Photo by Maria Falconer Photography
This past Sunday, David and I took part in an attempt to break the World Record for Largest Tea Dance, as part of the Big Dance, a week-long dance festival in Edinburgh. You may be asking, 'What is a Tea Dance'? It's a term they use in the UK and it was meant for a summer or autumn dance (usually held between 4pm and 7pm around before you would be having your 'tea'--which also means 'dinner' here in Scotland). They even served tea at the Tea Dance.
Expert friendly teachers Susan and Gary from the Fly Right Dance Company led us through the steps, and by half six, over six hundred of us were dancing the foxtrot. It's not official yet, but we may have broken the record! It was great fun, and the band (That Swing Sensation) was amazing.
I wore a me-made dress from a 1940 McCall pattern (3638) with my matching Ness shoes and handbag.
The band was absolutely fantastic:
Gary and Susan were great fun! David and I would love to check out one of their classes (especially the one on Lindy Hop).
Here's what it looked like as they were teaching us to dance the foxtrot. You can see David and I over in the upper left hand corner of the crowd. The foxtrot was pretty easy to learn (this doesn't mean I didn't step on David's feet...lol). It's basically steps of slow-slow-quick-quick all while slowing moving in a dance line (i.e. large circle) around the floor. It's the moving around the floor that makes it a bit more difficult. It was great fun to learn alongside everyone!
Photo by Maria Falconer Photography
What a brilliant event. Do you have any outdoor dance events where you live in the summer? Any there any dances you want to learn? And I'm curious, have you tried to be in the Guinness Book of World Records?