tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/strictly-come-dancing-35274/articlesStrictly Come Dancing – The Conversation2023-04-26T14:31:11Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2044282023-04-26T14:31:11Z2023-04-26T14:31:11ZLen Goodman: how the late Strictly Come Dancing star revived the nation’s love of ballroom<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522651/original/file-20230424-25-j2aklw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=515%2C81%2C2479%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Len Goodman on the red carpet for Strictly Come Dancing in 2013. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/len-goodman-arriving-strictly-come-dancing-153582521">Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the news of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65373373">Len Goodman’s death</a> at age 78, ballroom dancing has lost one of its greatest advocates. But Goodman has left a lasting legacy, spearheading an unlikely revival of the ballroom scene he loved.</p>
<p>As head judge on <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8dq">Strictly Come Dancing</a> from 2004 to 2016, Goodman brought a no nonsense honesty to his role, as well as his wealth of expertise. The sparkle, camp and glam of the days of the BBC’s original dance show, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/september/come-dancing/">Come Dancing</a>, was rekindled in his cheeky quips and cheesy one liners – part of its familiar, broad appeal.</p>
<p>For children of the 1970s like me, early memories of ballroom dancing probably came from late night screenings of Come Dancing, the amateur dance contest that inspired Strictly. </p>
<p>In the days before 24-hour broadcasting, in the hazy excitement of staying up later than I should have, I can recall flicking through the channels (all three of them) and stumbling across the curious world of the ballroom.</p>
<p>Almost voyeur-like, I’d entered a world seemingly preserved in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/aspic">aspic</a> – another 1970s favourite. Sequins, frills, shiny hair, patent leather, an overabundance of makeup, tight trousers and a lot of “cha cha chaa”. All fronted by Angela Rippon, whose restrained received pronunciation seemed at odds with this brashness. </p>
<p>What I didn’t realise at the time, was that I was observing a cultural pursuit that was at a nadir in terms of both its popularity and public perception. Although Come Dancing was to stumble on for another decade or so, ballroom dancing looked like it was finished.</p>
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<p>Sure, it had thousands of devotees who competed regularly in town halls and the ever-shrinking number of ballrooms dotted around the country, but its golden age seemed to have gone forever. And boy had ballroom had a golden age!</p>
<h2>How ballroom shaped Britain</h2>
<p>Ballroom dancing was one of the most important <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/going-to-the-palais-9780199605194?cc=gb&lang=en&">social and cultural features of 20th century Britain</a>. While a distinction was to grow between “ballroom dancing” of the type featured on Come Dancing (competitive, semi-professional) and the “social dancing” enjoyed by millions in the dance halls of the country, they both drew from the same cultural roots.</p>
<p>First codified by dance teachers in Britain in the 1920s, the foxtrot, waltz, quickstep and others were later joined by the jive and the twist. In between, fashionable interlopers such as the Charleston, the Big Apple and the jitterbug briefly pushed their way onto the dance floor.</p>
<p>A vast industry grew up to cater for the demand of Britons to dance, as chains of dance halls sprang up in every town and city in the land. Led by groups such as Mecca (latterly of bingo fame), they were catering for the needs of a working- and lower middle-class population with more time and money than ever before and in need of letting their hair down.</p>
<p>In 1950, <a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/going-to-the-palais(b53e9ddf-6d5c-44a0-9129-9b885c484724).html">the Daily Mirror estimated</a> that over 70% of people met their future husbands or wives while dancing – my own parents among them. Romantic music, close embraces and dim lighting made the ballroom the place to meet. </p>
<p><a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/going-to-the-palais(b53e9ddf-6d5c-44a0-9129-9b885c484724).html">By 1959</a>, 5 million people went dancing every week, in over 3,000 venues. But it was more than just dancing they offered. They served a variety of important social functions.</p>
