Check out our Top Ten of the Most Iconic Dances of All Time

There have certainly been a few but here are our favourites:

1. Michael Jackson’s Thriller

Who doesn’t know the classic moves to this amazing track?  Have you done the zombie stomp?

Check out the “Frozen” version here ;)

2. Irene Cara’s “What A Feeling”

Such a fabulous finish to a film!  Amazing what you can do with a bucket of water.  Rumours are that a variety of dancers were used in the making of the video, including a chap!  And what a chap, Robert Webb, who put the original to shame for Comic Relief!

3. Fat Boy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice”

How amazing is this routine?  We just had to show the original here. Christopher Walken started out as a dancer, taking lessons as a child.

4. Psy’s “Gangnam Style”

Come on!  We’ve all done it!  In front of the mirror – hop to the left, hop to the right twice, hop to the left – and pretend you are lassooing!  Go on, we dare you!

Here is Psy showing you how to do it!

CLICK HERE

5. PJ & Duncan or rather Ant & Dec’s “Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble”

Absolutely love this routine.  We’ve done it at Popdance – it’s pretty tricky and pretty fast!  Have a go at the windmills ;)

5. Kylie’s “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”

What an outfit!  Forget the iconic moves ;)  Although the choreography is fantastic too!

Here’s Arabella Weir showing us how it’s done for Comic Relief:

6. Madonna’s “Vogue”

Absolutely LOVED this routine when we were growing up in the 80s – not sure we quite got it right, but we certainly had a go ;)

Here’s the gal herself:

7. Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies”

Absolutely love this one!  And who better to do the routine than the fabulous Liza Minnelli?

8. Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose”

OMG!  Did you see Kevin Bacon put his dancing shoes back on recently?

9. Madness’s “One Step Beyond”

Iconic, iconic, iconic – Madness had the moves – check out this guy – love, love, love it!

10. Christina Aguilera – CandyMan!

This one is perfect for VE day celebrations!

We hope you have enjoyed our Top Ten Most Iconic Dances of all Time – we would love to know yours – email us at [email protected]

Join us on facebook and twitter for more Pop fun

10 fun ways to beat the January Blues

Well! How quickly did that go?!  No sooner had we hung up our legwarmers for the festivities but we are now rapidly pulling them on and tucking our mince pie-full tummies into our hot pants and getting ready to dance it all off! ;)

Sometimes the January blues can hit – so we thought we would share our top ten ways in which to beat them off!

1. Smile!  Yep, it’s that easy!  Have you seen the film “Elf” – “I just like to smile.  Smiling’s my favourite”.  You may look a little weird, but believe us, it makes a big difference!  Go on, we dare you!

 2. Give yourself something to look forward to.  It could be a night out with pals, it could be a new lippy, or it could simply be a posh coffee on Friday.  Making plans for future events raising the spirits and gives you something to work towards.

3. Set Goals!  Not necessary New Year Resolutions, as people seem to think that these are easily broken – but achieveable goals – and not too many of them to start with, i.e. one of ours is to feature more photos around the office – so that we can see, at a glance, all the things we get up to that make us smile!

Another goal is to work with more primary schools in the UK and that is something we will be focusing on.  What do you want to achieve?

4. Move your body!  We all know it’s true, but exercise, even if it a brisk walk, makes a huge difference to not only our bodies, but to our minds too.

Good old endorphines spread joy and kick those January blues in the jacksie, leaving us feeling happy, refreshed and full of energy.  And with so many activities to choose from, especially with lots of places offering free trials to newbies, why not try them all – from dance, to archery, to walking, to basketball, netball, squash, or simply walking to the nearest coffee shop instead of driving.

We’d love to hear what activities you try – go on, we dare you! ;)

5. Do something for someone else!  Doing something for someone else makes us feel good!  Whether it be sharing something on social media for another business, telling someone they look nice, or offering to do the shopping for an elderly relative (does that sound corny?), what goes around comes around as we always say ;)

6. Book a holiday – January is a fab time to book, with lots of offers on – from long trips to mini breaks – or even day trips – where have you always wanted to go?

7. Take time out for you!  After the whirlwind of Christmas, have some “me” time – whether it be a long hot bath, a run, having an hour at dance class without anything else to think of except the next move, taking time out to spend on ourselves is vital and good for you!

8. Declutter!  Declutter your mind and your home!  A good old clear-out, even if it’s just one kitchen drawer, gives satisfaction.  Why not get rid of all the bits and pieces that have been lying around the house gathering dust – pop them on ebay and hey presto, money towards your holiday or new lippy!

9. Get together with friends.  PJ night watching 80s films, hit a dance class together, or take a walk to the coffee shop together – getting together with friends will give you a boost.

Chat about your plans and goals for the new year which will also help you to reach them.  Once you’ve told people what you want to achieve, they can help you get there.

