27 May: Isodora Duncan

Born on this date in 1878 was the dancer Isadora Duncan. Here are ten facts about her:

1. She was born in San Francisco. Her father, a banker, turned out to be an embezzler. Not only was he embezzling at work, but he’d stolen his wife’s jewellery and the family silver and shared the proceeds with his mistress. Isodora’s mother divorced him and moved her four children to Oakland.

2. Isodora was a free spirit from a young age. She dropped out of school at 10 and taught herself in the local library. She had already decided that marriage was slavery and that she wanted to dedicate her life to the arts.

3. She started teaching dance classes when she was 14 years old.

4. She wasn’t a fan of Ballet, though. It deformed the female body, she said, and simply wasn’t natural.

5. She took her dance inspiration from ancient Greece: natural and free. She would dance to classical music, such as Strauss, Chopin and Beethoven, but in her own way.

6. She lived in many places. In 1899, her mother moved to London with Isodora and her siblings. There, Isodora met Mrs. Patrick Campbell, who introduced her to London society. In 1903 she moved to Berlin, where she embraced the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, and started a dance group called the Isadorables.

7. In 1917, she moved to Moscow, where she married for the only time, to poet Sergei Esenin who was 17 years younger than she was. She returned to America with him on tour, but he left her and went back to Russia. He had a mental breakdown and was later found dead in a hotel room. His death has never been explained.

8. Prior to her marriage, Isodora had three children by three different fathers. The first two fathers were Gordon Craig and Paris Singer, heir to the Sewing machine fortune. These two children died in a tragic accident. The car they were in accidentally rolled into the River Seine in Paris and both children drowned. In her grief, Isodora begged the Italian sculptor Romano Romanelli to get her pregnant. Her third child was stillborn. After her children died, Duncan adopted six of her international dance students who migrated to America and took her last name.

9. She was not without her critics. George Balanchine said of her, "To me it was absolutely unbelievable-a drunken, fat woman who for hours was rolling around like a pig." Elsa Lanchester described her as "an untalented bag of bones".

10. She’s perhaps most famous for the way she died. On September 14, 1927 she got into the passenger seat of an open topped car. She had been advised to wear a cape because it was cold, but she refused, and just wore her flowing silk scarf, which had been created by the Russian-born artist Roman Chatov, and was a gift from her friend Mary Desti. As her friends waved her off, she reportedly said, "Adieu, mes amis. Je vais à la gloire!" ("Farewell, my friends. I go to glory!"), although this account was disputed and witnesses claimed she actually said "Je vais à l'amour" ("I am off to love"), and her friend Mary Desti altered her words so it wouldn’t sound as if she was off for a romantic tryst. The scarf caught in the wheels of the car and strangled her. Death caused by entanglement of neckwear with a wheel or other machinery has been named Isadora Duncan Syndrome after this occurrence.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

5 May: Salsa (dance)

May is National Salsa Month.

The condiment I covered last year, so here are ten facts about salsa the dance:

1. The dance was named after the condiment as it is a mixture of different styles.

2. The term “salsa” was first coined by Fania Records, a record-label founded by Dominican-born composer Johnny Pacheco and Italian-American lawyer Jerry Masucci in 1964.

3. It’s based on Afro-Cuban music but incorporates elements from other Latin American styles.

4. It developed largely in New York City beginning in the 1940s and ’50s, although it wasn’t referred to as salsa until the 1960s.

5. Salsa dancing is the most popular form of partnered dance in the world. About 200 million people are said to be fans, which is more than for the next three most popular dances, bachata, swing and Tango, combined.

6. It probably helps that wherever you go in the world there’s likely to be a local twist.

7. Some of the dances which have influenced or have been incorporated into salsa include mambo, cha cha cha, Cuban son, pachanga, swing, hustle, Jazz, and Afro-Cuban rumba.

8. There are six distinct styles of salsa. These are: New York style salsa, LA Style salsa, Cuban salsa, Rueda de Casino, Colombian salsa, and Salsa Choke.

9. The Music is as varied as the dance and includes Salsa Dura (“hard salsa”), Salsa Romantica (romantic salsa music), Latin Jazz, Timba (salsa music from Cuba), pop salsa, and salsa choke.

10. Salsa music typically ranges anywhere from 150 BPM (beats per minute) to 220 BPM, which means a person burns 300-400 calories per hour dancing salsa.

