Move of the Week: The Hitchhike

You will never be without a lift with the hitchhike move, a travelling step which uses the classic thumb signal for hitching a ride.

The footwork is a simple step behind, so your travelling backwards. Its good to start by stepping back and bouncing. You need have a small pulse in each step you take.

Once you are comfortable with the pulse, add the swivel to your footwork. Each time you step back lift the heels out and when you place the foot, bring the heels in to create the swivel motion.

Interestingly a few of our students said they learnt to swivel through practicing this move.

Once the feet are moving in the right direction you can add the arms. When you travel, the same arms as leg is moving. So when you bring you right foot back, lift your right arm over your shoulder. The arms are moving as if your wiping your back with a towel.

You can also stylise the move by gently tilting the head of each move.

Charleston Move of the Week: Squat Charleston Variations

Last week we started to look at Squat Charlestons and we thought this one was worth another look as there some great ways to combine single and double kicks with arms.

The key to remember with this move is to keep your knees bent and you start with your feet in a wide second position. Each time you kick your leg, you are kicking to your side rather in front of the body. Your feet are always flexed and never pointed.

In terms of your arms, you can do them in to style: Either crossing in front of you on the single kicks with pushes over the left leg or in a swaying motion from side to side.

To stop you from falling over, you must engage your core. 

What's on 2020: Course Previews

Our first term of 2020 is coming up and with that in mind we have put together 3 quick snapshots of what’s coming up on each course.

Charleston Course - The Charleston 2020

This is our main Charleston course for beginners and improvers being taught in our locations including: Brighton & Hove, Eastbourne, Lewes, Shoreham Worthing & Portsmouth.

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Musicals Course - Bugsy Malone

In our next musicals course we will be teaching the iconic routine from Bugsy Malone - Fat Sam’s Grand Slam in Hove, Eastbourne and Worthing.

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Intermediate Jazz & Charleston Routine

In our next Intermediate Jazz course, Elena will be teaching this dynamic routine focused on Jazz Roots steps and rhythmic variations. This course is available in Hove only.

Sneak Preview: Litte Bird Charleston Course

Each term we make each course as unique as possible with new moves and music to match. This spring, we taken inspiration from Rose Murphy’s song ‘A Little Bird Told Me’ originally recorded in 1947. The theme is inspired by ‘bird like movement’ which provides much of the character for the dance. The song itself is very soft and lyrical, with Rose Murphy distinctive voice which is both quirky and beguiling.

For a glimpse of what’s coming up Elena and I went to the studio to show you the steps…

As you can see in the video, there are a number of classic ‘bird’ moves in Charleston that we explore in this terms dance including: Pecking step, Chicken Walks and the Birdie Flap, a move made famous by Charleston dancing superstar Josephine Baker in the 1920s. 

The course also provides you with the opportunity to perform on a large stage at this years Take Part in Preston Park Brighton on the 23 June. I have already been asked if we will be dressing like birds and I think it’s safe to say that might be taking the theme a bit too far, hopefully the moves will speak for themselves.

Take Part 2018

The other theme we are exploring in this routine is circles, which I have to say are surprisingly challenging! I tested out the Ceilidh inspired weave around the circle exercise at my sister St Patrick’s Day party and they soon had it down.  It was great to see it working and I think we will have a lot of fun mastering the circle. 

As always, we have also pulled out some great tracks inspired by birds and flying for this course from classic tunes like Flying Home to Bird of Prey Blues by Coleman Hawkin. 

Fiona x



Learn Shoe Shine: Charleston Move of the Week

This move does what it says on the tin, you are pretending to shine your shoes, so it's as much mime as it is dance and has a strong historical context.

You begin by presenting the foot, lean back and wipe the hand across as if polishing your shoe. You can the hop jump to switch sides to clean the other shoe (cause you'd look odd with just one shinny shoe!) and again flick the hands 4 times as if cleaning your shoes. This is a great move to master, so try it around the house or next time you shoes need cleaning!

Move of the Week: The Hitchhike

You will never be without a lift with the hitchhike move, a travelling step which uses the classic thumb signal for hitching a ride.

