Everybody DANCE! – fancy footwork not essential…

This weekend, a truly inclusive dance festival comes to Hastings and Rother. There will be dance events to watch and dance classes to join in. A sense of rhythm will help, but it doesn’t matter if you have two left feet or even no feet at all. HOT’s Erica Smith finds out more from one of the organisers, Esther Fox.

Journeys Dance Festival is a three-day, free event running throughout the August Bank Holiday weekend, with events in Bexhill, Hastings and Rye. The festival has been produced by local company, 18 hours, who are responsible for Hastings Storytelling Festival and this years St Leonards Festival.

The Picnic is a performance piece which starts at noon with a five-minute taster outside Bexhill Youth Centre on Station Road on Saturday, and travels on the train all the way to Rye for the main performance on Station Approach at 1pm. Dance theatre company Etta Ermini recreate the story of a young couple’s joyful picnic, which is disrupted by the quirks and pitfalls of their relationship. For the price of a train ticket, members of the public are welcome to join them on their journey from Bexhill to Rye.

On Sunday, the focus moves to The Stade, Hastings for ‘Live Jive’ where music will be provided by The Jive Aces – as seen on Britain’s Got Talent. There will be world class dance instructors from the Wheelchair Dance Sport Association (right) who will teach wheelchair users how to jive, whether their partner is another wheelchair user or a standing partner. The Cinque Ports Lindy Hoppers will lead the jive throughout the event, as well as providing a short taster workshop for beginners to get everyone dancing.

“Audiences can come along and jive”, says Esther Fox, the producer of Live Jive (pictured right). “Whether they are beginners or experienced dancers, wheelchair users or standing partners, the jive is a fun, fast and feel-good dance for everyone.”

The event runs from 1–3pm.

On Bank Holiday Monday at 1pm, the dance journey returns to Bexhill for a tango event by the bandstand at the De La Warr Pavilion. Tango Unlimited features live Argentine Tango from the Corina Piatti Trio and highly respected Kiju Tango DJ, Kirsty Bennett, plus a tango performance and tuition from the Ragroof Players. This event is an opportunity to experience the passion and magic of one of the world’s best-loved dances.

For more information, visit the 18 hours website
Facebook, or Twitter: @18HoursEvents

Also in: Community Arts