Children In Need

Friday 3 October

To dance or not to dance?

The first question of course was whether to do it or not? Should I dust off my dancing shoes and learn a completely new skill (in other words - make a complete and utter fool of myself!) for a good cause or not? Well – therein lies the rub. BBC Three Counties Strictly Come Dancing event “Dancers in Need” is for Children in Need so it would seem a bit churlish to refuse – although maybe sitting in a bath of baked beans might be a little easier and have less chance of serious injury, to both myself and the audience!

But organiser Gareth Lloyd is very persuasive and after his 55th plaintive cry of “But it’s for the kiddies”, how could I refuse?! After all, how difficult could it be?! So there it was – I agreed to do it and there was no going back.

Katherine Boyle and Ronnie Barbour last year!

First let me explain a little about my dance “experience” to date. A future career in the profession was cruelly cut short at the tender age of three when I was expelled from my ballet class, although I have to say, it wasn’t because I wasn’t any good – oh no, no, no! I figure that I could have been the next, or should that be first, Darcy Bussell – in my dreams anyway! But apparently, so I’m told by my mother because I have actually blanked the whole experience out, it was down to the fact that I completely disrupted the entire class. My constant crying and wailing because I didn’t want to be there set everybody else off (some things don’t change!) and the teacher could eventually do nothing with a class of screaming three-year-olds refusing to do “good toes, bad toes”!

So, with a dance career firmly off the cards my efforts were limited to the living room in front of Top of the Pops and youth club discos where my “skanking” to the Two Tone beats of the 80s was legendary.

However, feeling that maybe the world was missing a great talent I returned to dance in my teens but foregoing the discipline and grace that ballet required and instead enjoying the freer style of jazz and tap, to which I was much more suited, if not particularly good!

Tap was my thing. I loved the rhythm and the attack you could put into it and the fact that you didn’t have to worry quite so much about your arms. It was enough getting one part of my body to move quite fast, let alone all four limbs! But nevertheless, I enjoyed a late teens and early adulthood doing classes and even the odd show, the highlights of which being the leather look shorts and silky pink waistcoat of 42nd Street in a panto circa 1988, and having to dress up as a hen for a musical version of The Canterbury Tales and do the funky chicken in the middle of Covent Garden. Oh yes – and the Can Can at a French themed evening at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans, but the less said about that the better! Let’s just say it was the last time I ever did the splits!

So yes, I admit that I have “danced” before, but I have to say that the Ballroom and Latin that this event requires, is a completely different prospect. Firstly there’s the fact that I haven’t seriously put one foot in front of the other to a beat for a good 15 years, unless you count the cheesier dance floors of the UK night club scene such as Chicago Rocks and Sports Cafes, where I could at least watch football at the same time, and the first dance at my wedding!

But inspired by the greatness that is BBC TV’s Strictly Come Dancing, the prospect of free dance lessons and most important of all, the promise that I could wear a sparkly frock, I agreed to join 11 colleagues and learn Ballroom and Latin for a competition on 7 November!

Sunday 5 October

To say it was absolutely tipping it down in Bedford on this particular Sunday afternoon was an understatement. It is difficult enough to try and negotiate the one way system in any weather conditions, let alone a monsoon, but there I was, inexplicably trying to find my way to the rehearsal rooms in the cold and wet when I could have been tucked up at home with a nice warm cuppa and the prospect of the Come Dine With Me omnibus to keep me warm!

But here I was so let the fun begin!

I met up with the other brave souls who had battled through the wind and rain “for the kiddies”, Laura Miller, Lorna Hankin, Kelly Betts and Nadine Simpson. We were all there to try and catch up, and be taught the dances that the others had learned for the inaugural competition the year before.

What followed was an afternoon under the patient tutelage of Reg and Fiona, with the help of dancer James, learning the basics of five dances, after which it seemed that perhaps sitting in a bath of baked beans would be easier! Even though they actually make me retch!

What I discovered was that while I am fairly “OK” at picking up steps, putting them together with any kind of style and grace is a completely different thing altogether, let alone trying to smile and count at the same time!

Although I have to say that in general we all did pretty well. It was a big ask for one afternoon but our teachers were excellent, breaking it down into small sections with lots of repetition until we got it.

And then we got to do it with a partner, which made it all worthwhile. It is much easier when you have someone leading you – although I think that “steering” would be a more appropriate phrase. James was fantastic, whirling us around the dance floor, and negotiating us around the other dancers! He also guided us through the tricky manoeuvre of turning the corners. It had all seemed so straightforward when going in a straight line!

But I think that I can speak for everyone else when I say that after the Waltz, Cha Cha Cha, Jive, Quickstep and Social Foxtrot, we all left feeling quite exhilarated at the start of our quest to take on a new challenge, and actually felt that we had achieved something. We may not be Alesha Dixons yet, but we are certainly not Kate Garraways! We hope! Bring on the frocks!

Wednesday 8 October

This week I have been trying, in the confined space of my living room to remember the basic steps that we learnt on Sunday. But it’s not easy without a partner so I tried to rope in the help of my husband and attempted to teach him the waltz. This was a mistake.

The dog and cat were looking at us in the way that only they can. The dog with excited and interested encouragement – while keeping a safe distance from the flailing limbs - and the cat with utter disdain and a look of “for goodness sake woman, know your limits” in his eyes, “and while you’re at it, where’s my dinner?”.

Lesley Garrett and Anton Du Beke

Looking for encouragement I used the opportunity of interviewing Lesley Garrett ahead of her appearance in Carousel at the Milton Keynes Theatre next week to get some advice. She reached the semi-final in the very first “Strictly” with her partner, the wonderful Anton du Beke, so seemed very well placed to talk on the subject.

It's called Dancers in Need" I said, "and we are! Can you give us some advice?!"

And she very kindly obliged. It seems that as well as getting a nice frock and good training – both of which I have been assured of – the most important thing is posture! There go my chances then! I was doing OK on Sunday until I had to stand up straight and hold my head at an unnatural angle looking over James' right shoulder and staring into the middle distance, while still trying to remember what my feet were doing! But hey ho - you have to suffer for your art - don't you?! After all - it IS for the kiddies!