Tea dances are back! No longer are they the province of senior dancers – all generations are getting involved in this resurgence.
When we say tea dance, we’re not talking about community-centre, sequence dancing-type affairs. There is a definite return to the original tea dances, where folk came to enjoy some pleasant social dancing accompanied usually by some live music and, of course, some light refreshment. These events usually took place in a respectable local hostelry, sometime in the late afternoon to early evening, and were open to all who could pay the modest entrance sum – opening up such gatherings to a wider audience and, significantly, unchaperoned women. Once people discovered the innocent delights of taking to the floor with perhaps a different partner for each dance, and with ballroom dancing gaining respectability from famous dance couples such as Irene and Vernon Castle*, the popularity of tea dances grew, perhaps reaching its zenith during World War II. Chances are, some of your more recent antecedents met at a tea dance – or certainly a dance of some kind!
For entire generations, dancing was an essential social skill and without some basic moves, it was difficult if not impossible to hook up with a member of the opposite sex! At some point in history, perhaps around the advent of such lone dances as the Twist, the popularity of whizzing round the dance floor, wrapped up in the arms of another person, seemed to wane as a social activity. But now, a whole new generation of people are rediscovering the joys of social dancing. So off they go to classes to learn some skills in their chosen dance poison… But what many social dance students do not realise is that all these classes count for nothing without using the dance “in anger” on the dance floor. There’s plenty of choice if you take up a specific style, such as salsa, tango or French jive – but very little opportunity to strut your stuff if you’ve been learning how to foxtrot, quickstep or waltz – certainly if you live in a rural area like East Lothian.
Never fear! Help is at hand. Those lovely people at the Maitlandfield House hotel are opening up their Great Hall for monthly tea dances, starting on 4 October 2010. These events will be themed, with the first having a 1940s air about it. The idea is to give people the chance to come along to a social dance where a range of music will be played, covering ballroom, swing and Latin, there is the chance to get dressed up (relive those glamour days!), help is at hand for dance novices in the form of short taster sessions in a dance style from the Fly Right Dance Company (famous for their Fifteen-Minute Foxtrot (c) lesson!), and to cap it all, the obligatory tea and scones will be served! The atmosphere will be relaxed and sociable, and it is hoped that these convivial surroundings will encourage dancers of all skill levels to come and enjoy themselves!
Tickets at £10 (£8 concessions) can be obtained from the Maitlandfield House hotel. 01620 826513. Dress to impress! Music from Lenny Love – event in conjunction with Hilltop Events.
*Irene and Vernon Castle – a married couple who had a stellar career between 1911 and 1918 and who made dancing respectable. Often described as the Posh and Becks of their day, their lives were immortalised by Fred Astaire (who spent some time learning from the Castles) and Ginger Rodgers in the film, “The Irene and Vernon Castle Story”.