See also Salsa (the condiment)

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

12 March: Vaslav Nijinsky

On this date in 1890 Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian Ballet dancer, was born. 10 facts about him:

1. He was born in Kyiv, in what is is now Ukraine. His parents were of Polish extraction and so Nijinsky identified as Polish, even though he could barely speak the language.

2. He was exposed to ballet from an early age as his parents were both dancers with a touring company. His mother Eleanora was orphaned as a young girl and only survived by becoming a full member of a ballet company at the age of 13. At age nine, Nijinsky was accepted at the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg, the pre-eminent ballet school in the world.

3. Needless to say, he excelled at dance while at school, but his grades in subjects which didn’t interest him were poor. The fact that he was often chosen to perform small roles in productions didn’t help as he would miss lessons for rehearsals. He was warned that his dancing talent was the only reason his poor grades didn’t get him expelled. He wasn’t popular with other students, who teased him for being Polish and for looking vaguely Japanese. Chances are they were jealous of his talent, as well. In 1901 a classmate deliberately caused him to fall. He suffered a concussion and was in a coma for four days.

4. That said, he must have made some friends, as when he did get expelled, it wasn’t for bad grades but for an incident where he and other students shot catapults at people’s hats from the carriage driving them to the Mariinsky Theatre. Nijinsky got a beating for that and had to undergo a probationary period as a non-boarder when re-admitted.

5. On Sunday, 9 January 1905, Nijinsky was caught in the Bloody Sunday massacre in St. Petersburg. Soldiers fired on the crowd, and Nijinsky was among the injured, suffering a head wound. His friend’s sister, however, disappeared in the riot and was never found.

6. In 1907, he graduated and became a member of the Imperial Ballet, and in 1909, he joined the Ballets Russes, a new ballet company started by Sergei Diaghilev, who became his lover. It seems likely Nijinsky was bisexual although his first experiences were with men. It’s likely he lost his virginity to Prince Pavel Lvov, a wealthy fan. Nijinsky’s mother tried to discourage his heterosexuality and even approved of his relationship with Prince Lvov. This may have been because married dancers were often dropped from the ballet companies and she did not want that to happen to her son.

7. Nijinsky’s relationship with Diaghilev was already on the rocks when the company went on a tour of South America. Diaghilev didn’t go, citing that he had been told that he would die at sea, although it is more likely he preferred to go on holiday in Venice and have dalliances with other men. Travelling with the company was an obsessive fan called Romola de Pulszky, the daughter of a Hungarian Count. Having seen Nijinsky perform she had immediately broken off her engagement and become obsessed with Nijinsky. On tour, she would book cabins near to his and even made friends with his masseuse. She attended every performance and although he initially took her to be a Hungarian ballerina and was friendly, when he found out she was just a fan he started ignoring her. Undeterred, Romola managed to get herself into a dancing class with Nijinsky, which annoyed him because he didn’t want to teach people who were not professional dancers. Somewhere along the line, though, Nijinsky must have warmed to her, because he eventually got a colleague to propose marriage to her on his behalf. She thought it was a cruel joke and ran away crying until Nijinsky proposed in person in broken French and mime. The couple were married on 10 September 1913 and the event was announced to the world's press, much to the distress of Diaghilev, who reportedly sobbed uncontrollably and went on a bender.

8. The marriage got off to a rocky start. Nijinsky offered to teach Romola to dance but she refused, which told him she wasn’t as into ballet as he’d thought she was. This meant she didn’t love what was most important to him. Romola must have had cold feet as well, since she later said that she "almost cried with thankfulness" when her husband didn’t try to have sex with her on their wedding night. Still, things must have thawed out and improved over time as the couple had two daughters in due course.

9. When he reached his late 20s, Nijinsky became mentally unstable. At performances, he would throw tantrums, and audiences noticed that he “no longer danced like a god”. He kept a diary for a few months in which he wrote of his fear of being institutionalised and drew unsettling sketches, of unblinking Eyes, because he was sure he was being watched. He also drew Spiders with Diaghilev’s face. Romola and her family forced him to see a psychiatrist who diagnosed him with schizophrenia. His worst fears were realised and he spent the next 30 years in mental hospitals. Some light shone into his life, though, when he met a group of Russian soldiers in an encampment. They were playing traditional folk tunes on a balalaika and other instruments. Inspired by the music and hearing the language of his youth, he started dancing, astounding the men with his skills. Drinking and laughing with them helped him start to speak again after long periods of silence during his treatment.

