You might not know what you are capable of...

As most of you know, I lead three Circle Dance groups, one for Gloucester U3A, one for Churchdown U3A and an evening class in Barnwood. I am able to publisize classes and events for the U3A classes on this website, but I do not have the same luxury for the evening class, so I set up a Facebook page (Gloucester Circle Dance).

Six weeks ago, I was contacted by a lady via this Facebook page. She was searching for a couple of Greek Dancers to entertain guests at her wedding. I suggested that she contact local Greek restaurants, as they might have contact details for professional dancers. Another suggestion, by another Circle Dance teacher, whospecialises in Greek music and dance, was that she contact the Greek Orthodox church.

Following a number of Facebook 'conversations', a very frustrated bride was becoming despondent as she had been unable to locate suitable entertainers. I couldn't bear the thought of a disappointedbride, and tentatively offered to lead an hour of dancing for her, fully expecting her to politely decline as I had made it clear that I was not a Greek specialist and that my groups danced for fun and were not professionals. However, our future bride was delighted and immediately accepted the offer!

My next surprise was the date of the wedding – September 3rd this year!!!!, and the venue was in Cirencester. Did I know enough suitable Greek dances for an hour? Would any of my dancers feel brave enough to join me in this adventure? My wonderful husband was, as ever, amazing, and offered to dance with me even if nobody else could join us – quite something for someone who prefers to be out of the limelight!

My next step was to mention this 'booking' in class and to send out an email, asking if anyone would care to join Keith and I in this 'performance'. Again, I thought that there might be a couple of dancers who would be brave enough to accept the challenge. Wrong again!! Eight dancers contacted me to offer assistance, and it was really special to have a mixed group from all three of myclasses.

I was especially impressed by two of the dancers, who had not been dancing with me for very long but were willing 'to give it a go'.

So, many hours were spent on my laptop, trawling my music and dance notes in order to put together a suitable programme. What would wedding guests be prepared to join in with? What would they expect?

I felt that Zorba's dance had to be included, but had never danced this except under the instruction of a troupe of Greek dancers whilst on holiday in Rhodes. Thank heavens for You Tube! I located a 'beginners level' Zorba and settled down to learn it.

The resultant programme consisted of five guest participation dances, a demonstration dance to start and finish and one in the middle to give the guests a rest after Zorba!

The weeks flew by, we were back from holiday and it was two weeks until the wedding. With impeccable timing, my laptop decided to 'throw a wobbly' and refused to play any of my music or connect with the wireless speaker! Both Keith and my son-in law spent ages trying to beat it into submission but to no avail, so off it went to the Computer repair man, with no idea how long it would be before we got it back.

Practice sessions at my house were arranged, with fingers crossed that all would be well, and luckily it was. The dining table was dismantled, the dog's bed relocated and our dining room became the site of intensive practice.

Everybody worked so hard but we had a lovely time, with coffee breaks in the garden and lots of chat and laughter.

The big day arrived. We had a final run through of our demonstration dances, 'Misirlou', 'Thallassa' and 'O Metoikas', and by popular request, Zorba – just for the fun of it!

After a buffet tea, we changed into our team colours of blue and white (the colours of the Greek flag) and set off into the drizzle. We were all looking forward to dancing together, but also desperatenot to spoil our bride's big day by a poor performance.

On arrival at the King's Head, we were greeted by a beaming and very beautiful bride and instantly felt a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Keith set up the music system and we had a last minute panic and very brief run through of our demo. dances.

The wonderful music of Misirlou struck up and we were off! The hour flew by. Lots of guests joined in the dancing and we even hada line of men in shoulder hold dancing Zorba!

The only dance on the programme that wasn't Greek was 'Nigun Atik', an Israeli wedding dance. We sat the bride and groom in the centre of the circle and blessings were showered upon them. The bride told me afterwards that it had felt very special.

We finished the evening with our usual group hug, and 'blew out' the battery candle. On our way out, we were grabbed and hugged by several of the guests and we got the feeling that everyone had really enjoyed their Greek experience.

If you have managed to get to the end of this long report – well done! But I want to finish by saying how proud I was of my dancers who were absolutely amazing and that you might not know what you are capable of until you try......

Suprisingly relaxed before the event!