<p>For women, as my mother attested, dancing was particularly important. Offering a form of peer group independence, it was an important form of exercise, allowed interaction with boys from an early age and entry into the “public sphere”. All that in a venue that was safe and where they were usually better skilled than <a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/we-do-not-want-fairies-in-the-ballroom(cc1dd687-05dd-436b-a294-5ce3fa9981d8).html">their male counterparts</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Goodman dancing in 1971.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Learning to dance was a key part of the younger generation’s transition to adulthood and the dance hall offered them a place to experiment with their appearance, identity and friendships. </p>
<p>As Britain grew more racially diverse – particularly from the 1950s onwards – the dance hall was one of the first and most important venues where people of different races came into close contact with one another, with their shared love of dancing. </p>
<p><a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/worlds-of-social-dancing(35373051-9853-4ccf-8114-935515acb3d3).html">From the 1920s</a> to the mid 1960s, dancing was central to the nation’s social and cultural history – Britons were dancing mad.</p>
<h2>Len Goodman’s influence</h2>
<p>Len Goodman was one such dance-mad Brit. Born working class in Bethnal Green, London in 1944, he came to dancing relatively late at 19. He soon made up for this though and by his twenties he was winning dancing competitions up and down the country.</p>
<p>He went on to have <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2023/04/24/strictly-come-dancings-len-goodmans-unlikely-but-glittering-career-18662301/">a stellar competitive dancing career</a>. For most of us though, it took the arrival of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2004 for Goodman to come to our attention. Adding a touch of irony to the highly codified world of ballroom, the programme has revitalised interest in this kind of dancing.</p>
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<p>With its combination of high camp, competitiveness, sexy professionals, hapless celebs, pantomime goodie and baddie judges and good old fashioned music and dance spun for the contemporary audience, it has been a remarkable hit. At its height it has attracted audiences of over <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59719398">11 million</a>. Moreover, it has driven a revival of interest in ballroom dancing that rescued it from oblivion.</p>
<p>Goodman made several television programmes on the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2601434/">history of dancing</a> and published several <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/220969/len-goodman">books on the topic</a> – all reflective of the newfound interest in ballroom. </p>
<p>Perhaps the best way to honour Goodman’s memory would be to reopen dance hall venues across the country, complete with live music, mirror balls and sprung dance floors. In an increasingly isolated society, the revival of such a rich social world would certainly get a “ten from Len” (and from me).</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204428/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Nott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The sparkle, camp and glam of ballroom days gone by was rekindled in Goodman’s cheeky quips and cheesy one-liners.James Nott, Lecturer, School of History, University of St AndrewsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1924762022-11-01T17:13:53Z2022-11-01T17:13:53ZStrictly not Halloween: why Day of the Dead is misunderstood – and why that matters<p>Known in Spanish as <em>Día de Muertos</em>, Day of the Dead is commonly celebrated every year on November 1 and 2. Although the ritual “belongs” to Mexico, it is in fact a global phenomenon celebrated across Latin America, the US, Europe, Asia and Africa by migrant Mexican communities.</p>
<p>With its <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/resource-library-mesoamerica/#:%7E:text=The%20historic%20region%20of%20Mesoamerica,%2C%20Toltec%2C%20and%20Aztec%20peoples.">Mesoamerican</a>, Roman Catholic and pagan roots, this deeply religious celebration sees families gather annually to honour and commemorate their loved ones. They build altars and parade the streets dressed as skeletons or <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2019/10/la-catrina-dark-history-day-deads-immortal-icon">Catrinas</a> – the “grand lady of the afterlife” – and bake sugar skulls and “bread of the dead”.</p>
<p>But the Day of the Dead is commonly misunderstood in some countries, including the UK, where the perception is that this highly important ritual is simply a Mexican <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/day-of-the-dead">version of Halloween</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">Elisa Ponce, founder of Mexicans in Bournemouth, left, taking part in a Day of the Dead event in the town.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jane Lavery</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>My work looks at the way Day of the Dead is viewed and consumed in the UK and Ireland, and how Mexican communities celebrate their customs there. The UK has a Mexican community of around 10,000 people and although not all participate, many will celebrate Day of the Dead from Fife and Dublin, to London and Southampton, as an important way of connecting with each other, and Mexico. The event is a valuable way for Mexicans to foster pride in their cultural heritage, celebrate difference and inclusivity – and showcase how the festivity is <em>not</em> a Mexican Halloween. </p>
