Ballroom boy

Posted on March 27, 2019

Vincent Simone talks to Nicola Rayner about his new touring show with Ian Waite

“Any chance to please the ladies!” jokes Italian dancer Vincent Simone when I ask about his new show The Ballroom Boys. “It was an idea that Ian Waite had,” he goes on to explain. “It hasn’t been done before that a pair of boys from Strictly get together to do a show – it’s usually a couple. He asked me if I’d be happy to do something like that and, of course, I said yes. We’re both involved with the making of it,” he continues. “Ian has done his own shows before, while I’ve never done anything quite like this.”

Best known for his long-term dance partnership with fellow Italian Flavia Cacace, Simone has starred in four very successful stage shows with her – Dance ’Til Dawn, The Last Tango, Midnight Tango and Tango Moderno – and she has given this new project her blessing.

When I speak to him in late February, Simone and Waite have yet to start rehearsals. “We’ve had a few meetings about music, concept and ideas for the show through FaceTime and over the phone. I love his ideas of how to approach the show, the audience, choreography and so on.”

A full version of this interview appears in the April 2019 issue of Dancing Times. Buy your print copy here or buy your digital copy from all good app stores

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. Today she continues to dance everything from ballroom to breakdance, with varying degrees of success. Her debut novel, The Girl Before You, was published last year in paperback, ebook and audiobook.