Love and loss on Pavilion dancefloor

'Ballroom' is based on the tea dances held at the De La Warr Pavilion and the show, commissioned by the Pavilion and Linda Lewis Productions, will be coming to the White Rock on July 2 and July 3.

The play centres around Roy, Audrey, Sylvia and Victor, who have very different emotions about finding themselves alone once more at a dance. When they arrive, they know no one. Two hours later they have tangoed, waltzed and cha cha'd their way through their past and into the future.

The Observer chatted to writer and co-director, John Retallack, who is looking forward to bringing the production to its 'spiritual home'.

He said: "It dawned on me that ballroom dancing wasn't just something old people did and it was very popular with young people as well.

"I came to Bexhill and tried to picture how these people I saw may have began dancing when they were 16 or 17 years old."

The performance concentrates on how the characters are trying to deal with loss in their lives through dancing - something they haven't experienced alone for many years.

"All of them have got to face up to what it is like on their own, " he added.

The show features 19 kinds of dance and plenty of familiar talent, with some dancers featured at the end of the acts and the play itself, coming from Hastings and St Leonards dance groups. Some of the children in the play go to the East Sussex School of Performing Arts, in Bexhill.

After opening at the White Rock, the production will embark on a national tour.

Featuring four actors and four professional dancers, 'Ballroom' looks set to evoke magical memories of the De La Warr and show the joy that can be created through dance.

Tickets are 12 and 10. Available on 01424 462288.