Award winning ballroom dancer Janine Desai recently returned from Blackpool with yet another trophy..together with partner Phil Holding she won the British National Ballroom Championships (Over 35s).
The annual event takes place over three days in mid November at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool Winter Gardens and attracts over 500 competitors.
Modern ballroom (Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Viennese Waltz) has soared in popularity again since Strictly has been on our screens, although we are still way behind the Italians, Eastern Europeans and Chinese.
Janine, who lives in Chorleywood with husband Coolin and 8 year old son Rocco, was brought up in Germany where learning some basic ballroom steps was part of teenage life. “That’s where boys met girls!” She danced ‘Latin American’ competitively at university for a few years and after a gap “when life took over” discovered Modern Ballroom and has been top of her league ever since.
She travels to Dance Centres at Oxford and Cheam to practise three times a week and her glitzy dresses are made in Slovenia.
“Dresses are enormously expensive, I buy one or two a year and then sell them. There are no subsidies or a club system to support ballroom in this country.”
It is also a very demanding activity.
“ Each dance is the equivalent of a 4 mile run, it is physically challenging and you have to glide effortlessly across the floor always looking glamorous and smiling! The National is the toughest competition with only 20 sec breaks between 1 min 50 sec sequences and faster dances towards the end. You have to be in top form but I love it ! My dream is to create of excellence with more boys being encouraged to enter the sport and build up a ballroom dancing community near Chorleywood!”
Learn to dance ballroom at Moonglow, Watford www.moonglow.biz or with Diana at Rickmansworth (adults and children) www.dancewithdiana.co.uk
Learn to dance ballroom at The Bridge Quickley Lane, WD3 5AE , 10 ,essons, £35. Starts 11 Jan, 01923 229653
Moonglow, Watford www.moonglow.biz or with Diana at Rickmansworth (adults and children) www.dancewithdiana.co.uk