two left feet

Yesterday I psyched myself up to go to my streetdance class after not going for a few weeks due to the dodgy hip; it's not what you might think, although who am I to assume. I do not spin on my head.
It's a lovely class with women of all ages, shapes and sizes, in fact sometimes a man or two as well- sometimes John, who works in the shop, sometimes Ken, whose shop it is, and sometimes one of the women's partners.
I started to go to this class, and the tapdancing class because I'd been looking for some jazz trainers for my son, and Ealing Dance Centre in Pitshanger Lane was the nearest place. now that the dance shop in Northfields had shut..what a happy day that was! Son tried on some of the jazz trainers, so did Phil and me- fantastic- made me feel lighter than air, a feat in itself-; I needed to go to a dance class asap. wonderful John, the huge (I mean tall!) hilarious Liverpudlian who works there told me about Nika's dance class on a Wednesday night - some excercise and a dance routine, just over an hour a week. Brilliant- I'd done a bit of dance in my early 20s and helped to run a disco dancing group at the Mayflower Family Centre, Canning Town when I lived there in 79/80. Enthusiasm is everything really, as I definitely had, and still have two left feet. I've been going since Feb '06 and there's been no real improvement, although I now now what certain terms mean which makes life easier, eg behind side front, and step ball change! It is such fun though, a real camaradierie between the people that go and Nika the teacher. I missed it so much when I wasn't able to go, as much for the friendship as the exilharation of the excercise and music. As for the music, who knows what we dance to week to week, I have never heard of most of it, or wouldn't choose to listen to it, although some of it I have downloaded onto i-tunes since I've danced to them, in the hope that I can remember the dances between classes. It's either a fast tune, or a slow tune! Another thing I like about it is the surprise value of telling people, what I did last night, yes, I was at my streetdance class dancing to 50 cent has good comedy value with the teenagers I work with!
Ealing Dance Centre is a wonderful place and so is Pishanger Lane; although I've lived just half an hour's bus ride from it for about 15 years now, I'd never been there; it is so village like and a great community, there always seems to be a community festival or event going on. Lovely restaurants and cafes too... there is also the Brentham Estate which I think was set up by an idealist early in the last century and probably as it's own website (will find out). The shop has everything, and the people that work there are so knowledgeable and helpful. At the moment there is a window display called 'Holy Communion' with lots of frilly white dresses for those making their first communion soon. They also have fancy dress costumes and a wide range of dance clothes and shoes. If they haven't got something they will get it- and you get a discount if you're a member of the local theatre group, Questors. What more could you ask. My son was horrified at the idea of me doing streetdancing, he was embarrassed - he said I should do something more suited to my age, like tapdancing - I agreed to do this if he came as well, which he did for a short while. WIll write about the tap after Friday - that's a whole story in itself...