The wedding dance
Making a comeback?
Christchurch tutor Mahiya Norton tries to get mothers in tears as their loved ones swirl for their first dance as a married couple.
New Zealand and Australia have lost the tradition of a formal first dance but Norton would love to see a revival.
Since April last year, she and her fiance, Joe Radford, have been running MJ’s Bridal Dance Lessons from a studio in Parklands, north-east Christchurch.
Their 40-square-metre space is a converted double garage they have kitted out with a bamboo floor and mirrors on one wall.
It was nearly always a bride who booked lessons and a groom who needed them, Norton said.
‘‘In every case, the man can’t dance. Generally the men walk in for the first lesson looking very self-conscious and by the third lesson, they are walking in thinking they are pretty clever.
‘‘I haven’t met a man I can’t teach to dance.’’
Actually, men had it pretty easy in a formal dance, she said.
If the bride had a big gown, the partner really only had to move their upper body. ‘‘It’s pretty easy for the men to look good; of course, it’s the woman that’s going to look stunning.’’
Above all, a couple’s first married ‘‘project’’ should be intimate. ‘‘I always say, ‘My aim is to get your mothers to cry.’’’
A year ago Norton returned to Christchurch after 39 years overseas, including about 20 years in Perth, Western Australia, where she took intensive lessons in ball-
‘‘I always say, ‘My aimis to get your mothers to cry.’’’ Mahiya Norton, tutor
room dancing from an Australian national champion.
Her own clients in Christchurch can choose between her speciality styles, cha cha cha, rhumba, jive and rock’n’roll.
Every move starts in ballroom and progresses to slower, more modern dance. Each phase ended in romantic poses, she said.
Norton said she was happy to keep her dance studio at home, even though the Parklands location was not in the central city.
Working from a home studio gave men, especially, real privacy.
‘‘The idea is that nobody is watching; we’re not renting a studio where people are wandering in and out.’’
A couple would typically need four, one-hour lessons for a wedding dance lasting 90 seconds to two minutes.
Some dancers took an extra step or two. ‘‘I have had people come in for 20 lessons, if one of them is really a perfectionist and wants to do a three-minute routine and have it faultless and amazing.’’
At the first lesson, Norton and Radford demonstrate a typical routine and clients can scarper immediately if they like.
Bridal parties could also take lessons and the couple sometimes drop in on wedding receptions to give everyone a quickfire lesson.