© Carole Edrich Big Dance Photo Gallery By Carole Edrich Shobana Jayasingh's '2 Step' at St Paul's Photo Gallery By Dave Morgan Big Dance Website more Carole Edrich reviews

Sadly this year the festival saw some typically vicious English weather and while a number of Londoners were fully prepared to throw themselves into outdoor events irrespective of the driving rain, many of the scheduled record-breaking attempts failed to draw sufficient numbers to achieve their objectives. Health and safety considerations also caused the cancellation of a few intriguing events including the outdoor parts of TangoCommute, a record-breaking challenge at Tower 42 and, strangely, the Running Man World Record attempt at Sound in Leicester Square. Hopefully next year’s event will be plagued by fewer such changes.

Despite the weather, eight frenetic days left me with a vivid jumble of happy impressions: students performing Shobana Jeyasingh’s choreography of precise, sharp moves and powerful lifts on the steps of Saint Paul’s; a grandfather and grandson both enjoying their first break-dance lesson in the rain in Trafalgar Square; cheerful Conga dancers followed by trendy teenagers, middle aged matriarchs, flamenco, Asian and Kathak performers as well as entire families with small children winding around a South Bank balcony; Erin Boag, Bruno Tonioli and Ashley Warren hosting Trafalgar Square events in the rain; a tango lesson set in a wonderful lingerie shop that was more of a party than a class; a RADA demonstration of ancient square-dancing; the hot and sensual salsa of Arte and Compania at Haverstock School and a festival of friendly excitement as school teams gathered to try to break the record for the largest number of people doing a Rock lesson in the same place.

The Big Chair Dance was particularly outstanding where over two hundred older Londoners joined together in a performance at the Southbank Centre after practising their routines at home (and once in a full-day workshop). Whilst the first and last movements of this composition were performed by everyone, smaller groups had individual choreographies by Gauri Sharma Tripathi (Choreographer in Residence at the South Bank and a specialist in Kathak), Maresa von Stockert (winner of a Critics’ Circle Dance Award for contemporary choreography) and hip hop guru Jonzi D. Many performers excelled: Bernell grooved to a radical hip-hop of which her grand-children would be proud, Julian’s interpretation of Mac the Knife was enacted complete with toothbrush, comb and knife, Sue, David and Patricia’s moves were clearly well rehearsed and Rita and her Asian group combined classical Kathak with grace and élan.

All the individuals in the Chair Dance threw themselves into the performance and clearly enjoyed it immensely. Their families did too! Four generations of Melita’s family were there to support their grandmother (she was part of the hip-hop group) even though she had deliberately not told them what she was doing until the last possible moment. But many others were clearly there to support friends and family too and they all came together at the end - after the formal performance was given the audience was taught the ending too and both audience and performers gave one final uplifting rendition. Truly encapsulating the spirit of Big Dance, it sounds as if next year will be even better - just make sure you are involved.