{"id":2680,"date":"2016-01-28T15:30:33","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T15:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/?p=2680"},"modified":"2025-05-07T16:20:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T15:20:01","slug":"men-who-ballroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/men-who-ballroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Story: The Ballroom Boys"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Member of City Academy's Ballroom Dance Company, Jon Turpin, told\u00a0us\u00a0about his experience dancing in the recent Winter Dance Showcase, and spoke to\u00a0two\u00a0of the other gents in the company about their dancing experiences, and how they found themselves lighting-up the stage at Trinity Laban...<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m Jon \u2013 member of the City Academy Ballroom Company. I recently finished 2015 in style,\u00a0performing foxtrot and cha cha cha routines in the City Academy Dance Showcase<\/a> with a group of\u00a0great new friends.<\/p>\n

I first started dancing when I was a student, and found the Bristol University Dancesport Team. We\u00a0used to train for and take part in competitions around the country. When I left university almost ten\u00a0years ago, I found it hard to find a ballroom dance class with a mix of interesting people and with\u00a0teachers who understood that we dance to make friends and have fun as well as learn steps! At the\u00a0City Academy Ballroom Company, we are taught some technique, but quickly get into learning\u00a0formation routines which will form part of a showcase performance. The teachers make sure we dance with a\u00a0variety of partners in each routine and everyone is very encouraging and helpful when you have any\u00a0questions. It\u2019s a friendly group of people and I quickly felt very welcome. The weekly practice has become\u00a0the highlight of my week!<\/p>\n

\"CA-5101\"

Jon with the Ballroom Company.<\/p><\/div>\n

Working towards the Winter Showcase gave the company a clear focus and sense of purpose. We all\u00a0had varying levels of experience and had strong motivation to help one another so that we
\nwould all\u00a0look great together. On show-night nerves were running high \u2013 knowing that our families and friends\u00a0had paid to come and see us made us all really want to dance to the best of our ability. When the\u00a0moment came to walk out on stage, we completed both routines as well as we ever had, and doing\u00a0them on a stage with full lighting and sound was such a rush!<\/p>\n

At the showcase, I had the chance to meet some of the families and friends of my fellow dancers,\u00a0and this got me interested in finding out a little more about my fellow gents\u2019 life\/dance balance, how\u00a0and why they started dancing ballroom and what performing in the showcase meant to them and\u00a0the people who came to see them...<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Sid - Programme Manager<\/h4>\n

I have two boys under ten who thought it was quite funny that their daddy had joined a Ballroom Dance Company. That was until they saw me perform and now they tell all their friends about it...<\/p>\n

I\u2019d always been interested in dance but it was something that was limited to nights out and family functions. Then back in 2014 I had one of those moments where I thought to myself - \"it\u2019s now or never\"<\/em> - and I took the step and started looking for dance companies in London.\u00a0I found City Academy through the web\u00a0and I signed up for a 6-week Tango course and thoroughly enjoyed the experience!<\/p>\n

I had one of those moments where I thought to myself it\u2019s now or never...<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I wanted to dance more, learn new styles of dance (and steps) and ultimately perform on stage, so once I finished Tango, I signed up to a Ballroom Course. Then I auditioned for the company, and I\u2019ve not looked back.<\/p>\n

I was initially apprehensive about joining, and it was all to do with whether or not I was experienced enough. I attended the audition and instantly the company leaders\u00a0(Shawnna & Leo) put my mind at ease and encouraged me to treat it as a normal dance lesson - enjoy it and have fun.<\/p>\n

\"ballroom-dancing-men\"

The boys backstage at the Dance Show<\/p><\/div>\n

Ultimately as with all things in life, it comes down to people and their personalities and we're lucky to have a great group. However, it also comes down to the group's leadership. \u00a0Shawnna are Leo are always keen to share\u00a0their experience and knowledge, as well as being\u00a0extremely committed, and very passionate about what they do. They helped us create and perform in a show that we were all very proud of.<\/p>\n

I still remember the energy we were all experiencing when we were called from our dressing rooms to take our place on the side of the stage, waiting to go on. It really was electric and I\u2019d certainly not experienced anything like it before. Getting ourselves pumped up with high fives with the rest of the group. Last minute photographs (see left) to capture the moment and overall that sense of togetherness willing each other on to nail the performance and most importantly to enjoy it.<\/p>\n

<\/u>No one in my family had done anything quite like this before, and from the day I joined the group there were so many people interested in coming to watch. I\u2019m sure that as the performance day grew closer they were intrigued to see what I had been doing for the last 3 months.<\/p>\n

They loved it and I guess that\u2019s the comment that anyone would expect from their family. But then a few of them opened up and actually said that they didn\u2019t expect it to be that good. It was really impressive that the 2 routines were choreographed in such a short space of time and such contrasting routines as well \u2013 we performed a standard (Foxtrot) and a Latin (Cha Cha\\Rumba) routine. They also said we all looked great, especially the ladies, we danced well as a team and also that the staging of the performance was really impressive and unexpected.<\/p>\n

I could see from their faces that their comments really were genuine and I now find them talking to other people they know about it as well, which is really awesome because if others can get involved and have an experience similar to mine, I know that they will also never look back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Ben - Advertising Creative<\/h4>\n
\"ballroom-boys\"

The Ballroom Company in action at The Winter Dance Show<\/p><\/div>\n

I had never danced before I went to university. There was a girl I liked, and she asked if I danced, to which I obviously replied - \"who doesn't!?\"<\/em> I ended up competing on the university student circuit, but stopped dancing when jobs and real life got in the way. I've only picked up dancing again in the last few years.\u00a0I joined the Ballroom and Latin Dance Company after finishing City Academy's performance course.<\/p>\n

I got to pretend to be James Bond!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I guess that, because I had danced before, I may not have had the typical fears of a chap joining a dance class, like embarrassment or fear of performing in front of people. I just hoped it would be\u00a0fun to go to classes where you had a goal you were working towards. And it was!<\/p>\n

It's sounds soppy to say, but my favourite part of being involved in the Dance Showcase was seeing the whole company come together and really perform to the best of our\u00a0ability. It's not about who the best or worst dancer is, it's about putting on the best show we can for people who have paid to come and see us. The show was full of laughs, nerves and adrenalin. And I got to pretend to be James Bond!<\/p>\n

My parents and some friends came to see me. My mum said we were the best, and she is definitely not\u00a0biased...<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Ballroom Dance Company practise every Wednesday from 7.00pm - 9.00pm at Finsbury Town Hall. To join, email our Head of Dance via info@city-academy.com\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tFIND A BALLROOM COURSE \t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Member of City Academy’s Ballroom Dance Company, Jon Turpin, told\u00a0us\u00a0about his experience dancing in the recent Winter Dance Showcase, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,129],"tags":[114,295],"yoast_head":"\nBallroom Dancing for Men | City Academy, London<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Member of our Ballroom Dance Company, Jon Turpin, told us about his experience dancing in the recent Winter Dance Showcase, Read on...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/men-who-ballroom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ballroom Dancing for Men | 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