Welcome to our London Dance School

We're proud to report that Karen Hardy Studios were Highly Commended Winners at Hammersmith & Fulham 'Best Business' Awards 2013 - as voted by the public - thank you! Click here to find out more about the Awards.

Read Karen's latest blog post about Strictly Come Dancing by clicking here.

With the summer holidays now here and teasing a sun packed season it means our gorgeous bundles of loved ones can enjoy some outside fun for a day or two in 2013! It also means for us weathered mums that our longed prepared family summer holiday break will be flawlessly deployed or ...for those virgin parents whom are maybe not so prepared (being me back in 2010) a tsunami of childcare nightmares has begun!

So bring on those 'Summer Camps'.... is what I say, from football to tennis, horse riding to stage coaching there is every type of camp possible out there to take on what so many mums are ashamed of admitting is...'a baby sitting service' for the holidays.

Ingeniously though our consciousness can be saved by the mere fact of seeing our loved ones acquire a new life skill during this 'baby sitting summer service' and somehow allow us to feel at peace as we embrace the delight of our children coming home ecstatic to show off their perfected golf swing or cake samples from cooking class.

Having spoken to a few mums at school back in those early days and confessing my baby sitting 'organised chaos' and knowing that my son just really wanted to be out playing all day (something I knew I neither had the time or the energy to physically do), together with my son we were soon guided to the good old Internet, armed with a couple of recommendations and it wasn't long before an array of clubs were exciting us both and gone was the fear and guilt of our son's summer holidays being wasted away at home in front of our TV or iPad day after day.

...And as a result so too has dawned the birth of our very own Ballroom Dance Camp at Karen Hardy Studios this summer! Having a few years experience now under my belt of what clubs really worked and stimulated our son and which were just a load of website waffle... we decided it was time to open a summer dance camp for children to learn to ballroom dance at our dance studios in SW6. Knowing full well all the benefits that dance has to offer from human interaction to confidence building, health and fitness benefits and the embracing of music and movement and all whilst having a great deal of fun, we hope that the design of this 'baby sitting service of dance' will offer another option for all those parents desperately pulling their hair out!

With having our own son now, this summer holiday season makes me respect so much more what my parents had to do to balance those long summer days keeping my brother and I occupied and happy during all of those weeks! Sadly, with mankind changing and parents hesitant to allow their children to play together out on the streets or in beautiful parks and beaches as I was lucky enough to enjoy, summer camps are becoming more and more a necessity rather than a guilty luxury.

And with technology taking the forefront of every child's life now from iPads to Xboxes, there's an argument that summer holidays are too long for our children to be consumed in digital land but rather to get them out in the world, communicating, interacting and most importantly learning and experiencing something maybe new to their senses.

So if you are not a local to our SW6 studios of the Chelsea/Fulham district I hope you will research on the Internet a local dance school for your children this summer holiday. I can recommend the British Dance Council, ISTD and IDTA sites for listings of dance schools throughout the UK but if you are a stones throw away from our studios in London or have a relative or nanny happy to deliver your bundles of joy to us we will be dancing along to some great music this holiday time teaching all those renowned dances from Cha Cha Chas and Jives to Tangos and Waltzes.

Rest assured our teachers are qualified and CRB checked and have one aim this summertime to get children actively having fun, ballroom dancing.

For more information about our Ballroom Summer Dance Camps at Karen Hardy Studios our website is: www.karenhardystudios.com or you can call our friendly staff on 0845 567 1155. Otherwise feel free to drop us an email with any questions you may have.

Take care and happy summer holidays

Karen Hardy
Winner Strictly Come Dancing 2006
World Masters, International, United Kingdom and British National Champion of Latin American Dance
Carl Alan and BDF Award winner for her services to dance
Director of Karen Hardy Studios
ISTD and IDTA qualified

We are very proud to be involved with the Ballroom Dancing Cancer Foundation and Manhattan DanceSport Championships gala evening on July 3rd.The evening promises some spectacular dance, magic and tap-dancing entertainment - and all in the name of a cause close to our heart. Karen will be appearing as compère for a night we truly hope you will join us in supporting!

For more information and to purchase tickets, click here to visit the Ballroom Dancing For Cancer Website.

Strictly Come Dancing is back… and so too is our very own Karen Hardy. With a page full of worldwide titles to her name, awards for her services to dance, qualifications as well as the coveted Strictly Come Dancing champion title with the incredible Mark Ramprakash, we were over joyed to hear that she would be once again part of the Strictly family. Not only seeing her return to her very informative Tuesday slot on Choreography Corner on It Takes Two week nights but also we are overjoyed to see she is back to give us right up to the minute insights as the celebrities unfold their performances live every Saturday night on Strictly Come Dancing. With a different celebrity guest joining her on her more gracious set this year, be delighted as we get to share live her very own views on the dance performances from the celebrities with their professional partners as well as the often very entertaining and intriguing thoughts of her guest.

