About Us – Southern Stomp

now ~ celebrating 30 years in dance. . .

“Southern Stomp” Line Dance Club are immensely proud to be celebrating their 30th year as a Line Dance Club. We have seen many changes over those three decades; the style of dances, music and of course the members of our club.

“Southern Stomp” is organised and run by Joy and Phil Ashton, both qualified teachers of dance with the International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA). The Club has held classes and dances in the Peacehaven and Brighton areas since 1995.

Joy has a BEd.(Hons.) degree in Dance and both Joy and Phil are also qualified Teachers in their own subject specific areas. Teaching is a skill; being able to communicate and develop students or dance class members is an honour but also carries a huge sense of responsibility, its not about just ‘turning up’. Teaching takes a lot of planning, preparation and a wide range of skills to be able to break down dances, in order that everyone can understand, learn and enjoy the dance.

We have a range of classes catering for all levels throughout the week; from ‘Two Left Feet’ (Our absolutely never danced before, starter classes) to 'Beginner' through to 'Good Intermediate'. We never used the term ‘Advanced Level’, but, after 30 years there’s not much they can’t do! Classes are graded very carefully to help Dancers select the most suitable class for their level. The difference between classes is not only the complexity of dances taught but also the speed at which they are taught in the class.

All classes have a planned programme that comprises:
1. Well known dances at each level that can just be danced and enjoyed, 'straight ins' !
2. Dances that may need a quick walk through / review or preview.
3. A New Dance that is taught thoroughly from scratch.

“Southern Stomp” Line Dance Club is far more than just a Line Dance club…. The emphasis is on fun and enjoyment and avoiding dancers leaving a class 'brain dead' with too many new dances taught. We try to cover the most popular dances across the UK and around the world using charts and a network of fellow teachers. Over the years we have developed a wide range of activities and events ranging from Line Dance Socials, Line Dance Holidays, Theatre Trips, Walks, 10 Pin Bowling, Picnics, Barn & Line Dances, Pub Skittles & Supper etc… and an ongoing effort of fundraising for various charities over the years raising thousands of pounds. These kinds of additional activities have been key in including Non-dance partners and friends to join in and become part of the wider “Southern Stomp” Line Dance Club community.

So... Three Decades in Line Dance - what has happened? Joy has always danced; years of ‘Pop mobility’, then Keep Fit with her Club called ‘Flex & Stretch’; and it was actually at a Keep Fit Convention that Joy first saw Line Dancing and it immediately clicked with her. Qualified with RSA Joy started her first Line Dance class in Peacehaven in 1995 and “Southern Stomp” was born; as for Phil ~ he went to collect Joy one day and saw her Line Dancing and it wasn’t at all what was expected and suffice to say Phil was hooked and we’ve been dancing ever since.

If you asked “What changes have been the most significant over the last 30 years in Line Dancing”, we’d say… Technology and the Acceptance of All genre’s of Music. Although the fundamentals of Line Dancing have remained the same ~ these two things stand out to us. Technology (the World Wide Web in 1989) brought global accessibility to new dances, music and choreographers, however, like many advancements, the benefit also had challenge. The downside of this access was an overload of new dances with hundreds being released each month. This is causing problems and we’ve seen it increasing over the years.

We sometimes despair at the volume of dances released by some choreographers; write well crafted dances that fit the music perfectly - quality not quantity! We used to be able to go on holiday or join another class in a different part of the country or the world for that matter, and you’d be able to recognise and join in the vast majority of that clubs dance set list… but, the volume of dances means we align less and less, which is a shame.

The other key change we’ve welcomed over these past 30 years has been the Acceptance of All genre’s of Music being used in line dancing. There used to be strictly only Country & Western clubs, but now, like us, if the dance is well written and the music fits – enjoy it and enjoy the variety.

In any style of dance, there are always going to be new ‘Trends and Fads’ and Line Dancing has seen its fair share over the past thirty years. Whilst it’s been great to see Line Dancing making headlines again recently, we do have concerns about the rise of non-qualified ‘so called’ Line Dance teachers popping up around the country at the moment. Whether that’s down to the rise in TikTok, Sabrina Carpenter or Beyonce we don’t mind if it gets people (especially young people) exercising; let’s not be too judgemental, exercise to music is a great thing…

Joy was so pleased to be a ‘Teacher Feature’ in Linedancer magazine in March 2001, and we’ve made many appearances on different mediums including a Channel 4 programme and more recently a radio feature. However, the thing that gives us both the most pleasure is still the simplicity of breaking down and teaching a dance to the class and for them to ’get it’ with ease and enjoy it ~ Oh - how does it start ? Here's to the future....

Best Wishes Phil & Joy

“Southern Stomp” Line Dance Club

"Southern Stomp" is organised and run by Joy and Phil Ashton, both qualified teachers of dance with the International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA). The Club has held classes and dances in the Peacehaven and Brighton areas since 1995. Joy has a BEd.(Hons.) degree in Dance and both Joy and Phil are qualified Teachers in their own subject specific areas.

We have a range of classes catering for all levels, from 'Beginner' through to 'Good Intermediate' throughout the week. See the weekly timetable of 'Classes' for the latest teaching schedule and the 'Latest News' for updates on classes, social events & information.

Classes are graded very carefully to help Dancers select the most suitable class for their level. The difference between classes is not only the complexity of dances taught but also the speed at which they are taught in the class.

All classes have a planned programme that comprises:

1. Well known dances that can just be danced and enjoyed, 'straight ins' !
2. Dances that may need a quick walk through / review or preview.
3. A New Dance that is taught thoroughly from scratch.

The emphasis is on fun and enjoyment and not having dancers leaving a class 'brain dead' with too many new dances. We try to cover most popular dances currently being danced across the UK Line Dance Clubs and also those around the world; such is the spread and popularity of this form of dance, and to keep hit dances in your growing repertoire! We also organise social 'Events'... ranging from Socials, Line Dance Holidays, Theatre Trips, Walks, 10 Pin Bowling, Picnics, Barn Dances, Pub Skittles & Supper etc...

Best Wishes Phil & Joy