Shall we dance?

While many of you may have had to sacrifice watching BBC’s seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing for ITV’s entertaining X-Factor due to broadcasting clashes on Saturday evenings, fear not, as Warwick’s Strictly Come Dancing, guaranteeing your fix of Strictly glitz and glamour, is planned on your quiet Sunday, 7th March, free from any scheduling conflicts.

This year’s Strictly Come Dancing is being held a term later than usual due to initial difficulties securing interest amongst sports members to participate. Perhaps last year’s Strictly Come Dancing still touches a raw nerve for some. Nonetheless, READ International has successfully managed to sniff out the shy sports people to bravely come out and dance. The line-up includes Athletics & CC, Cheerleading, Warwick Climb, Ladies’ Hockey and Warwick Surf, each promising to enchant you with graceful ballroom steps and captivate you with sizzling Latin moves.

For those of you deprived of previous Strictly Come Dancing magic, here is a basic overview of the event. Six athletes from various sports societies have been partnered up with Latin & Ballroom’s experienced dancers. This proved to be trickier than expected as partnering required correct gender matching, height compatibility, and fitness of schedules between each couple. Each pair was given approximately seven weeks to choreograph and learn the dance that will win them the prestigious and acclaimed championship for Strictly Come Dancing 2010. The dancers have had to choreograph a routine and train the athletes all on their own with no additional support from instructors. Matt Hoather explains that the most difficult thing about training someone with no previous dance experience asides from the steps is “getting them into the personality of the dance,” such as the sexiness that must accompany a rumba.

The dances will be judged by Natalie, Rob and Betty who are regular instructors at the Latin & Ballroom classes as well Alex Twiss. True to the style of the show, audience vote will count towards the final score, measured by how much noise they can make. Will Warwick’s Red Devils flaunt their cheerleading skills to out-cheer the others in support of their member Rebecca Hilton? With last year’s champion, the Thai Boxing Society, out of the picture, will Zoe Andrew reclaim the title that was snatched away from for Ladies’ Hockey? Or perhaps Rebecca Dean and dancer Matt Hoather who are feeling “quietly confident” will create a big wave to sweep the competition and claim the title for the first time for Warwick Surf. You can help to decide!

So other than for a good laugh, why are students risking their social status and giving up their time to dance? Kate Bond from Athletics explains the situation as “win-win” as the money raised is for a good cause and she gets to dress up and learn a cool dance. The money will go towards sending much needed textbooks to Tanzania. READ International has been sending unused textbooks from the UK to Tanzania for five years now, totalling 564,000 books to date. READ is a student-led initiative that supports both sustainability and development, recycling the textbooks that would otherwise be collecting dust in school cupboards.

It is guaranteed to be a fantastic night with a good atmosphere, friendly competition and lots of fun. So come and show your support for your club, dancer or for READ. Tickets can be bought on the SU website for £5.