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Darcey Bussell shocked Strictly Come Dancing fans with the announcement she is to step down from her role as a judge on the BBC One show. Previously appearing as a guest judge on the programme, Bussell has been a permanent member of the Strictly judging panel since 2012, seeing the show through seven series. In […]
February has always been an exciting month for me. My birthday falls at its start; Valentine’s and Pancake days usually add further cause for diversion (though Shrove Tuesday makes a later appearance in March 2019). Since I’ve spent successive Februarys stateside, my appreciation for pop culture standouts like the Super Bowl, Golden Globes and Oscars […]
We’ve gone through the listings with our highlighter pen, seeking out dance on television over the festive period, from Strictly to ballet to the traditional New Year’s Day concert from Vienna. We were feeling completist, so decided to include circus spectacle and migrating birds on our list. Saturday 19 December Strictly […]
What’s worse than a limp theme show? A limp theme show at a crucial stage of the competition. We might arguably have had the same quarter-final elimination without it – paso was always going to expose Princess Helen’s lack of versatility – but at least it would have resulted from a fair test of ballroom […]
We need to talk about music. Strictly precariously straddles the worlds of ballroom and entertainment, so it can’t – and shouldn’t – be wall-to-wall Victor Silvester, but we’ve reached a crisis point. Song and theme choices (as I understand it, some suggested by pros, but producers hold sway) are now actively handicapping couples, who can […]
Phew! A return to form following last week’s Halloween hellscape, with some great performances, the series’ first multiple 10s, and Jeremy Vine riding a horse. All that, AND copious amounts of genuinely informative training footage? You’re spoiling us, Mr Ambassador. As we’re now at the halfway stage, it was no surprise to see genial duffer […]
Bitter experience has obliterated all possible hope for Strictly’s annual fright fest – best watched several dozen drinks in, when the more disturbing details begin to blur round the edges – but this was an abysmal show even by Halloween standards. It’s hard to know who to pity most: the dancers, stuck with the impossible challenge […]
Let me start this Strictly recap by stating that whatever pain meds Len “8s for everyone!” Goodman is on, I want some. Perhaps they would have enlivened a rather dreary mid-series outing, in which everyone seemed to be pacing themselves for the Halloween insanity to come. It wasn’t until the final three dances (otherwise known as […]
It’s almost worth having bonkers Strictly theme shows just to make us really appreciate the relative sanity of a non-theme show. Well, almost. We’re into “I keep whacking myself with a hammer because it feels so good when I stop” territory, and there was still some bludgeoning to endure this weekend. For one, ludicrous music choices […]
The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) has announced the new Darcey Bussell Genée Bursaries, designed to help young dancers enter the Genée International Ballet Competition.
Natalia Osipova and Jonathan Goddard became the first dancers to pick up two awards in the same ceremony at the 2014 National Dance Awards.
Week 13: The final Perhaps not a vintage year, but Strictly ended on a high with a closer than expected final, bananas returning contestants encore, and a deserving winning couple in Caroline and Pasha. It was a show noticeably light on ballroom – because nothing says telly gold like ropey Week 1 disco cha chas! […]