<p>In Bournemouth for example, the Mexican community has organised public street events welcoming the wider community by building community altars, offering delicious orange blossom “bread of the dead” and by dancing special folkloric Day of the Dead dances.</p>
<p>Elisa Ponce, founder of the Mexicans in Bournemouth community, and co-founder of the folkloric dance group Colores Mexicanos, which is comprised of Mexican and Latin American women, mothers and daughters, sees their local Day of the Dead celebrations as vital for community cultural pride:</p>
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<p>We were so proud to hear the excitement of the passers-by, the conversations about death, suffering and sadness becoming happiness and colours. Just like in Mexico.</p>
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<p>Such events create a sense of belonging by passing down cultural heritage from one generation to the next, and raising awareness in the broader public.</p>
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<h2>The ‘Halloweenisation’ of a Mexican custom</h2>
<p>As my previous <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24741604.2021.1890432?scroll=top&needAccess=true">research</a> shows, interest in all things Mexican has been growing steadily in the UK due to tourism, the media and Day of the Dead events organised by Mexican communities in Britain. </p>
<p>Even though many British people are aware that Day of the Dead is not a Mexican Halloween, the so-called “Halloweenisation” of the practice is still widespread. The two may share similar Catholic origins, but the former has lost its religious roots and is now merely a commercialised phenomenon. </p>
<p>Besides retailers and the media, Day of the Dead’s Halloweenisation has been fuelled by Hollywood movies such as Bond film <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/21/spectre-review-james-bond-is-back-stylish-camp-and-sexily-pro-snowden">Spectre</a> (2015) with its Day of the Dead parade, and, to a point, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jan/18/coco-review-pixar-land-of-the-dead-animation">Coco</a> (2018) the Pixar animation about a young Mexican boy who ends up in the land of the dead.</p>
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<p>The festival has undergone a worldwide cultural transformation due to globalisation and the internet-based world we live in, which can have a <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-83909-976-220211003/full/html">bulldozing effect</a> on individual cultures. This has led to Day of the Dead becoming divested of its local roots and religious meanings, and turned into an object of mass consumerism.</p>
<p>During Halloween, Day of the Dead costumes and accessories have become an increasingly familiar sight in UK shops. With their striking colourful patterns and iconography, it is not difficult to understand the attraction. With British retailers selling Halloween costumes and decorations interchangeably with Day of the Dead items, it’s no wonder that the public may perceive the Mexican practice as simply an extension of Halloween. </p>
<h2>Strictly confusing</h2>
<p>Still, this Halloweenisation of the Day of the Dead has resulted in fierce debates about whether this is cultural appropriation, capturing polarised opinions spanning allegations of offensive misappropriation to celebrations of cultural fusion.</p>
<p>Nowhere is this response better exemplified than when the Mexican celebration was appropriated by the ever-popular BBC dancing programme, Strictly Come Dancing. In 2018 its Halloween episode featured a colourful <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=559969851083442">Day of the Dead-themed opening dance</a> performance with mariachi singers, sombreros, papier mâche skeletons and dancers donning sexy Catrina dresses and alluring skeleton make-up.</p>
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<p>A row followed, with the media picking up on the mixed responses to the controversial performance. The Huffington Post for example <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/strictly-come-dancings-day-of-the-dead-inspired-opening-dance-accused-of-cultural-appropriation_uk_5bd592f7e4b0a8f17ef8993f">reported</a> the performance being blasted for cultural appropriation and featured several tweets from unhappy viewers who found it “racist” and “offensive”. </p>
<p>But others praised the show’s celebration of cultural heritage and its fusion of Halloween, Day of the Dead and the movie Coco, with some drawing delighted comparisons with the popular film that has given prominence to Day of the Dead.
