Jodie Schofield had a great time in her final class – getting in touch with her inner hippy with a number from the musical Hair.  Paul Sargent can hardly stop his toes from tapping now, and he has even admitted to breaking into dance routines in his kitchen!  Fionnuala Bourke has been throwing some very funky moves in her Club Jazz classes and Satnam Rana attended some of her hip hop classes at The IDFB Shop in Pavilions.

Lastly, we unfortunately have a slight casualty to report – Kate Lawler had to pull out of the challenge due to an old knee injury flaring up again.  She’s been ordered to rest, although she’s such a busy person we’re not sure whether this is actually possible for her!  Anyway, we all wish her a speedy recovery and are very glad that she enjoyed the Capoeira classes she came to.

Several of our budding dance stars also performed at the grand finale of IDFB 2010 – Put Your Foot Down at Bullring on 15 May.  See Louisa’s brilliant nutcracker solo and Satnam’s hip hop performance (complete with stage invasion from hip hop star Salah!), plus Jodie and the Musical Dance beginners did a great rendition of a piece from Sister Act!

Finally, David Massingham (Co-Artistic Director of the Festival) was responsible for making the difficult decision of who made the most improvement over the last two months of classes.  I’m delighted to announce that the winner of the IDFB 2010 Dance Challenge is…Louisa James.

David commented: “Although Louisa still has some way to go before she joins BRB, I feel she made a huge amount of technical progress during this short period of classes!

“I’m delighted to hear that she will be continuing to attend ballet classes at DanceXchange.”

Thanks to all of our participants, the tutors and everyone else in the Festival team who helped to make this happen.

Satnam Rana from BBC Midlands Today has been throwing some funky moves in her hip hop class, whilst Paul Sargent from Brewin Dolphin has been mistaken on several occasions for Gene Kelly in his tap dancing classes! Kate Lawler from Kerrang! Radio is getting into the Brazilian spirit at her Capeoira classes, and at her last class joined in her first Joda (pronounced hor-da).

Louisa James from ITV Central News is really starting to look the part as a ballet dancer and Keith Gabriel from Citigate has been leaping about the studio in his Contemporary classes.  Fionnuala Bourke from Birmingham Mail is looking very cool in her Club Jazz classes, whilst Jodie Schofield from Smooth Radio has been learning routines from films such as Bugsy Malone, Guys and Dolls and Sister Act in her Musical Dance classes.

It seems to be neck and neck at the moment, so they’ve got everything to work for in the final few weeks to try and win the IDFB Dance Challenge!

*Fionnuala Bourke – Club Jazz*

*Paul Sargent – Tap*

*Keith Gabriel – Contemporary*

*Jodie Schofield – Musical Dance*

*Louisa James – Ballet*

*Kate Lawler – Capoeira*

*Satnam Rana – Hip Hop*

And so… they came, they danced, but will they conquer the dance floor next week? You can follow what happens to all our Dance Challenge participants here and on Twitter.

So, what’s the Challenge about, we hear you ask? Well, we asked a number of local personalities, journalists as well as representatives from our sponsor, to each learn a particular style of dance by attending a weekly class at DanceXchange.

Here’s the lowdown on who’s who and who’s doing what:

Kate Lawler from Kerrang! Radio who  will be learning Capoeira

Louisa James from ITV Central News who will be learning Ballet

Satnam Rana from BBC Midlands Today who will be learning Hip Hop

Fionnuala Bourke from Birmingham Mail who will be learning Club Jazz

Jodie Schofield from Smooth Radio who will be learning Musical Dance

Paul Sargent from Brewin Dolphin who will be learning Tap Dancing

Keith Gabriel from Citigate PR who will be learning Contemporary

The participant who makes the most improvement will be hailed as the winner. The IDFB Dance Challenge champion will be chosen by Festival Co-Director David Massingham and will be announced on Saturday, 15th May during the performances at the Bullring.

So, will there be lots of tears and tantrums? Watch this space, because we will be documenting their progress here through photos, videos and blog posts. Our participants will also be charting their own progress through their own publications, broadcasts and websites.