Photos: A family shot – Ruth with her granddaughter, Nina, and daughter, Jules. Some of the teachers taking sessions – Yvonne and Tony Rudge (Salsa), Sue Donald (Tap) and Ruth (Flexercise). Finishing off! Ruth bringing the taster day to a close.
When Angela Ripon’s Let’s Dance campaign was launched in March, our FL teachers really got on board, offering free classes, Zoom sessions and, in the case of Ruth Dennis, a taster day showcasing different dance and exercise disciplines for people to take part in.
A lot of planning goes into organising an event like this, here, Ruth tells her story:
“Following her success on Strictly Come Dancing, and having experienced the benefits of movement and dance first hand, Angela Rippon had one mission… to get the nation moving. Her enthusiasm for the Let’s Dance campaign was enough to motivate me to run a dance charity event.
My Wendover class was equally keen on the idea and the encouragement I received from them was amazing… real team work.
We settled on the suggested Let’s Dance date of 2nd March, choosing to use the event to raise funds for local dementia groups. This was definitely a steep learning curve for me, but a challenge that I wanted to succeed at.
I researched local dance groups and decided on appropriate ones for our event, so that a good range of different types of movement and dance would be available. Our selected groups came from FLexercise, Salsa, Tap, Scottish Country Dance, as well as two Keep Fit Association groups. With only four hours to play with, the taster sessions were about 30 minutes each, which allowed us time for refreshments before the next item. As a bonus, the KFA put on a lovely dance demonstration… flowing outfits and background music from Out Of Africa.
The day was free to attend but donations were encouraged. We had a well stocked raffle, and, alongside the refreshments we provided, these helped to boost our charity coffers. Would anyone turn up on the day? Well, we needn’t have worried as more than 100 people attended – we even had a few men join us – they were great partners for the Scottish dancing!
We were complimented on the amount of fun and laughter on the day and even told that Flexercise was the slickest outfit there. It was a full on and exhausting day but with the takings in excess of £800 it was thoroughly worth it.”
What a brilliant day! It’s clear that Ruth’s hard work paid off, and of course the support from her class participants was second to none.
For master classes and gala dinner bookings, email flevents_team@yahoo.com