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SOMEONE should introduce 82-year-old Gwendoline Cersell to Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel-Horwood.
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.
READ MORE ON NEXT PAGE Herbert Norton, 83, from Norfolk Park, used to dance at St George’s church hall near Jessops Hospital.
Brian Ellis, 80, from Sandygate says: “We were fortunate that in our day people always danced . The only people dancing properly now are those competing.”
Brian has danced all his life, competing all over the country at various levels. Even at 80 he’s itching to get on the dancefloor.
“I can’t talk now because it’s the quickstep!” he says, darting off to join his partner.
Brian has been dancing at the City Hall since the war.
“I’ve been here when there have been GIs in the corner, on the big settee,” he says.
Aside from physical benefits, the dancing also provides a crucial point of contact for many elderly men and women.
“It’s a lifeline for some of them,” says Charles. “There’s one lady who walks with a stick but when she comes here and hears the music she puts the stick down and gets on the floor. It’s great for people making friends. With younger age groups it’s all about boy-meets-girl, but with the older age group they are just looking for friendship.
“One lady said to me the other day, ‘I don’t want a fella whose shirts I have to iron, I just want a fella I can have a dance with’.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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