Jo Turbitt will teach you how to 'Tap It Like Fred'
Housewives belly dancing. Old men doing the tango. Or Little Miss Sunshine, the unsettlingly inappropriate beauty pageant dancer. There are people I seriously wish would never dance. Successive incarnations in hell required - wherein they might learn the grossly intrusive error of their ways. That guy with hobnail boots near breaking my ankle at a ceilidh. The bad breath sleaze-bag ravishing all-comers in close embrace. Ex lapdancers teaching middle-aged burlesque, or drunks causing chaos on the dance floor.
Why do they even bother when they’re so crap?
The truth is, most of us enjoy hobbies. Even if we’re not superstars. Enthusiasm is wonderful. Maybe not in the man who pulls your arm off jiving at the wedding reception or the lipstick-smudged floozie groping your best mate for a last dance. But properly structured enthusiasm is perhaps the only thing to get me out of bed some days.
What would have to happen to make you swap a comfy, air-conditioned cinema seat for a heart-rate rocketing dance class?
Edinburgh’s leading arteplex cinema just happens to be a few hundred yards from a purpose-built dance centre. In a flurry of artistic co-operation (or profit-maximising madness) the two get together to make dancers out of cinema-goers. Mainstream movies dominate in this dance-twinning exercise, but the idea seems to have worked. Serious dancers are already hooked and can sit back to watch avant-garde. But sessions to bring out your inner Flashdance or tap it like Fred ‘n’ Ginger sell out quickly.
The Thursday night audience for Fred Astaire’s Swing Time was treated to a tap dance duet by dancer-choreographer Jo Turbitt and partner. Not content with getting people in the mood before the movie, Jo will teach a ‘Tap it Like Fred’ class at Dance Base. Flashdance enthusiasts can learn the steps in an 80s-tastic Jazz workshop on Saturday. Or there’s a Jazz-Bollywood fusion on Sunday to echo the magic of Friday night’s Perhaps Love film premiere.
Full-on Bollywood comes in the shape of Om Shanti Om. And if you only ever see one Bollywood film, you could do a lot worse than this glittering song and dance showcase. To learn the fun-filled routines, book now for Sunday’s workshop. (There’s also a special talk to help you understand Bollywood on the same day).
Sunday also sees two burlesque dance classes. They’re linked to a rare screening of Gypsy (of Gypsy Lee Rose fame) – shimmy and shakin’ for guys and girls, or girls can get down to bra and boa to the strains of Let Me Entertain You. More for the guys, in the Rock: Rocking class. This is one where you can be cool and macho, breaking down and rocking, New York City style!
Tuesday brings sexy, energetic Cuban Rumba for Latin fans, following on from Sunday’s documentary journey from Glasgow to Havana in search of dance roots.
If you're thinking: “Aaaarrrgh! I’ll just watch and learn – I don’t want to break my ankle!” No problem. You’re more the sort of person who likes to discuss and understand dance films rather than shakin’ your butt. Saturday brings a unique opportunity for you dance film lovers. Dance history specialist, Agnes Ness presents an illustrated talk with movie-clips. Called . . . Who Made Hollywood Dance. See the dance scene that launched Fred and Ginger’s career. Soak up lavish dance sequences from Busby Berkeley kaleidoscopic hits. Compare dance routines from movies of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. Singin’ In the Rain, Cover Girl, An American in Paris, they’re all here. And there’s a clip from The Red Shoes, widely considered one of the best British movies ever. (Please note this lecture and the Bollywood one are at the Edinburgh College of Art, which is very short walk from the Filmhouse.)
Cinema creates not just enthusiasm but desire and anticipation. Twinned with opportunity, it might even lure you from your seat as you picture yourself as the next dancing queen, the light-footed Lothario, or the new expert on dance screen history. Taster dance class for lunch, a seminar, then back to the screen for evening inspiration? Rent a Swayze Dancing video for lessons from the master, or watch dance with a remote control in your hand – how exactly did they do that step?
Films dismissed by ‘non-dancers’ fill packed houses with followers. (Some are actually quite good!) It’s all about finding your yellow brick road. And maybe having the time of your life.
The Dance:Film Festival runs in Edinburgh from May 21 to 30. You can read our coverage here. Tickets for the classes and talks can be booked from dancebacke.co.uk.
