Dancing

One of my favourite hobbies, and ways to keep fit, is dancing, partly because I find music so meaningful and inspiring. So far I've tried belly dancing and salsa. Now I go to tap dancing classes which is great fun, especially when I put on the cute little tap shoes and hear the old fashioned music.

This week, I started the new craze that's sweeping the UK: zumba. I was told it was more aerobics than dancing, meaning it would be strenuous! However, in the event it was brilliant fun and, yes, pretty exhausting after the hour was up. Once again it's the music that makes me want to get moving and we did a combination of salsa, rumba, eastern, Greek, rock and roll and meringue moves. The hall was filled with women of all shapes, sizes, and ages and every single one of us was in a world of our own, going at our own pace to the wonderful, varied music.

One of my favourite parts of the Regency period is the romance of dancing at those glorious assembly room balls. Who could forget the scene in the BBC film where Mr Darcy (Colin Firth) dances with Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle) for the first time. In fact the camera closes in on the first touch of their gloved hands to highlight the significance of this meeting. Most of the Jane Austen films have at least one memorable dance scene. I also like the scene from the film about Jane Austen, Becoming Jane, when she dances with Lefroy. The glances between them are pure romance! You can watch it via the following link.

Video link to Jane and Lefroy dancing

Romy