Strictly Come Dancing’s annual Blackpool special is this weekend. The cast and crew descend on the world famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
But why is Blackpool such a special place to dance? Heidi in Upper IV is the perfect person to explain, as a Blackpool champion herself!
Heidi has been competing in Blackpool for three years, and this year was crowned National Champion of the Jive in The National Association of Teachers of Dancing (NATD) couples category!
Amazingly, it was the first time she had entered in the couples categories. She danced with, “A girl that lives around the corner from me and we got National Champions with just two months to prepare! Neither of us were expecting it because we’d had such little time to prepare. It was an incredible moment.”
She also placed 5th in Rumba and 6th in Quickstep in her solo categories and said, “I got placed in both for the first time ever, so that was a proud achievement.”
It was watching Strictly that actually inspired Heidi to start dancing. “I have watched Strictly Come Dancing from as long as I can remember and I always remember watching it and thinking that it was awesome.”
She was four when she started attending a dance class with her best friends on a Saturday morning. A clash with piano lessons led to a temporary pause in practising before she was back on the dance floor in Lower I, when her school teacher started a ballroom and latin class. Heidi described her school teacher as, “an amazing dancer. I started doing it every week after school and then eventually she took me to her dance studio in Woodley where I went for a couple of years. I’ve moved now to County Dance in Reading and I’ve been there for two years.”
So why is Blackpool so important to dancers? Heidi says, “I think it’s just so special because it’s such a big achievement just to get there. You have to get through all the qualifying rounds and compete with hundreds of girls on the way just to get to Blackpool. It’s where all dance nationals are held and the competitions are the whole weekend. So, you go up and you get to spend the whole weekend there and you go on the rides, you go for nice dinners, and dance.”
How did it feel when she stepped out onto the Tower Ballroom’s sprung floor for the first time? “It was very emotional because I’ve been dancing since I was so little and I’ve always seen Blackpool on the telly, so when I stepped on the floor for the first time, I was like ‘oh my goodness it’s really happening’, it all felt a bit like a dream to be honest.”
Heidi is very clear about her goal – to be a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing! That is her dream, “I’ve been saying this since I was a little girl and I’m going to keep saying it!”
The dancers that inspire Heidi the most are Strictly’s Oti Mabuse and Diane Buswell. She explained that, “I’ve always loved Oti, she’s always been a big inspiration to me. Then as more dancers join the show, they inspire me further. For example, Diane inspires me a lot at the moment because of dancing with Chris in the last Strictly series, and how she overcame obstacles. It made me think that you don’t have a limit.”
What advice would Heidi give to anyone thinking about taking up dancing? “Just give it a go and have a bit of fun. It’s always easier if you’re having fun. It’s obviously going to be difficult, but if you get through it, it’s when you get on the dance floor that it really matters. It’s so much fun being at the competitions with your friends and dancing and getting all dressed up in the dresses and makeup and hair – it’s all just part of the experience!”
So watch this space – in a few years we could be watching Heidi take to the dance floor as part of the Strictly Come Dancing Blackpool special!
