regional dance competition but he didn't let any nerves show through. He got called back into the Quarter Finals for his Waltz; a great start to his dancing "career"!

Chloe "flew" around the floor during her beautifully poised Viennese Waltz, overtaking many other competitors in the process. 

We feel that Indi's performance in the Pre-Bronze Samba was the best she's ever danced. She really gave her all and, as a result, was called back into the quarter finals.

Josh and Natasha made it to the finals of both their Ballroom and Latin Couples events achieving 4th and 3rd placings respectively.

Maya danced a beautiful Waltz and got all the way to the final round achieving 6th Place.

Elysia did very well in the 3-dance Sequence competition, a gruelling event where competitors perform three different dances back-to-back. Even though this was only Elysia's second time competing in this event she danced through to the final, taking 3rd place.

All of our dancers from Brighton and Lewes should be extremely proud of their performances on Sunday. As usual, they represented East Sussex Dance very well and can now enjoy a well-deserved break from the busy competition schedule of January and February.

Many of the dancers are also performing in a number of shows across Sussex over the next few weeks, so we still have plenty of dancing to be getting on with.

This afternoon we have just returned from a demonstration in Eastbourne at a day centre for older people. They were charmed by our dancers, who showed a variety of their competition routines. One lady was a former dance teacher herself and came to thank us personally for coming to visit the day centre.

Special thanks go to Chloe, Maya and Emma who gave up their afternoon to spread a bit of joy through their dancing :-)

That's all for now; enjoy your half term!

Visit www.eastsussexdance.com for more news about our children's dance classes, competitions, exams and shows across Brighton, Lewes and East Sussex and follow us on twitter and Facebook

A VERY Busy Dance School

We are barely into February but the East Sussex Dance diary is filling up fast…

The new Adult dance classes and Kids dance classes are off to a great start in Brighton and Lewes. January saw our first professional cabaret of the year, the “January Blues” Tea Dance in Lewes and our first social night of 2014 was very well received (next date is 1st March).

Our students have started working on pieces for the whole school dance show, flights have been booked for our Germany trip in June and by the time February has finished we will have attended our fourth dance competition of the year!

Our dance school have also been invited to perform as “guest dancers” at over 12 other shows across East Sussex in the first half of the year! The month of March alone includes 4 performances at retirement and care homes, the Glenn Miller Story at the Pavilion Theatre in Worthing and 3 performances at Sussex University (as part of the Ballroom and Latin Dance society run by the Students).

Recent dance class in Lewes

April and May are pretty hectic too; ISTD exam session for kids and adults in Lewes and Brighton, A St Patrick’s day practice night, Sunday Ballroom workshops as well as preparing for the local Kids and Adults dance competitions in Horsham and Hove.

Saturday 5th July is our major school event: the East Sussex Dance school show. Every class, from our adults and teenagers down to the kids and toddlers dance classes are invited to perform 1 or 2 dances as part of the show which takes place at Michael Hall theatre in Forest Row.

Last year's school show

Although the children’s dance classes break for August, our week of Summer school keeps the kids busy.

At the moment, September and October are business as usual with the adults and children’s dance classes preparing for the Autumn Term exam session and, for some students, their biggest dance competition of the year…The Blackpool Grand Finals in November.

On December 31st we can celebrate yet another fantastic year at East Sussex Dance, looking back on the Christmas parties, Tea dances and Social dancing evenings and toasting the beginning of 2015.

It all keeps me out of trouble anyway…

Marcus Edwards

Remember next week is the kids Ballroom and Latin dance competition in Bournemouth so be sure to come back and view the full report here!

Visit www.eastsussexdance.com for more news about our kids, adult, toddler and private dance classes in Brighton, Lewes and across East Sussex and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

Our February 2014 Ad in Viva Lewes

Photo shoot

Just a few of the gorgeous dance action shots taken by our new friend Ana from Brighton University

This was during our Tuesday teenage Rock n Roll and Street dance classes in Lewes.

More to follow ...

Working out new group dance choreography

Freestyle!

Paso Doble

Rock n Roll

More beautiful Paso Doble from Chloe and Marcus

Street dance

A big thank-you to Ana for sharing her photos with us!

Southend Competition Report

Today we were at a Children's Ballroom and Latin dance competition in Southend. Although we only took 8 dancers, they represented East Sussex Dance very well!

You can see how well they all danced by viewing some of the videos on our YouTube page.

First up was Emma, who danced  in the Juvenile (Under 12) pre-bronze category. Emma danced the Quicktep and Cha cha; she really catches the eye on the floor despite being one of the littlest dancers in her event.

Next was Francesca, also competing in the Juvenile category but her dances were the Waltz and Jive. Francesca's enjoyment really shows through her dancing, to the point where we couldn't watch anyone else!

In the Junior couples categories, dancing the Quickstep and Jive were Natasha, Josh, Camille, and Oscar. The boys' posture has improved tremendously over the last few months and they are now standing like young men instead of boys. 

Camille and Natasha showed great control in their very demanding Quickstep and Jive routines; a difficult thing to accomplish considering these are the two fastest dances!

Representing the older students were Jack and Elysia, two very experienced dancers. You can tell these two have been dancing for years in their confidence on the competition floor.
The attack and precision Jack displayed in his Tango and the musical expression in his Rumba require years of refinement.
Elysia presented her Gold Foxtrot exactly how it should be danced; with effortless, powerful movement and big shapes. 

Coming soon...
Forthcoming shows in Worthing and East Grinstead
Weekly school update
Bournemouth children's Ballroom & Latin Competition report

Visit www.eastsussexdance.com for more news about our children's dance classes, competitions, exams and shows across Brighton, Lewes and East Sussex and follow us on twitter and facebook

Medals from December exams have now arrived!

We have just received 2 big cardboard boxes of medals, trophies and cups for the dancing exams held on 1st December.

This session included the biggest number of high level (above Gold) entries we've ever had;

Special congratulations to our Gold Star and Imperial Award candidates:

Rosalind Lloyd Bostock
Jade Bowman
Katy Carrington
Maya Savran
Emily Fox

And to our Josephine Bradley Award candidates:

Elysia Holmes
Chloe Webber

The Josephine Bradley Award is a tremendous achievement; candidates show 8 dances across the ballroom & latin spectrum to a very high standard, the culmination of 10 years training for Elysia and Chloe (pictured with Marcus and Alex).

Well done to all of our other dancers too - you have all worked hard and will receive your medals very soon!

The next ISTD exam session will be on 27th April in Patcham.

February 2014

Competition season approaches...
Sunday 2nd Feb : Southend Children's Comp
Sunday 16th Feb : Bournemouth Children's Comp
HALF TERM : Eastbourne Festival
Sunday 23rd Feb : Southend Adults Comp

Other News
On Sunday 2nd March we will be performing as part of "The Glenn Miller Story" at the Pavilion Theatre in Worthing.

12th April is our invitation performance at Chequer Mead Theatre in East Grinstead. We are working on Ballroom, Ballet and Classical Greek pieces for this performance.

27th April : Spring Medal Tests in Patcham (ISTD)