17 November: Footloose and fancy free (when I'm dancing)

"Bring on the big attraction, My decks are cleared for action, I'm fancy free and free for anything fancy." Well the big attraction at the Centre on Saturday 17 November was a return engagement by those multi-talented musical magicians known to their legion of doting fans as the Footloose Dance Orchestra. For those of you who didn't bother to read the blurb on the back of the very excellent programme, the FDO was formed in 2006 "with the purpose of recreating the melodious sounds produced by the great British dance bands during the Golden Era of popular music of the 1920s and 1930s."

This very special evening was organised by the Centre and the PTFA of St Paul's primary school in Coronation Street with the aim of raising a little cash for the school's ambitious opera production which is to be mounted next summer. The FDO played a selection from their extensive repertoire, including favourites such as "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking", "Button Up Your Overcoat", "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", "Anything Goes" and "Let Yourself Go".

They also performed several comedy numbers including Lesley Saroney's "Jollity Farm" and "I'm Gonna Bring a Watermelon to My Girl Tonight", (dating from 1929 and 1924 respectively) both of which were popularised by the Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band and the late, great Vivien Stanshall in the late 1960s.

The singers were hot, the musicians cool, the arrangements authentic and the finger fork food very tasty - all of which combined to form what one patron described as "a truly memorable experience."