10. He was the only male dancer of the time who could perform routines en pointe. Most male dancers never bothered to learn as they saw it as too girly for them. Nijinsky, however, wanted to master and be the best at every dance related skill.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

16 December: Strictly Come Dancing

In 2023, today is the day of the Strictly Come Dancing Final in the UK. Here are 10 things you might not know about the show:

1. The name comes from an old TV show and a film. Come Dancing was a ballroom dancing competition series which aired on the BBC from 1949 to 1998 and featured non-celebrity contestants. The word “strictly” is from Baz Luhrmann’s 1992 film Strictly Ballroom.

2. The show debuted on 15 May 2004 and was presented by Tess Daly and primetime legend Bruce Forsyth. The judges then were Len Goodman, Arlene Phillips, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli. The winners of the first series were Natasha Kaplinsky and Brendan Cole.

3. The aim of any couple on the show is to get a maximum score of 40. The contestant who has achieved a maximum score the most times is Caroline Flack, who won the 12^th series. She became the first celebrity to score the maximum 40 from the judges in all three of her dances in the final, and she also set the record for the longest consecutive run of 40 marks, with four, since her second dance in the semi-final had also scored 40. Her partner was Pasha Kovelev, who has achieved the top score 13 times.

4. The show’s resident band, led by Dave Arch, have over 4,500 music arrangements in their collection.

5. Brendan Cole and Anton Du Beke are the only two professional dancers to have taken part in all twelve series of the show.

6. There’s a lot of make up involved. Since Strictly started it has got through more than 150 litres of liquid glitter, 1,200 sets of false eyelashes, and 1,000 bottles of nail varnish. Each series uses 57 litres of fake tan and over 504 cans of hairspray. A celebrity’s weekly makeover is known as their ‘Strictlification’.

7. The Sunday results show isn’t live. Since 2009 it has been recorded on Saturday night after the voting closes. The judges and presenters change their clothes and when they talk about “last night’s show” it’s not actually true.

8. The Waltz, Cha Cha Cha, Quickstep, Rumba, Tango, Jive, Foxtrot, Paso Doble and Samba have featured in the show since series 1. The American Smooth and Viennese Waltz were added in series 3. The Salsa and Argentine Tango were added in Series 4. The Charleston was introduced during series 7. Each dance lasts about 90 seconds.

9. The format is licenced to more than 75 countries including the USA, China and India. In the United States, it is called Dancing with the Stars and in Sweden the show is called Let's Dance.

10. The late Queen Elizabeth II was a fan of the show, as is her daughter in law Queen Camilla. Mary Berry is another celebrity fan. The show is also regularly watched by National Grid staff, not necessarily because they are fans, but because they need to know when the credits start rolling, since it’s so popular that they need to prepare for a phenomenon known as TV pick-up. That is, a massive surge in electricity use as people who’ve been watching go and put the kettle on.

Character birthday

Joan Shirley, a college friend of Ultra Grav. She had a crush on him and it was her jealousy which helped fuel the students’ bullying of Rosemary Ellis (Shadow) when Ultra Grav began to show an interest in her. She appears in Running in the Family.

Running in the Family

An alien craft approaches Earth. The alien on board is a fugitive, fleeing from an arranged marriage to freedom on our world. She befriends James, a genetics student, and shares her knowledge about the future of the human race with him. 

A science experiment gone wrong gifts James with superhuman abilities; but they come at a price, leading him to mentor others like himself. He founds a group of amateur heroes called the Freedom League.

The Freedom League suffers a string of losses and tragedies; it seems doomed to failure; but one of its members, Peter Mayfield, has vowed to form a group of his own. He is determined to keep his vow, despite having lost Rosemary, the one person he wanted by his side to help him.

Lizzie Hopkins is a talented young athlete and dancer. Peter sees her in action and guesses her exceptional abilities are far more than they seem. He offers to train and mentor Lizzie - but her mother is violently opposed to his suggestion.

As soon as she is old enough, Lizzie takes matters into her own hands; she seeks out Peter and his group for herself. She soon makes a discovery which shakes her world at its very foundations. Her search for the truth will resolve many unanswered questions, but it will also stir up old heartbreaks dating back to the Freedom League's early days.

Available from:

Amazon Paperback;   Amazon Kindle

3 October: The Twist

As today is Chubby Checker’s birthday, here are 10 things you might not know about the Twist.

1. The word twist in relation to dancing actually dates back much further than the 1960s. It dates back to the nineteenth century when a similar pelvic dance move was brought to America by slaves from the Congo. The lyric "Now anybody can learn the knack, put your hands on your hips and bend your back; stand in one spot nice and tight, and twist around, twist around with all of your might" is from a hit song called Mess Around by Perry Bradford in 1912.