Such comparisons suggest that some believe the ritual is based on a film rather than a Mexican religious practice, fuelling further misconceptions of Day of the Dead as “another Halloween”.</p>
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<p>With the Mexican community in the UK playing an important role in contributing to the local economy, culture and society, more visibility is needed of the Day of the Dead celebration to break with unhelpful racial stereotypes and issues around mislabelling.</p>
<p>This lack of visibility could be addressed by encouraging retailers to rethink how they sell and brand their items. Local councils could promote and fund Day of the Dead events to the wider community by including them in their post-COVID social and cultural regeneration strategies. And schools could do more to teach children about what the practice is actually about – and why it’s not an extension of Halloween but something culturally distinct underpinned by its own religious history, meaning and rituals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192476/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Lavery does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Far from an extension of our secular Halloween, this Mexican celebration is a deeply religious custom with its own rituals, folklore and history.Jane Lavery, Lecturer In Hispanic Studies, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1923572022-10-21T15:03:27Z2022-10-21T15:03:27ZHow Strictly is challenging the way people think about dance<p>At the beginning of every British autumn we mark the turning season with three immutable certainties: bright chilly mornings, the start of a new academic year and the launch of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8dq">Strictly Come Dancing</a>. This year sees the 20th series, with a line-up that has sparked nationwide conversations about gender, sexuality and disability.</p>
<p>Last year’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/dec/18/a-groundbreaking-strictly-final-in-step-with-modern-britain">ground-breaking final</a> was praised for its inclusive representation with deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis and John Whaite, the first male contestant to dance in a same-sex pairing.</p>
<p>This year’s series demonstrates the BBC’s commitment to continuing its work in challenging norms about who can or should dance – and who they should dance with. As a researcher in the field, my work looks at inclusive dance practice, leading me to working with colleagues on a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/ahrc/wood-foellmer-meehan-stamp/">project with the BBC</a> looking at how Strictly embraces diversity.</p>
<p>This year’s line-up includes paralympian Ellie Simmonds and comedian Jayde Adams, who are still in the competition, as well as presenter Richie Anderson, who was eliminated in week three.</p>
<p>Simmonds, who was born with <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0016503/ellie-simmonds-a-world-without-dwarfism">Achondroplasia dwarfism</a>, is part of a growing group of disabled celebrities showcasing their abilities in Strictly Come Dancing, (including last year’s champion, Ayling-Ellis, who won people’s hearts with her “<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/strictly-come-dancing-rose-ailing-ellis-couples-choice-performance-deaf-community_uk_61901c4ae4b0c621c5cdbfb6">silent dance</a>”).</p>
<p>Anderson and Adams are the two contestants in same-sex pairings this year. These partnerships were <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/strictly-come-dancing-nicola-adams-same-sex-pairing-bbc-b933634.html">first introduced</a> in 2020 when boxer Nicola Adams was partnered with Katya Jones, and continued last year with finalists and fan favourites John Whaite and professional dancer Johannes Radebe. </p>
<p>With this year being hailed as <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertainment/anton-du-beke-diversity-strictly-come-dancing-newsupdate/">the most diverse series ever</a>, Strictly is attempting to better reflect the diversity that exists across the British population by challenging the dominant norms in dance traditions and styles that feature on the show.</p>
<p>The drive towards more inclusivity and representation has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/27/ellie-simmonds-on-strictly-dancer">praised by many</a>, not least by communities that have long been underrepresented on television generally, and more specifically, on primetime shows.</p>
<p>As a co-investigator on the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/ahrc/wood-foellmer-meehan-stamp/">Strictly Inclusive</a> project to celebrate the BBC’s centenary, I have been talking to the public about the show. The project collaborated with Coventry Pride, the Deaf Cultural Centre and Deaf Explorer in Birmingham. We also spoke to local artists, analysed archival clips of the series, hosted discussions and reflected on inclusion and representation as whole on the show – past, present and future.</p>
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<h2>Gender pairings and disability</h2>