How do I get to see Karen Hardy with her celebrity guest live on Saturday nights Strictly Come Dancing? Well it's quite simple, if you've ever wondered what that little red button is up in the top right hand corner of your screen well nows the time to push it.

How do I push the interactive red button? With technology ever speeding ahead, the Interactive Red Button to some of you may have you panicking what will happen if you push it! It is really so easy to do and the idea is to give you even more dimension and in depth details to the shows you love to enjoy, from Wimbledon to football world cups you simply have to look at your remote control and push the red button on it. If you are still confused here's a great BBC page you can go and read a bit further about all that the Interactive Red Button has to offer.

Enjoy this fantastic dancing season and if you do nothing else go book a free taster lesson today at Karen Hardy Studios, London to see just how bad you really are and we think you'll be secretly surprised...

For parents it's now time to start making those important decisions about your children's education and especially those extra curriculums that you feel your child will enjoy experiencing. At Karen Hardy Studios we know full well the values that dance in a child's life offers from; communication skills, interacting, sense of achievement, working together, manners and very importantly fitness and energy and all whilst having fun. Why not give your child the chance to embrace a skill he will keep with him for a lifetime. For more information about our Saturday classes or private one to one lessons click here or contact emma@karenhardystudios.com today.

And with you yourself now having a bit more 'Lifestyle Time' back on your hands (even if it is for a brief time), with your children back to school it's time to once again indulge in those lifestyle luxuries! So, with Strictly Come Dancing about to tease us with it's launch show on the 15th September we know it will soon have you all pondering once again "should I learn to dance?" Don't think about it any more, do something about it and make 2012 the year you officially stepped onto a dance floor with style and you can do it for FREE here today. At our exclusive members club in the London's Chelsea district you have all the privacy you need to take those first early learning steps and there's even a champagne bar to further support your nerves! Join during the month of September and enjoy 50% discount on your first year's membership. For more information please contact emma@karenhardystudios.com or call 0845 567 1155 and quote 'Lifestyle Living'

Congratulations have to go out to our own Karen Hardy Studios Team GB who as a party of 30 set off into the world of the unknown, destination... Palm Beach, Miami, to compete at the Killick Klassik, just a couple of weeks ago and returned with a mountain of first places. Not only that but also with the combined success of each of our students it resulted in Karen Hardy Studios winning runners up in 'The Best Studio' category!! Go KHS Team GB we are all so proud of you and the trophy will have a pride of place in the studio.

Who would have thought our new and exciting introduction of ProAm would take off with such a huge success? Can you believe it was over a year ago that the idea was first put to a handful of our members, then in January of this year we enjoyed welcoming Paul Killick to our studio to give us a little more detail as to what his event would hold for us all. Still seemingly a dream for so many of you, nervously and probably apprehensively (as we were also) you signed the bottom-line and agreed to bungee jump into this new experience.

Can you believe a team of 30 of us in total all boarded planes at different times and from different locations but on the whole we all arrived at the five star Ritz Carlton, 'Palm Beach darling..." ready to hear more about the unknown and to be greeted by the extravagant Mr Paul Killick himself at a cocktail party with champagne flowing to welcome us all.

Well the rest of this incredible story is all history now but such fabulous memories for us all to reflect back over time and time again! From incredible showcases from you - our students - to a most personal, warm and welcoming hotel on the exclusive Palm Beach front, to endless glasses of champagne celebrating our success and possibly a moment of table dancing or two by those who shall remain nameless..., to seeing the most amazing smiles on your faces as you won, to tears of disappointment in not achieving what you had so desired, to experiencing high class performances from top champions from around the world... there really are not enough words that will ever express just how perfect this dance vacation to Miami was and what we all experienced in our own individual ways.

For those that took this huge leap of faith, some not long having taken up the early learning steps of lifestyle ballroom dancing to others who are our life and soul of the studio we personally want to say a huge thank you for believing in us. We are sure you never thought you would one day step foot onto a dance floor, lights camera action... with a professional dance partner, all glammed up to the hill in the most suave and gorgeous attire and compete in an event tens of thousands of miles away in the USA ... ballroom dancing!! Well you did and we are so proud of each and every one of you and our thanks is also extended to the wonderful team of family and friends who came along to support you all the way.

Well done everyone and just to finish you may like to enjoy some personal words from your team that made this all possible. Here's to next year and more:

Emma Gill: "First Place, First Place, First Place!! What happened to those students once too shy to dance in front of others at the studio? Miami was definitely the proudest moment of my teaching career. Thank you to everyone, not only for representing KHS and taking the Killick Klassik by storm but also for being part of one of the best weeks of my life. Can't wait for the next one but remember... what happened in Miami stays in Miami..."

Nick Jury: "Miami Baby!! The Glitz, The Glamour and The Girls - It's a hard life! I would personally like to thank everybody who took part in the whole experience - everyone excelled themselves and worked extremely hard. It was a pleasure to represent Karen Hardy Studios as a team, so well done to everyone. I can't wait for the next trip!!"

