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Dazzling passion of dancers on display
Andrew Robinson THE image of perma-tanned men in awfully tight suits doing un-hip dance moves has been high kicked into the past.
Today, ballroom dancing is about sexy moves, fit bodies and 3,000 dresses featuring feathers and hand-sewn rhinestones.
TV shows like Strictly Come Dancing have created a new audience and couples across the land have turned up at dance classes with a desire to emulate Natasha Kaplinsky.
Other dance crazes – does anyone still bodypop? – may have come and gone but ballroom has outlasted the fads.
About a million Britons are estimated to go to ballroom classes.
Yorkshire's social scene of ballroom and tea dancers is celebrated in a new exhibition at a Huddersfield museum which concludes that "ballroom is back – but it never really went away".
Dance studio owner Peter York, 63, a former professional competitor, started dancing when he was 15 because it was the way to get a girl. "If you wanted to meet a girl in those days, that's what you did," said Mr York, who is featured in the exhibition at Tolson Museum.
The popularity of ballroom dancing has never really waned, he says, especially among women.
"Women like it more. The men come to class with their hands up their back – they don't want to be made a fool of.
"But everybody starts with two left feet and go on to really enjoy themselves."
The image of musty dancehalls is also wide of the mark.
Mr York's own studio in Milnsbridge, Huddersfield, is an air-conditioned studio that cost ten of thousands to convert from a working men's club.
Three hundred people a week visit the club to learn ballroom, Latin, sequence, disco and rock 'n' roll dances.
Fancy gowns, sassy suits and sex appeal are also part of the attraction for couples of all ages.
"The Latino rhythms are very passionate and the rumba is known as the dance of love. The Latin American dances are very sensuous," he explains.
Ballroom is not just about couples in their 40s and 50s, he says.
"We have couples taking up dancing after their children have grown up. And young couples who want to waltz at their wedding who have a few lessons."
Beginners need to do an hour or more a week for two years before they become proficient, says Mr York. For the serious dancers and the professionals, the competition and the costs are high. A dress can cost upwards of 3,000 and a man's tail suit is about 1,000.
Some dance teachers are already cashing in on the craze for ballroom. London-based tutors are charging couples nearly 50 for 45 minutes, according to Mr York, whose fees are half that. The centrepiece of the Tolson exhibition are two outfits, worn by Melanie and Stuart Earnshaw, both 42, from Thornhill Lees, Dewsbury, who are currently rated 12th in the British Seniors.
Mrs Earnshaw, who has been dancing with her husband for 10 years, designed the lime green dress herself, decorating it with rhinestones and lace.
She said: "We wore the outfits in pre-amateur competitions until last year.
"We both love dancing. It's like a sport to us – people don't realise how fit you have to be but we wanted to do it ever since we saw people dancing in the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool." The display also features photographs from local people at dance schools, tea dances and social dances.
Collections assistant Katina Bill, who put the display together, was amazed to discover how passionate dancers were about their hobby.
"People who are into it take it seriously, it's their life. Even people going to tea dances go to three or four times a week.
"It has been a dazzling experience. I have never seen so many rhinestones and the dresses are absolutely gorgeous."
n Ballroom Bliss is open until April 2. Entrance is free and the museum is open Monday to Friday 11am to 5pm and Saturday and Sunday noon to 5pm.
andrew.robinson@ypn.co.uk
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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