<p>This push for greater inclusivity on Strictly does not always find support. Developing the format away from the original show <a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/september/come-dancing/">Come Dancing</a> (which launched in 1950) has been met with some negative criticism.</p>
<p>Recently labelled as a “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2022/09/27/strictly-come-dancing-has-become-bbcs-latest-woke-box-ticking/">woke box-ticking exercise</a>”, Strictly seems to be disrupting ideas of what dance should be and what dancers should look like, as well as expanding what we have come to expect from Saturday night entertainment shows. </p>
<p>Interestingly, Strictly’s first disabled contestant was not on the main show, but a 2015 Comic Relief version. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02glql8">The People’s Strictly</a> welcomed specially chosen members of the public to participate in a one-off series. War veteran Cassidy Little took part and won.</p>
<p>Since then, many paralympians and veterans have embarked on their “Strictly journeys”, working with dance partners and choreographers to adapt movement to best suit their bodies, while attempting to adhere to the rules and expectations of ballroom and Latin dance styles.</p>
<p>Queer culture has long been a part of Strictly’s identity, from its popular judges to its celebration of queer celebrities through costuming and song choice – see Russell Grant’s 2011 <a href="https://blog.dancevision.com/what-is-american-smooth-dance-style">American smooth</a> to LGBTQ+ anthem I am what I am.</p>
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<p>It seems same-sex pairings were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/05/strictly-queer-culture-same-sex-couple-nicola-adams">requested and denied</a> for many years. The BBC introduced the idea with the first celebrity same-sex partnership in 2020, ten years after it happened on <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-dance-idUSTRE6A155G20101102">Israel’s Dancing with the Stars</a>. In spite of accusations of superficial tokenism, Strictly now appears to be committed to genuine sexual representation, ensuring there is a choice in dance partners. </p>
<h2>How things change</h2>
<p>Diversifying those who participate in reality TV shows can bring pressing issues to a larger audience. On last year’s series, deaf actress Ayling-Ellis spotlighted British Sign Language (BSL) so prominently that there was a <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2021-11-01/rose-ayling-ellis-strictly-appearance-leads-to-surge-in-demand-for-bsl-courses">surge in searches for BSL courses</a>.</p>
<p>Since being crowned 2021 Strictly champion, she has led a campaign to make BSL a <a href="https://www.bigissue.com/news/social-justice/it-will-be-so-emotional-rose-ayling-ellis-on-bsl-becoming-an-official-language/">recognised language in public life</a>, championing a bill that was passed by MPs in early 2022. </p>
<p>The actress has spoken of how the fight to get BSL recognised as an official language has been long and hard-won, suggesting that the publicity and reach of Strictly contributed to the success of the campaign. This highlights how the show can effect change and engage new audiences, champion difference and help inform public policy. Televised dance has the potential to change views on sexuality, gender and disability, as well as who can dance.</p>
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<h2>What’s next for Strictly?</h2>
<p>For all the developments and changes, Strictly’s work on inclusion is not done. To avoid claims of “box-ticking”, the show should continue exploring what dance is, who can dance and how it is shared with diverse audiences.</p>
<p>Although Ayling-Ellis’ stint on the programme made a considerable impression, there is still no permanent BSL interpretation provided for the live show, for example. Also, the styles or genres presented on Strictly showcase particular dance traditions while other styles practised across the UK are rendered somewhat invisible to big public audiences due to their exclusion.</p>
<p>By engaging with audiences and the public more through research projects such as <a href="https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/research-directories/current-projects/2022/strictly-inclusive-co-creating-the-past-present-and-future/">Strictly Inclusive</a>, we can understand the impact televised dance can have on communities and wider society. There is more to be done, but this is certainly a step, a twirl and a shimmy towards a more progressive show and audience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192357/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Stamp has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the BBC. </span></em></p>Strictly continues its work in busting norms in who can or should dance – and who they can dance with.Kathryn Stamp, Assistant Professor in Dance Studies, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1737622021-12-15T14:54:19Z2021-12-15T14:54:19ZRose Ayling-Ellis in the Strictly final: how the brain helps a person dance to music they can’t hear<p>This year’s series final of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8dq">Strictly Come Dancing</a> will feature actor Rose Ayling-Ellis. Ayling-Ellis is the show’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/aug/12/rose-ayling-ellis-to-be-strictlys-first-deaf-contestant">first ever</a> contestant who is deaf. She has wowed Strictly viewers throughout the series and achieved excellent scores from the judges. But how is it possible that a person who is deaf can dance to music they can’t actually hear?</p>