Jade Birchall: "What a great opportunity to showcase everything our students are capable of, not only bringing home first places but also trophies! I felt so proud to be part of your teaching team and it was an absolute pleasure to join everyone in their celebrations and party in style!"

Honor Roche: "Welcoming, well-organised, glamorous and above all FUN; we couldn't have asked for more in our students' step to the next level in their dancing at the Killick Klassik. I remember telling everyone before we left that they'd be surprised what they were capable of, no matter their experience level, and team KHS didn't let us down, the results speak for themselves. I was so incredibly proud to represent them, the Studio and the UK and I can't wait to see what the future will bring – get involved!!"

Karen Hardy: "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you everyone for making this dream come true. Conrad and I had always dreamt of the day we could share this wonderful experience with you of the ProAm world and even though we were penetrated by nerves of this not meeting your expectations we think we hit it and more! From seeing your amazing faces as you battled it out on the dance floor to sharing a spot of table dancing with one or two of you on a champagne celebration night... you have made history at our studio and will ever be remembered as KHS Team GB, flying the flag for our studio and we were proud of each and everyone of you. Of course Conrad and Callum were deeply saddened they couldn't be with us but we've already agreed there's always next year!!!"

Paul Killick: "To the darling British Team that ventured all the way to my Killick Klassik competition in Palm Beach! I truly hope you enjoyed every moment of our event as much as we enjoyed having you with us. You were the talk of the event especially the ever-encouraging Great British comradery you brought to our event. You were all absolutely lovely. I hope very much to see you all back again next year and wish you continued success with your dancing experiences."

We are very proud to announce this week our success at the H&F Brilliant Business Awards, at which we were crowned Hammersmith & Fulham's Favourite Business. We were also shortlisted for - although sadly just missed out on winning - the awards for 'Best New Business' and 'Best Customer Service'. Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote, we are truly honoured to win such an award! Click here for more details on the H&F Brilliant Business Awards

Dancing today. Sitting in a Hallmark Hotel with my gorgeous husband we were briefly on my IPad browsing through some Youtube dance footage and came across a recent WDSF amateur dance competition in China... Click here to read 'Dancing Today'

Well it's January 2012 and that pressure of losing those festive kilos that miraculously appeared from nowhere are here once again. So I'm being pressured by so many of you to share my top tips on how to remove those kilos and get that body back to where it was once. Click here to read 'Escape and Indulge in Dance'

Hello 2012 and let's keep on getting you dancing... Karen Hardy's dream of getting everyone up and dancing is going from strength to strength and looking back over 2011 we can see just why. As Gordon Ramsay is to his cooking Karen is to that of dance. Click here to read '2011 – Wow, what a year for Karen and the Studio'

Our Black & White Ball takes place on 28 April 2012. Tickets are sure to sell fast so make sure you get yours today! You can get more details and book your tickets for the Black & White Ball here.

Our Monthly Member's Newsletter, full of all exciting upcoming events at Karen Hardy Studios. Click here to read the October/November newsletter at our official blog.

The morning of a major championships! And this one I am no stranger to, having competed there since a very young age…it's October the weather has changed to a colder feel and that always means the season of the International Championships at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The sheer grandeur of this immense building itself is enough to set precedence to the level of dance you are expected to deliver – so no pressure then! No matter how much you love dance it is safe to say the greater the prestige of the event the greater the pressure to raise your game and any real dancer will thrive for that pressure …especially me! Click here to read 'Could we win the International Title?' at our official blog.

Well having got the bug to want to share my fascination and personal passion with the world of dance, I have decided to start writing a blog about how dance affects my daily life! Click here to read 'The Mysterious World of Dance' at our official blog.

We're offering all new clients the chance to enjoy a complimentary 25 minute dance lesson - and until December 17th everyone who takes up the offer of a free lesson will be entered into a prize draw to win a one-to-one lesson with Karen Hardy!

Join us at Bokwa every Monday during the month of September and be entered in for a fantastic prize to win a pair of Freed Fitness Dance Shoes worth £70. The more you attend the more chances to win!

First come, first served for front row tickets!

KHS Member (seated) £45
KHS Member (standing) £25
Non-Member (seated) £55
Non-Member (standing) £35

Corporate bookings of 10 or more receive a 10% discount. Click here to book tickets now.

Britain's biggest dance show, Sky One's GOT TO DANCE, is back for a third series. Davina McCall will host the competition, with Ashley Banjo, Kimberley Wyatt and Adam Garcia all returning as Judges, as dancers battle it out to win the life-changing sum of a quarter of a million pounds and the chance to become the GOT TO DANCE CHAMPION 2012.

We are now accepting applications and want anyone who thinks they have what it takes to come to our auditions - whether they're 4 or 84, into Street or Salsa, a soloist or in a group, a professional or an amateur. Whatever their style of dance, whatever their ability we want to see it!

Auditions are in July and August. Anyone wanting to apply should go to this link on Sky1's website.