If you’re not one of the celebrities picked to take part in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, come and join Ross Jive & Swing instead. They run Jive, Lindy Hop and Balboa classes locally.

If you have not been involved in this type of partner dancing before you will probably be amazed at how big the local dancing scene is. Social dancing is much simpler than what you’ve seen on TV.

Many people are reluctant to take to the dance floor because they don’t feel comfortable ‘expressing themselves’. If you’re in that category, Jive is the best class to start with.

There is an easy to learn system to it all, which will get you completely hooked very quickly – in the very early stages the men can almost get away without moving their feet at all! You will definitely need a sense of humour and a little bit of rhythm helps, but otherwise bring along those pairs of left feet and they’ll help you sort them out.

In class they teach one new move each week – this is anything up to eight beats (steps) long. They recap the move taught the previous week and, as the classes progress, they add one more move taught earlier in the term to make a short routine of three moves. Each move can be connected to another in any order, so it is up to the leader (usually the men) to initiate each move and, as the weeks go by, you will have plenty moves to choose from. Once you’re proficient with the basic moves there is an intermediate class to move onto.

Each class is an hour long with half an hour to have some refreshments, socialise and practice a bit more, if you’ve the energy. You will find it is a very friendly social group. Single people are very welcome and will quickly feel at home, they tend to be pretty even on the men/ladies ratio. You don’t have to sign up to a term, it’s pay as you go.

Once people have done a few terms of Jive, many start to look for a little more challenge and move onto Lindy Hop and Balboa Classes. They also run a Dance and Social Practice Nights one a month. There are dances on every weekend from Ross, Worcester, Usk, Lydney, Redbrook, Hereford, Gloucester and Cheltenham.