This Is Guernsey

By Zoe Ash

Learn to ballroom dance in three months: what could possibly persuade eight perfectly sane people to take up that challenge? Oh, and no pressure, but the finale - a 400-seater event in April - is a sell-out. Zoe Ash waltzes into a rehearsal to find out THERE may be trouble ahead’ rang out as I pushed open the door to the Western Community Centre. And besides the lyrics, the only other thing I could hear was laughing: quite a lot of laughing. And apologising.

This was a ballroom dancing practice session for a new glittering event in Guernsey’s calendar, the Collas Day Dance Floor Challenge. And with just over two months to go, things were seriously stepping up.

On one side of the hall, a discussion was going on about my favourite subject - shoes. ‘They definitely make my posture better,’ said Toni Bligh, director of the island’s Financial Intelligence Services unit. Toni was gazing down at a glittering pair of gold heels and, by this stage, so was I. ‘Mine are a bit more bling,’ admitted Advocate Sara Mallett. ‘I love my jive dress - it’s black and white and has lots of crystals.’

Toni and Sara are two of eight local personalities who have volunteered to pair up with an expert dancer and take part in the challenge on 8 April. The others are Guernsey Press reporter Nigel Baudains and his colleague and island cricketer Aaron Scoones, BBC presenter Roisin Gauson, Deputy Leon Gallienne and Yorkshire Bank managing director Peter Symes and his wife, Jane.

On the night, Beau Sejour’s Dave Ferguson Hall will be transformed into a dance arena bursting at the seams with sequins. A judging panel will be there to mark how the couples perform under pressure, from tackling the tango to wrestling with the waltz.

‘It’s all part of the fun isn’t it? The glamour and dressing up,’ said Sara, who works for Collas Day and dreamed up the scheme. She’d wanted to liven up the company’s traditional dinner and dance with entertainment besides just a standard band. Soon things had glided along into a major event that has captured the island’s imagination.

‘I’d been watching Strictly Come Dancing and thought it would be good idea,’ she said. Sara mentioned it to Deputy Mary Lowe, who agreed it would also be a great way to help raise money for the Women’s Refuge. The pair work together for the charity, of which Mary is the chairwoman and Sara the fund-raising chairwoman.

The names of two local dancers, Jamie and Vanessa Le Tissier, soon came up. And, as things turned out, it was all just perfect timing.

‘We had the idea about a year ago but it had been put on the back burner,’ said Jamie, who is chairman of the Guernsey Amateur Dancesport Association.

‘Collas Day said it was thinking about a similar event raising money for the Women’s Refuge. It made sense for us to work together.’

And so from this promising partnership, the Dance Floor Challenge was born.

But little did the husband and wife team know that the event would be responsible for them passing up the opportunity of a lifetime.

The pair were invited to audition for the BBC’s Strictly Dance Fever, hosted by TV presenter Graham Norton. When they applied to take part last year, they never anticipated beating tens of thousands of hopefuls to the audition stage.

‘One of the auditions is on 8 April, the day of the show. There’s no way we are going to get there. It’s just not going to happen,’ said Jamie.

Instead, they sat down and started thinking about people they’d like to see take part in Guernsey’s own extravaganza.

‘It was really a case of drawing up a list and taking it from there,’ explained Jamie.

Sara volunteered straight away, although, as she revealed, she wasn’t a complete stranger to the dance floor. ‘I think I either got thrown out or “asked to leave” dance classes when I was five,’ she confessed, recalling an incident when she was the only yellow-beaked chicken in a vest at the school play.

Recruiting the other dancers proved fairly straightforward. Once the whole team was in place, UK professional dancers Claire and James Taplin came over in January to help get things warmed up.

‘It genuinely is harder than it looks,’ said Sara. ‘In fairness, James and Claire gave us simple dance steps and put them together in a routine. They basically did a crash course in a weekend.’ But it seems that the ‘in at the deep-end’ approach has paid off. ‘They haven’t gone in learning the basic steps. It’s been straight into learning competition dance moves,’ said Jamie, who admitted that even experienced dancers would struggle with some of the steps.

‘We are taking people who really think that they can’t dance. They’ve all really put their heart and soul into it. We’re very proud of them.’

The event requires a big commitment from the volunteers, with demands not on their feet and patience levels but also their time. Practice is at least four hours a week over two nights. ‘It’s been terrifying really, a real eye-opener. You see it done on the TV and you think it’s probably quite difficult,’ said Sara. ‘But you can’t appreciate just how difficult it really is.

‘I’ve no doubt that everyone will be superb on the night. The effort from the professional dancers has been amazing and they’ve been so patient.’

