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Marianka Swain introduces the Class of 2020. Photographs by Guy Levy, courtesy of the BBC I must begin on an earnest note: what a minor miracle it is to have this sliver of sequinned normality back on our screens. Thank you, thank you to everyone on Team Strictly whose tireless work allowed us to forget […]
For once, Blackpool Week just about lived up to the hype, with some fun, exciting and truly outstanding performances. However, as so often in this changeable series, erratic scoring led to another shock elimination. Michelle and Giovanni, one of this year’s most consistent and creative couples, and likely finalists, lost out in the dance-off, as […]
In the last week, Strictly Come Dancing has welcomed not one but two new dancers for series 17 of the BBC show. Motsi Mabuse, the sister of professional dancer Oti Mabuse, will replace Darcey Bussell on the judging panel. Originally from South Africa, Motsi is a former South African champion and German Latin champion and […]
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 […]
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 […]
Strictly Come Dancing’s Dianne Buswell talks to Nicola Rayner about a new touring show, Here Come The Girls For one reason or another, 2019 seems to be the year of the same-sex ballroom show – sisters (or brothers) are doing it for themselves. We have Vincent Simone and Ian Waite pairing up for The Ballroom Boys […]
Hello, new young people viewers to Strictly Come Dancing! Snapchat this on your Tide Pod slime, amiright? Yes, in Joe Sugg’s honour, the BBC has – I’m sorry to say – decided it must become hip to the kids of today. Please God let the try-hard shower of emojis that accompanied Joe’s dance never appear […]
Marianka Swain introduces the contestants… Hello again, Strictly fans! It’s Series 16! Woohoo! Series 16, AKA the one where Marianka continually squawks “A YouTuber?” at her screen in the manner of Lady Bracknell’s “A handbag?” and feels about 102 and begins to contemplate the yawning void of mortality, and then remembers the state of the world […]
Marianka Swain on the last dance There was something of an elegiac feel to this year’s final, as Len Goodman, Strictly institution, finally hung up his “Seh-ven!” paddle, gave us one last scrambled metaphor and waltzed off to the great golf course in the sky. We can only hope ballroom doesn’t follow suit, but continues to […]
Marianka Swain on a closely fought semi-final Two-dance week: often a recipe for disappointing half-dances. But this was actually a decent semi-final, if inconsistent – in performance and in judging. Ah yes. Overmarked, undermarked, wandering free. The judges of Strictly, erratic are we. At this point, Bruno’s 10 is more devalued than the pound, and […]
Marianka Swain watches Strictly get mired in musicals Perhaps this is an unfashionable stance in the “tired of experts” era, but for me Strictly’s Musicals Week highlighted a more general issue with this series: we’ve had too much of our ballroom dancers attempting other styles, rather than their own. The pro numbers are overwhelmingly contemporary […]
Pasha Kovalev’s Life Through Dance tours until June 21. He tells Nicola Rayner about the show… How does Life Through Dance compare with your your show last year with Katya Virshilas? There’s different music, different choreography and this time around I want to have a little story going from dance to dance about the things […]
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