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Top tips: how to dance Strictly-style
One: Stance is everything
One: Stance is everything"If someone walked in here wanting to learn to dance the first things I would get them to think about is their poise, their deportment, their ability to stand up tall and hold themselves right," said Mavis.
"You get some dancers on Strictly, sportsmen in particular, who have trouble dropping and relaxing their shoulders. You can't have that in dancing – you need to be relaxed, and your movements need to be fluid.
"The moment your hips and shoulders start stiffening, especially when you're doing Latin American, is the moment the dance becomes clumsy, and that's when it all starts to go wrong."
Related feature:
Dancing is good for the body and soul
ET features writer Jemma Walton is put through her paces by dance teacher Mavis Stephenson.
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Two: Beware – love might be in the air
"Dancing can be a very romantic thing," said Mavis. "Obviously tempers can become frayed if you have to learn a dance very quickly and spend five or so hours a day learning it, but often it can help people to get very close. Certainly dancing as a hobby can encourage romantic feelings in people!
"I teach people how to dance for their wedding dance, and I have also had a number of people come along to dance class and end up married.
"You see that element of it sometimes on Strictly – Flavia and Matt last year, for example. And that's nice to see – as long as they aren't married to anyone else..."
Three: Act the part
The paso doble dance is based around the idea of a bull fight. As such it involves the female dancer pretending to be a cape, the male dancer pretending to be a matador. This is a fiery, passionate dance, with no smiling allowed.
The waltz, however, is all about being smooth, romantic and graceful. Smiles are allowed and there isn't a bull in sight. How can a dancer switch between the two?
"You have to be a good actor to be able to dance," said Mavis. "You have to be able to switch off and lose your self consciousness. This is why I think Cherie Lunghi, who is an actress, stands a good chance of winning this year.
"She is always very poised, very elegant, and always acts the part."
Four: Think glamour
Mavis estimates that each frock a woman wears on Strictly will cost between 2,000 and 3,000 – so if you're looking to take dancing up professionally, you'd better have a generously-sized piggy bank.
"I enjoy having a job that you need to dress up and look the part for," she said. "I can spend up to 13 hours a day on my feet when I'm teaching people, so obviously that's not so glamorous, but competing can be.
"I've probably got 50 ballroom dresses at home, although they didn't cost as much as the Strictly ones. I like pink and lilac floaty gowns with a low neck and back line.
"They look really beautiful. But competing needn't be that expensive - often women will swap gowns after they've word them four or five times."
Continues on next pagesFive: Go for the burn
Dancing is one of the best ways of burning fat and keeping yourself fit – and it can also be good for your brain, according to Mavis.
"You have to think a lot while you're dancing," she said. "It's all about co-ordinating your feet and your brain, and keeping mentally alert is a great way to ward off conditions such as Alzheimers and Parkinson's.
"Also, I can say that dancing has kept me fit and trim all these years. It's a great workout, and a lot of people tell me they find it much more enjoyable than going to the gym.
"Two sessions of dancing a week is enough to get anyone fit, even more is better."
Six: practice makes perfect
Mavis can dance all of the Strictly dances, including the cha-cha-cha, quickstep, jive, foxtrot, samba, waltz, paso doble, tango and the rumba.
And while Strictly's celebrity dancers are expected to pick a new dance up in five days or so, Mavis admits that the average Joe will take a little bit longer – a year, to be exact.
"If you're learning for an hour a week it'll take you roughly a year to get it perfect," she said. "With dancing, you can't give up. Some dances are harder than others – the foxtrot, for example, is very hard to learn, but everyone soon develops and finds what they are good at."
Seven: Failure is not an option
"I have been teaching for 30 years," said Mavis. "And I haven't had anyone leave me who couldn't dance. Some people are better suited to it than others, but everyone can acquire some skill. 95 per cent of people will make very good dancers. The trick is to keep at it."
Eight: Get a nice judge
If you're competing, obviously cross your fingers and hope for a Bruno rather than a Craig Revel Horwood. In her competition days Mavis was judged by Len Goodman – and won.
"I met Len 30 years ago," said Mavis. "He was very funny and lively, and very down to earth. He judged me in quite a few ballroom and Latin American competitions, and I won quite a few of them!" (Mavis has got a very well-stocked trophy cabinet in the corner of her dance hall.)
"He's my favourite judge, and not just because he was kind towards me. I think he's very fair in what he says, and his technical judgements are always the right ones."
Mavis also appeared on the forerunner of Strictly Come Dancing, Come Dancing. "It was great fun," she said. "But very nerve-wracking, knowing everyone was looking at you.
"In some ways it was a better programme, because who won was decided by a panel of judges, so it was very fair. But with Strictly, because the public are the people who vote for the winner, often it is the popular people rather than the good dancers who go far.
"Take John Sargent, for example – as far as dancing skill is concerned, he should definitely be off by now!"
Continues on next page
Related feature:
Dancing is good for the body and soul
ET features writer Jemma Walton is put through her paces by dance teacher Mavis Stephenson.Nine: Age is not a factor
Mavis learned to dance aged seven and is now 60. And she says she regularly teaches people aged between 20 and 90 to dance. "I have taught children as well in the past, but not any more," she said.
"I think dancing went through a little bit of a downturn in the early '90s, and I think maybe the recession had a part to play in that, but since Strictly Come Dancing started it has become more and more popular.
"I teach a lot of 20-somethings, and they will say they have come to me because of what they've seen on the TV.
"The Argentinian Tango has actually been very popular with learners recently, probably because it's bee on that BBC1 advert, but also because Vincent and Flavia have been touring the country, showing off their skills in the dance, and I think a lot of people have seen what they do and wanted to be able to do the same.
Although there was a downturn before Strictly hit our screens, Mavis said that she thinks the art of ballroom dancing will never entirely fade away.
"People might not always want to learn things like the samba and the paso doble," she said. "But they will always want to waltz."
Ten: Say hello to new friends
"Dancing is a very good way to meet new people," said Mavis. "I have a lot of people come to me who have been on cruises and danced there and made friends, and want to learn more and meet new people when they get home.
"My beginners' classes are for couples - but that can be a couple of female friends looking to meet new people and have a laugh together."
Related feature:
Dancing is good for the body and soul
ET features writer Jemma Walton is put through her paces by dance teacher Mavis Stephenson.
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