Surrey Hills Dance Centre

About Us

Surrey Hills Dance Centre was born in 1992 when British competitors John & Linda Foskett started their professional dance career together and set up a small dance school in Dorking, Surrey. Their son, Michael, and his wife, Nika, who together are Ballroom World Champions, joined the family business in 2017.

SHDC has since gone on to become one of the leading centres for Ballroom and Latin American dancing in the country, offering fun and friendly tuition for all ages and levels. We teach from a beginner and social level all the way up to having coached many top National and International level couples.

We offer a wide variety of services including:

Children's and Youth Classes

Adult Classes

Private Lessons

Wedding 1st Dance Tuition

Competitive Coaching

ProAm and Teacher-Student Competitions

Practice Sessions

Medal Test Examinations

Social Dances

Corporate Events

Demonstrations and Shows

Teachers

John

Linda

Together

I started dancing at the age of 6 and as a child competed in local, national and international Old Time, Ballroom and Latin American competitions. I returned to dancing during my time at university, where I studied for my BSc (Hons) in Mathematics, Computer Science and Economics. For many years I combined senior management roles in the IT industry with competitive dancing.

Michael

I started dancing at the age of 5 at SHDC and have competed since 2005. I was British No. 1 in both Ballroom & Latin American in both the Juvenile (under 12 years) and Junior (12-16 years) and was England's selected world representative many times. Whilst dancing I have also continued my education and in 2020 completed a PhD in Applied Mathematics at the University of Surrey. Nika and I started dancing together in 2013 when she moved to the UK and we were married in 2017.

I started dancing at the age of 5 with the ISTD at a school in Worcester Park. After completing my medals I decided that I wanted to compete, and commenced competitive dancing at 17. John and I met on the competition circuit, partnered each other in 1982 and married in 1984.

Nika

I am originally from Kyiv, Ukraine and started dancing at the age of 12. I moved to the UK in 2013 to study for my A-levels and dance with Michael. We have a very successful dancing partnership which became a partnership for life when we were married in August 2017. In 2018 I completed a BSc in Business Management at Kingston University, graduating with First Class Honours.

Together we won a number of significant amateur Ballroom and Latin American events, including the prestigious London Cup. We were Ballroom and Latin American British Team members. We turned professional in 1992 qualifying as teachers with the ISTD in 1993/4. In 1996 Linda turned full time professional followed by John in 2004.

Together

Our dancing partnership has been amazingly successful from the start in 2013. During 2013/14, as international Youth competitors, we won the British National, Closed UK, Embassy Ball (USA), Galaxy & Europa Imperial, British Open and World Youth Ballroom Championships. We have since been finalists in the British National, European and Star Ball Amateur Ballroom Championships. We turned Professional in July 2022 and on our debut were crowned UK Closed Professional 10-Dance Champions.