Dancing the Brave Goose to Britney
MY FRIEND Lela is wild, heaps of fun and always seems to be doing something exciting with her time. One evening I casually liked her Instagram story in which she was strutting her stuff at a dance class, and found myself agreeing to join her for the next one. SOS Dance pitch themselves as “The World’s Most Empowering Dance Classes”, where people of all levels of ability can come and be taught routines to Beyoncé, Dua Lipa and Lizzo – by absolute “BOSSES”.
The one happening around the corner from me was Britney’s I’m a Slave 4 U, one of the absolute tunes of the noughties! However, despite a brief foray into professional podium dancing in my 20s, it has been a while since these limbs moved that way. Looking through my wine collection, I found a perfectly named bottle – my spirit animal for the class. The Brave Goose (Naked Wines, £16.99;
Angel Price, £15.99) is a reserve barrel-fermented Viognier from Australia’s Victoria region. I have always had an affinity with Viognier, being a fuller-bodied, boozy, lusciously perfumed white wine. The wine was superb – vibrant and elegant – a far cry from both my image of a goose and the reality of me on the dancefloor. It was one of the best, most complex Viogniers I have had the pleasure of sipping and more than a little went down in anticipation of the class.
Our dance instructor, Imogen Hart, was a powerhouse of energy and humour, and could well be described as a BOSS (in all capitals). Nor did she mind Lela and me swapping the usual water bottles for wine. A teacher since 2020, Hart told me that she loved working with SOS Dance because it creates a “community of good vibes and a safe space to relax”. “The only chance people get to dance is when they’re out-out,” she says. “But this allows them to bring it out in daily life and it empowers you”.
The group was all-female, bar one chap with an enviable ‘bend-and-snap’, and most of them looked too young to have been fans of the track when it was first released. Oh gosh, I thought, is this when I discover that Britney is now considered retro? When Hart encouraged me to slowly bend my head lower to the floor naked Libby’s Diary
I muttered “some of us are a bit older than the others, you know… some of us were there the first time!”. As I attempted what would have, during my university years, been called a “slut drop” (but has now probably been re-named something more PC), I definitely heard my knees crack. Thankfully, the music was loud, the group was welcoming, and the wine was hitting the spot. When the group divided to take it in turns, the other half became a vocal “hype squad”.
Very swiftly I found myself getting into it and even admiring my moves. All shapes and sizes, lit in neon blues and pinks, were represented and it looked kind of glorious in the mirror; no one was self-conscious in the least. The mood was uplifting and empowering. SOS Dance was fulfilling its promise. During a “water break”, Lela and I tucked into more Brave Goose and some of the class asked if we were celebrating something.
Friendship? Our powerful femininity? Britney? The fact I can still ‘drop it like it’s hot’ in time to a beat? A good bottle of wine? (Although, let’s face it, a good bottle of wine needs no excuse.) We learned about a third of the track, which is more than enough to look like a good mover on the dancefloor when this song comes on. Buzzing from the exercise, music and the group’s energy, I strutted into the night feeling anything but a ‘slave’.
This week’s best wine: Benjamin Darnault Pinot Gris 2023, nakedwines.co.uk
I am not a fan of Pinot Grigio. Too bland and watery, for me it is the oenological equivalent of “meh”. The same grape, however, when called Pinot Gris, is an entirely different stylistic beast. Now suddenly it has become rounded, succulent, enchantingly aromatic and weightier in the mouth. Very little of this wine is produced in the South of France, but Benjamin Darnault, thanks to Angel investment via Naked Wines, was able to produce this mouth-watering beauty.
The Benjamin Darnault Pinot Gris 2023 (Naked Wines, £12.99; Angel Price, £10.99) has a lush citrus line of lemon and lime warmed by white peach flesh and blossom. It suits a warm weather dish, such as this simple bowl of prawn pasta – a favourite of my University days when I wanted to look posh. Fry your king prawns for four minutes in a blend of oil and chilli oil with a couple of crushed garlic cloves, the juice of a lemon and glug of white wine. Toss it through your cooked spaghetti and sprinkle with chopped parsley for a super swift meal that still looks fairly impressive and is elevated even further by the addition of this silky, refreshing white wine.
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