Friday morning and the moves are fun. Deana Luchia is impressed by a class for the over 50s...
The instruction is crystal clear. “Give it all you’ve got,” a diminutive dance teacher cries from the front of the class.
The nine women behind her sashay across Richmond Theatre’s bar, hips swaying, toes tapping, arms waving as they dance to Abba’s Waterloo. I’m struck by their moves and their smiles.
I’ve been fascinated by dancers since the days when, as an uncoordinated teen with zero rhythm and a singular inability to follow instructions, I watched the 80s TV phenomenon about a New York performing arts academy, Fame.
How do they move their arms and legs at the same time? How do they remember all those steps? Why is teacher Lydia Grant (Debbie Allen) always so angry with them? Why is everyone crying?
The accomplished moves and smiles in today’s dance class – Step Into Richmond, run by the theatre’s Creative Learning team – are in large part down to teacher Lucia Gatehouse who, unlike her counterparts in Fame, is patient, cheery and fun.
She breaks down today’s routine step by step, repeating each sequence of moves until everyone feels confident enough to learn the next. At the end of the class, there’s a ‘performance’ of the entire dance.
Lucia plans classes based on requests or on what she thinks everyone will enjoy.
“A lot of my regulars are big musical fans, so I tend to do a lot of musicals,” she says. “But I’m happy to do pop songs or something Zumba style. If it’s a musical, I try to make the choreography similar to the dance moves that they’ve seen in a film or theatre production.”
Class regulars range from their mid-50s to mid-70s, and whilst today there are only women dancing, there are men who frequently join the sessions too.
Lucia herself has been dancing since she was a child. Owing to an injury, however, she’s had to take time off. Recovery, she says, has been slow. Although she’s still in physio, Step Into Richmond offers an initial route back; a way to “spread the joy I feel about dance with everybody who comes”.
“Can anyone dance?” I ask her, glad she hasn’t witnessed my efforts over the years.
“Yes, everyone can dance. A lot of people say that at first they feel they won’t get it, as I’m throwing a lot at them. But because I’m calling out the moves just before they happen and go over it as much as anybody wants, by the end most people are doing it.”
Deborah Hall, one of today’s dancers, is a huge fan of the classes.
“Lucia judges it very cleverly for our age group and our ability,” she says. “You get the best part of dancing without any of the angst.”
For others, the appeal is less about dance and more about exercise. Adrienne Mundy, who had never danced before, has been coming for six months.
“You don’t realise you’re exercising. The first time, I got home really tired without registering what I’d done because I was enjoying myself so much. I wish it was more than once a month.”
Kathleen Bondar also relishes the fitness aspect of the class.
“This makes exercise a pleasure instead of a chore,” she says. “Plus it’s very good on all the things you should be looking at as a woman who’s getting older. Dancing strengthens bones and muscles; it works on posture; it works the whole body in a holistic but creative way.”
Only about half the people who attend the class have danced before.
“It is all about fun, whether you’ve danced before or not,” says Lucia. “I just want everyone to have a really good time, exercising and being creative in the process.”
The fun is evident. As is creativity, especially in the end performance. Everyone perfectly executes what to me is a lengthy chain of complicated moves. It’s a moment for them to let loose, to imagine themselves on stage. There’s none of the competitiveness or drama of Fame. Just a room full of very happy hoofers who’ve mastered a fabulous routine.
Step Into Richmond, for the over 50s, is held monthly. For more info: atgtickets.com/shows/step-into-richmond-adult-dance-class
More dance classes for adults
- First Dance Studios, which has studios in Woking and Guildford, runs a wide range of adult classes including Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Street, Ballroom and Latin. firstdancestudios.co.uk.
- Susan Handy Dance, in Eton, has Tap, Contemporary and Ballet classes for adults. susanhandydance.co.uk.
- Stepright School of Dance, in Walton-on-Thames, has classes for Ballroom and Latin fans. steprightdance.co.uk.
- Guildford School of Acting, at the University of Surrey, runs evening courses in Tap, Jazz and Ballet. gsauk.org.
- Surrey Hills Dance Centre in Dorking has Latin classes for adults. surreyhillsdancecentre.co.uk.
