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Taking steps to impress the ladies
MEN; do you want to know how to impress the ladies? Simple. Buy a nice suit and learn how to do a waltz.
You might think I'm talking out of my top hat, but it's true.
If you don't believe me, at least listen to Wendy Hatton, 50, who has 33 years worth of experience teaching every type of dance from Salsa to classical and formation to Argentinian Tango.
She knows a zeitgest when she sees one, and at her school, The Hatton Academy of Dance and Arts in Commercial Road, Tyne Dock, demand for ballroom is at an all-time high because of the popularity of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing (SCD).
"I think it's a very good social activity for couples, as they can meet new friends," she said.
"They can go out with other students to dinners and events where they can get up and have a dance. And it's very romantic."
Hear that, boys? Romantic!
Her youngest son James, 19, who came 7th in the under-21s section at this year's British National championships at The Winter Gardens in Blackpool, agreed.
He says: "Women like men who can dance. If you came here, your wife or partner would love it."
But isn't it a bit ... you know, effeminate I asked the sports diploma student at South Tyneside College.
"No. It gives you excellent balance, co-ordination and flexibility. I'm the fittest person on my course because of dancing.
"These days, men have changed because of Strictly Come Dancing. Look at former world boxing champion Joe Calazaghe who was on the show. You wouldn't call him effeminate."
Hmm, fair point, but what about the clothes?
"I like classical and ballroom dancing because you get to dress up. It's a bit more elegant and dapper," he replied.
His partner for the day, 16-year-old Lauren Phillips, from South Shields, was equally enthusiastic about the allure of a well-dressed man.
"Every girl in a ballroom likes a man in a suit," she grinned.
The sixth-form student at St Anthony's Girls' School in Sunderland, who has been dancing since she was three, continued: "Boys have the confidence to go out and dance now, whereas they wouldn't have not so long ago."
Having competed in a multitude of classical dance contests over the years, she then described the adrenaline high she gets from nailing a routine.
"The first time in a competition was so daunting, but you get used to it and then you don't want to come off. I get such a buzz from doing it. It's fun and you meet lots of new friends at competitions."
An equally formidable competitor, James revealed that the secret to being a good dancer is to relax and "have fun".
He said: "You've just got to go in, not worry too much and enjoy it."
Determined to work out this 'fun' angle they were talking about, I watched as they twirled around effortlessly in the academy's main dance studio.
It didn't look so hard, but Wendy wasn't going to let me get anywhere near a waltz until I'd at least learnt correct posture and how to move my feet.
The trick, she said, was to ensure you have a "nice rise and fall", whereby you move around changing between heel and toes smoothly.
She said: "You have to keep the feet on the floor at all times and keep the body weight in the right place."
Apparently though, and to my bitter disappointment, there's no hip action going on.
"There's none of that in ballroom. Certainly not in the waltz. You use your hips in Latin," Wendy corrected.
There are arms to think about though. One is raised at a right angle to your body where it rests on the lady's arm. The other is stretched out in front as if holding a bow. Woe betide a droopy arm should SCD's Craig Revel Horwood spot it. And then there's the head.
The rather haughty bad-smell-under-the-nose look is achieved by following the ballroom maxim: "keep your eyes on the second row of the balcony".
With arms and head up, I was ready to start actually moving. Left foot forward, heel down, on to the toes, sidestep with the right foot, then feet together on the toes. Heel down on left foot and move off on the right foot. Then do it again and again.
Within half a minute, I realise I can't tell my right foot from my left.
"Don't worry. That happens a lot," Wendy chuckled. "People think they know their left from their right until they try to remember which one goes next. They keep going on their right foot."
Over the next couple of hours we speeded through what a beginner might take a few weeks to learn, and she seemed fairly happy with my progress.
However, after sneaking looks at James and Lauren, I began to feel more and more like a shaved chimp who'd just been taught to dance on hot plates.
Wendy, though, was having none of this self-pitying nonsense. "You did well.
"Men should come and give it a go. They are the hardest to get through the door on the first lesson, but after that, they are full of it," she said.
As my previous efforts at pole and tap dancing have shown, I may not be the most gifted natural dancer, but I enjoyed my time learning the waltz. Who knows, it might even help me find a lady?
* The academy is open seven days a week, with Wendy's eldest son Stuart, 24, teaching ballroom, Latin, classical, modern and formation dancing.
Other classes include sequence, hip-hop, salsa and Argentinian tango.
The academy also does private lessons and team-building exercises for companies.
For information, call 454 2889 or log on to its website here.
www.ha-da.co.uk
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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