Twenties swivel and kick · Charleston
Charleston Hen Party
Dance Class
Plymouth.
Swivelling feet, flying kicks and jazz-age joy — the Charleston hands your hen party a ready-made 1920s speakeasy scene, taught from scratch by a private instructor in Plymouth city centre. £160 covers the entire speakeasy for an hour — ninety minutes is £185 — and it's one flat figure, never per hen.
A hundred years on, the Charleston is still the fastest route to a room full of grins.
Roaring twenties · kicks · pure fizzCheck your date
Swap the decade,
keep the party.
Saturday afternoons book solid weeks ahead — drop us the form and we'll check dates, hold the studio and set you up.
- The whole speakeasy dances for one flat £160 — nobody pays per head
- Authentic 1920s swivels and kicks, beginner-proofed
- Answers back within 24 hours — often by return
Plymouth Dance Centre
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Any group size — one flat rate.
No per-person maths.
Thank you!
Why Charleston works
The theme with
a century of fizz.
The Charleston has been making rooms laugh since the 1920s, and among our hen party dance classes in Plymouth it remains the great leveller: those swivelling toes look equally ridiculous and equally wonderful on everyone, so the group's best dancer and its most reluctant one meet in the middle within minutes. There's a reason it survived a hundred years of dance crazes — it is, simply, enormous fun.
Your instructor starts with the swivel — heels in, toes in, faster, faster — then adds the flapper kicks, the crazy-legs crossover and those wonderful bent-knee hand claps. It all builds into a routine with genuine period shape, danced to hot jazz that makes standing still feel rude. Fans of vintage sparkle often weigh it against our Strictly theme for the ballroom glitter, while dedicated show-tune hearts drift towards Musicals — but for sheer fizz, the twenties win.
It's made for groups planning a Gatsby-flavoured weekend — headbands, pearls and feathered everything are welcome if you bring them, though the routine sparkles just as hard in gym kit. We teach it in a hired studio in the city centre, a short totter from the Barbican's cobbles and gin distillery for the full period atmosphere afterwards. And couples take note: more than one bride has left the class plotting a surprise Charleston with our Plymouth wedding dance team.
The full tally
Tallied up,
nothing extra.
Beyond the venue hire — which we arrange on your behalf — the flat rate swallows every cost of the session whole.
What's included
- Professional dance instructor
- Charleston choreography built for your group
- All music and sound equipment
- Warm-up and cool-down
- Beginner-friendly instruction
- Photo and video opportunities
- Help picking the theme and the song
- Group coordination beforehand
- A spotlight moment for the bride
What you'll experience
- The famous swivel step, from wobble to whirl
- Flapper kicks and the crazy-legs crossover
- Bent-knee claps straight from the silent-film era
- A speakeasy-style group formation with period poses
- Hot jazz that accelerates as your confidence does
- A finale that looks superb in sepia slow-motion
Perfect for
- Gatsby-themed weekends wanting the dancing to match
- Groups whose energy runs on giggles over glamour
- Vintage souls with feathers already in the suitcase
- A high-energy hour that doubles as the day's cardio
- Do's mixing best friends with future in-laws
- The bride who has always wanted a flapper moment
Hour by hour
How the Charleston
hour whirls past.
It starts at the ankles: the swivel, practised slowly until it clicks, then sped up until the whole room is twisting like it's 1926. Kicks and crossovers follow, each one demonstrated, drilled and loudly cheered.
The closing stretch stitches everything to hot jazz — a full routine with a speakeasy formation and the bride kicking front and centre. On the ninety-minute booking there's time for extra flourishes, a proper polish and several takes of a finale that begs to be filmed in black and white.
Notes from the speakeasy
Testimony from
the flappers.
"We did the Charleston before our Gatsby dinner and it set the whole night alight. Thirteen flappers, zero coordination, total triumph."
"My calves ached for two days and it was worth every step. The Charleston teacher was patient, funny and slightly magic."
"Grandma-in-law outdanced us all at the Charleston class. No regrets, only footage."
"Swivel, kick, scream with laughter, repeat."
Charleston specifics
Quick answers,
Charleston edition.
What groups check before booking a Charleston hen class in Plymouth. Everything else travels perfectly well in the message box.
01Is the Charleston very energetic?
It's one of the liveliest themes we offer — those kicks add up — but everything can be taken at half-speed without losing the look. Anyone pacing themselves can swivel gently while the rest go full flapper.
02Will beginners manage the footwork?
Yes — the swivel feels odd for about five minutes and then suddenly clicks, and every other step grows out of it. We've never had a group fail to get there, usually amid a great deal of laughing.
03Any choice over the jazz we swivel to?
Proper hot jazz from the twenties alongside modern electro-swing, which keeps the vintage feel but adds a beat today's ears expect. Requests welcome — pop them in your enquiry.
04Can we dress as flappers?
Absolutely, and the videos are glorious when you do — just bring everything with you, as headbands, pearls and feather boas aren't something we supply. Comfortable shoes matter more than period ones; you'll be kicking.
05How does the bride feature?
She leads the kick line. The finale puts her front and centre of the speakeasy formation, and if she fancies a short solo swivel in the spotlight before the last chorus, we'll choreograph one in.
06Which part of town hosts the Charleston?
At a studio we hire in Plymouth city centre, with the exact address confirmed once you book — handy for carrying the twenties theme on around the Barbican afterwards. Got space at your accommodation? We're happy to bring the class to you.