14 January, 2008

As tickets for the north east leg of the Strictly Come Dancing tour sold out faster than flamenco footwork, Sport England North East is encouraging people across the region to take their interest in dance from the spectator’s arena to the dance floor.

This campaign comes as demand for the ‘Strictly’ tickets added one extra date to the north east leg and also highlights findings from the Active People survey and Sporting Market Segments research, both commissioned by Sport England, which showed that a staggering 41% of women in the region are keen to take up dance exercise.  Yet only 0.7 % of women actually make it all the way onto the dance floor.

Sport England North East’s regional director, Judith Rassmussen, says:  “The survey showed that there is a real interest in dance amongst women across the region and yet very few are actually making it through the doors of our dance studios and facilities.  

“It’s a great way to exercise as well as being really fun and a good way to socialize with new people.  

“Our region offers a huge range of classes to suit the needs of everyone who wants to take up dance, and we would encourage people to put their best foot forward in 2008 and give it a go.”

One reason people are not immediately signing up for classes is that they believe they cannot fit them in around their busy life styles or they do not want to go to classes alone.

Penny Rae, artistic director with Dance City in Newcastle - one of the many places in the North East which holds dance classes - commented: “We are delighted to see numbers increasing all the time for Dance City classes. More and more people are dancing in the North East and people really shouldn’t be worried about coming alone or coming with no dance experience at all.  People just want to dance and here at Dance City we think we have a class for everyone.”

Sport England’s research also showed that the most popular reason women wanted to take up exercise, including dance, was to lose weight. Burning around 600 calories an hour, dancing is a great way of quick stepping those extra pounds away.

For people who are interested in joining a dance class in their area, details can be found at the following websites:
http://www.accessplace.com/dance-school.north-east
http://www.ukwhatsonguide.co.uk/NEDanceClasses.htm
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/bigdance/northeast.php

For people interested in joining a dance class at Dance City information can be found at:
Dance City
Temple Street
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 4BR
+44(0)191 261 0505
F+44(0)191 230 0486
info@dancecity.co.uk