About Us

Community Crew

Fevah Modern Jive is run by Deb and Matt. We've been involved with Modern Jive since 1995 and with extensive overseas experience especially in the UK where Modern Jive originated in the 1980's. We've been running Modern Jive classes and events here in Christchurch since 2005.

"Our passion is sharing the joy and benefits of dancing.

We want you to feel welcome & comfortable and have a great time." 🙂

Most people who walk through our doors have never danced before and we specialise in helping people like you. We make learning fun, enjoyable and achievable - take your time, there's no rush, enjoy the journey.

A Little More About Us

Deb has a strong Dancesport background and has competed extensively in Australia before moving to New Zealand. She studied and worked in the area of digital and art conservation and became a leading authority on digital preservation whilst at the National Library of Australia. Deb loves anything ✨ sparkly ✨

Matt is/was an electronics engineer with a strong maths and software background. When it came to dancing he had no sense of rhythm and was a very slow learner which helps him empathise with the struggling beginners. Matt enjoys trail running and is currently experimenting with barefoot running.

Our Team

We have an amazing team of teachers, door staff, helpers, DJ's, setup and packdown crew and more who work with us to make our classes and events as safe, enjoyable and rewarding as we can.

Modern Jive FAQs

What Is Modern Jive?

Modern Jive is a social partner dance that is one of the easiest partner dance styles to learn. It can be danced anywhere music is playing: bars & nightclubs, parties, weddings, dance events, and so on.

It borrows concepts and ideas from other styles giving it broad appeal to people of all ages and abilities

Social

It is relatively easy to make progress early on.
Dancers of different abilities can dance together at classes and social events.
It can be danced at a great many social functions such as parties, bars, weddings, concerts, even the beach!

Partner

It's a partner dance involving at least one lead and follow.
Break away dancing is also possible (and enjoyable) for short periods.

Dance

It can be danced to a wide range of music (nearly all with a 4/4 time signature).
It has looser requirements for footwork.
Dancers can use the tempo of a song and/or other qualities such as the melody and lyrics.

What is the Footwork?

Many dance styles are created for particular tempos and styles of music. For example, Argentine Tango, Lindy Hop, Rock 'n' Roll, Salsa, West Coast Swing, Zouk, and the ten standard Ballroom styles (Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Quickstep, Viennese Waltz, Rumba, Cha Cha Cha, Jive, Samba & Paso Doble).

They have particular footwork patterns that match the tempo of the music they are commonly danced to. Play a different genre of music and that dance style might not fit. These styles tend to be focussed more on dancing than on people - they're undertaken with proper dance shoes on specific dance surfaces to achieve the specific requirements of a style.

Modern Jive does not have formal footwork - we merely recommend leads initiate with the right foot and follows initiate with the left but it is not fixed in stone.

At more advanced levels we do not need step to the tempo of the music - we can also dance to the melody as well. The wide variety of music and the continuous evolution are just two of the reasons why Modern Jive is always fresh and rewarding.

Click below for specific information about timing and footwork.

Modern Jive Timing

8 Reasons To Dance Modern Jive

The people! People who dance Modern Jive are anyone and everyone from all walks of life, there's no pecking order and everyone dances with everyone else.
It's easy to get started and after one lesson you can survive a whole song.
It can be danced to a wide range of music.
It's popular and appeals to a wide range of ages from teens to much older.
It has a relaxed approach to footwork.
The classes are fun and rewarding giving a quick sense of accomplishment.
Classes and events have great sense of community with a focus on being friendly and welcoming.
Modern Jive dance competitions are some of the most enjoyable and rewarding dance competitions of any dance style. The main point is the focus on overall enjoyment and participation rather than just trying to win.

What dancers say about MJ

"Modern Jive is the English language of dance. It shamelessly 'borrows' from other dance forms to make something more flexible and more fun than previously existed." - Michael

"The best weight management system while having the most fun and the only exercise I am willing to do for hours and hours." - Anita

"...It takes the best pieces of multiple dance forms chucks it through a blender and what comes out is a dance [called Modern Jive]" - Darryl

"AWESOME!!!!" - Stephen

"It's whatever you choose it to be." - Rob

"I wish I'd done this when I was younger!" - lots of people!

Weddings, Dance Events and More

Over the years we've found a variety of ways to develop our passion for serving the dance community both here in Christchurch and beyond.

Fevah Modern Jive

Fun, social partner dance classes and events. We are one of the most popular partner dance clubs in Australasia running four class nights a week in Christchurch. We also have monthly dance parties and socials.

Classes range in size from 30 to 100 with a wide range of ages represented.

Wedding Dance with Deb

Deb has taught over 600 wedding couples over the years and has also taught entire wedding groups. She has considerable experience in being able to handle large groups of people and getting them organised and dancing in a short space of time.

With many years experience she is in high demand especially during the wedding season.

OMJ

Think Ōtautahi Modern Jive (or OMG but with the G replaced with J for jive) - this is a group within Fevah for dancers keen to keep up with latest music releases as well as dancing to classic hits.

Dancers of all ages are welcome with the night being particulary popular for those in the 18 - 35 range.

Christchurch Modern Jive Championships

The ChCh Champs is one of the most popular Modern Jive competitions in Australasia with over 150 competitors regularly attending.

The action is spread over three days with a variety of categories to suit all levels.

Refresh Dance Weekend

Our Refresh weekender is a mix of workshops, a few competition categories and socials but with a refreshing twist.

Winter Weekender

The Winter Weekender is hosted by our Wednesday (OMJ) crew and is New Zealand's only Winter dance weekend featuring social events, workshops, snow sports and of course a huge dance party.

Modern Jive Points Index

The Modern Jive Points Index (MJPI) is a system to track the progress of competitors in Modern Jive dance competitions.

The MJPI is used extensively in New Zealand and Australia. It also uses a scoring system (developed by us) which is used at most Modern Jive competitions in New Zealand and has also been used at the Ceroc Pan-Asia Championships.