Does Strictly get the nation dancing?

Strictly Come Dancing launches again on BBC One on 19 September — with a new hosts, Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes taking over from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. As a former BBC designer the need for the BBC to add value to the nation never leaves me and with a fresh start for the show I find myself thinking as I do every year at this time: does Strictly get Britain dancing?

Earlier this year, the BBC launched a campaign fronted by Romesh Ranganathan — understandably, in part to encourage licence fee payments — revisiting a question first asked back in 1986: "What has the BBC ever done for me?" It's a warm, celebratory piece of work, built around the idea that the BBC has quietly shaped millions of personal moments across the country.

For me the BBC has done lots — notably several career shaping years spent working as a designer on the BBC's experience team. But for me the most special thing the BBC has given me, is dance.

Jill Halfpenny's Jive

“I was 11 when Jill Halfpenny danced her famous jive in an early series of Strictly, joyful and lively, it made me dance around the living room immediately. That one Saturday-night dance on BBC turned into a love of a lifetime and it's the reason Ballroom Dance London exists today, helping others to discover the same thing.I started with persuading my mum to Rumba with me at the local village hall dance class, full of OAPs which I didn’t return to. It took nearly 10 years to pass and finding ballroom dance during university to scratch the itch that Jills Jive had left me with. I have danced every day ever since in competitions all over the world and now in the lessons I teach – which I like to think of accessible, everyday, mini versions of Strictly.”

So many people must start dancing because of Strictly

Every year, an estimated ten million people tune in to watch Strictly so yes you would think this is true. But is it?Of the many beginner ballroom and latin dancers who have visited Ballroom Dance London classes at Pineapple Dance Studio, the minority are people who say they were inspired by Strictly. The programme has undoubtedly contributed to maintaining the visibility of ballroom and Latin dancing, turning the cha-cha, tango and Viennese waltz into Saturday-night entertainment but a gap remains in people therefore believing that learning the Strictly dances is for them.

That is why Ballroom Dance London exists, so ballroom and Latin feels like that it is something for you – for you to get off the sofa, to try something new, to move to good music, wear a dancing outfit you like, or dance without a special outfit, for doing something fun with a partner, making a new friend, coordinating with a team mate, going on a date night, a hen party, a rainy Sunday.

Dancing with a partner is fun and sexy and exciting

Like most British girls in the 90s, I spent years in ballet lessons — but it didn’t really make my heart sing. It was the fun and laughter of dancing with a partner that excited me about ballroom, and it still does today. Coordinating your own body is one thing; learning to coordinate it with someone else's — often someone who's just as new to it as you are — is a genuinely special skill, and a much harder one to learn. In partner dancing, its more difficult to hide at the back and vaguely follow along; you have to be brave and tread on a few toes. (Which is so fine by the way, if someone treads on your toe, your toe will be fine).

But that's exactly why it's worth it: the shared sense of achievement when you and your partner finally line up makes those early awkward moments pay off.

That's why, at Ballroom Dance London, all but one of the weekly classes are built around dancing together as a partnership — and even our one solo Latin class exists to build the confidence you'll need to dance with a partner later.

Dancing in the living room and beyond

If Strictly leaves you wondering ‘could I could do that’— join our fun a friendly dance classes in London to find out.

• New to it all? Our Intro to 'Strictly' Ballroom 6 week course or weekly drop in classes at Pineapple Dance Studios runs on Sundays and is built exactly for total beginners — no partner required.

  
  

• Prefer something free? Join our free outdoor salsa sessions in Battersea — no booking, no kit, no experience needed. Just turn up and move.

  
  

• Ready to go further? Our performance group is the closest most beginner dancers can get to their own Strictly experience — learning a full routine over a number of weeks and building toward a live performance at a ball, without needing any prior dance or performance background to join.

Ballroom Dance London runs beginner ballroom and Latin classes across London, including a weekly Sunday course at Pineapple Dance Studios, wedding dance preparation, and free community sessions. Get in touch to find your class.