10. Relax!  Life is for living not for stressing.

Think about what means the most to you and go for it, treasure it and enjoy it.  Sometimes we can all get wrapped up in striving for what we think makes us a success, but do you know what – most of the time you will find you are already successful!  That you have what really matters already.

Yep, we admire the Ferrari in the garage up the road, but we’d take our lot any day – being with family, doing what we love to do for a living, and taking the time to step out and look in and appreciate what we have – sounds cheesey but we do love cheese ;)

Here’s to a fantastic, happy and healthy 2015 – kick those January blues in the jacksie and enjoy yourself!

Wow!  An amazing year!

Sometimes you are so busy caught up in running your business that you don’t look up and actually see what’s been achieved.

That’s why it’s good to take a bit of time out – perhaps go and work in a different environment, and reflect on the year and what worked and what didn’t.  Planning for the New Year ahead.

So, not blowing our own trumpets, but we do like to share with our customers and team on what we have all achieved together as that’s exactly it – teamwork!  We cannot achieve anything without you all and you are all an integral part of what we do :)

So – a MASSIVE thank you – look what we did together this year!

2014 saw:

The Launch of Two Brand New Websites

POP (Popdance Online Programme)

Popdance Main Website

We worked hard to produce easy to use, simple navigation, quick to find what you want, websites.  Working particularly hard on the SEO for the main Popdance website ensuring that customers and teachers can find us and all the classes, parties and events that our team offer.

POP (Popdance Online Programme) – the Popdance Teacher website, has had a total facelift and is fully functional with all the downloads, videos and support for our team.

More Dance Teachers joining the Popdance Team

  Popdance launched in Oregon, USA

 Lots more in the UK

 and even in Azerbaijan

Lots of fun with Arlene Phillips

We are working with Arlene Phillips to “Strike A Pose” for Alzheimer’s Society and you can see our “DanceMyStreet” video with Arlene HERE

Look out for more fun in 2015 all in aid of Alzheimer’s Society!

More Publicity

Popdance made the papers and the magazines many times in 2014 – from Woman, Zest, Prima, Metro – take a look HERE

More parties, hen parties, workshops and events

Thanks to our fab new website, more customers are finding us – yay!  Leading to more parties, hen parties, workshops and events across the country and globe!  We do love a good party!

Amazing people to work with

More staff at Popdance HQ

So that our Customer Service remains at the excellent standard that we set for ourselves.  We want our customers and team to have the best experience with Popdance – that’s what it’s all about – well, that and the Hokey Cokey ;)

MEET THE TEAM HERE

Introduction of a new online booking system

Making it even easier to book your classes, parties and events with us – as well as to treat yourself to some fab Popdance merchandise in the POPShop

Preparation of launch of Popdance Fit

2015 will see the launch of our new Popdance Fit classes!

Based on Popdance – Popdance Fit will be a faster dance workout class – for those that want to get a bit of a sweat on! Aimed at adults – it’s a chance to get fit, dance off those mince pies and have fun to classic 80s and 90s tracks as well as current favourites.

Our training is currently being endorsed by Skills Active and will be open to dance, fitness instructors and leisure centres in the New Year – watch this space! :)

And these are some of the reasons why we do it!

We have had an amazing year but couldn’t do it without you

Massive, massive thanks to all the team, our customers, our colleagues, our social media pals and our families.

Your support and encouragement means the world to us and we appreciate all that you do.

We value all feedback so do let us know what you think – we love to hear from you.

Here’s to an amazing 2015!

Merry Christmas!

Not that we need reasons to dance

– but here are 12.5 fantastic ones!

1. Happiness – this is the best reason to dance ever!  We all want to be happy right? Well dancing is proven to make us happy – the endorphin levels create a positivity within us! Yay!

2. Be healthy!  Dancing burns calories and increases our stamina – yes please!

3. Dancing keeps us young!!!  Wow!  It slows the aging process! Can you believe that!  Don’t mind a bit of that!

4. Look better!  Just pass the legwarmers now – let’s dance! Dance makes us look better as it improves our posture.

5. It’s a brain workout! Stimulation for our brains – allowing us to switch off from the norm and concentrate purely on fabulous dance steps.

6. Makes us stronger! Improves our joints and gives us great flexibility! Reminds us of Stretch Armstrong!

7. Stress free!  Be whoever you want to be! Be Kylie, be MJ, be Robbie, leave your worries at the door and just dance!

8. It’s sociable! Meet new people, dance together in a relaxed and friendly environment – we always like a friend!

9. Learning! We never stop learning! And what better to learn than the steps to MJ’s Thriller – great fun!

10. Me time – take time out for you! No phones, no distractions, just pure quality fun time – for you!

11. Tones you up! Forget bingo wings and thunder thighs – dancing tones it all up making you feel fantastic.

12. Dance gives us fun, laughter, exercise, youth, creativity, friendship, excitement, passion, time, fitness and a lust for life!

12 and a half.  We love the music too! ;)