The old approach to Ballroom Dancing Classes.

Picture the scene. It's seven in the evening and in a Church Hall (nothing against these places either), we arrive for a ballroom dancing class. The class is made up of a number of couples and we are the only young ones. Most are middle or senior aged. We begin with a demo by the teachers, and we are expected then to follow the demo and eventually become proficient at dancing. Hold on a second, this is not a criticism. It worked. This is where I learnt to waltz, cha, fox trot and so on. However it was very regimented. You took a break for a cup of tea and if you were lucky a biscuit. The cost of lessons was small and so the event took place in a hall which didn't cost much. I bless the teachers we had who kept us interested and had the necessary patience to teach me. They were very good people and were also good teachers. Timeframe - 1980

Fast forward a bit?

Let's jump forward to 1995. Same scene really but lot's of competition dancing now and at an International Level. Went to dance competitions in Hong Kong, Singapore Australia, where my son danced - he actually had rhythm whereas I didn't. Still the same scenes though. Ballroom dancing classes were not much improved in terms of the social side of the game. They were still taught in halls and there was no integration into the modern dance halls.

The modern approach?

Fast forward again to the modern day and as I said in my previous article things have changed dramatically. With the introduction of reality shows and the resulting interest on both the small and big screens, a change has been forced on the schools and this has also been a major catalyst to bring the younger generation to the pastime. The dusty church halls where entire classes were taught as I described above, have in many towns and cities gone and have been replaced by changes in teaching techniques and venues. Essentisally we are now seeing clubs rather than classes. Music repertoires have been updated in line with the current popular artists renditions. Teaching now includes videoclip dance, workshops, same sex couple events, and the teachers may even now take the group (not class) out to a musical.

Has your local dance class changed?

What we see here is ballroom dance schools recognising that they had to do much more to keep their client base and to attract new clients. They had to move from just being classes where you were put through a standard learning routine to become like clubs, which in turn made them attaractive to the younger generation looking to dance. The question is has your local dance class changed in this way?