2. Chubby Checker’s song, The Twist, was a cover version of a song released in 1958 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side to Teardrops on Your Letter.

3. The song was inspired by the dance craze, rather than the song creating the craze.

4. The original recording of The Twist topped the Billboard charts twice, in 1960 and in 1962.

5. Chubby Checker released several follow up tunes with a twist theme, including Let’s Twist Again. Other artists jumped on the bandwagon with songs like Peppermint Twist (Joey Dee and the Starliters) and Twist and Shout (The Beatles).

6. The Jerk, the Pony, the Watusi, the Mashed Potato, the Monkey, and the Funky Chicken were all dances inspired by The Twist but none of them were ever as popular.

7. A world record was set in DeLand, Florida, on October 11, 2012, when Chubby Checker sang the song live and 4,000 people twisted along.

8. The dance gets a mention in the Amazing Spiderman issue number 2, where Jameson tells Peter Parker to buy "twist records" with his money.

9. The song was added to the National Recording Registry in the US Library of Congress on March 21, 2013 for long-term preservation.

10. Feel inspired to have a go? Here’s how it’s done. Stand with feet hip width apart. Grind the feet as if you’re extinguishing a cigarette on the floor and move the body as if you’re drying yourself with a Towel. the dance can be varied in speed, intensity, and vertical height as necessary.

Character birthday

EmeraldEyes, daughter of Neutraliser, arrived on Earth on this date, brought by her uncle in the hope that she can live a free life here as her mother did. She was enrolled in school where she maintained a human image and used the name Suki. Fellow student Daniel Moran (Sword Keeper) had a huge crush on her, and had also encountered her in alien form, but didn’t realise the alien he’d met and Suki were one and the same at first. She joined his group of genetic variants in her alien form to fight the Power League and Sinister Squad. This story is told in Obsidian’s Ark.

Obsidian's Ark

Teenage years bring no end of problems. Daniel Moran's include getting hold of computer games his parents don't think he should have; a full blown crush on the beautiful Suki from Zorostan; maintaining his status as a prefect and getting his homework done. He must also keep from his parents and sister the fact that he is a superhero with a sword from another world.

Trish wonders how to get science whizz Tom to notice her; how to persuade him that the best way to stand up to the school bully is to fight back. She doesn't want her friends, especially not Tom, to know she is a genetic variant with superpowers. Little does she know that Tom has secrets of his own.

Suki struggles to make friends at school when she cannot understand everyday cultural references, and they all suspect her of being a terrorist. She, too, has a secret, but is it what her classmates assume?

When Daniel stumbles upon a plot by an alliance of supervillains to plunge the world into war, he tries to alert the established superheroes, but none of them believe him. When the Prime Minister's only daughter, Yasmin Miller, is abducted, Daniel knows the villains' plan is underway. It seems humanity's only hope may be Daniel and the ragtag bunch of teenage superheroes he recruits. Can he pull together, not only his own team, but the older heroes as well, in a bid to save the Earth from a devastating war?

Available from:

Amazon

Amazon Kindle

25 May: National Tap Dance Day

Today is National Tap Dance Day. 10 things you might not know about tap dancing:

