Josephine Jewkes, “Dancing Queen...”
	Josephine Jewkes, formerly a dancer with Rambert and an ENB Principal, writes about her new life following a hip injury... Link to the previous column July 99 A quick few lines before we zoom off to the peaceful paradise of Trondheim, Norway for our summer break. This week saw the annual outdoor Jazz Concerts at Kew Gardens and I hugely enjoyed going crazy to "Kid Creole and the Coconuts" for one and a half hours. Of course the hip objected but I didn't care, improvising any amount of bizarre movements to the Latin/Caribbean rhythms. I have yet to name any of the steps in this repertoire, but my natural partner for this madness is Chris Hampson whose liquorice limbs also suit the "Funky-bizarre" style. I mention this because for a very long time I was much too inhibited (English?) to venture onto the dance floor at *all*. This was because I found it so difficult to switch off the monitor in my brain which criticised every tiny movement as correct/incorrect. Last night (and tonight it's Jools Holland!) I was able to recapture the real essence and pleasure of pure spontaneous movement to music which can so easily be mashed by the demands of perfectionist classical ballet. Under the moon, on a warm night, with the exotic glasshouses lit from within around us, I can let my body loose to create as it wishes, and I realise that I will always be a dancer inside and this ritual satisfies a deep need within me. No audience, no teachers, no mirror and no right and wrong!
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