The footwork is a simple step behind, so your travelling backwards. Its good to start by stepping back and bouncing. You need have a small pulse in each step you take.

Once you are comfortable with the pulse, add the swivel to your footwork. Each time you step back lift the heels out and when you place the foot, bring the heels in to create the swivel motion.

Interestingly a few of our students said they learnt to swivel through practicing this move.

Once the feet are moving in the right direction you can add the arms. When you travel, the same arms as leg is moving. So when you bring you right foot back, lift your right arm over your shoulder. The arms are moving as if your wiping your back with a towel.

You can also stylise the move by gently tilting the head of each move.

Move of the Week: Bunny Hops

Bunny Hops is a nice simple move to put in any Charleston routine. All you need to do is bring your feet together and think about shunting them backwards and forwards whilst switching directions.

You need to think about keeping your knees and feet together and your keeping your knees bent. It’s really important to get the sense of dragging your feet forward and back.

Your arms are bent and flat palms either side of the chest or you can lift them above your head.

Move of the Week: The Charleston Scarecrow

This week we are covering one of the most iconic Charleston steps from the Roaring 20s: The Scarecrow. There is a great step to throw in whilst dancing and works particular well with Charleston kicks and a basic Charleston step.

Over the years, the basics of the step have always stayed the same. To start this move you need to kick your right leg on the diagonal towards the front left corner of the room and then slide the same leg back towards the back right corner of the room. After the sliding motion, you need to bring both legs together, contract in and pose like a scarecrow by popping your legs, bending your arms and relaxing your neck. Use your core to really strike a pose!

Once you have posed you then need to kick back of the position with your right leg to restart the kicking and sliding motion so you can repeat the sequence.

Below is some great original footage of the Scarecrow before by Al Minns & Leon James which was filmed 1950s/60s.

Charleston Move of the Week: Squat Charleston Variations

Last week we started to look at Squat Charlestons and we thought this one was worth another look as there some great ways to combine single and double kicks with arms.

The key to remember with this move is to keep your knees bent and you start with your feet in a wide second position. Each time you kick your leg, you are kicking to your side rather in front of the body. Your feet are always flexed and never pointed.

In terms of your arms, you can do them in to style: Either crossing in front of you on the single kicks with pushes over the left leg or in a swaying motion from side to side.

To stop you from falling over, you must engage your core. 

What’s on this September

Our brand new Charleston courses are just around the corner and we have put together a brief for both our level one and level two courses so you know what to expect.  

Level one - Everybody loves my baby  

Everybody loves my baby is a simple mid-tempo routine with classic moves such as The Charleston, Black-Bottom and Knocky-Knees. The tune is taken from the TV series Broadwalk Empire. It uses simple chorus-line patterning at the start then breaks into lines for the body of the dance. The routine includes a Charleston variation sequence and a line switch before it repeats. If your class needs more of a challenge there are other variations from the Level 1.5 course you can make use of. 

Level one in Portsmouth - Shimmy like my sister Kate

For those who have not already taken part in Shimmy like my sister Kate, Mel will be teaching this great little routine to our Portsmouth Beginners on Wednesday at 6.30pm and we love this version of the song also from Boardwalk Empire. 

Level two - Tailspin

Tailspin is a fast tempo tune, although it was written in 1934 it has all the traits of a classic twenties Charleston tune. The choreography is fast, dense and twenties inspired riffing on classic moves. The Charleston is the foundation of the choreography with embellishments such as helicopters, kicks, side shuffles and side to side Charlestons. The choreography uses simple, strong patterning to create lines which travel forward and to the side so the dancers weave around one another. There is lots of cross phrasing, repeating segments and some quirky character moves making this a funandfast routine. 

Vintage Musicals - Hot Honey Rag

Get your tommy gun at the ready as we take on Hot Honey Rag, the iconic closing scene of the epic musical Chicago.  

Using props and patterning you will oozing your inner Velma and Roxie by the end of the course learning some fierce footwork that Bob Fosse would be proud of. Music for the course will be inspiredfrom the filmand at the end of the course we will complete the full routine.