Strictly showbiz inspiration for young and old
TEN years ago, if you'd have asked a rugby player to dance the tango, you might have ended up as the ball at the next game.
And while scrum star Austin Healey may have enjoyed his last waltz in front of the judges in the present series of Strictly Come Dancing, Kieran Kelly, the 36-year-old director of Stoke-based K.Dee.K Danceworks, has a feeling there'll already be a long line of other sportsmen waiting to fill his shoes for the next one.
Once a contestant in Strictly Come Dancing's predecessor, Come Dancing, in which he and his sister Breda represented Ireland in 1994, he says: "We used to have lots of girls coming along to our ballroom and Latin classes saying their husbands or boyfriends weren't interested.
"Now, thanks to Strictly Come Dancing, men are coming in their droves. They've seen people like Darren Gough and their other sporting icons dancing, and it has washed away any preconceived ideas about how it could make a big dent in their masculinity.
"Ten years ago, dance schools were doing OK, but now people know more about the industry it's bringing more business our way. You can come to our dance school and see not only adults and teenagers but children as young as four trying it. At the same time, you can go to community centres across the city any day of the week and find people in their 60s, 70s or 80s dancing their afternoons away."
Helen Morris, aged 23, of Slaney Street, Newcastle, works at the school as an administrator.
Out of hours, she also attends lessons there, and competes nationally with dance partner Matthew Coombs, a 28-year-old company division manager from Nuneaton who travels to Stoke at weekends to practise with her.
With some understanding of what the present celebrity contestants must be going through, having been under the scrutiny of judges herself, she says: "You have to push yourself to do your best, so when you are dancing in front of the panel you have to forget everything else.
"There's just so much to learn and you definitely get an adrenalin hit from it. My personal favourite is the waltz. I love the rise and fall of the feet, and it's quite sentimental."
Matthew started ballroom dancing last January – also after watching Strictly Come Dancing – and contacted Helen online when a teacher suggested he should find a partner and begin competing.
The pair have already won several competitions and have qualified for the national Champions Of Tomorrow competition, taking place next year in Blackpool.
Disappointed to see Austin Healey go, but with high hopes for Tom, he says: "I get such a buzz from it.
"Decades ago, it used to be the done thing for men to dance like this. It is only in the last 10 or 20 years that attitudes changed.
"My friends are all very understanding. They see I enjoy it. Besides, you couldn't get much more romantic than dancing as a couple."
For information on classes, call 01782 878888.
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