Dance classes with a burlesque twist

People ask us how our dance class actually works. Well, every term-time Wednesday evening we gather in studio one at the Hasland School of Dance here in sunny Herne Bay. First of all is the unveiling. Our undercover showgirls arrive in whatever is sensible to travel in and then get themselves into their dance outfits once they're in the studio. It's always lovely to see what little burlesque gem someone has unearthed in a charity shop or online, or what they have found in a mainstream shop and then tweaked to make it an imaginative part of their outfit. Almost everyone arrives for their first class in comfortable exercise gear and then develops a burlesque outfit over time.

Then we do a warm up just to get us moving and stretching and to practise some of the foundation moves of burlesque dance. Next, the three of us demonstrate the dance routine that the class will be learning. We think it really helps when you're learning a routine step by step to have seen what the whole dance looks like - it helps you to know where you're heading.

Finally, we teach the routine, breaking it down into little bits and dancing each section over and over until we can see that the class has stopped worrying about what step comes next, and has started enjoying being able to dance the steps and add some of their own style. We'll work on each routine for a few weeks until we get to that magical bit - when we can look in the mirror and see a whole troupe of burlesque lovelies dancing the routine we have created whilst bringing to it their own individual flourishes.

Best of all, there's usually lots of laughter throughout. Not only does each of us dance a routine in our own way, we muck it up in our own way too!

If you fancy joining us, drop us an email. We don't ask people to commit to a term of classes at a time - you can attend as many or as few classes as you fancy. All we ask is that you check in with us before coming so we can make sure that we'll have room for you on the night that you want to attend. The last thing we want to do is overbook the class and cramp your showgirl moves! We'll be starting a new routine in a couple of weeks time.

Yours, in diamante and sparkles,

Burlicious xx