Dance Hall classes that promise to make you "stop, drop and make your body pop" go off on weeknights in the upper hall of Bootsie's Comedy Club.

Tiny T, aka Demeka Tacklin, a reggae singer and dancer, holds the classes from Monday to Thursday evenings.

Ms Tacklin, who is known for her high-energy dance routines, decided to teach others how to do her particular style of dancing after her mentor, Carl Outerbridge, encouraged her.

"He has always given me guidance and ways of putting my talents out in a positive way," she explained.

"He had said, 'what you are doing is a workout – take it somewhere and teach it'.

"So I came here to Bootsie (comedian Erwin Wolf) and he accepted it with open arms."

Tiny's classes are drawing women of all ages, creeds and colours.

"It is interesting," she said. "I have a friend, who is a white girl, and she didn't know how to wind, and I went up her house everyday and we'd look in the mirror and we started winding and winding.

"Now she's got it down!"

She believes that there is help for anyone who wants to learn this style of dance.

"But the main thing is for everybody to have a good time," she added.

"In this class we get a little more flexible and a bit more in touch with our sexuality."

Her love for dance came from the maternal side of her family, she explained.

"My love for dance comes from my mother, you know when you are little and your mother is busting the music," she said.

"I danced in my uncle's Gombey troupe (Richardson's Gombeys) from the time I was 14 to 26 – not every time that they came out, but often. That taught me to dance rough, because it is a fight."

The music that she plays is as varied as her clientele.

"'Take Way Yourself', that is one of the latest songs on the reggae charts, and they came out with a dance to that," she said.

"Another one that we are doing is 'Reverse the Ting'. We also dance to R&B, a little bit of Soca, and people can also bring in a CD with their favourite song."

When she heads out for a night, Tiny T said she uses all of her excess energy on the floor.

"I express myself through the dance and I love the feeling of my adrenaline running," she said.

Although many look at her and say she is thin, she still feel that there is always room for improvement.

"I still feel that I need to be watching my weight and everybody has a little something that they want to work on," she said.

Holding the classes has brought a lot of joy to her life.

"These women look up to me and I respect these women," she said. "It is just beautiful because I teach them how to stop, drop and make their body pop – there are all different types of moves that we do up here.

"You don't have to worry about anyone gawking down on you – it is just a private session with me teaching them my dance moves."

She added: "We laugh a lot at our mistakes. And when you leave the class, you carry yourself better, as you are not all sluggish."

When asked how she kept up on the latest dance styles, most of which hail from the Caribbean, she said: "A lot of my dance moves come from within, while others are dance styles and trends that come from Jamaica.

"I like reggae music and I always look out for the new songs and the new dances."

For more information telephone 504-4477.