DISCO

When 61-year-old Nikki Spencer couldn’t find a club night that was welcoming and played music she liked, she decided to launch her own. We hit the dance floor at one of her popular events...

by LIZ HOGGARD

photography MICHAEL LECKIE

Aslender woman in a silver ballgown is gyrating under a huge disco ball on the stage, as the DJ spins his vinyl. 'Come on,' ex horts Ni kkiSpencer, 61, disco's mistress of ceremonies. 'It's time to boogie.' And obediently we fall in line, ma k ing swoosh ing arm mov ements to Car Wash by Rose Royce.

'You're nev er too old to dance,' insists Nikki, wh o hosts clubbing ev ents inclusiv e of all ages. Ni k ki's 'Hav en't Stopped Dancing Yet' nigh ts feature Sev enties and Eig h ties music - funk , soul and disco - for people wh o remember th e tunes from wh en th ey were growing up. Th eytak e place around London as well as in Brigh ton, Maidenh ead and Croydon. 'My wh ole ph ilosophy is: we can still dance, so wh y sh ouldn't we?'

Hav en't Stopped Dancing Yet (HSDY) runs from early ev ening to midnigh t. People come in groups to celebrate birth days, sch ool reunions and h en nigh ts; mums bring th eir daugh ters in th eir early twenties. But it's also fme to turn up solo and dance your sock s off. Fans range in age from th eir forties to sev enties. But on th e nigh t Iattended, at London's Islington Assembly Hall, there was an 86-year-old h av ing a birth day nigh t out with h is family. Intergenerational clubbing is k ey, Ni k kiinsists. 'We nev er h av e an upper, or lower, age limit. It's more a state of mind and attitude. We always h av e ch airs dotted around so people can sit down when they need it. Everyone can go at th eir own pace. Some don't stop dancing for h ours; oth ers just lik e listening to th e great tunes.'