We are dead chuffed to be offering dancing lessons at this year's Bestival!  That's right – your chance to be taught to Waltz, Charleston, Tango, Foxtrot, Lindy Hop, Mambo and the Cha Cha (& more) with your mates in the beautiful wood and glass surrounds of a 1930s Spiegeltent.  It's gonna be so much fun!!!

We need you help though!  As this has never been done before we need to get an idea of the sorts of dances you'd like to do (& when) so we can make sure we can accommodate your heart's desires.

So… please read the following information about the dances, timings, celebrity judges (!) and prizes (!!!) and then email comedancing@bestival.net with the type of dance, day and time in the subject line of the email. e.g. 'Lindy Hop on Saturday at 6.15pm'.

Make sense?  We hope so as we really want you to get involved here! 

Here are the Come Dancing Workshop's provisional timings. Descriptions of each of the dances mentioned are at the very bottom…

There will also be a Barry Peters' (aka the Cuban brothers) 'Triple Threat' dance class on Friday.  Time tbc…

Friday
3.15pm – 4.15pm Foxtrot
4.45pm - 5.45pm Jive
6.15pm - 7.15pm Lindy Hop (The original Rock and Roll)

7.15pm - 8.30pm Finale dance session with The Magic Number Swing Band*

Saturday 
1.45pm – 2.45pm Waltz
3.15pm – 4.15pm Charleston
4.45pm - 5.45pm Cha Cha
6.15pm - 7.15pm Lindy Hop (The original Rock and Roll)
 
7.15pm - 8.30pm Finale dance session with The Magic Number Swing Band!*
 
Sunday 
1.45pm – 2.45pm Salsa
3.15pm – 4.15pm Mambo
4.45pm - 5.45pm Tango
6.15pm - 7.15pm Lindy Hop (The original Rock and Roll)

7.15pm - 8.30pm Finale dance session with The Magic Number Swing Band!*

*NB: This final session each day with the Magic Number Swing Band will be a chance for you to show off your new skills. There will also be celebrity judge there every night who will judge who should win the prize of 2 VIP tickets to Bestival 2007!

So, please email comedancing@bestival.net now and let us know the type of dance you'd like to do along with the day and time in the subject line of the email. e.g. 'Lindy Hop on Saturday at 6.15pm'. And then read on…

Every evening in the Spiegeltent, after you've sashayed and probably sprained your ankle, the floor gets dusted down for a good old party with different themed nights:

Friday sees the legendary Gaz Mayall bring his Gaz's Rockin Blues night down from it's London home to wow us with his amazing rock n roll and rockabilly knees up – including a live set from Kitty Daisy & Lewis!

Saturday night is Ladies Night hosted by The Laundrettas, Bestival's favourite women what wash, and it will feature live sets by Fake Bush, The Long Blondes and Sunday Best's Kish Mauve.

Sunday sees the festival close with a dusty Hoe Down with Leonard and Bubbas Delicious Goo Goo Cluster, The Farmers Daughters, the Bikini Beach Band and The Banjo Widows (Calamity Pardon and Penny Dreadful) on the wheels of steel.

Don't think Bruce Forsyth, sequins and purple rinse – think Gypsy swing, suspender belts, rock n roll, high kicks, saucy sheriffs, acres of flesh, grinding guitars and the sky falling in!

DANCE STYLES
Salsa
Salsa is a fun and flirtatious Latin American dance, fuelled by Afro-Caribbean rhythms and all-night partying. The dance fuses Cuban, Puerto Rican and Columbian styles into simple and lively movements.

Mambo
When Lou Bega re-released 'Mambo Number Five', dancefloors in the UK were once again alive with Mambo madness. A forerunner of Salsa, Mambo is defined by 1950s Cuban Jazz and accompanied by fast and fun moves. The dance makes a memorable appearance in the hit film 'Dirty Dancing' starring Patrick Swayze.

Cha Cha
The Cha Cha is another fun and versatile Latin dance and ranks amongst the five dances competed at international level. The dance draws its name from the rhythm of the feet on the dancefloor - 'cha cha cha' - and today's version resembles the original Cuban Cha Cha.

Tango
Argentine Tango was born in Buenos Aires and is a raw and authentic dance which, like many Latin dances, explores and tests the relationship between man and woman. In Tango the man and woman are equal and with the movements weaving contact and separation, the dance suggests that either partner may be seduced. In Europe, we have translated the original Argentine Tango into the Ballroom Tango. The Ballroom Tango is one of the five dances belonging to the International Ballroom Competitions. Many see it as the austere European relative of the raw and compelling Tango Argentino.

Waltz
The world reknown Waltz captures romance and marks special occasions for dancers everywhere. Originally an 18th century Austrian folk-dance, the Waltz is one of the five dances of International Ballroom competitions. The dance is called the 'slow' or 'English' Waltz in countries where the Viennese Waltz is known as the Waltz.

Foxtrot
The Foxtrot is a slow and graceful dance rooted in the Tin Pan Ally of the 1920s. The dance's elegant and beautiful movements make the Foxtrot a challenging dance for ballroom dancers to master.

Jive
When Elvis Presley came on at that last wedding reception party you went to, the guests probably took to the dance floor with the Jive. However, there are many different styles of Jive that have adjusted to the various music phases throughout the decades. The 1920s Lindy Hop, 1930s Jitterbug and Boogie Woogie, 1940s Swing, 1950s and 1960s Rock 'n' Roll and French Jive are all styles of Jive.

Charleston
When the mass migration of Southern African-Americans, who were looking for a better life in the North, started moving just before the First World War, they brought with them a treasure trove of dance forms including this gem which has been traced back to the Ashanti culture of what is now Ghana.  Whilst it set the whole world dancing it also laid the basis for the Lindy Hop to emerge.

Lindy Hop
In the late 1920's in Harlem Lindy Hop was breaking out wherever people were partying... But it wasn't until the opening of the Savoy Ballroom that Lindy Hop got its name and a home. At the Savoy the Lindy Hop got hotter and hotter, as people danced to the top Big Bands in the land. And it got better and better, as the popular Saturday night competitions pushed good dancers to greatness. New steps were born every day. The styling got refined and was executed so well that the dance was a joy to watch as well as do. When it looked like it couldn't get any better, a young dancer named Frankie "Musclehead" Manning created the first airsteps in 1935, and the Lindy Hop soared.