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Why Dancing for Health?

It's not true that "YOU" have two left feet. If you can walk, you can dance. (AND in some way even people who can't walk can usually find a way to dance.) The problem is you get what you train, your brain, your muscles or your joints become more USEFUL if you use them. You need to develop a skill to use it. Skills you neglect to use slowly die.

Here is a page of videos about dancing for health.

Sequence Dance for Beginners

Demonstrations of what sequence dancing is.

Some RECENT Sequence Dancing Examples to Enjoy

This is what we want to develop, in Christchurch in the afternoon.

WHITE CITY WALTZ at Blackpool Tower Ballroom (Aug 2026) SALLY ANN CHA CHA at Blackpool Tower Ballroom (Aug 2026) EMMERDALE WALTZ - Yacht Club, Queen Victoria (April 2026) SQUARE TANGO - Queen Victoria April 2026 CINDY SWING at Blackpool Tower Ballroom - August 2025 Melody Foxtrot on Queen Victoria (May 2026) Saunter Together at the Black & White Ball (May 2025)

Catherine Waltz at the Black & White Ball (May 2025) Balmoral Blues at Savoy Hotel Blackpool Platinum Waltz CATHERINE WALTZ (LIVE MUSIC) Barwick Waltz @ Scalewings NZ 2010 ALLES WALZER SEQUENCE DANCE at Blackpool Tower Ballroom (Aug 2026)

Below are links to walk-through examples of well known dances.

It's more difficult to learn just from the videos than it seems.

But these videos are excellent help when you also take a class.

Patrick Walker's Tuesday Class (Christchurch)

On Tuesday evenings at 5.30pm in the Hei Hei Community Hall
12 Wycola Avenue, Hei Hei.
$10 per person - Ninety minutes.

Kathleen Morris Wednesday, teaching class and dance

Wednesday at 7pm. In the Smallbore Rifle Club Hall, 140 Waterloo Road, Hornby. $5 admission, - Ninety Minutes

Featured Video

Cheryl Glazebrook (13 minutes)

Published by: TEDxWinnipeg - July, 2025

Is dance only for professionals and extroverts? Neuroscientist and lifelong dancer Cheryl Glazebrook challenges this idea with powerful science and personal stories, revealing that dance is not just for the few — it’s for everyone. From childhood joy to brain injury recovery, Cheryl explores how dance fosters connection, builds cognitive and physical skills, and even reshapes our brains.

Through her research and lived experience, she shows how dance bridges generations, celebrates diversity, and becomes a tool for communication and healing — far beyond the stage. Whether you move with elegance, energy, or two left feet, this talk invites you to rediscover dance as a universal language of joy, learning, and inclusion. Cheryl Glazebrook, an expert in movement and neurodiversity, believes dance transcends age and ability. She will inspire you to see dance as a joyful, inclusive way to connect and grow.

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Open Future Health Homepage YouTube Google Ten Easy Sequence Dances Most of these dances are NEW but they all have a simple structure Saunter Together Balmoral Blues Sally Anne Cha Cha Rumba Number One White City Waltz Sweetheart Waltz Queen of Hearts Rumba Valentino Jive Melody Foxtrot Square Tango

Ballroom Dances These dances are generally OLD, and you may know some of them. Charmaine Foxtrot Mayfair Quickstep Merrilyn Foxtrot Carousel Foxtrot Alpha Waltz Lucille Waltz Palma Waltz Tracie-Leigh Waltz Swing Waltz Twilight Waltz Evening Three Step La Bomba Tangoette Tango Terrific Barclay Blues Excelsior Schottische Gypsy Tap

Beginners to Improvers

If the above set of "Easy Dances" gets people started, over say 6 months, what's next?'

Clearly to attend public dances, they need to learn more dances. But which dances? That really depends on what other groups are doing. Should the focus be on ballroom dances, or sequence dances? Some ballroom dances are listed above.

The problem with sequence dances is that each city tries to maintain too many dances. Spoilt for choice. people try to maintain them all. That doesn't help beginners. On the following page I've selected 40 dances in groups of TEN, Set A, Set B, Set C and Set D. The selection I've made is more biased towards what I know than I want to admit. I haven't danced in the sequence dance space for more than 20 years. It's unlikely that the sets I've made include the best options. Discussion about improving the sets is open.

Here is the link to that selection FOUR Sets, A, B, C, D.

An alternative is to begin with an almost blank sheet. After counting all 130 dances listed by dance style you are forced to make sets of at least 15 dances. 4 foxtrot or country, 3 modern waltzes, 1 quickstep, Cha cha cha, tango, rumba, and 2 new vogue waltzes. Jive, mambo, bossa-nova and samba hardly appear. Real Old Time Dances, with ballet style foot positions and turns don't appear at all.

Here is a page of four sets based on that ratio of dances, this is a Set Template to work with. I tried to do that with ZERO use of ballroom dances. What you get looks quite different. But I think the inclusion of some foxtrots and a ballroom modern waltz is useful. Give it a shot, and see what you come up with. (I won't contaminate your thinking by sharing what I came up with. Will do so later.)

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