<p>Deafness or hearing loss usually involves a problem with the ear. In the ear, tiny hair cells <a href="https://rnid.org.uk/information-and-support/ear-health/how-the-ear-works/">convert soundwaves</a> into electrical signals that travel to the brain. If these electrical signals are missing or reduced, the hearing parts of the brain will not be able to fully understand sound.</p>
<p>But the brain is an excellent problem solver. If sound is missing, it will use other sources of information to understand what’s happening around us. What a person sees, and vibrations felt through the body, can be particularly helpful sources of information for those who are deaf or hearing-impaired.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-some-brains-wired-for-dance-170913">Are some brains wired for dance?</a>
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<p>To learn how to dance, the brain views the actions of others moving to music and combines this with careful counting. Many people without hearing loss also do this when learning a dance – the steps are taught to beats or counts, which are then practised before being put to music. For someone with hearing loss, while the appreciation of the music differs, the learning through observation and counting is similar.</p>
<p>In addition, the tactile information provided through music is very helpful for people with hearing loss. Instead of listening to music, a person who is deaf may feel the music, literally sensing the vibrations through their body. </p>
<p>A process called <a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/32/28/9626.short">cross-modal neuroplasticity</a> also helps a person who is deaf to be able to dance to music. The brain is remarkably adaptable and will “repurpose” any brain areas that are not being used. So, if the hearing areas of the brain are not being used for responding to sound because a person is deaf, these parts of the brain may instead respond to other things, such as visual or tactile information. </p>
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<p>Technologies like sensory substitution devices can further assist people with sensory loss. Sensory substitution is a technique where missing sensory information is converted into an alternative sense, to help people who are deaf <a href="https://www.wicab.com/brainport-vision-pro">or blind</a> better understand the world around them. </p>
<p>One example is <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00221-015-4346-1">a vibrating vest</a> that allows people who are deaf or have hearing loss to feel sound through their skin. The vest contains a microphone which picks up sound. The technology in the vest converts the sounds into vibrating patterns that the wearer can feel on their torso.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/strictly-come-dancing-research-shows-that-the-luck-of-the-draw-matters-in-talent-shows-122896">Strictly Come Dancing: research shows that the luck of the draw matters in talent shows</a>
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<p>As the brain is so adaptable and “plastic”, after some training to understand which vibrating patterns match with which sounds, people with hearing loss can experience the auditory world in a new way. Although we haven’t seen Ayling-Ellis use this kind of technology on the show, similar devices <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37174157">have been used</a> by dancers with hearing problems.</p>
<p>Ayling-Ellis is not the only well-known figure to highlight the remarkable capability of a brain struggling to hear. Composer <a href="https://journals.lww.com/otology-neurotology/Abstract/2020/10000/Beethoven__His_Hearing_Loss_and_His_Hearing_Aids.38.aspx">Ludwig van Beethoven</a> developed severe hearing loss in mid-life, and seemingly used vibrational information in music to help him continue to compose. </p>
<p>As his hearing deteriorated, he is reported to have favoured a piano constructed in such a way that the sounding board was connected to the outer frame, which conveyed powerful vibrations to Beethoven’s fingers and through the floor to his feet. These vibrations were further amplified through a metal resonator that Beethoven placed on his pianos. </p>
