Ice dancing for the new year

Posted on December 20, 2011

This January, Somerset House and English National Ballet team up for lunchtime ice dance workouts, giving Londoners the chance to burn off any winter blues and Christmas calories.

Dancers from English National Ballet will lead a 20 minute ballet warm-up off the ice. The music will be by Gershwin, celebrating ENB’s production Strictly Gershwin, which will be at the London Coliseum during January. After the warm-up, you’ll move on to the ice, where an expert ice dance coach will teach a routine to Gershwin’s “Strike Up The Band”.

Big Ice Dance Lunchtime Workouts will be held on weekdays from January 9–13 and January 16–20. Sessions start at 12.30pm, with a warm-up from 12 noon, skates on at 12.20 and skating until 1.30. Tickets should be purchased for the 12.30 ice rink session. For tickets, call 0844 847 1520 or see http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/ice-rink/lunchtime-workouts.

English National Ballet’s Strictly Gershwin will be at the London Coliseum from January 4–14 and at the Bristol Hippodrome from February 14–18. See English National Ballet’s website for details.

Picture: Skate at Somerset House. Photograph: David Jensen

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.