Take your partner... and relax

Steps in the right direction

It’s a funny profession, dance. You train for years, continue to work out every day, and then deliberately pursue an activity with a high probability of causing you physical discomfort or injury, often getting paid about the same as an unskilled fruit-picker.

Of course it’s voluntary, so we shouldn’t shed too many tears. But it’s good to see that there is now a website, Dance UK, which aims to help dancers with information and support.

The promoter of the site is also called Dance UK – this is a membership organisation which lobbies for better conditions and funding for dancers. But you don’t get on to the Gateway just by sticking up for a good cause; you have to offer information on the website itself and, preferably, link to other information sources.

Dance UK has information on how dancers can stay healthy, with lists of speakers on the subject, advanced details of conferences and other events, and even an ultra-healthy recipe of the month. This is just one example; there is news and information on other subjects of interest to dancers.

For some things you have to register, but this is free and appears to be uncomplicated. Now I must make a start at knocking up my wholemeal couscous salad…

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Stage & screen". Dance UK is, not very surprisingly, under "Dance".)

There’s nothing on… is there?

If all that talk of dancing has made you all weak at the knees, perhaps you should curl up on the sofa with the Radio Times. Of course you can still go down to the newsagent and buy the print version, but I find that the website gives me all I need. And recent improvements have smoothed out the process of finding something to watch.

This is another website which works better for you if you register, and again it’s free to do so. You can build a list of your favourite channels and then, whenever you log in, the list is displayed with a choice of what’s on now, later in the day, or for up to two weeks in advance. Click on a listing for further details and viewer ratings.

But there’s much more to Radio Times than just telly. Apart from radio, they also have oodles of stuff on films, whether on TV or in the cinemas, competitions, news and gossip. The only thing they don’t seem to have is those wonderful black-and-white line drawings of your favourite characters. What? – the print version is also now in colour! Is nothing sacred?

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Stage & screen". Radio Times is under "TV & radio".)

Picture credit: Babzy/morguefile.com