1. Why today? Because it's the birthday of Bill Bojangles Robinson, famous African-American tap dancer, who was born on this day in 1878. He's perhaps best known for dancing with Shirley Temple in the musical Stormy Weather. While he was often criticised for going along with racial stereotypes in his performances, in his private life he was a campaigner for African American police officers and soldiers. Incidentally, the song, Mr Bojangles, isn't about him. In the song, the street performer is a heavy drinker whose Dog died. Robinson didn't smoke or drink and never owned a dog.
2. Some other famous tap dancers include Sammy Davis Jr, who learned to tap dance at the age of 4; Gregory Hines, an American dancer who starred in White Nights and Tap; Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and the Nicholas Brothers.
3. Tap dancing has its origins in any number of ethnic dance styles originating in Africa, Scotland and Ireland. Tap dancing also incorporates moves from Waltz and swing.
4. The earliest tap dancers were African American slaves who would dance in bare, callused Feet. Later, dancers would nail pennies to their shoes to make noise.
5. Today you can get tap shoes with metal taps screwed to them. It's even possible, with modern tap Shoes, to tighten or loosen the screws holding the taps in order to adjust the tone of the dance, or create sound effects.
6. Soft shoe dancing is tap dancing without the use of metal taps. This style would use sliding of the feet as well as foot tapping. Sometimes dancers would sprinkle sand on the stage to enhance the sliding sound.
7. Tap dancing can be used to communicate. Dancers could perform specific steps called time steps, which would tell the orchestra how fast to play, and to what rhythm. It's also possible to use a tap dance to communicate in Morse Code. (Now there's a story idea. What are the chances of a person in the audience knowing the Morse code for "Help, I'm being held prisoner and forced to tap dance?")
8. Here's a list of just a few tap dance steps: the shuffle, shuffle ball change, hop shuffle, flap, cramproll, buffalo, Maxi Ford, Irish, waltz clog, the paddle roll, the paradiddle, stomp, brushes, scuffs, spanks, riffs, hot steps, heel clicks, New Yorkers, Shiggy Bops, drawbacks, and chugs.
9. The film Happy Feet features a tap dancing Penguin.
10. At time of writing some tap dancing records are as follows: The largest tap dance lesson: 445 people were taught to tap dance by Julie Dorman in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 21 September 2018. The most taps in one minute was 1,163 by Anthony Morigerato in Albany, New York, on 23 June 2011. Roy Castle, host of the BBC TV show Record Breakers, achieved one million taps in 23 hours and 44 minutes at the Guinness World of Records exhibition in London, UK, on 1 November 1985.

My Books:

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7 February: Ballet Day

Today is Ballet Day. Here are 10 things you might not know about ballet:

1. While ballet is often considered a feminine activity, when ballet first originated in 15^th century Italy women were not allowed to dance in public, so all the dancers were men. It began as a form of entertainment in royal courts, often alongside operas and with elaborate costumes. Women were not allowed to dance in public until 1681.
2. King Louis XIV, King of France, was a keen ballet dancer. He frequently appeared in ballet performances, sometimes dancing multiple roles in a single show.
3. The word ballet is French, derived from the Italian word balletto, which in turn came from the Latin ballo, ballare, meaning "to dance". The word came into English usage around 1630.
4. The first full scale ballet was performed in Paris in 1581. It was called Le Ballet Comique de la Reine, which means The Comic Ballet of the Queen. It was arranged by the then Queen of France, Catherine de’ Medici, to celebrate her sister’s wedding.
5. Thank male ballet dancers are weak and effeminate? Think again. As I said, early ballets were only performed by men, at a time when graceful and delicate characteristics were a sign of power. In the 19^th century the view shifted and the stereotype emerged. Next time you watch a ballet, just look at how many ballerinas they lift in the course of a performance. One to one a half tonnes’ worth of ballerinas, apparently, the weight of an average sized car.
6. Dancers of both genders use up a heck of a lot of energy during a performance. They all have to be incredibly fit. During a full performance they use the same amount of energy that it would take to run 18 miles/28.9 km, or play two full football matches.
7. It’s also pretty tough on their Feet. Every time a ballet dancer jumps en pointe, three times their body weight is carried on the tip of their big toe. Not only that, but a professional dancer will wear out two or three pairs of ballet shoes a week. At least.
8. The leotard was named after Jules Léotard, a French acrobatic performer and aerialist, who developed the art of trapeze. If you want to know about tutus (chances are you do as I kept coming across a statistic that 60% of ballet audiences experience feelings of joy when they see one) you can read my 10 facts about tutus, HERE.
9. Rather than saying “Break a leg” as most performers do, ballet dancers have a tradition of saying “merde” instead. Which is French for “Shit”. This came about at a time when performances often included live animals on stage, so it was a warning to look out for the poo!
10. After the film Billy Elliot was released in 2000, there was a dramatic increase in male enrollment in dance classes. More boys than girls were admitted in the Royal Ballet School, which had never happened before.

Who's That Girl?

Matt Webster lives in a tower block and attends a failing school. He dreams of being a spy like James Bond. Little does he know that he is being watched by someone who can make him into even more than that – a superhero.

His first solo mission is to attend a ball at the Decembrian Embassy and discover who is planning to steal a priceless diamond. While there, he meets the mysterious Lady Antonia du Cane, and is powerfully drawn to her. It soon becomes clear, however, that Lady du Cane is not what she seems. Matt’s quest to discover who she really is almost costs him his career.

A modern day Guy Fawkes gathers a coterie around him with the aim of blowing up Parliament with a nuclear bomb. To achieve this, they need money. Lots of it. Selling the Heart of Decembria Diamond will provide more than enough. All that stands in their way is the Freedom League – but the League is beset by internal disagreements. Can the heroes put their differences aside in time to save the day?

