If anyone remembers the old City Arcade when ‘The Cabin’ was a tiny booth opposite the ‘Samba Café’, they may also remember the arrival of La Danse in 1985. Annie opened the dance shop in answer to the demand of the many dancers who were travelling far and wide to buy their dance shoes and it very quickly became the place to go for all dance related products and satin bridal shoes. All the staff, including Annie’s daughter, Brigette, (then a Saturday Assistant), were trained to fit pointe shoes by Michael Gamba and Rodney Freed, the shop stocked all the leading dance brands of the time: Gamba, Freed, Timestep, Supadance, Equity, Meadows, Porselli and Slix, to name but a few and their slogan was: “If we haven’t got it – we’ll get it!”
In the mid 90’s Annie sold La Danse and over the following two decades the shop changed hands and moved location twice, first to Broad Street and then to the Hopmarket Arcade.
In the summer of 2015, due to staff shortages, the shop found itself in need of cover, and Brigette, (now known to most people as Britt) was back in Worcester and available to help. She found the business in desperate need of TLC and took on the challenge with a dedicated clean-up and re-stocking campaign, working around the clock to restore her mother’s former shop. Then fate stepped in with the availability of a much bigger trading space, 7 doors away. Britt seized the opportunity, took over the business and moved the shop on New Year’s Day 2016 to Unit Number 10 in the Hopmarket.
Over the next 4 years, La Danse’s reputation grew and grew with many teachers recommending that their students exclusively choose La Danse for their fittings. Then in 2020, the Covid19 pandemic hit.
Shops, dance schools and theatres all closed their doors. During the first lockdown, Britt designed and built the Fitting Pod so as soon as shops were allowed to reopen, all fittings could continue safely. Working strictly to an appointment system, the diary filled up and La Danse was back in action.
Then in January 2021, the High Street was locked down again and the very future of retail was brought into question.
Not so for La Danse. Our loyal customer database patiently waited for the world to reopen, whilst continuing to dance via Zoom. As soon as lockdown was lifted, La Danse’s appointment diary immediately filled up again. It was clear that dancers still valued the opportunity to have shoes properly fitted and to try on leotards in store, so Britt invested heavily in these products and altered the shop hours to accommodate her customers.
And that is how La Danse continues to thrive. Knowledge, expertise, passion and lots of beautiful stock . A valuable resource for dancers near and far.
La Danse Fitting Service.
Your feet in safe hands.