Hen party themes · ABBA
ABBA Hen Party Dance Class Sheffield
An ABBA hen party dance class in Sheffield for the group that will be singing before anyone has taught them a step. Arms above the head, glitter entirely optional, choruses that come round often enough for everybody to get them. A private choreographer in a studio we hire in the city centre, priced for the party rather than the person: £175 for ninety minutes, £150 for an hour.
Check your date
Ask early, decide later.
An enquiry commits you to nothing. Send the weekend you're circling, however many hens you think are coming and where you'll be based, and we'll come back with what's available and what it comes to.
Glitter, flares and a very loud chorusWhere the class happens
Two rooms we hire in Sheffield city centre, or we come to you.
- Bailey Street, S1 4EHHired studio near West Street and the Devonshire Quarter
- Surrey Street, S1 2LGHired room beside the Peace Gardens and the Crucible
- Your own venueHouse, cottage or hotel space across Sheffield and the Peaks — clear the floor and we travel to you
Why ABBA lands
Nobody needs persuading.
Put one of those choruses on in a room of twenty women who have never all been in the same place before, and the awkwardness lasts roughly eleven seconds. That is why this theme sits so near the top of our hen party dance class list — it deletes the part of the afternoon everyone quietly dreads. Musically it is also a gift to a choreographer. The phrasing is simple and it repeats, so the routine can be built from big overhead arms, a step-touch anyone can hold and a chorus that comes back around often enough for the group to have four attempts at it before the end.
To be clear about what this is: a tribute session inspired by the records, with no connection whatsoever to the band, the stage show or the films. Beyond that, the shape belongs to your party. Some groups want the full seventies performance, with a wedge formation and someone appointed to point dramatically at the ceiling; others just want a laugh and a decent video. Jumpsuits, platforms and anything sequinned come from the group, since costumes, props and shoes are not things we supply. For parties leaning towards the stage rather than the singles chart, the musicals class is a natural neighbour, and Strictly covers the sparkly ballroom end of things.
Age is the reason this one gets booked so often. A hen party containing a grandmother, three aunties, a work colleague and a teenage cousin will find very little else that all of them actively want to dance to. It also fits a Sheffield weekend built around the theatres — an afternoon session and then something on at the Lyceum or the Crucible works nicely. A fair few guests turn up later at one of our weekly dance classes in the city centre, which was never the plan when they arrived in a boa.
One fee, no extras
What the group gets for £175.
Ninety minutes is what nearly everybody books for this theme, because the singing eats into the dancing time. Room hire is the only item outside the flat fee, arranged by us and agreed with you first.
What's included
- Professional dance instructor
- ABBA choreography built for your group
- All music and sound equipment
- Warm-up and cool-down
- Beginner-friendly instruction
- Photo and video opportunities
- Help picking the theme and the song
- Group coordination beforehand
- A spotlight moment for the bride
What you'll experience
- An ABBA-inspired routine set to whichever of the records your group loves
- Overhead arms and step-touches that suit every age in the room
- A chorus that returns often enough for the whole party to own it
- An instructor happy to simplify anything the group is fighting with
- A bride's moment sized to how much attention she actually wants
- Singing along, which nobody has ever managed to stop
Perfect for
- Four generations of one family in the same room
- Brides whose taste in music is joyfully uncool
- Parties where somebody's nan is genuinely the best dancer
- Afternoons that need to be loud rather than difficult
- Groups who will sing whether or not it was on the plan
- A hen weekend with a show booked for the evening
The running order
Ninety minutes of ABBA, roughly.
The first ten minutes are mostly about getting arms moving and shoulders down, and they double as the warm-up whether anybody notices or not. Then comes the verse material, which is the fiddly part and therefore goes first while concentration is high: a travelling pattern, a turn, a shape held for two counts. It is deliberately taught before the singing starts, because once a familiar chorus arrives the room becomes considerably harder to instruct.
After that the chorus goes on, and everything gets easier and louder. The group learns one big repeatable section, then a formation so the whole party is visible in a photograph rather than hidden behind each other, then a finish with the bride out front for however long she can stand it. Ninety minutes leaves enough room to perform the finished thing twice, which is usually necessary because the first run gets ruined by laughing. None of this is set in stone — the balance shifts on the day depending on who is in the room, so read it as the usual pattern rather than a promised order.
Once the glitter settled
What the ABBA groups told us.
My grandmother is eighty-four and she did the whole ABBA routine, arms and all. That video is the single best thing to come out of the wedding year.
Six of us had never met before that afternoon and by the chorus you genuinely couldn't tell. Whatever she did in the first ten minutes, it worked.
Twenty-three of us and still one price, which made my life as organiser about ten times easier. The ABBA class was the bit everyone talked about afterwards.
We sang far more than we danced. No regrets.
ABBA, answered
Before you book the ABBA class.
1Is this an official ABBA or Mamma Mia experience?
No — it is a session inspired by the records, and we have no affiliation with the band, the musical or the films. What you get is our own choreography set to that era of music. If your group thinks of it as the Mamma Mia theme, that is fine by us, but nothing about it is licensed or official.
2Will there be singing as well as dancing?
Almost certainly, though nobody is made to. Every ABBA party we have taught has ended up bellowing along at some point, and the instructor builds in the moments where that is going to happen rather than fighting it. If your group would rather concentrate quietly, say so and the session leans more towards the dancing.
3Our hen party spans four generations. Does ABBA still work?
This is the theme we suggest most often for exactly that. The steps stay upright and rhythmic rather than fast or low, so a grandmother and a nineteen-year-old cousin can do the same routine side by side. Anyone who needs to sit a section out can, and they will still be in the final photograph.
4Is everyone expected to turn up in flares and glitter?
Not at all, although the pictures are better when they do. Everything themed is organised by your own group, as we don't provide costumes, props or footwear of any kind. Whatever gets worn, flat shoes make the dancing far more comfortable than platforms will.
5Is the ninety-minute workshop worth it for ABBA?
For this theme, usually yes. The extra half hour at £175 absorbs the singing, the laughing and a second run at the finished routine, all of which the hour at £150 has to squeeze. Both prices cover the entire party with venue hire on top, so the choice is about pace rather than headcount.
6We're staying outside the city — can you still come to us?
Yes, provided there is a clear stretch of floor to work on. We use two hired venues: Bailey Street (S1 4EH) near West Street, and Surrey Street (S1 2LG) beside the Peace Gardens, and yours is confirmed with the date. Our default is a studio we hire in Sheffield city centre, minutes from the Winter Garden and the station, and that address is confirmed as soon as your booking is agreed. Parties who have taken a cottage out towards the Peak District, or a big house in one of the surrounding towns, can have the instructor travel to them instead.