Features

If you followed Strictly Come Dancing, you're bound to know Anton Du Beke. Suave, dashing and a beautiful mover (ok - I'm biased!), the chance to dance with, or at least near him was too good to miss.

Anton was involved in the BBC's New Talent search for dancers to take part in "Dancing In The Street". The extravaganza will take place in Trafalgar Square on July 22nd and is part of the culmination of The Big Dance.

The search took Anton and the New Talent team to six venues across the country - finishing up in Suffolk at the Ipswich Corn Exchange.

More than a hundred people turned up, hopeful of making it to Trafalgar Square - and the chance to pair up with a professional dancer. Only one of us would.

Three workshops were held and I was booked into the last one.

Chatting to those eagerly awaiting their chance to shine, I found people had come from just round the corner - and from hundreds of miles away.

Phillip Harman goes to the Lait Dance School in Ipswich and has been dancing for 25 years: "It was just the chance for a new experience. It's the chance for a free lesson, to see how good I am compared with everyone else. And there is that small chance of getting through to the show in Trafalgar Square."

Andrea Davidson during the lesson

Angela Peck is a member of the Ipswich School of Dancing: "I was quite interested just to see what the workshop with Anton was like, but there are a lot of good dancers here."

Quite a few people had travelled up from London, but the prize for the person most dedicated to her dancing has to go to Amanda Moore from Halifax in West Yorkshire. More than two hundred miles away.

"The one in Blackpool was when I was on holiday, so as I knew Ipswich, I thought I'd come down and give it a try. I danced ballet and tap when I was a child, and I've done belly dancing and salsa. I've just come down for the experience really. I don't really see myself as going any further than that."

A sentiment I totally agreed with!

When we finally got into the grand hall, we were given a work out at both the Slow Rhythm dance and the Cha Cha. There were three times as many women as men, so we had to wait our turn for a partner. Some lucky ladies got to dance with Anton - sadly, I missed out and was too shy to ask.

Strictly Come Dancing's Anton Du Beke

For some people in the room, Anton's demonstrations and instructions were clearly a piece of cake. For me - and I wasn't alone - I got most of it, but not all. But I threw myself into it all enthusiastically, ending up with a face reminiscent of a beetroot!

At the end of our workshop, those showing enough promise were invited back to a masterclass later in the day. Dancer 213 - me - didn't make it. It wasn't a surprise.

However, Anton was very complimentary. "You were all marvelous. There was so much enthusiasm going on in this building." He even described my ruddy complexion as "glowing". What a nice man!

Then he signed a photo of himself for me - adding the words "keep dancing". Well, I might not ever be taking centre stage at a major event in London, but I'll certainly continue to dance.