By Olivia Messum
De Montfort University Students’ Union hosted an online burlesque dance session on Zoom, run by the passionate and experienced dance instructor, Doe Demure.
This session on February 26 encouraged DMU students to let go, have fun, and learn a new skill.
Doe said: “I thought the DMU burlesque class went really well. I felt that everyone was getting involved.”
She has been teaching various styles of dance for the past 12 years and said: “I think creative opportunities are important in busy modern-day life as there can be too little chance for adults to express themselves.”
As a result of the current Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the class had to be moved onto Zoom rather than the typical in-person class.
She said: “I will always prefer in-person classes and there’s no substitute for that, but I think online classes were something which was coming anyway, the pandemic has just speeded things up.
“As a teacher of niche dance styles, many of my students are overseas and I would only see them once or twice a year at specialist conventions and festivals. The pandemic has allowed me to reach these students on a regular basis and I definitely intend to continue some online classes.
“Teaching online comes with its difficulties, mostly related to poor internet connections, but it also comes with pluses; sometimes in-person classes can be noisy and hard to control, it has definitely been helpful to be able to mute everyone and speak without having to raise my voice.”
To learn more about Doe Demure and her dance lessons or to get involved, visit her website: http://www.doedemure.co.uk/doe-demure.php, her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DoeDemureUK or email her at doe@skytribe.org.
