Gotta Dance? Gotta Dance-athon!
Gotta Dance? Gotta Dance-athon!The weather might be freezing but dance teachers Emma-Jane Taylor of StageWorks, ballroom experts Maggie and Ken Beedell and Ceroc professionals, Val and David Rokov, are already getting warmed up for The Kenton Theatre's fundraising Strictly Dance-athon on Sunday January 24th when they'll be showing all comers how to strut their stuff.
Whether you've got two left feet or twinkle toes - or feel inspired by Strictly Come Dancing - you'll be welcome as there's over six hours of dancing on offer between 10am and 4.30pm at The Kenton, Henley-on-Thames - a fun way to work off some of those extra Christmas inches and raise money for the Kenton for Keeps campaign at the same time.
"You don't need a partner" says organiser, Emma-Jane Taylor and classes include street dance, jazz/musical theatre, tap, movement & dance for mature ladies, Ceroc taught by Val and David Rokov and ballroom by Maggie and Ken Beedell plus a 'fun for all ages' finale. You can opt for just one class at £5 and if you'd really like a good workout, you can sign up for half a day for £15 or the whole day for just £25. If you want to do the day for free, you just need to raise at least £35 in sponsorship. All funds will go to the Kenton for Keeps campaign to secure the long term future of The Kenton Theatre - the 4th oldest working theatre in the country and staffed almost entirely by volunteers.
If you'd like to show your support in spirit, you can sponsor Emma-Jane to hit the dance floor on your behalf. 2010 is the 10th anniversary of StageWorks and Strictly Dance-athon will be the first of several special events in Emma-Jane's anniversary year. She'll be starting her celebrations with drinks and nibbles at the theatre after the Dance-athon and ending the year with a grand black tie ball at the Town Hall on December 11th and says "Watch this space!" for more details.
Emma-Jane is passionate about supporting The Kenton Theatre and came up with the idea for Strictly Dance-athon as she organised a similar event two years ago for HAODS. "The Kenton is such a vital part of Henley life and looking after buildings like The Kenton is important to me and to the town" she says, "The theatre's a huge asset and I'll do whatever I can to support it."
"Places are strictly limited" urges Kenton MD, Wendy Bowsher who is looking forward to putting on her dancing shoes again to brush up her ballroom steps with Maggie and Ken Beedell. "There's no-one more glamorous than Maggie when it comes to ballroom," says Wendy.