We would like to thank Keith Davies (of Revolution Dance) and his lovely wife Janey for coming along to Hessle last night (5th May, 2010) and making the night such a success.  They gave superb classes and then followed up with a demonstration freestyle dance.

Click here to view the video

We would also like to thank Beverley Dancewear for coming along and offering a large selection of top branded dance shoes and allowing up to 20% discount for Hessle Members.

Click here for location and directions to The Armstrong Social Club

Some of our members have expressed an interest in Lindy Hop and have asked for a Lindy Hop class but Wednesday Class nights have always been reserved for Modern Jive Classes and that's what most of our members expect and new members especially.

So we have asked Andy Toogood, an exprienced and renown dance teacher and Lindy Hopper to hold a Lindy Hop workshop for us and this will take place at Hessle Town Hall on Sunday, 11th April between 12 noon and 4 pm.  Andy has kindly offered a reduced rate for us as he is a special fan of Hessle Jive Club and so he is only charging £25 if you find someone to book as a mixed gender pair or £15 per person for this Lindy Hop Beginners' Workshop.  Please go to the desk on a class night if you want to reserve a place on this workshop.

Some of our members have never seen Lindy Hop (or seen it dance properly, so we invited Mike and Ronnie who regularly dance Lindy Hop at Swing Jive Leeds (and elsewhere...), to come along and give a Lindy Hop demonstration dance.  They were very well received by our members last night (Wednesday 31st August, 2010) and a video of their dance can be viewed by clicking on the link below:-

Click here to view the Lindy Hop dance video

For those who want to go to Lindy Hop Classes, we recommend Swing Jive Leeds who hold classes every Monday night at Moortown Social Club, Cranmere Gardens, Leeds, LS17 5LA.  Their website is www.swingjiveleeds.com and you can contact them at joyce.swingjive@ntlworld.com. Their Beginners' Class starts at 8 pm.

Mike and Ronnie, who danced for us last night, refused payment for their services and suggested that we make a charity donation instead, which we will do.  They came over from Leeds especially to dance for us and we are extremely grateful to this enthusiastic and lovely couple.  Well done Mike and Ronnie and THANK YOU!

We're delighted that the Rock 'n' Roll Jive Nights are proving so popular.  We've another great band in store for this week's Rock 'n' Roll Jive Night; the band is called The Class of 58 and please don't be fooled by the boyish appearance of two of the band members - they are superb musicians, ney prodigies even!  And the band is a very well known and respected band on the Rock 'n' Roll circuit and played at many major festivals and venues.  This is going to be another fabulous night at Armstrongs, so make a note in your diary; the last Friday of March (26th March).  The bar is CHEAP and you don't have to dance Rock 'n' Roll, any kind of dancing goes!  No tickets required, just pay on the door.  The poster for this night is below:-

We have now finalised the dates for our Rock 'n' Roll Jive Nights and booked the bands for all the available last Fridays of the month at The Armstrong Social Club in Beverley.  These are some of the very best bands on the Rock 'n' Roll circuit! Here they are:-

Helen and Gus used to be competition dancers together and came back together for one night especially for us at Hessle last night.  Although they haven't danced together for over a year and only had a few minutes 'rehearsal' together (and the music was selected literally seconds before they came on), they did us really proud.  Thank you Helen and Gus!

Enjoy the demo...

Click here to view the video

We've a great class night lined up for you this Wednesday (3rd March).  We have a special guest teacher making her first appearance at Hessle Modern Jive Club.  She is Helen Zambass.  Here is a picture and some background information about Helen:-

Helen was a shy wall hugger when she first plucked up courage to go along to a Blitz Jive class 13 years ago but just a few years later she had  qualified as a teacher, become a director of the company “Blitz Jive”, regularly starred in competitions and was addicted to the partner dancing which, she says, changed her life.

The Blitz Jive was born in Sheffield in 1994 and has since spread all over the North, like other forms of partner dancing including salsa it takes the form of classes followed by a social dance. Helen says: "Jive started when the Americans came over here in World War Two, the French also liked it and we picked up on both styles. It's different to rock 'n' roll.  'Blitz Jive' (Modern Jive) is jive for the 21st century and allows you to twirl to everything from Britney Spears to Dean Martin and Motown, Classic Rock, Latin and now Hip Hop." 

Helen loved the fact that many people join solo and women are encouraged to ask men for a dance.  "I don't want it to sound like a lonely hearts night or anything because it isn't like that at all," says Helen.  "It becomes second nature, though it takes courage at first.  Lots of our members have since got married and others have built long-term friendships."  She says: "I'd just split with my partner and I ended up being single and bored and a couch potato.  I joined the class for something to do and ended up getting addicted.  Most people do.  Once you start, you become passionate about it.  It makes you feel so good.  I became a demonstrator and then a director of the company."  She adds: "It was so friendly and non-threatening and a great place for anyone who loves music and dancing. You get to a point when the music comes on you just have to dance.  It's like having the Red Shoes on and when you get home you're as high as a kite."  Helen, a paediatric dietician, says her self-esteem rose and her figure became more toned after a few months of joining a Blitz Jive class.

