Dance project launches in Wolverhampton

A unique city-wide project that looks at how dance has played its part in Wolverhampton kicks off this weekend.

The best story was the one told by Jenny Butler, a woman from Wolverhampton who found her true love at a town dance.

Jenny was down on her luck in the 1960s and unable to afford a night on the tiles. Luckily, she found a half crown and decided to spend it on admission to a dance. There, she met her husband-to-be and, thankfully, lived happily ever after.

Jenny's story is among 100 that collated for a fascinating project on culture and social history.

Everybody Dance Now is a week-long celebration of film, theatre and dance in Wolverhampton from the Central Youth Theatre. It is part of the Cultural Olympiad, the arts programme running in support of London's 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

A programme of events will run in Queen Square, Low Level Station, Wulfrun Hall, Newhampton Arts, Slade Rooms, Arena Theatre, Bilston Town Hall and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Project spokeswoman Jessica Collings said: "Everybody Dance Now is a celebration of a universal language. We interviewed 100 people of all ages about the history of dancing in Wovlerhampton.

"We wanted to look at dance from the point of view of people taking part.

"The interviews were based on people's memories and the main venues that people visited were Queen's Ballroom, The Civic and The Catacombs during the 1970s, which was a major northern soul venue.

"We created four brand new plays based on those memories, which will take place at the Low Level Railway Station."

The Wulfrun will also host four dance nights, based on four of the principle cultures that have influenced the city.

Each night will feature live music and people performing. A traditional European folk night will take place on Saturday (July 30, 2011), a Bollywood and bhangra night will follow on Sunday (July 31, 2011) , there will be a Caribbean and Ska night on August 4 and a vintage glamour night on August 5.

Miss Collings said: "When we first started to research the project, we realised nobody had ever looked into it before. Whenever we mentioned dance to people, they had a story.

"People met husbands and wives. Throughout much of the 20th century, dance was the main focal point of our social lives.

"A lot of people who used to dance at say 16-28, they still go to sequence dancing or tea dancers and the northern soulers still travel around. A lot of love stories come from the dance. There was Jenny Butler and plenty more love stories.

"The men said they found it really difficult asking for a dance.

"They had to be good, but it wasn't cool to have classes; the men found it hard."

Full listings for all events are available at www.centralyouththeatre.org by telephoning 01902 572091 or by calling the Wolverhampton Civic Hall Box office on 0870 320 7000.

Andy Richardson