Our Dance at The Dilly

The Dilly Hotel – The Piano Bar | 21 Piccadilly | W1J 0BH

Wednesday 13th July 

It was the perfect evening to dust off our dance shoes and descend into the stunning secret ballroom at the Dilly. Outside, London was experiencing some of its hottest temperatures on record as things were about to heat up at our Dilly Dance event!

The Dilly Hotel (formerly Le Meridien) is a grand hotel on Piccadilly and the only hotel to have a dedicated Ballroom as a Dance Studio.

Viktoriya Wilton runs the dance studio and instructed us in the art of a very social salsa and had everyone “swaying and rocking” laughing merrily. She made learning the steps so entertaining, and in less than half an hour, everyone had mastered the basic Cuban step, three steps followed by a pause, fast-fast and slow. What a wonderful way to brush up on your dance technique and get us to meet everyone in the room in the most uninhibited style.

Meanwhile, back in the Dilly’s bar…. aptly named the Piano Bar, with all its art deco elegance. Our pianist, Alex, reminded us of what a joy it is to experience live music in an exclusive bar all to ourselves!

The perfectly created ‘Dilly Lover’ Cocktail loosened us up to mix and mingle with its delicious subtle sweetness.

Executive Chef Steven Ger wowed us with wonderful canapes and sharing boards, including Chicken ballotine and crisp poppadum, Wild mushroom vol-au-vent and Piquillo peppers. We had so much incredible food it was difficult to leave, a delight to our foodie guests.

Make your own ‘Dilly Lover Cocktail’

Gin, blackberry liquor, Ginger Ale, Sugar Syrup, lemon juice and blackberries

Thank you to Viktoriya Wilton for being such a fabulous instructor and great fun in the process. The Dilly’s General Manager, James Olivier and wonderful Head of Events Jessica Walford-Atkins

In the words of the famous television show, ‘Keep Dancing.’

PS Anyone who wants to learn to dance at the Dilly can contact Viktoriya on vicky@inspiration2dance.com

Some Lovely feedback;

Hi Barbara,

Fun at The Dilly on Wednesday night, we enjoyed the Salsa class, it was a good idea to switch people around. The piano bar was a great venue for a party and thankfully had very good air conditioning. The staff were friendly and provided loads of yummy canapes. We met lots of lively, engaging people. Thank you for organising the party, Barbara, we look forward to the next event.  

J x


Barbara

Well, that was such a fantastic fun evening totally loved the dancing 🕺 💃 my new hobby and a lovely group of guests big thank you B xx


Hello Barbara,

Thanks for a very entertaining evening.  I thought the dance, with moving partners regularly, was a great way to meet a lot of people quickly.  

I liked the cocktail and thought the food was delicious.  As a non-seafood eater, I was particularly appreciative of them labelling the trays, so I didn’t have to ask continually.

And the pianist was great.  Altogether a very classy place. P x


Barbara Brudenell-Bruce

Barbara is a classic entrepreneur; her career has been defined by a series of iconic start-ups within telecoms, entertainment and fashion. She leads Investor Relations for a London-based consultancy raising capital for entrepreneurs. Alongside financial matchmaking she represents exclusive offline matchmaking agency Vida in London & Monaco, connecting their UHNW clients. Barbara’s innate sense of what it takes to fit people together, with a flair of hosting exquisite events, makes her a social anchor for all that know her.

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