<p>These examples highlight the remarkable problem-solving capability of the human brain, and the flexibility with which the brain can approach and overcome sensory challenges. Ayling-Ellis is certainly inspiring the nation and showcasing brain plasticity before our very eyes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173762/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Nuttall receives funding from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Slade receives funding from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. </span></em></p>The brain uses visual information and vibrations to substitute the missing sense of hearing.Helen E Nuttall, Lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience, Lancaster UniversityKate Slade, Research Associate in the Neuroscience of Speech and Action Laboratory, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1709132021-11-09T10:21:51Z2021-11-09T10:21:51ZAre some brains wired for dance?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430015/original/file-20211103-27-1gojlp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/XmD4gx8jsXE">David Hofman / Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whatever our age, dancing can have a hugely beneficial effect on our physical and mental wellbeing. It can help us to maintain or build muscle tone, flexibility and stamina, while also releasing endorphins which can ease symptoms of stress and anxiety.</p>
<p>Some people, however, appear to have a natural talent which allows them to pick up dance steps with apparent ease, while others find moving gracefully difficult. </p>
<p>It is often thought that some people are “born to dance”, while others have “two left feet” – but in fact, a combination of real-life experience and science shows us that almost anyone can learn to dance well with the right training. </p>
<p>It starts at only a few months old, when babies are able recognise the beat of a piece of music and can move along to the rhythm. In fact, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/107/13/5768">we aren’t the only species</a> to respond rhythmically to music – parrots and one species of elephant can too. </p>
<p>Studying our fleet-footed feathered friends may help to reveal more of <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17065-dancing-parrots-could-help-explain-evolution-of-rhythm/">how dance has evolved</a>, and why it may simply be down to social bonding and assessing potential mates. </p>
<p>But being born with the ability to respond to music is far from the whole story, and many other factors determine what enables some people to progress to be professional dancers while others shuffle awkwardly at the school disco.</p>
<p>The first important factor is the physical traits of a dancer. They tend to <a href="https://www.thewonderfulworldofdance.com/dancers-are-born-not-made-according-to-new-study">have small feet</a> – two shoe sizes smaller than average – and be slightly taller than average, by one or two centimetres. </p>
<p>Genetic factors that promote social communication by changing the levels of chemicals in our brain are more common in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2006/02/22/1576009.htm">professional dancers</a>, giving them an enhanced ability to express emotion through dance. </p>
<h2>The amazing benefits of dance training</h2>
<p>But even if we lack the genetic and physical traits of the professionals, we can still progress through hard work. To dance requires the integration of music, movement, and spatial awareness, all of which are controlled by the brain. It is here that we see the remarkable effects of years of training encoded.</p>
<p>Dance training induces subtle changes in the brain. This occurs by a process known as plasticity, where the brain adapts in response to experiences. Dancing can increase plasticity throughout the brain, even <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6040685/">in the elderly</a>. </p>
<p>When we dance, the premotor cortex and supplementary motor area, which sit near the front of our brain, link our memories of previous actions through training with our spatial awareness. Signals travel to the primary motor cortex, which relays these instructions to the muscles via our spinal cord and the dance begins. </p>
<p>The more often we complete this task, the easier it becomes for our body to do so without conscious effort. This is the neural basis of <a href="https://www.scienceabc.com/humans/what-is-muscle-memory-new.html">muscle memory</a>, which we hear professional dancers talk about.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, at the back of our brain, our cerebellum receives important information, including messages from our auditory and visual systems. And an area called the anterior vermis helps to synchronise our dance steps to music.</p>
<p>The cerebellum also regulates balance and coordination and receives information from the vestibular organs, which tell us we feel dizzy. Interestingly, the area that receives vestibular input is much <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/130786/ballet-dancers-brains-adapt-stop-them/%20(original%20article:%20https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16221923/)">smaller in classical ballet dancers</a>. Through plasticity, their training de-couples the input that could cause dizziness from the feeling of dizziness, leading to beautiful pirouettes and fantastic turns.
