Each week, our entertainments reporter tries out a new activity. This time, Duncan Hall has a spin on the dancefloor with JiveVibe Dance and Social Club.
How to do.. modern jive
Duncan Hall goes through the motions with Gemma, of JiveVibe. (5PF1025510) Picture: PAUL FRANKS
I HAVE always been jealous of those people who can do the fancy twirly stuff on the dancefloor.
There are always a few at every wedding – as soon as something upbeat comes on they’re throwing their partner around the floor in an impressive array of turns and spins.
Whenever I try to do that with anyone, I end up putting them in a half-nelson and earn a few kicks to the shin for my trouble.
But now, having visited the JiveVibe Dance and Social Club, I have the confidence to spin and twirl my partner until she gets dizzy, without needing to wear shinpads.
The club, which meets at the Fleet Centre in Fletton, has only been in existence for the last
couple of months, but has already built up an impressive number of regulars.
And on my first night it was easy to see why. Everyone is welcome, no matter what their age, gender or experience, and the emphasis is very much on having a good time.
The club has a very defined structure – starting off with a little bit of socialising at the bar as everyone arrives before launching into the beginners’ lesson, where everyone takes part, no matter what level you are at.
As a learner on my first lesson I was marked out by a red L sticker, meaning the more experienced dancers went out of their way to help me out throughout the half-hour session.
Dave Plummer, the man behind the club, went through the move we were going to attempt in the centre of a big circle of dancers, assisted by Gemma from the club’s Bedford class.
Watching the pair move through the seemingly never-ending sequence of steps it was hard to believe we would ever be close to even imitating it by the end of the session.
But that was where Dave’s skill lay. He broke down the move into three sections, demonstrated each section, walked everyone through it and only introduced the music near the end when everyone had got it.
The teaching was interspersed with some great light-hearted humour which put everyone at their ease, while at the same time making some important points.
We were not restricted to one partner during the learning session, in fact Dave made sure the ladies moved on to the next male partner every few minutes, meaning the more experienced dancers and handful of instructors in the group were able to correct any errors by the beginners.
After a few awkward moments I found myself picking it up – although I have to admit having a problem sorting out the manspin bit in the middle.
What made it so much easier than other dances I have tried was that you weren’t trying to follow a regular step like a salsa move, leaving you free to concentrate on pulling and pushing your partner about without constantly having to look at your feet.
In what felt like no time at all, I was confidently twirling my partner, bringing her back, spinning myself and performing a comb – putting her hand over my head and placing it around my neck.
It was hot work, but I felt over the moon that I had achieved something so concrete in such a short length of time.
Each week the beginners learn three of a total of 24 beginners’ moves in a 40-minute session.
After the beginners lesson there is a half-hour free-style section, before the group splits into another 40-minute teaching session, this time divided into beginners re-cap, improvers and intermediate classes.
The night ends with another freestyle session where beginners are encouraged to ask someone for a dance to practice their moves again.
Dave said: “I wanted to make it as inclusive as possible, so you get experienced people dancing with beginners.
“Everybody should be able to give it a chance, and if you can get people coming out of the door with a big smile on their face, that is an achievement.
“Word of mouth is spreading and our numbers are growing week on week!”
The way the leaflets advertise it is that it is so easy that even men can do it – and that is certainly true.
And the teaching has stuck too – two weeks later I was still able to impress my girlfriend with my dancing skills as I led her effortlessly through the routine.