The Mojive story

My name is Elaine Rees, and together, with my brother, Phil Rees, we started what is known today as 'Mojive'. Some people have expressed interest in hearing our story. So, here it is, plain and true.

Born and bred in Bournemouth, I went to live in London in 1986. It was here that a friend introduced me to 'Ceroc'. One Wednesday night, I found myself climbing down the stairs of a somewhat seedy nightclub, called the Beat Route, in the middle of Soho. As I turned the corner, I was stunned by about 20 people dancing what we know as 'modern jive'. The only way to be taught was either for someone to take pity on you or to get 5 minutes 1:1 with a teacher, dressed in white, with 'Ceroc' emblazoned on their t-shirt! Both happened to me that night and I was instantly hooked.

At that stage there was no teaching format or classes as we know them today. The only way to learn was a weekly visit to the nightclub or an hour's class in Pineapple Studio with Janie and James Cronin, the pioneers of 'Ceroc'. Nowadays, you can dance 7 nights of the week all over the country. Back then, we could get a MONTHLY Freestyle Fix at Porchester Hall in Queensway, Bayswater and my heart would thump wildly as I climbed the steps, heard the music and entered the dance hall. At a personal level I became great friends with Janie and James and eventually did a little teaching for them.

When I left London 6 years later and returned to Bournemouth, I felt bereft. The only people who could dance with me were Tim, my partner, and Phil, my brother. When James contacted me and offered me a Ceroc Franchise for Bournemouth I was ecstatic. By then, the teaching of large numbers had evolved and Ceroc was fully fledged in London and had started in a franchise in Norwich.

I already had a full-time job so needed help setting up the franchise. My younger brother, Phil, was a mobile DJ and had a little spare time on his hands. I went up to London for my one week training course and learnt to teach. Our partnership was born and our lives were changed forever.

Our first venue was King Arthurs Court in Bournemouth - a medieval banqueting hall complete with a Dragons Bar and heated swimming pool underneath! We ran our first night ever in March 1992 with 40 people - mainly family and friends. I taught, James came to demonstrate with me, Phil was DJ and Tim doubled up as cashier and taxi-dancer. After seeing the joy and fun we could generate, Phil and I vowed that, whatever the number of people, we would ensure they always had a good time. It has always been a guiding principle and I think it is what helped us through our more challenging times.

As far as I am aware this was the first modern jive night EVER to be held on the south coast of England.

After 6 weeks we nearly gave up...numbers dwindled. Nobody knew what this thing called Ceroc or modern jive was and it was a concept so difficult to convey. Partner dancing, at that time, was confined to ballrooms, church halls and tea dances. Then, one day, a lady called Maggie arrived. Maggie knew lots of people, loved the dance and kept bringing her friends to discover it. I shall always be indebted to that woman because numbers almost overnight went from 20 to 60!

We grew out of the 'court' and moved to The Palace Nightclub in the centre of Bournemouth. It was here that we had our first TV appearance on BBC South Today and that just helped to seal things for us. It was also here that our stage, on several occasions, consisted of a wooden plank balanced on 4 beer crates!

We went from strength to strength and venue to venue including the Marsham Court Hotel, Benedicts and even the end of Bournemouth Pier! One of our best places was The Academy (now The Opera House) in Boscombe which was a beautiful and massive nightclub with plenty of atmosphere. In this venue Toyah Wilcox came to do a TV feature and Phil's claim to fame is that he dropped her into a First Move Seducer! We finally ended up in two of our favourite venues - the lovely Bournemouth Pavilion and the friendly Hamworthy Club.

Meanwhile, we had our sights set on other areas and we opened our first night in Southampton with 100 people. Portsmouth soon followed and we also ventured into Eastleigh, Dorchester and Bristol. We soon realised we needed more teachers to take on these ever-growing nights. One of our first teachers was a lively, fun-loving lady called Linda and she was a great support in our early days. Many other teachers followed, all bringing their own charm, vitality and personality to the crew. These include Kerrin Osmond, Bernice Charlton, Keiran Loftus, Steve Takel, Jeremy Ray, David Reeves, Rebecca White, Simon Harper, Russell Payne, Karina Pink, Jaime Cooke, Dan Murrell, Keith Williams, Miranda Hewitt-Williams, Sharon Havers, Richard Thompson, Nick Gard, Tom Gurd, Nicola Waight, Sarah Roberts, Caroline Spencer-Perkins, Wai Wan, Joanne Roe, Sophie Courant, Kelly Hailes and our newest recruit Alison Greenaway.

We also needed top-class DJs which we trained up ourselves. Our head music man was, and still is, a fantastic guy called Martin Lake (alias Master Blaster) who pioneered a complete method for music on a Mojive night. He has been brilliantly accompanied by Lee Ashdown and Marc E May! After a few years, we felt that the way we wanted to run the business was different from the way Ceroc were evolving. And, so we decided that it was time to take it forward on our own. Overnight 'Ceroc' became 'Mojive' and we concentrated our efforts in Bournemouth, Southampton and Portsmouth. Over the years we have tried to find the very best venues, worked hard to create the best music and developed our own training course to produce some of the very best instructors.

Bit by bit I have stepped out of the business to focus on other activites, mainly teaching yoga! Phil is a great visioner and risk-taker. He has seen the need to have a stable and tailored venue to offer to modern jivers. And, so, he took on the challenging task of creating his very own modern jive venue. This exists today in the form of the magnificient 'MoClub' in Southampton, where he runs two fabulous Mojive nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The MoClub is very special and is very well worth a visit. Take a look at www.themoclub.com and pop along to see us.

There is so much I could say about these times which saw us laugh a lot and cry at times. Suffice to say, I feel happy to have created something quite special and unique with my brother, to have met so many fantastic people and to have been able to convey the magical feeling that dancing modern jive can bring.

Elaine Rees