B is for Beke

Posted on August 8, 2012

“Strictly Come Dancing” star Anton Du Beke is putting the finishing touches to his latest book, B is for Ballroom, which is to be available from October 18.

Anton’s new book promises to guide you through the world of ballroom, helping even the novice reader become an armchair expert on everything from costumes and choreography to steps and stars.

“It’s an A to Z of humorous insights on ballroom and Latin for armchair fans of dancing. It’s all the stuff I have in my head. I love anything to do with the history of dance,” Anton told Dance Today’s Lee Knights in an interview that will appear in the October issue of the magazine.

“Did you know, for instance, that the double reverse spin was invented by the first British Open champion, Maxwell Stuart, while he was dancing with the Queen of Norway in the 1920s?”

B is for Ballroom explains why some lifts are illegal, why judges focus on competitors’ hands and arms and why ballroom dancers are so at home in sequins. He covers individual dances, points of technique from holds to footwork and all the glamour of the ballroom world.

Anton and his professional partner Erin Boag have appeared in every series of “Strictly Come Dancing”. Erin, Anton says, keeps his feet on the ground. “We’ve been together longer than a lot of marriages! Erin is normal, not at all starry.

“If you put all the ingredients together it takes to create the perfect lady ballroom dancer, you’d end up with Erin. If I couldn’t dance with Erin, I’d retire, there’d be no point to it.”

B is for Ballroom, published by Constable & Robinson will be available from October 18 (RRP £14.99).

For the full interview, see the October issue of Dance Today, on sale on October 3.

Nicola Rayner

Nicola Rayner was editor of Dance Today from 2010 to 2015. She has written for a number of publications including The Guardian, The Independent and Time Out Buenos Aires, where she cut her teeth as a dance journalist working on the tango section. Now acting editor of Discover Britain magazine, she continues to dance everything from ballroom to breakdance, with varying degrees of success.