VE Day 75 Dance Fun

Bank Holiday Friday was a great day.  A great celebration of the anniversary of the end of the World War II in Europe. I was looking forward to it, because I decided that I was going to enjoy myself and get into the VE Day spirit. 

Firstly, I promised myself I would make an effort and get dressed up 40's style for the occasion. In addition, I promised myself that I would get involved in as many Lindy dance events online, as I could, as there was a lot going on.

As a consequence of the above, instead of getting up late, I was up and out with the dog early, so that I could come back and get a shower and LB could put my hair in a wet set to facilitate a 40's updo. After she did this, I got started with the VE day dance events, as the first one was taking place at 12 noon. This one involved the National Heritage Museum and the teaching was done by my usual dance company, so I was very keen to join in with this one. It involved learning a short solo routine which was great fun. I loved it.

After I'd done this, I got dressed and did my makeup.  It felt strange putting a full face of make up on after wearing less for the last couple of months.  My eye liner had even dried up a little with not being used. Once dressed, I really felt the part and returned to my computer for another run through of the routine I'd learned. Then there was another solo routine to learn, with another online event, which was also good and taught me a bit of the Shim Sham, a well know dance in Lindy circles.

After this routine there was a bit of a break in the proceedings, so I took my rollers out and did my hair. The wet set didn't go exactly to plan, but the finished result was better than I expected.  I took a couple of selfies and sent them to my friend, as I'd promised her I would do this. Here's a cropped copy of me (complete with pinny) and Bert, my dance partner, as I'm shy of having my photo posted on the internet.

I also took the time to explore some YouTube videos made by the National Army Museum about Make Do And Mend and Digging for Victory during World War II. These were fun.  By the time I'd done this it was time for the next dance lesson.  This was the Lambeth Walk and the Jitterbug, taught by Anna and Simon of Swingdance UK as part of the National Army Museum Virtual VE DAY 75 Festival.

Whilst watching and dancing to this, I was WhatsApping my friend and trying to watch another live video on my phone, teaching the Shim Sham, so things got a bit hectic. The dancing day was finally rounded off with a performance of the first solo routine by more dance teachers accompanied by a live dance band playing.  It was great to see some familiar faces on the live broadcast.

I had a wonderful day, so much dancing, so many informative and funny videos to watch and the fun of getting dressed up for a change, even though I had nowhere to go.  A lot of effort was put into the events and they were great. I'm so grateful to the organisers.  It was just the tonic I needed at the moment. If you didn't catch any of them, check out the National Heritage Museum Facebook page, the National Army Museum website and the SwingdanceMK Facebook page to watch the videos and learn the dance routines.