Prime Minister Richard Miller and his wife Fiona grieve for their daughter, Yasmin, who has been missing for three years, and is presumed to be dead. Viper agent Violet Parker could hold the key to what happened to Yasmin, but Violet is accused of giving away the organisation’s secrets. She is to be executed without trial. Will she take her knowledge of what happened to Yasmin with her to her grave?

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

E-Book

29 October: The Charleston

On this date in 1923 the musical Runnin' Wild, which introduced the Charleston, opened on Broadway. 10 things you might not know about the Charleston.

1. The first people to dance the Charleston were African American people living on an island off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina (hence the name) around 1903. The dances they did were based on dances people used to perform in Africa.
2. The dance came to the stage ten years before Runnin' Wild, in Harlem, New York, but at that time it didn't get much attention.
3. In Runnin' Wild, it was danced to a song called The Charleston by Jimmy Johnson and Cecil Mack.
4. It was different from most popular dances in that it started in the theatre and became popular, whereas most others were popular at social occasions first and were later adapted for stage performances.
5. The Charleston is a dance characterised by a series of kicks and up and down movements executed by knee bends.
6. The best music to dance it to is ragtime jazz in 4/4 time. It can be danced solo, with a partner or in a group.
7. Since 2009, the Charleston has featured on the TV show Strictly Come Dancing. That year, the show was won by Chris Hollins, who used the dance to his advantage, as a means of showing off his personality. He went on to win the contest.
8. One theory as to why a hedonistic dance like the Charleston became popular when it did is because it was a reaction against the grief and loss caused by the first world war the previous decade. People had had enough of mourning and wanted to enjoy themselves.
9. Needless to say, the church and the older generation hated it. One vicar in Bristol commented 'It stinks! Phew, open the windows', possibly because people worked up a sweat when dancing. There was even health scaremongering attached to it. The Charleston, they said, could give you twisted ligaments, water on the knee and even an overstrained heart.
10. The Charleston was even blamed for the collapse of a building in Boston in 1925. The building happened to contain a nightclub, and newspapers of the time reported that hundreds of people dancing the Charleston had been the direct cause of the collapse.

NEW!

Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

21 October: Can Can Day

Today is Can-Can Day. In 1858 the Can-Can was first performed as Jacques Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld premièred in Paris.

1. No-one really knows the origins of the can-can, but one likely explanation is that it evolved from the quadrille, a social dance for four couples (which is, incedentally, an English dance).
2. It was heavily influenced by a popular entertainer of the 1820s, one Charles Mazurier, who was known for his acrobatics during dances. In the 1830s, it was being performed in dance halls under the name "chahut", which means "uproar".
3. It's thought the name can-can comes from the French verb "cancaner" meaning "to quack", because the dancers were known for wiggling their bottoms like a duck. "Cancan" was also French slang for gossip or scandal.
4. The can-can is nowadays associated with a line of female dancers, but in its early days, it was danced by men, as well. Originally, too, there would be one individual performer, rather than a chorus line.
5. It was the Americans who popularised the form of a group of women performing the can-can, in music halls. In the 1920s, this format was imported back to France.
6. In the 19th century, women wore pantalettes, underwear with an open crotch. There's no evidence that can-can dancers wore anything different; so it's not surprising the can-can was considered scandalous back then.
7. While people could be arrested for performing the can-can, and sermons were preached in church against it, there's no evidence that it was ever actually banned.
8. One of the most famous can-can dancers was Louise Weber, who started out at 16. Her early costumes were "borrowed" from her mother's laundry - rich ladies had sent them there to be washed. She was a muse of the artist Renoir and became the highest paid performer at the Moulin Rouge. She was nicknamed "La Goulue" meaning "the Glutton" because during her performances, she'd snatch up the drinks of members of the audience and down them in one. Another thing she'd do was remove gentlemen's hats by kicking them off.
9. The best known can-can music is by Jacques Offenbach, It was written as the gallop infernal for his opera, Orpheus in the Underworld. The dance also features inPoncielli's La Gioconda and Franz Lehar's operetta, The Merry Widow.
10. The dance has featured in a number of films, including Cancan, a 1955 film in which a cafe owner revives the cancan in his struggling cafe; Can-Can (in English the word is hyphenated, in French it is not) a 1960 film starring Frank Sinatra which included the song I love Paris; and more recently, the 2001 film Moulin Rouge with Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman.

NEW!

Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle