benjaminny   10 #1 Posted November 28, 2016 (edited) Ok, my wife loves strictly, and I reckon she'll love to learn to dance. So a monthly babysitter and dance classes might be a christmas present for us both.  Could anyone recommend a ballroom dance class for beginners?  We are both pretty fit and agile, so I'd like to start at the beginning but go through at a good pace.  I want to dance with my wife, so preferably I'd like classes where you learn with your partner, rather than rotate around the room. Kind of want it to be quality time for us.  Could anyone recommend a class? Edited November 28, 2016 by benjaminny spelling error Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Jive Knight   11 #2 Posted November 29, 2016 (edited) You might have trouble finding a monthly ballroom class. All that I know of are weekly, because people don't want to wait that long between classes - they forget one class' lessons before the next. And ballroom classes for beginners don't work well if you skip a few - they move on at a planned rate, so there is a particular start date for each group of lessons and everyone moves on at the same rate.  I'm going to recommend Modern Jive. Normally in MJ people move around the class (that's a great advantage if you don't have a partner who also wants to dance, and even if you do, you learn faster because you get to dance with people who may have done a move before rather than both trying to figure it out at the same time). But it's not compulsory, you can stay as a fixed couple off to one side.  And jive works in a different way to more formal ballroom/Latin styles because it doesn't concentrate on footwork, so people can dip in and out of lessons as they can get there. It concentrates on moves, which you can just fit together as the mood and the music takes you.  So try Modern Jive. I think the best venue in Sheffield is Blitz at Crookes Social Club on Wednesdays.  (You've said you're fit, but if anyone else reading this worries about jive being the frantic style seen on Strictly, relax. Modern jive is an almost completely different style which has poached moves from other styles, so it's danced to all kinds of music and a good evening of modern jive plays a variety of music - it's good exercise but not likely to trigger a heart attack! My favourite style is a good sultry blues...) Edited December 10, 2016 by Jive Knight Removed reference to Thursdays as that's ending. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
benjaminny   10 #3 Posted November 29, 2016 Thanks jive knight. That's really helpful. ' sultry blues' sounds awesome, my wife sings blues beautifully, so dancing to it would be lovely. One day! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Jive Knight   11 #4 Posted November 29, 2016 If you want to see awesome, . Those are all standard modern jive moves, but Nigel & Nina do them better than anyone! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
benjaminny   10 #5 Posted December 5, 2016 Thanks for the link JiveKnight. Can't wait now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...