Based at Walmer Parish Hall , Dover Road, Deal , Kent .Every Saturday at 4.30. Dance was always my first passion. I grew up in Hamburg in the fifties , and as a young child loved gymnastics and exercise to music. I took ballet lessons, had training in modern jazz dance and competed in ballroom and latin. Although I had qualified to train with the Hamburg opera ballet company under John Neumeier, I
left Hamburg after my A levels and moved to England. I kept up with my dancing in various amateur companies, but I had to make a living as my circumstances changed , and I chose to train as a music teacher in Eastbourne and later Canterbury. After I qualified I returned to teach in Germany where I rediscovered my love for dance. I completed a course in international folk dancing and attended workshops on Laban studies and creative dance in Switzerland and Italy. But England called me back and I started teaching the piano and school music. In my first post at the Duke of York MOD school in Dover I was lured away to the Language Department to help with the teaching of German. I moved on to setting up the German Department at Walmer School, and later worked at Westcliff Highschool and Roger Manwood Grammar school in Sandwich. I qualified as an Examiner for German A level and tried to promote my language under difficult circumstances . In 2014 I completed an MA in German- Anglo Cultural Relations in the hope to bring about a change in the restrictive education system. Eventually I found greater interest in German at the international online school Interhigh and worked there until personal circumstances required me to give up work. In 2021 I decided to finally concentrate on my first passion and have since set up the dance work shop in Walmer. My intention is now to promote Dance for Health, I have become a member with the International Association for Medicine and Dance and have qualified in facilitator courses for Dance for Trauma Release, and Dance in Cancer Care. For the Saturday workshop no previous experience is required, and you pay as you go. We start with gentle exercises to improve posture, balance and coordination, and then build on simple step combinations to create group dances to music ranging from classical to swing and world music. Inspired by Isadora Duncan, the mother of ‘Modern Dance’, the first half of the session will concentrate on natural flowing movements, including an element of self-expression and improvisation. In the second half we will learn some international circle dances from a variety of countries. There will always be an opportunity for participants to suggest music they may like to be included, either to accompany the warm up spot, or to use in a group choreography. I am happy to report that members of this group have repeatedly claimed that the class has helped their well being and added joy to their week.
