Where to go on a Tues, Wed or Thurs near Ashby de la Zouch?

[Andy McGregor]

I've got a 4 day training course next week and was wondering where I could/should go dancing on the 19th, 20th and 21st Jan 2010?

[DavidY]

The nearest venues are probably those run by Want2Dance Burton on Tues and Thurs in Burton and Tamworth (Kingsbury). I've not been to either of these so don't know what they're like.

Ceroc UK usually run a class in Burton on Wednesdays, but it's cancelled that week. Further afield Ceroc UK also have Leicester on Weds or Nottingham (Marcus Garvey) on Thursday. Marc & Rachel usually run the Leicester one. Marcus Garvey on a Thursday was OK last time I went, but for my money I prefer Monday nights at the same venue which are a bit busier.

I do recommend Rugby on Thursdays (Marc & Rachel again) run by Ceroc Passion, if you don't mind travelling an hour from Ashby.

Several of these have been cancelled recently (or have sparse numbers due to people not venturing out); even though the snow hasn't been too bad there's still tricky ice. But I'm hoping it will have melted by next week.

[DavidY]

Oh I forgot Ceroc South Birmingham who do a class on Tues at Wythall (to the South of Birmingham) and one on Weds at Sutton Coldfield (which is to the North of Birmingham and quite close to Ashby). Not been to either of them for years, but Andy Bragg is an entertaining and experienced teacher.

[Trousers]

Oh I forgot Ceroc South Birmingham who do a class on Tues at Wythall (to the South of Birmingham) and one on Weds at Sutton Coldfield (which is to the North of Birmingham and quite close to Ashby). Not been to either of them for years, but Andy Bragg is an entertaining and experienced teacher.

NNooooo. . . . .

The word on the street is that numbers have dropped incredibly at Wythall.
I was told that the music was driving people away.
I went to a freestyle - it was a few months back and there were about 35 people. Terrible. The music does go extremely odd at moments, which is odd in it self as the girl DJ is a dancer.

Sutton, I am not so certain about - although personally I am avoiding it untill I hear good things.

There is Solihull on Thursdays - I hesitate to go further here because I have been rebuked for talking honestly about Solihull in the past. However since I chatted to a guy at a freestyle in Cov before Christmas who remarked that in his opinion they always had too many punters there for the available floor space, I do feel justified in making that known because it was always my gripe there. However its a good floor, good parking and a nice crowd just no floor space.

[Barry]

The nearest venues are probably those run by Want2Dance Burton on Tues and Thurs in Burton and Tamworth (Kingsbury). I've not been to either of these so don't know what they're like.

Ceroc UK usually run a class in Burton on Wednesdays, but it's cancelled that week. Further afield Ceroc UK also have Leicester on Weds or Nottingham (Marcus Garvey) on Thursday. Marc & Rachel usually run the Leicester one. Marcus Garvey on a Thursday was OK last time I went, but for my money I prefer Monday nights at the same venue which are a bit busier.

I do recommend Rugby on Thursdays (Marc & Rachel again) run by Ceroc Passion, if you don't mind travelling an hour from Ashby.

Several of these have been cancelled recently (or have sparse numbers due to people not venturing out); even though the snow hasn't been too bad there's still tricky ice. But I'm hoping it will have melted by next week.

Ceroc UK also run Rolls Royce @ Derby on a Monday night that has very good numbers, is a great venue and is slightly closer

[StokeBloke]

The nearest venues are probably those run by Want2Dance Burton on Tues and Thurs in Burton and Tamworth (Kingsbury). I've not been to either of these so don't know what they're like.

You will love both of these nights Andy. We often get across to dance at both of these nights. Patricia who does the music is superb (she also played an amazing mainroom set at RevDrop's charity weekender). Both Patricia and her business partner Nikki Rose are a lovely dancers, they teach a lovely smooth type of Jive and this is evident when you dance with the people who regularly attend. They get around 70-100 dancers on a class night and the nights ooze the sort of personal quality that *cough* bigger organisations can only dream of mimicking

[Rachel]

Ceroc UK also run Rolls Royce @ Derby on a Monday night that has very good numbers, is a great venue and is slightly closer

at which you are the dj ...

I'm assuming Derby wasn't mentioned because Andy specifically asked about Tues, Wed & Thurs nights.

[Lost Leader]

I do recommend Rugby on Thursdays (Marc & Rachel again) run by Ceroc Passion, if you don't mind travelling an hour from Ashby.

Several of these have been cancelled recently (or have sparse numbers due to people not venturing out); even though the snow hasn't been too bad there's still tricky ice. But I'm hoping it will have melted by next week.

Snow will definitely be gone - most of it has melted today. One of the many advantages of Rugby is the legendary late finish (11:15pm or sometimes even a little later).

[Cruella]

If you do go to Rugby, let me know as it's 5 mins from my house and I'll pop along and say hi.

[Andy McGregor]

Phew! I had a horrible feeling I wasn't going to make this trip. Thankfully I've just had my root canal filling done!

Thank you to everyone for their suggestions. It sounds like I've got plenty of choice. I'm not sure what nights I'll be free as I will also have to study for exams as part of the course and will go dancing if I think I already know enough to exceed the 80% pass mark

[Andy McGregor]

The nearest venues are probably those run by Want2Dance Burton on Tues and Thurs in Burton and Tamworth (Kingsbury). I've not been to either of these so don't know what they're like.

I went to the Tamworth venue on Thursday night and had a fabulous time! I was welcomed at the door by a helpful couple of ladies and just joined in with the lesson which had probably been going for 5 mins.

Here is my report in the time-honoured way;

The Good

Enthusiastic and inspiring teacher.
Exactly even numbers of men & women - men were moved on, which is a change for the ladies!

Fabulous DJ. There was a great mix of genres and eras and a few versions of standards that I'd not heard before. Quite a few bluesy tracks were played too.

The standard of dancing was generally high with quite a few of the ladies taking occasional control to strut their stuff - which is nice

Overall I would say that the music and the dancers were generally less bouncy than average and the night has a 'smooth jive' feel to it.

The Bad

Parking - the venue hasn't got a very big car park and people had abandoned their cars on pavements all over the place! A traffic warden on overtime would have made a fortune! However, I got there at 9pm and still managed to find a legal (honest, officer), kerb-side space within sight of the venue.

The Ugly

The teacher had to announce that they would lose the venue if people kept bringing their own drinks into the venue and leaving their empties behind.

N.B. I still passed all my exams and actually got 100% in most of them - who says dancing and study don't mix.

[StokeBloke]

Great news on the exams Andy!!

So pleased that you had a good time and that your experience of Nikki & Pat's nights match our own. Well worth a visit