"I was the person in the baggy jeans, worried about joining in and now I dress differently and I'm much more extrovert. I stand up in front of 150 people with a microphone on my head, showing them how to dance.  I didn't think in a million years I could've done that.  For me it's been life changing.  It's such good aerobic exercise that men often change their shirt three times a night, they get so hot.  If you haven't danced a step in your life, it's not a problem and you don't need to be fit to start as a beginner.  You don't need to wear a ra ra skirt either. The only costume you need is a pair of smooth soled trainers for spinning and turning. It doesn't take long to learn the moves.  I've seen people come through the door who are really nervous and think they can't dance.  Within six weeks, they are whizzing round the dance floor.  You only need to learn a few moves to look really good. It really does build confidence.”

Helen is no longer a director of Blitz – she prefers to leave the politics to the men!  However she is still addicted to dance and loves to teach.  She has been teaching all over the North, in Scotland and as far south as Brighton mostly with Gus (Our Gus of Coolcatz fame who is now engaged to our Lynsey).  Helen and Gus were competition dance partners for one year and came 4th in the Advanced Section at Blackpool that year - no mean feet ('cuse the pun).  Helen became a teacher really because she just want to get the world active.  Helen says that if you do no physical activity then it's the same risk factor for a heart attack as if you smoked.  Dancing is far better than joining any gym!!!  Helen loves street dance and has trained as a youth dance leader in street dance but she says she's too shy to perform street dance on her own!   She has taught kids and adults to shake their booty.  She loves the Latin style and dances salsa especially R&B salsa.  "Now that's cool..." she says.

Helen's class this Wednesday will have a Latin vibe and will treat the ladies to some good quality dance styling that they can try for themselves, learning to improvise, how to take the lead and communicate with a partner to hand the lead back.  Helen promises us that it will be great fun and she is really excited about coming along to Hessle and I know that you will find her enthusiasm and addiction infectious!  Please do come along and a great Hessle welcome to Helen, you'll have a great night I'm sure.

..here's what the press have said about them:-

Jatinder (with Anna) came along this week (Wednesday 11th November) to give a demonstration dance and take our classes.  It was a fantastic night.  Click here to see the demonstration dance that they gave, most of the moves of which were included in their Intermediate Class.  The style and humour of Jatinder ably supported by the graceful Anna, made for a wonderful class night.

Jatinder is a specialist in teaching Modern Jive with a Latino feel.  He manages Jive Latino in Sheffield; the name says it all...

Leo and Becky came along on Wednesday 28th October and treated us to a great demonstration dance, a beginners' class, an intermediate class and as a bonus for us, they also took an additional advanced class in the bar area. 

We've had some very positive feedback from our members who were enthusiastic to see them return and the couple told us how much they enjoyed the evening and are looking forward to returning as soon as we have a space in our dance teacher schedule.

They run a company called Dance FX which holds dance classes and dance events around the Lincolnshire area.  They are really nice people, superb young dancers, full of enthusiasm and we are looking forward to their return - watch this space...

Keith Davies and Bev (from Revolution Dance) in cabaret

On Wednesday (14th October), we were treated to a great night when KEITH DAVIES and Bev from Revolution Dance in Manchester came along to Hessle to teach both the Beginner and Intermediate classes. Keith is an excellent teacher and a fantastic professionally trained dancer.  We have received many very positive comments about the challenging and superb classes that he delivered.

Keith and Bev then went on to give us an amazing cabaret. 

Click here to view the video of their cabaret performance.

As usual with Keith and Bev, they came onto the dance floor after their classes and cabaret and danced their socks off with the many members who literally lined up to have a dance with them.  A fantastic night and we thank the couple very much for making the evening such a success.

Click here to view

Many thanks to Laura Shepherd, Sam Knight, Tracy Lund and Tracy Oaks-Milner for volunteering.  Well done girls!

By popular demand, videos of Intermediate Classes will be posted each week from now on.  Our members have asked for this because it helps them to remember the moves, maybe go over them again at home.  How many times have we all learnt a good move and then promptly forgotten it again!

Each week before the Beginners' Class begins, you will be able to see a recording of the previous week's Intermediate Class over and over and practise the moves to music if you want to (the only way to remember a class is to dance it in Freestyle!).

There already exists a bank of Basic Class move videos (on the yellow folder on the left, 'Videos of previous classes').  There are only 20 basic moves and they are all covered by various dance teachers.

We hope you enjoy the videos and find them useful.

We're pleased to announce that this week (on Wednesday 26th August), we have yet another new face taking the classes at Hessle.  New to us that is, but not new to teaching.

Many of you will already know Janice Bywater who runs Northern Jive which has successful venues at Doncaster, Askern, Wakefield and Barnsley and has also recently opened a new venue at Hatfield Woodhouse. 

Janice has been involved with Modern Jive for over 10 years now, starting out at Blitz Jive in Sheffield.  She did her instructor training at Blitz and left Blitz in 2007 to open Northern Jive.

