Craig was condemned by host Bruce Forsyth for "getting personal" when he told gangly Jo Wood she danced "like a bush kangaroo".

But Gwendoline agrees. She says the key to dancing the waltz smoothly is specifically not to "bob up and down like a bush kangaroo".

If only Gwendoline had been on hand to instruct poor Jo. Perhaps the ex-wife of Rolling Stone Ronnie would still be in with a chance of winning the Saturday night hit show that's sweeping the nation for a seventh series.

Gwendoline is just one of the dancers at today's lunch-time twirl around the floor of the City Hall's 1920s ballroom.

Fort 13 years the former shoe repair worker has been attending the lunch-time dances at Barker's Pool, in addition to dancing four times a week at various community centres across Sheffield.

"You dance from here," she says, pointing to her diaphragm. "You don't step outside of your body and you must transfer your weight from one leg to the other."

To establish her point, she shuffles along with her weight on one leg. "You don't walk like this, do you?" she chuckles, leaning to the left. She demonstrates how to dance several times and, in spite of the repetition, she's not remotely out of breath.

Gwen, from Hackenthorpe, says dancing keeps her active, takes care of posture and breathing, and is proof that it's an elixir for those who choose to do it.

She is among dozens of men and women - most of whom are retired - who travel to City Hall on a regular basis for the lunch-time dancing on either Tuesdays or Thursdays, depending on City Hall's other commitments.

There are also tea dances on Saturdays, for which anything up to 160 dancers flock to the vast ballroom to take part, Gwen being among them.

Among today's dancers are Jenny Sissons, 60, a retired carer for Doncaster Council, and Alf Crawshaw, 70, a retired general manager from the coal industry - the pair are long-term dancing partners.

"We like the variety of ballroom and Latin dances," says Alf.

Organisers Charles Hancock and his wife June run various lunch-time and tea dances throughout Sheffield, with Charles taking care of the DJing, announcing the next dance to the floor. The pair have been running events since 2000, after Charles retired as a manager at the Gaity Theatre in Grimsby.

Many participants - like Vera Thompson-Edge, 72, and John Bond, 78 - 'pair off' during the sessions, and find long-term dancing partners.

"We dance well together - he teaches me the moves," says Vera, a widow from Handsworth.

"I'm the youngest of eight and all my brothers and sisters danced. We used to go to the Free and Easy dancing nights in Darnall and Attercliffe. If there isn't a dance I go into a depression. It totally lifts your mood."

The majority of the dancers at City Hall dance for pleasure.

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