Adventures in the key of Prance
Snowdon Summit Shuffle
2019 was a particularly special year – I got married, started an exciting new job and went on an extended honeymoon across east Africa followed by a visit to my new in-laws in India. But I couldn’t go a whole year without some kind of charitable dancing escapade, so in June, for my stag do, I gathered together friends and family to help me dance every step up England and Wales’ highest mountain – Snowdon (as you do). Hover over the pic for some more photos from the day.
Dance America
After five years off building a career and falling in love, in 2018 I was back to begin the challenge of a lifetime: attempting to dance 3,000 miles across the USA, following the legendary old road Route 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then on to New York City. And,unlike my dance across Britain where I had a support crew and vehicle, do so on my own, carrying all my own kit and provisions.
Squeezing in my shuffling in between my day job back in Britain meant I found myself at the start line of Santa Monica pier in April, unfit and underprepared and not knowing what was about to come my way.
750 miles later, having shuffled my way through two US states and a desert or two in the peak of summer, I made it to Gallup, New Mexico, to where one day I shall return to complete this unforgettable challenge.
Dance Britain – The End
Not one to leave a challenge unfinished, in summer 2013 I was back to complete the final few hundred miles of my dance across Britain, following the south west coast path all the way to Land’s End.
Dancing through one of the most beautiful parts of Britain during the heatwave of that memorable July was an exhausting but unforgettable experience.
Dance Britain
2012 was an Olympic year and I wanted a challenge to match – so what better than to try to dance across the entire nation, over a thousand miles from John o’Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in England, via Edinburgh, Newcastle, York, Bradford, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Bristol?
What could possibly go wrong…?!
World’s Longest Dance
From 11th to 16th October 2011 I danced into the record books with the world’s longest ever dance – 5 days, 15 hours of pretty much non-stop dancing. Joined by thousands on the banks of the Thames dancing everything from salsa to street dance, the waltz to waacking, this was the hardest thing I had ever put myself through – physically and psychologically.
The video to the left is the final few minutes, captured in grainy detail by a bystander.
The Beginning
The world’s longest dance was in truth the culmination of a year’s worth of dance training, learning and adventures… best summed up by this promotional film for the world record attempt that explains the main steps along the way…
ben@planetprancer.com
Copyright © Ben Hammond 2022