Janice's intermediate classes concentrate on delivering moves that are smooth, stylish and achievable in freestyle (i.e., without your partner having rehearsed the move with you and who may not have danced with you before...)  That's what most of us want in an Intermediate class!

Hope to see you there this week and help us to give Janice a warm Hessle welcome!

We are very pleased to announce that we have a new teacher coming along to Hessle this week (Wednesday 12th August).  New to us, that is because Viv is  actually a very experienced teacher. 

Viv qualified as a modern jive instructor in November, 2005 and these days she teaches most weeks at the well respected SPINZ Jive at Pudsey (Run by Matt Judge who has guested as a Special Teacher at Hessle) where they had the recently held the successful 'Day of Jive' with fabulous cabarets. 

Viv also makes regular appearances at Northern Jive which has several venues and is run by Janice Bywaters, who incidentally, is also coming along to Hessle to teach very soon (more of this in later newsletters). 

You may remember Jatinder who has been a Special Guest Teacher for us a few times now and who runs Alive for Jive at Chesterfield, well Viv also teachers there on occasion as well.  These are all great clubs and we delighted to be amongst them to have Viv come along to us as well now.

We think you'll really like Viv if you don't know her already; she has a smooth easy style and brings warm humour and a great sense of fun to her classes.  She loves tango, cha cha and rhumba and often modifies routines to suit modern jivers. 

If you are wanting to have private lessons to speed up your dancing progress, then don't be afraid to ask Viv about this on Wednesday because she comes highly recommended as a provider of private lessons and has in the past, choreographed 'that first dance' for newlyweds for example. 

Viv also choreographs team cabaret routines and last year she ventured into the rather glamorous art of Burlesque, running workshops in Leeds, Sheffield, Lincolnshire and Cambridge; Viv says "It's not what you've got, it's the way that you use it!"   Now there's a thought...

Hope to see you at Hessle this week and that you 'use it' as well!!

 
Viv Bolton and her demo Chris

After last Friday's Freestyle at Goole, two people told us, "It just keeps getting better."  Thank you!

On the last Friday Freestyle (in April), the air-conditioning broke down during the evening and we also found that the floor was a bit sticky from a previous function where drinks had been spilt on it.  So we made a special effort this time to get it back to how it should be and used to be... 

We provided seven large fans and three industrial air-blowers and as it turned out, the air-con was working this time as well!  So, needless to say, no one complained of being too hot...  And the floor was thoroughly cleaned and buffed by Claire before anyone arrived - no complaints about the floor either this time.

A great time was had by all, so thank you all to those who came along and we're looking forward to the next Friday Freestyle which is on 10th July 2009 because the second Friday in June has already been booked by a private party.

For more of the Friday Freestyles details, including location and directions, click here

This week (on Wednesday, April 8th) we are thrilled to have JATINDA returning to Hessle as our Special Guest Teacher. His warm personality, excellent teaching and original Latino dance style will make this a night not to be missed.

His last visit (see below on 11th June last year) was a phenomenal success and we have been asked repeatedly for him to return, so come along this week and enjoy putting a touch of Latin style into your dancing!

We now have an official page on Facebook and if you are a Facebook user, do please apply to join the Hessle Modern Jive group where lots of members are now swapping messages and keeping in touch with what's happening at Hessle.

Watch video of Gus dancing at Hessle Modern Jive Club

We would like to thank all of those who came along and supported our Freestyle on 27th June, it was a fantastic night out and a sell out. 

Our thanks must also go to Carol of the Hase Pub who prepared the wonderful buffet and the staff behind the bar who worked hard all night serving us drinks, the Beverley Dancewear company who came along and put out a stunning array of discounted dance shoes with additional special 25% discount for our members who purchased that night. 

Also our thanks to Peter of The Ski & Rock Co who brought along with his promotional videos and leaflets and finally to Tequila Sunrise the band who came all the way from Hessle to be there! 

I dare anyone to say that they ever went to a better freestyle than we put on that night for £6!  It's only because our members turn out in number each and every week that we have been able to provide such value, well done everyone and here's to the next event (watch this space...)

Also, please see the entry below regarding the charity raffle, well done everyone!

Our thanks to Matt and Sue Judge who came along to Hessle Town Hall last Sunday (8th June) and held two workshops for our members. 

The beginners workshop last three hours at the end of which many of the participants expressed a renewed confidence in their dancing abilities.  Matt was able to give individual attention to any student that required help with their techniques and style.  The kind of groundwork that simply isn’t possible cover on at class night.  If you missed the beginners workshop and would like to be included on the next one, please let us know as we will not be arranging another until there is sufficient demand from our members for one.

The Blues workshop was a very enjoyable 3 hours and again, style and technique was the order of the day and leaning new Blues moves was only part of the workshop.  For those that took part in the workshop, a video of Matt and Sue dancing the moves taught is available from rod@hesslejive.co.uk.

Please let us know if there is any other type of workshop that you would like and if there is sufficient demand, we will arrange it.  Some have already asked for a dips/drops/seducers workshop.  Anyone second that?