{"id":239,"date":"2014-10-10T11:03:18","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T11:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/?p=239"},"modified":"2016-05-11T10:36:01","modified_gmt":"2016-05-11T10:36:01","slug":"you-dont-have-to-hide-in-the-car-texting-sarah-john-aitchison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/?p=239","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou don\u2019t have to hide in the car texting” – Sarah & John Aitchison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarah and John run Shieldhall<\/a>, a guesthouse near Wallington Hall. Set on 10 acres of beautiful Northumberland countryside, they live there with their 2 daughters, 12 chickens, 2 dogs and a cat. Sarah and John came to the Dance Doctor with 4 left feet (2 each) and were kind enough to share their experience of learning to swing dance with us.<\/p>\n

\"boiler2014-1505<\/a><\/p>\n

Sarah\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely do it, honestly, because nobody could be more nervous or shaky about it than I was. Even if you just try one lesson, you\u2019ve got nothing to lose but so much to gain\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Sarah grew up in Shieldhall<\/a> (which became a guesthouse when people kept calling in to ask if they did B&B) and until recently it was home to 4 generations of \u201cfiery redheads\u201d<\/em>; Sarah\u2019s grandmother, mother, herself and her 2 daughters. She says the last thing she wanted to do was run it but then she \u201cgot old\u201d <\/em>(she\u2019s anything but), married, had children and decided it would be nice! She and John took over about 6 years ago.<\/p>\n

As a child Sarah did Ballet and Scottish Country dancing but was made to feel like she couldn\u2019t dance. The feeling of wanting to dance never really went away and now in her 30\u2019s (I told you she wasn\u2019t old), Sarah has decided to start learning again. Her aim is for herself and John to enjoy social dancing and be able to put music on and just dance.<\/p>\n

It was quite simply a love of Swing dancing and music that drew Sarah to Lindy Jazz but on the first night she came to class, she hid in the car park and didn\u2019t come in! That same night, she sent Joo-Lee a text and after one private lesson she was hooked, \u201cit was like you had a little taste of what you could achieve. It made me think, maybe I\u2019ve got the potential to learn to dance when all those years I thought I couldn\u2019t\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Sarah\u2019s fond of the funny memories, in particular John\u2019s interpretation of the \u2018Mess Around\u2019! However, her best memory is dancing with Joo-Lee and \u201cthinking, I got around the room, that feeling that I\u2019m dancing. Sometimes it all goes to pot because suddenly you think, oh, I\u2019m dancing! But it\u2019s that feeling, they\u2019re definitely the happiest memories\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The most unexpected thing for Sarah has been the emotional side of learning to dance. She expected it to be a physical experience but at times has been in fits of giggles or tears, and felt both incredibly happy and sad. \u201cIt kind of affects all of you. It\u2019s been revealing about myself, my personality, my confidence, my weaknesses and my strengths\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

After being told she had no rhythm as a child (I know, how mean is that), Sarah thought it was something she couldn\u2019t learn, that people had natural rhythm and could just dance, or not dance. Now she thinks it\u2019s about self-belief and that, with patience and a good teacher you can find your own rhythm and enjoy dancing. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to hide in the car texting\u2026 I would say definitely go for it\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sarah is most proud of the fact that dancing has become a way of life for her, that it\u2019s something she and John can do together and that she can now say \u2018I go dancing\u2019. She says it\u2019s part of her routine and that if she is away for any length of time she misses it.<\/p>\n

We talked a lot about Sarah\u2019s fears of not belonging and standing out, \u201coften what stops me from dancing is what I think. It\u2019s not my feet, it\u2019s my own fears and anxieties\u201d.<\/em> Despite it often being overwhelming and difficult, Sarah now feels she has \u201caccepted the fear\u201d<\/em> and can \u201cchoose to override it\u201d<\/em> and enjoy herself. If you can get through the door it\u2019s not as bad as you think it\u2019s going to be\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Screen<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

John\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/i>\u201cThe advantage of Lindy Jazz is the fact that once you master a few dance moves what you can do is you can mix those moves together in tune with the music that\u2019s been played and you can do it yourself\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

John has worked as a Police Officer for 28 years. During this time he spent 7-years as a mounted policeman, learning to ride specifically for this reason. He finds his job rewarding but is looking forward to \u2018retiring\u2019 next year so he can focus on his other full time job, running Shieldhall<\/a> with Sarah. John enjoys anything to do with the outdoors including cycling, walking and fishing.<\/p>\n

As a couple, Sarah and John were looking for something they could do together. After considering a number of options they agreed on dancing and they\u2019ve never looked back! John says they both enjoy it and get a lot out of it. Their aim is to feel confident and comfortable enough to dance the night away at this year\u2019s ‘Snowball’.<\/p>\n

John says Sarah identified Joo-Lee and Lindy Jazz as a possibility and the reason they\u2019ve stuck with the ‘Dance Doctor’ is because she offered private lessons. At the time they didn\u2019t feel comfortable joining a class but now, with the individual tuition they\u2019ve received, their confidence is growing and they\u2019re feeling happy and relaxed!<\/p>\n

John\u2019s favourite memory comes from when Joo-Lee was demonstrating how Sarah could pick up on signals and subtle movements from her lead, allowing her to dance without a set routine. He was fascinated to find he and Sarah could do this too, \u201cWe were literally dancing in synchrony. It was wonderful. We were dancing, I didn\u2019t think we could but we were\u201d.<\/em>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>The most unexpected thing for John has been the \u201cbeneficial effect beyond just doing the dancing\u201d<\/em>. John says doing something that they share and enjoy together is \u201cvery positive and constructive\u201d <\/em>and has brought he and Sarah closer together, strengthening their relationship.<\/p>\n

To John Swing Dancing isn\u2019t as structured or restrictive as other forms of dance, \u201cit\u2019s more fluid and it\u2019s certainly, I think, potentially more gratifying\u201d<\/em>. <\/i>Although not easy, he says that by mastering a couple of basic steps you can really begin to enjoy dancing. Private lessons have helped to build his confidence and he would encourage others to try it.<\/p>\n

John says he\u2019s most proud that he and Sarah have found something they can share. He says, \u201clife being life, you don\u2019t necessarily have exactly the same interests so the biggest achievement for me, was finding something that we both genuinely enjoy and do together and that for me, that\u2019s great, that\u2019s it\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

The biggest challenge for John was, \u201cfitting in dancing\u201d<\/em>. <\/i>Although he says with the nature of their jobs they\u2019re lucky enough to occasionally find time to themselves in the afternoon, between John\u2019s shifts, Sarah\u2019s guesthouse duties and the school run – where there\u2019s a will there\u2019s a way!<\/p>\n

Do you have a problem with 2 left feet? Why not make an appointment with the Dance Doctor and see what she can prescribe for you! Visit the website<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sarah and John run Shieldhall, a guesthouse near Wallington Hall. Set on 10 acres of beautiful Northumberland countryside, they live there with their 2 daughters, 12 chickens, 2 dogs and a cat. Sarah and John came to the Dance Doctor with 4 left feet (2 each) and were kind enough to share their experience of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[41,63,26,34,56],"class_list":["post-239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dance","tag-charleston","tag-lindy-hop","tag-swing-dance","tag-swing-dance-durham","tag-wedding-dance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=239"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":250,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions\/250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lindy-jazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}