Keep Dancing!

Recently we paid a visit to DECODANCE, an intergenerational dance collective that encourages adults of all ages to move their bodies and enjoy themselves. Meg and Alex run the group and inspire the older members to make short videos for social media, showing off their moves, dressing up in wild costumes and having fun. Alex and Meg were keen for us to meet Mr Chiu, whose life story is fascinating – and who will appear in our Leeds Life section soon. But the group’s enthusiasm is infectious and we wanted to share some of that! We thought it would be interesting to hear members’ recollections of dancing when they were younger – but also why they continue to dance as they get older. Here are some of their stories.

Sonja

I was born in Glasgow. I remember when my mum took us to see The Sound Of Music. 1964, I think. I was only a little girl. I learned all the lyrics, all the tunes. My aunt had an empty garage and I danced around that garage forever. Forever. I did the same with The King and I. That's my first memory - my very fond memory - of dancing on my own.

Anne

My cousin and I used to put on shows. Singing and dance, it was all very musical. You know, she went on stage and became an actor. And I didn't. I did go to dance class when I was little. But I was overweight as a child. I could never remember the steps. I have quite difficult memories of being at the wrong end of the stage. We used to put on shows in the local park in Huddersfield. We were all dressed up, doing our bit. I was always at the wrong end, coming in at the wrong time.

Tamsin

I did ballet when I was quite young. I remember leaping across the kitchen and showing off “What does that look like?”

Sue

When I moved to Leeds, I went with a friend to line dance, which I absolutely loved. I'm quite good at remembering the steps. I just loved it. It was in a working men's club in Meanwood. I went there for a few years. Got all the gear, dressed up. I think there's always been dancing [in my life], dancing around the kitchen, like everybody does.

Jane

I remember doing Scottish dancing. I moved to Wakefield when I was nine, and there was a Caledonian society. I used to go on a Saturday morning. I remember coming to Beckett Park in Leeds for a festival of Scottish dancing, and there used to be hundreds of little girls, all in white dresses, with hats and sashes on, in little teams, competing against one another. It was totally unreal.

Linda

When I was 15, I had to go on holiday with my grandmother. We went to Blackpool every year. We were walking down the promenade, and I had a little radio with me, and they played an Abba song, “Ring Ring’. I loved to dance to it. I just forgot where I was, and I just started to dance on the promenade. I really went for it. I was shoulder-shaking, everybody was watching me!

Bill

I was quite an energetic child. I was a fidget, I couldn't keep still. I found I could dance, I could move around and I could freestyle. Disco music, that really helped me to go on to the floor and dance. Fame, John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever, I really thought, oh wow, you can dance and you can attract people, boys and girls, and you can just do your thing.

Becky

When I was in my 20s, I used to go to Mr. Craig's on a Monday night, which was a big club in Leeds. And I think that was like a 70s funk, retro, student-ish kind of night. So I don't know how I had the energy to do that and then teach the next morning!

What’s interesting is how most of the members had particular experiences of dancing as they were growing up – but that DECODANCE is different. These dancers are refusing to see getting older as a restriction or an excuse to stop being active.

Tamsin

I always used to forget stuff. But since joining DECODANCE, I've discovered body memory… it's actually muscle memory. And it's real. It really is. I was worried about forgetting the steps when we did our first performance. And I remembered everything. I think it's the way they teach. I thought that I would be more forgetful as I got older, but I'm actually remembering things more because of the way I'm learning. in Leeds there was so much stuff happening. I don't know, I couldn't find the right thing. But I just didn't imagine that I'd be doing disco dance type stuff - with silver trousers and wigs and sunglasses - when I was 66!

Becky

I spent all my career as a music and creative arts teacher in a primary school, running choirs, doing the shows and the choreography. It's really quite weird being the other way around here. I wouldn't have imagined six months ago even doing that. You come in now, you don't really care. You know, you've got past that stage in your life. I just don't really care anymore. Just have fun. Do what I want to do and not be worried about I've got to be tested at the end of it.

Sonja

What these girls do, they completely challenge us and stretch us. They don't bring things down to our level. They challenge us all the time. They always manage to make us look amazing!

Check out DECODANCE on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/decodance_/

Join the DECODANCE groups on Tuesdays. Contact them at decodance@outlook.com