Yesterday I spent a great day at the Royal Opera House taking part and observing four great dance workshops put on by the IDTA for it's members. London Seminar takes place every year at the beginning of February and for the past two years has used the Linbury and Clore Studio.<P>The day began for me in The Linbury Theatre and a Tap workshop entitled Hitting the Offbeat with Graeme Henderson. Henderson amongst his many credits, starred alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones in 42nd Street. He began with a short discussion as to what hitting the off beat and syncopation was and then demonstrated a very slick routine to "Have you Met Miss Jones?" which we all proceeded to learn. Although none of the steps were particularly difficult, interest and difficulty was added by the many off beats in the form of 8th and 12th notes that we had to move on. The routine also highlighted the effectiveness of light and shade in Tap.<P>The second workshop was lead by Nick Winston who is currently appearing in Kiss Me Kate. He taught us the end sequence of "Too Darn Hot". Again very simple steps (step ball changes etc) but it was fast and a brain teaser. I was very proud when I finally mastered the first section, but promptly lost it again after we had learnt the end piece. The workshop was great for highlighting how to perform a dance within the context of the show and has made we want to go and see "Kiss Me Kate" just to pick out the bits I learnt.<P>After lunch we moved up to the Clore Studio where I took a well earned rest and watched Judi Thompson take a delightful ballet class. She certainly put the students through their paces. They began with a centre barre and then moved onto several variations, a beautiful balance one where Ms Thompson emphasised the quality that all balances should have - oozing along the floor rather than springing. They then moved onto a quick and direction changing allegro sequence and a grande waltz sequence from the corner. They ended the class with a lovely Spanish feeling reverance. Ms Thompson had a lovely manner and really challenged the many students on the floor.<P>The final workshop of the day was a street jazz class led by Paul Domaine a choreographer who has worked with Cher and Five to name but two. He taught a routine to "Play" by Jennifer Lopez which was slick and emphasised very much the street style so prevalent today. I certainly came away with many ideas.<P>The day as well as being a lot of fun I think also highlighted the many different dance pathways open to young students today. <p>[This message has been edited by Joanne (edited February 04, 2002).]

Joanne - is Nick Winston the guy who dances in Too Darn Hot in Kiss me Kate (I don't have my programme to hand). Lucky you - that is one cool routine. I love stuff like that and was wiggling in my seat at the production. <P>Street jazz is another cool thing to do - people start off quite slowly, and with reticence, and then once they get the hang of it, they're dancing out of the studio and home..

Emma I would think he most certainly is as it was the last segment of Too Darn Hot that he taught us and then he danced the section for us all at the end of the workshop.<P>I hope to go and see Kiss Me Kate and beleive me i will find it hard to stay in my seat when that routine is performed.<P>The Street Jazz workshop was fun as Paul Domaine spent all the class trying to get us of bend our knees more and not turn our feet out. People tend to think of street jazz as being quite free but there was a lot of precision involved with the arm moves and body positions involved which Paul Domaine emphasised very well. It was a nice touch that when introduced it was noted that Paul Domaine had attended one of these London Seminars when he was a student at MADD college and was picked out by Brian Rogers as someone to watch. <p>[This message has been edited by Joanne (edited February 04, 2002).]

Coincidence or what! I was next door watching a rehearsal for the Outside In performances starting on 18th Feb. We almost bumped into eachother Joanne.

You'll have to synchronise your diaries better.

How funny - Stuart you must have seen all the Kids from Fame types hanging around the place all day.