The judging panel will consist of James Taplin, Will Cochrane, Catherine Webster and Carol Shepherd. Claire Taplin will be compere on the night. But will these judges be as harsh as their TV rivals?

‘I can see James Taplin having some fun with it. I think he’ll be the Craig Revel Horwood of the panel,’ said Jamie. ‘Catherine will be more like the Arlene Phillips.’

As well as offering scores for the performances, people can bid for some of the dresses in a special auction on the night. Some ladies are buying their dresses but the others are up for grabs.

‘I think they’re more excited about the dresses then anything else,’ Jamie laughed.

And what does he think of the Guernsey Press’ very own boys taking part?

‘Aaron is dancing really well. Last week he forgot some of the routine, but sometimes we forget ours. The next time, he was fine,’ said Jamie.

‘Nigel’s a star. He’s doing very well. He has to do pivots in the foxtrot and they’re a very hard move. He has four pivots to do which is very difficult for a non-dancer.’

While I was there, Deputy Lowe also popped down to check on progress.

‘I think it’s absolutely brilliant,’ she said. ‘They’re all doing so well. I can’t believe how many of them have given up their time to do it.’

So just how did Guernsey Press reporter Nigel Baudains end up in a dance-off?

‘Jill, my dancing partner, phoned me up. I wasn’t shrewd enough to say I’d think about it and committed myself. I turned to my colleagues at work and said, “you’ll never believe what I’ve gone and done”,’ he said.

In a move obviously based on the ’safety in numbers principle’, he managed to rope in sports reporter and twinkle-toed island cricket man Aaron Scoones.

‘Well, we had a cunning plan,’ he said, moving in closer and checking to see who was listening. ‘He’s our Darren Gough,’ Sara whispered. ‘It’s fair to say we made a concerted effort to recruit a cricketer.’

And so the seeds are now sown, but I still couldn’t help wondering whether Nigel had any previous experience on the dance floor. ‘My only previous experience involved flashing lights and alcohol,’ he laughed. ‘I honestly went into it blind but I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I’m certainly not going to say I’m winning yet, but we’ve just done the full jive routine which is a huge boost.’

So, it’s just a case of improving then? ‘Yes,’ he laughed. ‘My motivation is sheer terror and my biggest fear is to freeze on the night. I think that’s everyone’s fear.’Agreeing, Sara said the fear factor was definitely going to be a big thing. ‘I just don’t want it to overtake the entertainment factor. I think it’s also about not wanting to let your partner down. Jamie is so optimistic. Almost to a fault.’

Sharon Patch is a professional dancer pairing Deputy Gallienne. She teaches both ballroom and Latin locally. ‘I’m part of the local dance scene and Jamie suggested that I might like to be involved,’ said Sharon. ‘He doesn’t believe people can’t do things.’

This was only Leon’s third practice session: they started slightly later and have been putting in the extra hours to catch up. The pair will be dancing the samba and the tango. ‘He’s doing really well under the circumstances,’ she said. ‘Unfortunately, he missed James and Claire’s lessons, but he’s very enthusiastic and is really picking it up well.

‘I have no doubt we’ll crack it. If we don’t, his kids will kill me. They have every faith that he won’t be embarrassing.’

I ask her if she thinks the return of ballroom to TV has helped its image turn a corner. ‘They’ve definitely raised the profile. We’ve seen a huge increase over the past few months, especially for such a small island,’ she said.

‘I’m a Darren Gough fan because of Strictly Come Dancing. It’s really nice to see a blokes’ bloke win it. It’s raised the bar. They look at him and think, well, if he can do it,’ she added. If it is on again next year, Sharon would like to see more of the sporting community taking part.

BBC Spotlight presenter Roisin Gauson is opening act on the night, dancing with her partner, Tony Penney.

‘I’d heard about it and wanted to get involved. I thought it was a fantastic idea,’ said Roisin, although finding the time to practise has proved tricky.

They have lost quite

a few weeks on fine-tuning their moves as Roisin is committed to working one week in every four in Jersey. ‘We hope the voters take that into account on the night,’ she smiled, as the rest of the dancers heckled her. ‘I think I’ll have jelly legs when it comes to the real thing, but Tony has been patient. I’ve walloped him a few times and kicked him in the shin and he still comes back.’

Roisin has also received some rather unconventional help with her dance moves. ‘I practise up and down the hallway at home. I move a lot quicker when my Jack Russell is snapping at my heels,’ she laughed.

* Anyone who would like to donate a raffle prize for the event should contact Sara Mallett at Collas Day on 723191.