Dixie Belles Line Dance Club

June Dance with Steve Lovett, Friday 28^th June 2024

Last Friday, 28 June award winning artist Steve Lovett returned to provide the entertainment at Dixie Belles, Barnham Community Centre. From the very outset with Train Wreck, Steve set about the task of entertaining a very big audience comprised of dancers and listeners. With the unerring instincts we have come to expect from Steve, we had 3 sets of Premier League entertainment as he set about squeezing 5 hours of dance numbers into the allotted time at his disposal. From the high octane start Steve spent the night keeping the dancefloor somewhere between busy and chock-a-block deftly mixing the tempos and the music for the latest dances and popular older ones, easing the throttle occasionally when the latent atmosphere and tropical room temperature demanded it.

The innate ability possessed by Steve to recognise a great number and the demand for the accompanying dance brought dividends immediately and he ploughed through the tried and tested Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off, Lovin All Night and Codigo counterbalanced by Sin City Lights, Diamonds In A Whiskey Glass and Telling On My Heart. The first set culminated in nearly everybody doing the Barn dance to Alan Jackson's Good Time.

The second set continued the hot party atmosphere with Never Drinking Again, Backroad Nation and Truck Driving Man, the latter true country classic working perfectly for Cowboy Charleston. In that set it was also great to hear a reprise from Steve on his version of Tim McGraw's Everywhere, which is perfect for the pairs dance Sway.

Astonishingly, even allowing for the quality of the first two sets, Steve somehow exceeded expectations with the best 3rd set I have witnessed this year. In this one we had Steve's exquisite take on Randy Travis's Eyes Like Diamonds and In Walked You, two of the best true country songs used for dances for some time. This set substantially overran as Steve pumped out 14 numbers enticing pairs up again with Neon Moon and Tempted, performing an exemplary Til You Can't (with heart stopping crescendo) and pounding guitar le through Straight Line, Around The Fire, Shivers, I'll Be Thinking Of You, Steamboat Queen, Whiskey Bridges and Cross My Heart. This finish elicited one of tbe biggest and noisiest standing ovations seen at this venue.

After the hubbub subsided, Jenny Bembridge didn't have to cajole Steve to return and for his encore we got a plaintive Remember When. Steve Lovett provided a masterclass for us and retains his place at the cutting edge of dance acts, getting those new dance numbers out there so we can perform those dances learned at classes in the live environment.

What a fantastic night we had and somehow Steve Lovett continues to up the ante and exceed our lofty expectations. Long may he continue to do so!

May Dance with Nadine Somers, Friday 10^th May 2024

There is always an air of excitement when Nadine Somers comes to perform at Dixie Belles, and this night was no exception. Although Nadine had a bit of nightmare of a journey, which can be a bit of a thing on a Friday night, and being stuck on the Queen Elizabeth Bridge for longer than she had hoped didn't help, but she managed to make it in the nick of time. And with a bit of help from the dancers who helped her in with her equipment she was soon set up and ready to go.

Her choice of songs made sure the beginners as well as the more experienced dancers got the chance to show of their skills on the dance floor. From Cowboy Charleston, Lucky Lips and County Line Cha Cha, to the more advanced dances of, 3 Tequila Floor, and Around the Fire, sung to Old Country Barn, which I thought was her best song of the evening.

I like the way Nadine is not afraid to change song titles for the dances, as with "Why Haven't I Heard From You", a Reba McEntire song, for Champagne Promise and "Redneck Woman", which was made popular by Gretchen Wilson, for Lamtarra Rhumba. I had tried the latter out on my beginners so they could get used to the upbeat tempo, and finally rounding off the evening with two encores, Memories and Seven Nights to Rock.

This was also a special evening as our raffle was being donated to a very special little girl, Phoebe who at the tender age of two has brain damage, and has spent many months in Southampton Hospital undergoing various surgery. Her mum Juliet is one of our dances, but obviously at the moment she and her husband are having to spend most of their time with Phoebe. I was absolutely amazed at the generosity of our dancers, not only donating all the raffle prizes but also buying so many raffle tickets, for which we were able to raise £300 pounds. So a very big thank you to everyone who donated.

I also have to say a special thank you to Lol for all his hard work at putting up the lights etc, as he's the only one willing to go up the ladder, with a little help from Sue, and to everyone else who helped thank you very much, I couldn't do it without you all pitching in and helping.

