Dizzyfeet Dancing Blog

Sounds nice, doesn't it? Sadly, it doesn't mean that we've decided to swan off to the Costa Del Sol and spend the rest of our time sunbathing at our hillside villa. No. It is with deep sadness that we announce our retirement from competitive dancing....

The 'early' bit is pretty relevant, as we could definitely keep going for a few more years yet as Kelly is still in her twenties (you don't disclose a woman’s age) and I'm only 33. It's quite typical for high level professional competitors to go on until their late thirties, although there are obviously exceptions to this. I can think of a couple of good examples off the top of my head; Ernie Chatt, with his wife Myra, won the World Amateur Championships and then promptly turned professional - already in his 40's! At the other end of the scale, Lynn Harman was a Professional World Champion in the late seventies and then retired, still in her early twenties. I guess it's different for every single person, but eventually the time is right to retire and that time for us, is now. That last bit almost makes me want to break out into a song....

I'm sure you would like to know why?

It's not as easy as one specific reason or event that has brought about our decision, more a succession of events and developments that have ultimately made the decision for us. So where do I start? To begin with, the biggest reason and often the reason a lot of dancers in our position walk away from it all, is money. Isn't it always about money? Practising, keeping fit and eating well are 3 of the most important aspects of high level competition in any activity and conveniently pretty much the cheapest elements too. Ballroom dancing however, requires a multitude of other things that aren't cheap. Kelly's dresses for example, can be up to £2000 a time and in any competition year, she can easily get through 5 (which I will say is nothing compared to some dancers. One of our friends spent £50000 in just one year on dresses. Bonkers). We've been very lucky to get a small sponsorship from Leena Teperi (Kelly's excellent and eccentric Finnish dressmaker!) which has helped immensely, but once the dresses have been worn a few times they are no longer vogue enough for the next competition and get relegated to the 'dance wardrobe' which now has some 10 dresses hanging up, looking for new owners. (Anyone interested? Let us know…)

Well, perhaps a Bronze and Silver first would be a good starting point!

It is of course Olympic year, but don’t worry this blog isn’t about ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ – far from it. I’m sure that Simon Cowell is quite annoyed that the Olympic games has coined that particular phrase; surely his X-Factor franchise would be more suitable with the majority of people being far more interested in watching shocking reality TV than sport. Incidentally, Albania sent just 8 athletes to the last Olympics Games in Beijing, and yet the first season of X-Factor Albania (2012) attracted thousands upon thousands of hopefuls… A bit of pointless information and probably not in the slightest bit linked.

Enough. The subject of this blog today is dance examinations, or how we like to call them Medal Tests. Way back in the 1980’s, I took my first dance exam as a little, somewhat dishevelled, 4 year old! I can’t quite remember which exam I took (I’m sure my mum would be able to tell me and even produce the certificate) but needless to say it was suitable enough for a small boy of 4 and I passed. And so it began…

Over the next 12 years, I took all the exams that were on offer with the IDTA (my dance school back then didn’t do ISTD like us) and once they were done, started on some NATD ones too. I’m quite proud to say that in all bar one of the exams (my Silver exam if I remember correctly) I got the highest marks possible. I definitely wouldn’t be the dancer I am today without all of the specific training and discipline that was required to pass an examination.

It’s a shame that I can’t go back and take my Silver medal again – but it’s a little late now that I’m a qualified professional! I can be a little stubborn at times, and I vividly remember that exam. My mum had got me a little black jacket, much like a dinner jacket for grown-ups, and I felt fantastic in it. However, when you put your arms up in a suit jacket that isn’t specifically designed for dancing you end up with your ears resting neatly on the shoulder pads! And such was this jacket. My teacher at the time told me to take it off, but I’d just got my nice shiny jacket and wasn’t taking it off for anyone! I looked like a grown up! Needless to say it didn’t help my dancing as I got a commended and not the usual highly commended that I’d come to expect. The examiner comments reflected this jacket faux-pas and I was accused of dancing with hunched shoulders and not producing a smooth look. Which, thinking about it now, was a little harsh. How many children’s shoulders actually go above their ears? Surely they noticed it was just the jacket getting a little over-excited and not actually my little 8 year old shoulders? I do remember my teacher being quite cross with me for not taking it off, so perhaps she doctored the marks or advised the examiner to mark me down on purpose to teach me a lesson… Whatever the reason, it had a positive effect as I didn’t wear a jacket again and normal service was resumed the following exam!

