Not a dancer per se, but more a whole dance genre, I simply couldn’t ignore the spinners and sliders of the Northern Soul scene. SK Dance Studio is based in Wigan after all!

Broadly based on the Tamla Motown sound, the Northern Soul scene emerged in the late 1960s out of nightclubs such as Manchester’s Twisted Wheel. By the early 1970s dance-halls across the North of England, like Wigan Casino, were jam-packed full during their famous all-nighters.

As the Northern Soul sound developed and the beats got faster, the energy and athleticism of the movement’s dancers stepped up too. Spins with more turns than a Prima Ballerina; Kung-fu style high kicks; the splits; Cossack squats and legs that looked like they were made of elastic, these boys and girls really did have ALL the moves. In fact, Northern Soul dancers were break dancing years before a ghetto-blaster and three foot square of lino ever graced a street corner.

I just LOVE watching people dance to Northern Soul – and in Wigan, there’s always a few old-schoolers working their slide-step around the dance-floor at a wedding or family do. Long may they shuffle!

Click here to watch some amazing Northern Soul moves in footage from Wigan Casino.

Would the Northern Soul dancers make your Top 10?