Oh yes, we cancan (From Daily Echo)

Oh yes, we cancan

2:54pm Tuesday 11th November 2008 in Search

If we can – then anybody can can! Although not known for our shyness on the dance floor, we wondered whether we would regret our eagerness to volunteer.

But, armed with outrageously ostentatious skirts and pink frilly knickers, we knew it couldn’t be anything but fun.

And as soon as we heard the world-famous cancan tune fill the room, any doubts over our inflexibility – we’re always left at the back of our aerobics class struggling to touch our toes – disappeared in a flash of a garter.

This cheekily naughty dance has been entertaining men across the world for more than 100 years.

It may be risqué (bending over and wiggling your frilly-knickered behind is one of the signature moves) but the cancan has lost its seedy connotations over the passage of time.

These days, it’s a fun and cheeky dance, reminiscent of glamorous chorus girls and the bawdy music halls of another era.

The cancan may have originated as a dance to thrill men, but learning the steps with a group of girls is a sure-fire way to induce that empowering sisterhood feeling.

In fact – in our case – bending over with our skirts around our ears and our bottoms aloft felt the polar opposite of sexy.

With all the knicker-flashing and moves designed to flaunt the female body to best advantage, this isn’t one for retiring types. But it’s a great way to bond with the girls, increase your self-confidence and bring out your inner showgirl!

And who better to train us than Maxine, a former professional who has travelled the world tantalising crowds with her high kicks and spins.

Our task for the two-hour session? A two-minute mini routine that had us hiding behind the frills of our skirts when we first watched Maxine.

Thankfully, she was patient and encouraging and no one was expected to be flinging their legs around their ears by the end of the lesson.

Instead, we learnt how to work the fabulously camp cancan skirt and perfect a few variations of basic moves: gallops, some low kicks and the obligatory bum wiggle, all strung together and performed to music at the end of the class.

Within minutes we were being put through our paces, slowly building up the moves and the speed, not quite believing how well we had grasped the Bevel Pose and the Step Ball Change.

Before long, we were screaming in true cancan style at the top of our voices, galloping around the room with our bums up in the air.

What’s more, all that high-kicking, bending and skipping across the floor makes for a surprisingly rigorous workout.

As we stood there, grinning with glee, applauding each other and taking our well-deserved bows, we were all dreading the moment we had to say goodbye to our flashy skirts.

For those two hours we really were exotic chorus girls, entertaining our public in a glamorous Parisian nightspot.

It certainly made for an exhilarating – and slightly naughty – alternative to the weekly aerobics class.

l A two-hour cancan taster session with Polestars costs £20. Four-week cancan courses (eight hours) are £100 Call 020 7274 4865 or visit polestars.net