And just to round off this magical evening if you were lucky to catch them, we had a fantastic surprise of the Northern Lights in this very southern region.

So this is me, Jenny, signing off and hope to see you all at the next event on Fri 28^th June, with Steve Lovett, this will be a red, white and blue party dance.

Valentines Dance with Rob Childs, February 2024

If you are a line dancer and could have been anywhere two nights ago, then you couldn't have made a better choice than going to Barnham Community Centre for the Dixie Belles Valentine Dance featuring Rob Childs. Jenny Bembridge went through the complete gamut of emotions prior to the dance, which until late on could have been cancelled as Jenny did everything possible so the attendance made the dance worthwhile. Thankfully it was a sell-out and a fantastic night to boot.

If a week is said to be a long time in politics, then 5 months is a very long time in line dancing terms. When Rob Childs appeared at Dixie Belles last September, I reported an excellent night but I was also critical of the number of dancers who left before the event finished. Happily that was all forgotten last night as a rejuvenated Rob Childs took the collective Dixie Belles dancers under his spell at 7.30 pm with Missing and didn't relax his grip, with just about everybody still there, until the second encore of High Class Lady just before 10.45 pm. Between those times we enjoyed a sensational night with Rob fully in command and at the height of his powers musically, establishing an immediate rapport with the audience, some of whom were new enough dancers not to have seen him before.

On this occasion Rob's programme was topical reflecting new dances such as Three Tequila Floor, Five Leaf Clover, Memory Lane and Save It For A Sunny Day among others. Rob also drew on his vast repertoire of recordings to remind us of the danceability of I Saw The Light and Two Of A Kind Workin On A Full House for County Line Cha-Cha and Barn Dance respectively. Rob paid homage to Country music superstar Toby Keith, sadly lost recently, with You Can't Read My Mind (Telepathy) and A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action (danced here to Got To Be Funky/Black Coffee). Dedicating Wrapped Around to his fiance Izzy (also in attendance) while also upping the tempo on Honky Tonk Highway and Seven Nights To Rock we had the chance to marvel yet again at his supreme musicianship. The big surprise was the introduction of The Night Has A Thousand Eyes for Ribbon Of Highway, which some readers might recall Bobby Vee taking this into the UK singles 60 years ago almost to the week. Not only did this work Rob received the accolade of a standing at the culmination of the numbered! Add in Last Living Cowboy (for Cowboy Charleston) and One Step Forward (for the elders, including me) we enjoyed the complete dance package.

It seemed too early when Rob ended things at 10.30 pm, but reflecting the heady party atmosphere, Jenny brought him back for two encores with things ending on High Class Lady. Rob Childs is once again at the pinnacle of his dance powers and on this evidence is crying out to be seen again!

Before I close, a mention here for the stunning backdrop on the stage behind Rob that was devised and installed by Lol Slater (step stool held by Sue Weston).

Red, White & Blue Party Night with Tony Rouse, July 2013

New Year's Eve Party with Cheyenne 2012

Xmas Party with Alan Gregory 2012

Red, White & Blue Party night with Tony Rouse July 2012

New Year's Eve Party 2011

Xmas 2011

Red, White & Blue Party Night with Bobby D Sawyer 2011

Xmas 2010

Halloween 2010

Red, White & Blue Party Night with Bobby D Sawyer July 2010

Grand Charity Line Dance June 2009

Halloween Party 2007

Independence Day Party 6th July 2007 with John Permenter

Hi Jenny,
Thank you for hosting such a terrific evening last Friday. John was so good and that fiddle!! Just love that music! There is always such a good "family" atmosphere at your dances and that is to your credit. Look forward to seeing the digi photo of us all that evening - perhaps you could kindly e-mail it through. Thank you again for such a welcoming friendly club atmosphere.
Love Marion

Grand Charity Dance 23rd February 2007

Halloween 2006

4th July 2006, Red, White and Blue Party Night with Bobby D Sawyer

Grand Charity Night in aid of The British Heart Foundation and Leukaemia Research, held at The Assembly Hall, Bognor Regis Campus of the University of Chichester
19th May 2006

Keith Urban
19th April 2005

Heather Myles Night
25/11/03