DanceFit holiday: Shimmy the stress away in Denia, Spain

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Im sauntering along an imaginary stage with a red feather boa around my neck.
I shimmy to the left, shimmy to the right and drop the boa to the floor before wrapping it around myself and tilting back my head with a flourish.
No, Im not dreaming Im in a movie with Christina Aguilera and Cher. Im on the first ever DanceFit holiday in the most easterly tip of Spain, surrounded by a throng of twirling women in a Burlesque dance class. And Im loving every minute.

Boas at the ready! Teacher Abby demonstrates one of the many burlesque moves to the class Researchershave found that social dancing reduces stress, increases energy and stamina and improves strength, muscle tone and co-ordination. Interestingly, dancing is also associated with a lower risk of dementia,perhaps because it engages your mind as well as your body.
But if the idea of a dancing holiday conjures up an image of hordes of sweating woman in leotards being shouted at to try harder, this couldnt be further from the truth.Althoughdancing is the main focus, with professional coaches putting us through our paces, there is a lot more to this five-day breakthan throwing shapes in a dance studio.

For astart, we are staying in the picturesque old town of Denia, a thriving modern port and holiday destination about an hours drive north of Alicante.

Best of all, we are staying in Hotel Chamarel, a beautiful boutique hotel in the centre of the old town which describes itself as a sanctuary for the soul. Within minutes of arriving here I can see why.A thoughtfully restored nineteenth century noblemans house with marble tiled floors, wooden panelling and high ceilings, the hotel manages to combine the essential modern comforts with a real sense of the past.

P! icturesq ue: Denia, north of Alicante on the Costa Blanca, has an imposing castle and pretty port to exploreThe cool and calming courtyard is the perfect place to curl up with a book and one day, as I am out there with my morning coffee watching the terrapins in the pool, the sound of someone playing the piano in the lobby wafts out, adding to the experience.
Hotel owner (and rather fabulous chef) Davide explained to me the importance to his family of retaining the traditional feel of the building and is proud of the fact that the art displayed around the hotel, painted by his wife Mila, is enjoying exhibitions throughout Europe.

The holiday itself is the brainchild of Fionnula Sen, one half of the couple behind weight loss and fitness centre Renaissance Retreats.
DanceFit is designed for people who are interested in a healthy holiday with a twist, says Fi. The current obsession with all things Strictly gave her the idea, along with requests from clients of the retreat that she provide something different from the weight loss holidays.
DanceFit therefore offers four days of dance tuition, with eight different styles to dip your toe into, in accessible hourly chunks.

Colourful: The St Joseph's Day ritual has grown into a grand fiesta and hundreds of women parade through the town in traditional costumes As you would expect in Spain, Salsa and Flamenco in the form of folk dance Sevillana - are on the menu, but so is Zumba, Disco Diva, Bollywood, Contemporary, 1930s Ballroom and Burlesque. By the end of the second day Im having so much fun I find it difficult to choose my favourite.
I love the energy of dancing like Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin and Beyonce and have new-found respect for those singers who make dancing look so effortless on stage. I love the intricate detail of the Bollywood and the sheer raunchiness of Burlesque.

When weve finished twirling our boas! around the women chatter animatedly while our teacher Abby sweeps up coloured feathers. Weve been so enthusiastic that the dance studio looks a bit like Farmer Boggis chicken farm after a visit from Fantastic Mr Fox
Manolo, our male salsa teacher has a way with us ten women that leaves us in helpless giggles half of the time and increasingly impressed by our ability to perform an entire routine with a partner the rest.Chari, the strong Spanish woman who teaches us Sevillana in flowing skirts makes us practice our circular hand movements as well as our fancy footwork, and after two sessions we are swishing our skirts around and stamping our feet with abandon.

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My fellow dancers like the Zumba which is taking the UK by storm although I personally find it a little too reminiscent of aerobics classes.
To my surprise it is the 1930s dance sessions I like the best. How elegant and graceful I feel as, after just two sessions, I am waltzing around the studio to Mr Bojangles - channelling Ginger Rogers rather than Anne Widdecombe I hope.

What makes the holiday really special is the social aspect: friendships are forged quickly and easily.
Every night there is a communal meal with either Fi or our main teacher Abby, at a different local restaurant. The food is of varying standards in the tavernas, but mostly good, with lots of scope for gluten free, vegetarian or other diets.
Breakfast is a leisurely affair inthe hotel lobby and I spend my lunch breaks sunbathing and picnickingon the beach with Lorna and Ruth - two women in their sixties who sharemy enthusiasm for sunshine and exploring.
I like the way breakfast and dinner is included in the price, leaving us free at lunchtime to do our own thing. The women on the holiday arelovely, and seem to be really enjoying themselves. Apart from mypic! nicking pals my other favourites are two sisters from Pembrokeshirewho have me in fits of laughter every time I sit with them.

Fun of the festival: Spaniards poke fun at politicians, officials and celebrities in the annual Festival of Fallas Denia,to my surprise, has some good shopping. It is a well-heeled towncompared to many Ive visited in Spain, with posh furniture andexpensive clothes shops.
The castle and port are nice to wanderaround, and the old town feels authentically Spanish, in sharp contrastto nearby Javea, which has a huge ex-pat contingent.

Adding to the fun of the holiday has to be the fact that we landed in Valencia during the Festival of the Fallas: an annual affair where the Spaniards joke about the faults in society, poking fun at politicians, officials and celebrities by making enormous, gaudy statues which they then set fire to one by one in a grand finale on Saturday night.
There are festivities all around Valencia through the month of March, with the key festival dates being March 15-19. Throughout these five days there are parades, marching bands, traditional costumes, concerts, beauty pageants, free street parties and lots of noisy fireworks. Fi kindly provided ear plugs for those of us who wished to get some sleep, but by Saturday I had almost got used to the sound of firecrackers going off every five minutes and the sudden blaring of a horn as a band marched by.
Over the years the St Joseph's Day ritual has grown into a grand fiesta and hundreds of women and girls parade all day in traditional costumes costing thousands of euros.
I couldnt help but wonder at the cost of the spectacle, with hundreds of thousands of euros literally going up in smoke before our eyes

Flamenco hands and swish those skirts ladies! Catherine an! d the re st of the class only wished they'd had shoes like the teacher for stamping harder...The highlight of the holiday for me had to be the informal Friday night flamenco at the Hotel Chamarel.
As we ate delicious food cooked by Davide we were treated to a group of local flamenco singers, dancers and guitarists jamming purely for the pleasure of it.
This is the sort of holiday that you could take a friend or sister along to and have a whale of a time.
I certainly returned with a reignited enthusiasm for dancing and fitness in general, and since I got back I have been looking into dance classes in my local area as well as restarting the yoga practice I had stopped months ago.
My moth-eaten feather boa has been out of my wardrobe a couple of times too

Travel facts

DanceFit breaks cost 675 pp for a twin share and 795 for a private room and include 16 hours of dance classes, five nights accommodation and breakfast, dinner on three evenings and transfers to/from Alicante airport. Excludes flights.
The next DanceFit breaks are on April 7-12, May 5-10 and June 2-7.
Contact bookings@dancefitbreaks.com or call 0843 207 6053 or visit www.renaissanceretreat.co.uk for more information and bookings.Catherine travelled from Gatwick to Alicante as a guest of Easy Jet www.easyjet.com
EasyJet flights are also available from Luton, Stansted, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle, from29.99 one way (incl taxes)