#12 Treat people with kindness

Written by admin

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From the first time I heard this Harry Styles song in 2019, I’ve loved it. Then I somehow caught the video on social media and thought it was really cool. THEN I happened to see the choreographer breaking down the dance routine on a TV show.

One day I played the song on my radio show and put it out there that someone might fancy challenging me to learn the routine. My loyal friend and supporter Yvonne Clarke was quick to claim that challenge as her own.

Oh gosh! What had I committed to? This was scarier than the sky dive, believe it or not!

I danced for 12 years as a kid but weight gain and loss of self-confidence over the years, plus, well, age, had meant my twinkle toes days were a thing of the past. I’ve dabbled with dance classes over the years, and I certainly enjoy it, but I was always rubbish at remembering the routines so a career as a dancer for never for me.

Resolution dance company

I needed help with this, challenge so I dropped a line to Heather from Resolution Dance Company, who I’ve worked with at various events in the past, and she got fully onboard with the idea. In fact, she worked out the choreography, enlisted the help of a couple of her dancers and organised costumes! Brilliant – I love it when people get behind what I’m doing.

On that note, a white jacket and trousers were a must for my outfit, as was the orange Alzheimer’s Research UK t-shirt that is a feature of all of my challenge photos. Shout out to Jean Warrington who kindly lent me a white dinner jacket. Much appreciated.

So, fast forward to a Monday evening in October – the day that social media went down, in fact – and I rock up to a village hall in Wraysbury to find Heather, Bethany and Megan rehearsing the routine in readiness for my arrival. Eek!

We spent an hour going over and over the steps trying to commit the routine to my brain. Of course, there was one bit that I just could not seem to remember. Doh!

Doing the routine on the stage

Anyway, we got to a point that was good enough (it didn’t have to be perfect, after all) and then it was time to get changed and film ourselves doing the routine on the stage!

We filmed the lift first – did I mention the lift? Hahahaha! OMG! You should have seen my face when they said there was a lift. “I’m, like, 13 stone. How on earth are you three girls going to be able to carry me?!” Team work and some strategic weight distribution; that’s how.

And it worked!

You’ll have to watch the video for evidence! Heather and her partner kindly put their editing skills to good use and produced a super cool video. At the time of writing, we’ve not had the premiere, but I’ve seen a sneak preview!

Massive thanks to Heather and my backing dancers; I had a LOT of fun. It was hard work for this old bird, but I loved it, and I’m so excited to see the final video.

Let’s plan another dance challenge and, next time, can we add pom poms?