Swinton dancer reinvents waltz for coronation celebrations

A Swinton dancer has devised a new waltz to celebrate the King’s coronation.

Steve Johnson, 67, will perform at the Grand Coronation Ball at the Palais on Saturday May 6 and is hoping others will learn the dance too.

He choreographed and performed his new waltz for the final of The Inventive Sequence Dance Competition in Whitby.

It was recorded and posted on Facebook and YouTube and the beautiful arrangement was met with positive feedback with one person saying: “What a lovely, graceful dance performed beautifully.”

Mr Johnson said: “I just made the dance up because I’ve been doing it for 40 odd years, and I just thought the Coronation is a big thing to make a dance for.

“It just comes as second nature to me, I’ve been in competitions before… I have a son and three daughters that dance as well, so you know, it’s my life.”

Steve was joined by his dance partner, Vicki Smith, in Whitby for the finals representing Swinton Palais.

The man who has lived in Swinton his whole life is a well-known dance teacher in the Greater Manchester area and has been running ‘Swinton Palais de Dance’ since he opened it in 1986.

Mr Johnson first got into dancing when he and his girlfriend at the time used to go down to the Lancastrian Hall in Swinton in his teenage years and his love for the art has grown ever since.

He said: “This used to be a nightclub or bar type thing before I took over.”

The script of the waltz, which is choreographed to “One Moment In Time’ composed by David Read, can be accessed by emailing Mr Johnson but he has also offered to go to different dance schools to teach ‘The Coronation Waltz’ ahead of The Grand Coronation Ball hosted at The Grand Palais in Swinton. Table bookings are £9.50 per person.