After announcing that we were dancing again I was confronted with a selection of replies, of which the main theme was regret. For all sorts of understandable reasons regular attendees were postponing coming back to the class. I was therefore prepared for the evening to be a rather quiet one, expecting to struggle to make up even one set... but as so often is the case, I was wrong. Although in total our numbers were down on previous sessions, everyone who did come was keen to dance as much as possible, and we had no problems getting a set together, and at one point managed two... fair enough, in that case we only needed 5 people for each set, but with the limited number of experienced dancers available it was impressive that people were even willing to try - and even more impressive that they did so well. We welcomed yet another new dancer to the class, he experienced the equivalent of being picked up and dropped, with a loud splash, in the deep end, but he certainly didn't drown, in fact he showed an impressive grasp of the formations from the very start. Hopefully he enjoyed the class as much as everyone else. One of the high points of the evening was teaching and dancing 'Johnnie Walker'. As a 'medley' i.e. the first time through it's a Strathspey, and then it's repeated as a Jig, it's slightly unusual but it has always been a favourite of the class in the past. Most of last night's attendees hadn't done it before however, so it was impressive that they got through the whole thing, with minimal panic and with the usual lot of laughter at the end! Roll on next week. Jx

Just a quick reassurance that this week the dancing class is planned to go ahead. We've done our required tests and they are all, thankfully, clear. We've had no news of anyone else that might be linked to the class contracting, or being in contact with anyone who's contracted the dreaded lurgy so, fingers crossed, we hope to see everyone tomorrow night. I looking forward to it. x  

A quick update to explain the last minute cancellation of tonight's class.
We've just had notice that one of the attendees of Saturday's meeting has tested +ve for Covid. Thankfully she isn't very ill and no-one else, so far, has tested +ve, even her husband.
This isn't directly linked to the dancing, or even to the meeting itself and it is highly unlikely that those of us who didn't have any prolonged contact will be affected, however, even though the risk is minimal we cannot dance without some physical contact, and given our average age range (!) we think it's wise to cancel this week's class until there has been time for people to be sure they won't be catching anything ;-). The relevant government directive is HERE if you want to check it.
BTW - P & I have done our checks and we're -ve

Thank you everyone who came to the meeting today. Although I'm sure I wasn't the only one who wasn't quite sure how it would go. As our first 'member's meeting', rather than a more conventionally structured 'AGM' it was a little difficult to know quite how to organise things. We knew approximately what we wanted it to be... 
- a social get together, so people, especially the new members, and those who wouldn't necessarily get the chance to chat, could meet up. 
- a way for people to confirm their interest in the Group, and their desire to be on the mailing list, especially if they weren't dancers.
- a chance to pass on a bit of information about us, the history of the group, what sort of functions we hold, who does what, and why and how people could get involved if they wanted to.
- a chance to enjoy one of Debbie's lunches!
The talk by Nick from Blevins Franks on the effects of Brexit, Covid and the current financial climate on our financial situations and  decisions, was an unexpected and extremely interesting bonus, for which we have to thank them. 
Overall - if the general volume in the restaurant can be an indicator - it seemed to be a success and I look forward to seeing people at dancing on Tuesday (note the slightly changed program from the last few weeks, you'll find it HERE), or at our next event - currently, the June Jamboree (see info about that, HERE) if not before, keep well.

Our third 'class' is now over - time is really flying.
​It was a bit disconcerting to be greeted by notices stating "absolutely no dancing allowed"! However (although I initially got the wrong end of the stick) we have been assured that although we are allowed to dance as a 'dance class', and people are also allowed to dance by their chairs in the UKCA's lower area, the notices have been put up because nobody is actually allowed to dance together on a 'dance floor'!
It is understandable that you need a notice to ensure that doesn't happen, because it's not something you'd easily work out yourself!
Anyway despite the notices, we welcomed back yet more returnees, welcomed another great newcomer to the class and managed to get that bit further into the dance program than we have before. We tackled reels of 3, figures of 8, rights & lefts, more or less successfully, and even more importantly (and I'm pretty sure everyone will agree with me) we achieved that moment when the whole group 'gelled', people were laughing, people were supporting each other as they negotiated the formations and people were enjoying just being part of the group whether they were dancing or sitting out, whether they knew each other or didn't. It was great! 
REMEMBER - NO DANCE CLASS NEXT WEEK unless we find another venue (we'll let you know if we do). The class returns to the UKCA on 22nd March, I look forward to seeing you there.

I don't know about anyone else, but my feet hurt.
I possibly did the least dancing out of everyone in the class, so I sincerely hope that the others had more effective padding in their shoes that I did. It demonstrates how you lose strength and abilities when you stop an activity, even if you didn't realise you had them in the first place. They will return however, and it was another satisfactory session. It was lovely to greet yet more returnees, some of whom haven't danced for years, as well as welcome back last week's dancers.
We are still taking it slow but nevertheless got further through the programme than last week - despite including a strathspey that is new to the class, which required a bit of time to make sure everyone was familiar with some of the prettier moves. It was worth introducing it though,  it's going to be a 'keeper'. Next week we hope to continue welcoming back more dancers to the fold and, hopefully, welcome some new ones. Keep well. 

We've been studying the regulations. I've now got a headache! Just to reassure the folk who are worried regarding this... there are additional testing requirements now in place if you want to dance, however they are for venues larger than the UKCA. The relevant Government notice (you can find it via the links provided in my previous blethers) applies to venues with dance floors that accommodate 150 people or more. This is rather more than is allowed in the whole of the UKCA, and certainly slightly more than our average turn out! So, although we certainly won't dissuade anyone who intends to test themselves before coming (we are going to do self test too), we can continue with our previous requirements of 'Covid certificate' or '-ve 24-hour test' for the unvaccinated. Phew :-). I hope to see you tonight!