Dancing Through Life

Costume crisis

danceteacher — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:23:51 +0000

No matter how many weeks that have been spent rehearsing and preparing for a big competition, there’s always a last minute panic. A lost glove, missing pair of tights or a rip in a costume can usually be fixed without too much drama.

A lost dance cane, however, on a Saturday night before a 7.30am start on Sunday morning, is a bit more of a challenge. Trying to find a fancy dress or dancewear shop anywhere in Glasgow or Edinburgh that opens on a Sunday, and sells dance canes, proved to be impossible.

The canes were originally black, with white tips and were covered with silver ribbon to match the costumes. After hunting through various household items, a kitchen sweeping brush with a silver handle caught my eye. A quick chop with a hacksaw brought it down to size and with a bit of white tape on the ends, it didn’t look too bad.

Crisis over, but the brush is now missing a handle. Another costume lesson has been learned!

Time Flies

danceteacher — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:07:50 +0000

There’s been so much to do that the blog got put aside for a while. It’s back with good intentions to keep it up to date and get some stuff that’s actually interesting on the pages!

Talent Competition Comes to Belfast

danceteacher — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 13:41:03 +0000

Festival 4 Stars, the UK wide talent contest open to all ages, is coming to Belfast on Sunday 10th June 2007.

There are 9 sections in the regional heats;

Solo Dance 12 years and under
Solo Dance 13 to 18

Solo Singing 14 years and under
Solo Singing 15 years to adult

Musical Theatre 14 years and under
Musical Theatre 15 years to adult

Group Dance – duos & trios
Group Dance – troupe/group
That’s Entertainment – solo or group

The contest takes place in the Hilton Belfast, with 4 winners in each section going through to the regional finals in the afternoon. A mystery celebrity judge will be present for the final stage (last year’s celeb was X Factor finalist Philip Magee), and overall winners go on to represent the region in the national finals later in the year.

Full details of how to register for the contest are available at

www.festival4stars.com/talent-competition.html

Dancing Show 2007 – The Pressure’s On!

danceteacher — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 23:59:17 +0000

Only 12 weeks and all hell will break loose. It seems a lot, but for those kids who only attend once a week it’s only 18 hours away.

Determined to be organised, I started buying costumes, fabrics, patterns, sequins, feathers and loads of other bits & pieces before Christmas. False sense of security, thinking by Easter I’d have everything done, but the weeks flew away and I still have another 200 bits of costumes to find – on a predictably tight budget too.

Guess I had better go and get on with it!

Dance Teacher Makes Millions!

Fred Astaire v Gene Kelly

danceteacher — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 05:47:57 +0000

After reading a forum post entitled “Are there any Fred Astaire fans out there” it prompted me to a question I’ve never been able to answer – who was the best dancer – Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly?

Answers, ponders and more questions to follow..