I used to love to dance

I really did! Didn't matter what style, I loved the way dancing made me feel. 

My dad used to dance with us girls when we were little. I remember him teaching me to jive, to Buddy Holly. Our house was full of Buddy Holly and the Crickets, or Cliff Richard and the Shadows, from an early age. I think the reason why the double A-side "Peggy Sue" and "Everyday" are my favourite Holly songs are because of that.

We played them on a radiogram, and the turntable had 3 speeds, 78 rpm,45 rpm and 33 rpm. We had quite a few that still played on 78 and my favourites were Paul Anka's "Diana" and "Little Darlin" by the Diamonds.

By the time I was 7, I wanted to be a ballerina. My Aunt Irene had a pair of Beryl Grey's ballet shoes, a famous ballerina back then, wh danced for Sadler's Wells. Unfortunately, in those days, it was a given that - to be a ballerina, you had to start dance classes by the age of 4. The thought being that, after that age, the bones were no longer soft and pliable enough to manouvre into the positions required. My  dream ended before it had even begun.

I loved music though, I still do. All kinds except the hard rap with the nasty expletives.

By 11, I was into Tamla Motown, and loved the lunchtime "discos" in the gym at Leyton County High School for Girls. We paid 2 shillings to go in, and they played Four Tops, Isley Brothers, Temptations and the girl groups, and we'd dance that hour away. Looking back, I guess it gave us more exercise ... and we paid for the privilege.

I was an odd child in High School. My nickname was Queer. At 11, I'd lost my friends from Junior School, even my best friend for years. We'd been placed on different sides of the room, and she's made new friends where I became somewhat of a loner. Funnily enough though, in the discos I must have danced pretty good, as the 4th year girls would come and hang out with me, which was an oddity to say the least!

My mum fostered kids from all over the world, so I was introduced to all types of music by their families, at various events. Not just music either, but the cultures of their different homelands too. I may not have appreciated everything at the time, but as I grew older, I saw the richness and realized how blessed I had been by the experiences and the knowledge I gleaned.

We moved away from London for a year, and when we came back, I hung out with Stephanie Cole, Della Gibson, Susan Dudley and Tina Clayton. They introduced me to Leyton Youth Club, and the music there was mainly reggae. I learned new dances!

I was 15 or 16 when I danced my first 2 line dances, one was a biker stomp basically to ZZ Top's "La Grange" and the other just a smooth flowing grapevine and turn to the Supremes "Stoned Love", the latter during my time at NORCAT in Kings Lynn.

I was married and divorced very quickly, within 5 years. At 22, I was single again with 3 children under 6. The next 5 years were pretty rough. My ex didn't pay child support, I worked part-time as an office cleaner, at first, and then did secretarial duties for a furniture store/antique dealer. I tried to be a good mother, I know I made a lot of mistakes. I look back now and see how young I was. Then, I just struggled, and felt like a failure.