Boost your confidence with ballroom dancing

Julia Williams, author of ‘Strictly Love', talks to three women who have found confidence through ballroom dancing and never looked back

  Jodie Kidd & Ian WaiteIt's that time of year again. After its sensational last season, ‘Strictly Come Dancing' sparkles its way back into the nation's living rooms this month. And it seems that as a result of this perennially popular show, women are taking to the dance floor in their droves. So why does ballroom dancing appeal so much?  Is it because it can have the effect of boosting your confidence?

 

Social service manager, Virginia Moffatt thinks so. ‘I wanted to dance ever since I watched ‘Strictly Ballroom'. I decided to go for it when I was dumped one autumn. Ballroom dancing made me feel better about myself and gave me a reason to get out of the house.'

 

Literary agent Dorothy Lumley, who's been dancing for over fifteen years, agrees: ‘It was something I turned out to be reasonably good as well as loving it, so that helped.' But it's not necessarily a problem if it turns out you have two left feet. Dorothy thinks dancing can make you a more confident person anyway, ‘because you are broadening your outlook.'

 

Dancing for everybody 

 

Both Virginia and Dorothy agree that dancing can be helpful to people in all sorts of situations, from the busy mum, who needs ‘me' time to the suddenly single who wants to meet members of the opposite sex, through to the elderly who find it a good way to socialise.  If you've never done it before though, surely going to dancing classes can be a bit daunting?

 

It certainly was for writer Marie Phillips. ‘The first time I went salsa dancing the bar was sweaty and sleazy, the men even more so, I didn't go to salsa for years after that.' Her second attempt wasn't much better: ‘the choreography in the class was so complicated I ended up crying in the loos because I couldn't do it,' she recalls.

 

Feel like you're flying 

 

So how do you turn it around and make it a more satisfactory experience? And is it possible to go along feeling nervous and come out brimming with confidence?  Virginia and Dorothy have certainly both found the experience of learning to dance a positive one. If you do feel afraid to try it, Dorothy says it's important to remember that ‘everyone's learning something new, same as you,' while Virginia points out that ‘the triumph of learning to do a series of steps is unsurpassable'. They are both adamant that once you've learnt how to dance your confidence will be increased a hundredfold. As Virginia puts it, ‘once you get it, you feel like you are flying'.

 

Luckily for Marie she had a much better experience of salsa whilst visiting a friend in San Francisco. After a taster lesson, Marie discovered that she was one of the better dancers in her class, which gave her a lot more confidence. ‘I was actually dancing, rather then treading out the steps,' she says. ‘I began to have real fun. I felt confident, sexy and I finally understood the moves.'

 

Boost your love life 

 

Another big plus to dancing of course is that it can be a means of getting out and meeting the opposite sex. Dorothy says she has certainly found love on the dance floor and while Virginia didn't meet anyone while she was dancing, she is convinced that the newfound confidence it gave her was a factor in meeting her husband shortly afterwards.

But even if you're not there to meet the love of your life, you'll still make friends and it can be a great way for taking you out of yourself and helping to escape your troubles. Now a busy working mother of three, Virginia wishes she could do it again, ‘It would make me feel relaxed and happy. Give me that extra buzz to get me through the week.'

 

And of course there's the dress. Marie, a huge fan of ‘Strictly', says the costumes are part of the appeal. ‘Any excuse to wear sequins,' is how she puts it, while Dorothy says that she loves the clothes because as, ‘a child we didn't do dressing up like that.'  For Virginia it's even simpler. When she first saw the film ‘Strictly Ballroom' which fired her enthusiasm to dance she just wanted to wear the ‘fabulous red dress' that Fran gets to dance in at the end of the film.

 

So there you have it. Dancing increases your confidence, it gives you a sense of success when you master it, forces you to meet new people and makes you feel sexy - especially when you get to wear gorgeous dresses. And if you do turn out to have two left feet, don't worry you can always dance like no one's watching.

 

About the author

 

Julia Williams is the author of ‘Strictly Love', a romantic comedy about finding love on the ballroom dance floor, the perfect read for fans of ‘Strictly Come Dancing'. Published by Avon on September 29, for more information and to buy, click here.

 

For all the latest updates and full line-up on ‘Strictly Come Dancing', click here.

 

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