Last Friday night, we were privileged to be invited guests to see Anton & Erin perform in their new show, Let's Do It. This is their 3rd touring stage show, and having been to see the previous two, can definitely say this is the best yet! It has a wonderful mix of entertainment, with sensational music from the London Concert Orchestra, wonderful singing from Lance Ellington (he sings on Strictly) and of course plenty of dancing from Anton & Erin - supported by some rather flexible and enthusiastic stage dancers!

We love big band music, and the show is full of it - to be honest I could have happily just closed my eyes and listened to the wonderful sounds all evening! Hopefully the audience around me wasn't too put off by the fact that I was almost dancing to every note - which was difficult considering my knees where close to my chest and I seemed to have grown two extra arms!

I must just break off from talking about the show, to mention a little bit about my Basingstoke experience. To start with, the town planners were obviously from the local area as it seems no real thought was put in to placing suitable signage in and around the town. Perhaps they just don't want visitors? Eventually, we did find the car park for the Anvil Theatre; however we then seemed to lose the theatre. It seems as though a shopping centre has been built around The Anvil, and once we exited the lift on the ground floor all we found were shops. No signs - nothing. Kelly thought it best if we followed a couple that looked as though they were dressed up for the evening, a sure sign of theatre go-ers, but unfortunately it turned out they were just off to Sainsbury's. After a swift turnaround, we tried the opposite direction and found a group of pensioners ambling along towards an ambient glow in the distance - this of course must be the right direction as Anton groupies are very easy to spot. Anyway, we eventually made it to our seats, albeit built for very small people, and settled down to see the show. Leaving was just as difficult, but I won't bore you with any more details. Needless to say, next time I'll remember a handy A-Z or get Google Maps working a little better on my phone!

Back to the show! Erin dazzled us with a vast array of dresses, and happened to mention that she got through over 500 dresses on the entire tour. 500! Anton of course boasted that he needed only one suit - made especially for the last series of SCD. It hadn't got a lot of wear on the show, (a point Anton humourously pointed out!) so it was in perfect condition for the tour!. Having known Anton & Erin for such a long time, and seen them dance on many numerous occasions, the dancing aspect of the show was entertaining, but not the highlight. No, the best bits were when they swapped the dance shoes, for microphones and began to sing! I never knew they had it in them but they really have found their voices, and those sketches really do make the show a true variety performance.

Once the show was over, we had the chance to meet with them backstage and spent the best part of an hour and half catching up. It's great to see such good friends doing so very well, but it does mean that any time with them is extremely short and 6 months of chat has to be condensed into a little over an hour. Anton informed me that talks are already underway for a 4th tour next year and we plan to organise a Dizzyfeet Dancing outing to see them, when they visit Portsmouth. So maybe next time you'll be able to join with us in enjoying the all singing, all dancing spectacle that is Anton & Erin!

A coach of mine once said to me "Keep it simple, stupid".

At first I thought there was someone behind me, but sadly, he was talking to me. Initially I was a little put out, almost angry. How could my foxtrot, one of THE best foxtrots out there, warrant that kind of comment? I was expressing myself; twisting and turning, shaping and moving - dancing my little heart out. But, he was of course so very right. (He was also not the kind of person that you argued with)

Whilst this was just a throw-away comment, it is actually so prevalent to almost all areas of our life. Don't worry, I'm not getting all deep and meaningful - this is a blog about dancing so I'll keep it on point!

If we take it in a dancing context, you can learn all the most fascinating and fabulous steps on offer, but true dancing in its most pure form is beautiful movement, put to beautiful music done in harmony with your partner (a beautiful partner preferred, but not essential...!). Quite often we miss the point and want to over complicate or make our dancing too intricate; resulting in a loss of what is most important - actually DANCING. A lot of you reading this blog will have been to a dance at some point, and whilst taking a break from your dancing endeavours you will observe the many other bodies, vying for position on the crowded dance floor.

Your eyes will be drawn to the couple from a few tables up who seem to just glide around the floor, not looking rushed or hurried in any of their steps and seeming to move with such ease that you could be forgiven for thinking they were on roller skates! They even hold each other in such a way that would have you believe they aren't two individuals dancing together at all, but just one, beautiful body such is their harmonious movement and togetherness.

They of course are 2 separate people, and have probably danced together for a while. But, I can assure you that longevity isn't just the cause of their superior movement and look. No, they will definitely be doing the simple things right - and keeping it that way. Of course we need steps and patterns to put to the music and a bit of variety is essential to keep things interesting and fun, but there's nothing quite like basic steps and variations done well.

So, next time you're at a dance don't try to over complicate things and get too clever, just keep it simple and you won't look stupid!