Irish Dancing Hen Party Dance Class SouthamptonTwelve hens, one rhythm, no arms.
Nothing in the hen party dance class repertoire makes a noise like this one. Irish dancing hands a room instant percussion — thirty feet hitting a wooden floor together — and it does it without asking anyone to be graceful, coordinated or previously trained. Your teacher takes a handful of steps, drills them until the sound tightens, and shapes them into a short set piece with the arms pinned exactly where tradition put them. No experience, no Irish heritage and no natural rhythm required at the door. £185 covers ninety minutes for the entire group, £160 the hour, and the venue's own hire cost is all that sits on top.
Dates for the loud theme.
Send your date, rough numbers and where the group is staying, and we will come back with availability, both rooms' hire costs and a view on whether driving out to you makes more sense. Undecided groups can hold a date now and choose from the 39 themes later, free of charge.
The theme you can hear from the corridor.
Most hen do dance class themes are visual. This one is audible, and that changes the room entirely — you stop worrying about how you look the moment you can hear whether you are together. It is also brilliantly democratic: the steps are small, repeatable and identical for everybody, so a bride who danced from the age of six and an aunt who has never tried end up making precisely the same sound at precisely the same time. As hen party ideas go, it is the one nobody in the group sees coming.
Sound over spectacle. Nobody watches their own reflection when the floor is doing the talking, which is unusual for a dance hen party.
Shoes are yours. Soft shoes, hard shoes, boots, trainers — bring whatever you own. We do not supply footwear, costumes or anything else.
Low-impact available. Every jumping step has a flat-footed version, and your teacher offers it without anyone having to ask twice.
Ninety minutes, roughly set out.
an outline — the actual order is decided liveIn and out of coats
Arrive, sort out footwear, and establish who has secretly done this at a wedding before and gone quiet about it.
Feet only, slowly
The basic sevens and threes, taken at half speed until the whole group is landing on the same beat together.
Faster, then together
Steps stacked into a short piece your teacher writes in front of you, tuned to how the room is actually coping.
One run, recorded
Everybody in a line, phone at the front, arms firmly down. The sound is the point and the video proves it.
the set is composed on the day for the feet in front of your teacher — no house routine sits in a folder waiting to be handed out
Enough time to get the sound properly tight, which is the bit that makes the video worth watching twice.
Shorter, still noisy, and finished with a filmed run before the table is due at seven.
Cottages, barns and function rooms across Hampshire — check the floor is wood and the neighbours forgiving. Class fee only.
the fee is fixed to the party, not to the number of feet on the floor
Two rooms with proper boards.
Both spaces are rooms we hire for your session — wooden floors, no carpet, and enough echo for the rhythm to land properly. We choose between them once we know your numbers, and the hire cost arrives in writing alongside the availability. If the weekend is based out towards Lyndhurst or the Hamble, we will happily drive to you instead.
Heard from the line.
“The noise twelve of us made in ninety minutes was genuinely astonishing. Two of the group have looked up proper classes since.”
“My knees were the excuse and our teacher had an alternative version sorted in about four seconds flat.”
“Nobody expected to enjoy it as much as we did. The arms-down thing is far funnier than it sounds on paper.”
Irish dancing, asked properly.
six questions that reach us most weeks ↓
Does anybody need Irish dancing experience to take part?+
No, and most groups arrive with absolutely none. The steps chosen are the ones that reward repetition rather than training, and your teacher spends the first stretch getting everybody onto the same beat before anything is added on top. Hens who describe themselves as hopeless are usually the loudest in the room by the end.
Will hard shoes be needed to make the sound?+
They help, but they are not necessary and we have none to lend — we do not supply shoes, costumes or props of any kind. Trainers make a duller thud and boots with a firm sole make a surprisingly good one. Whatever the group turns up in, you will be making a racket inside ten minutes.
Is there jumping, and can sore knees opt out?+
There is jumping if the group wants jumping, and a flat-footed alternative for anyone who does not. Say something at the start — or say nothing and your teacher will spot it anyway — and the sequence quietly acquires a second version. Nobody sits out unless they would genuinely rather watch from a chair.
Do we really have to keep our arms still?+
It is the bit everybody finds hardest and funniest. The traditional carriage is what makes it read as Irish dancing rather than general bouncing, so your teacher will insist on it for most of the piece and then almost certainly let the group break it for the last eight bars.
What does an Irish dancing hen party cost us?+
£185 for the ninety-minute class or £160 for the hour, covering the whole party, with the venue's hire cost as the only addition and quoted before you say yes to anything. Hold it where you are staying and there is no venue cost at all. This hen party activity is never priced by the head.
Can this work in a rented cottage with close neighbours?+
Often, with one caveat: the entire appeal is percussion, and percussion travels through floors. Ground-floor rooms with solid boards are ideal and upstairs flats are less so. Tell us where the group is staying and we will be honest about whether a barn near the Forest or one of our hired central rooms is the better plan.