Here, training is more important than genetics.</p>
<p>Dedication and training can help dancers to refine and develop their art, suggesting that all of us can become better dancers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dancer jumping in studio" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430008/original/file-20211103-27-z78luv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430008/original/file-20211103-27-z78luv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430008/original/file-20211103-27-z78luv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430008/original/file-20211103-27-z78luv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430008/original/file-20211103-27-z78luv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430008/original/file-20211103-27-z78luv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/430008/original/file-20211103-27-z78luv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Some dance attributes are inherited but we can all learn to be better dancers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/dHpp26q9QnY">Daniel / Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>It is a worthwhile pursuit, as dance has many benefits. Argentine <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ccr3.2771">tango training can improve gait</a> and posture in Parkinson’s disease patients, while life-long dancing <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa022252">reduces our risk</a> of developing dementia. </p>
<p>Thanks to the plasticity of the brain, even non hearing dancers can learn to dance to an extraordinary level, illustrating the inclusivity of dance and its ability to bring people together.</p>
<p>Using mirrors and following visual cues such as copying teachers’ moves allows deaf dancers to <a href="https://www.dancemagazine.com/deaf-dancers-2641619050.html?rebelltitem=7#rebelltitem7">acquire the physical movements</a> of dance.</p>
<p>To achieve their hugely impressive timing to music, non hearing dancers report using vibrations to follow the beat of the music. Their brains have adaptations in an area called the auditory cortex, which is activated in response to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/news011129-10">vibrations instead of sound</a> – another example of plasticity. With the arrival of hearing-impaired dance troupes such as <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5975f9dabebafb04b9657415/t/5d134bc2ad72940001e78eae/1561545667857/DMD%27s+Full+Biography+%282019%29.pdf">DMD</a>, who integrate elements of sign language into their performances, dance accessibility can only continue to grow. </p>
<p>Although some brains are wired to dance thanks to differences in the genes contributing to emotion and communication, we can all re-wire our brains to be better dancers while enjoying the many health and social benefits that dance can bring.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170913/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gayle Doherty is affiliated with Dance St Andrews Community Interest Company. This is not-for-profit organisation that promotes wellbeing through dance across the lifespan. </span></em></p>Some people do inherit traits which promote dance ability - but with hard work almost anyone can learn to dance well due to the plasticity of the brainGayle Doherty, Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience, University of St AndrewsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1265332019-11-07T12:59:18Z2019-11-07T12:59:18ZMeet the raunchy dance teachers who helped shape the modern world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300617/original/file-20191107-10935-aofv3a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lords of the dance. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/join_in/using_digital_images/using_digital_images.aspx?asset_id=174824001&objectId=1647493&partId=1">British Museum</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Get ready for some romance on the dance floor as the second series of Flirty Dancing kicks off. For those that missed the previous outing, it’s the UK dating show where singletons learn one half of a dance for a week and then perform it with a stranger without saying a word. Viewers are <a href="https://www.channel4.com/4viewers/take-part/flirty-dancing">treated to</a> “just a few intense minutes of beautiful choreography” to see if sparks fly. </p>
<p>Reassuming the role of dancing master is Ashley Banjo of Diversity, the dance troupe that won Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. Flirty Dancing is also weeks away from <a href="https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/jenna-dewan-host-flirty-dancing-fox-dating-show-1203364915/">launching</a> a version in the US, so it looks set to become the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/14/entertainment/gallery/biggest-british-television-exports/index.html">latest</a> major British TV export following other successes like <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dA4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=idols+tv+franchise&source=bl&ots=8uz_FxluGy&sig=ACfU3U0gK8ppX54EvZjkZMNQL8KQVaOZyg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-1rSm_tXlAhURi1wKHcqCBg4Q6AEwDnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=idols%20tv%20franchise&f=false">Pop Idol</a> and <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/06/236671/love-island-cast-season-1-us">Love Island</a>. </p>
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<p>Modern viewers might think of Flirty Dancing as little more than a cross between <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8dq">Strictly Come Dancing</a> and <a href="https://www.channel5.com/show/blind-date/">Blind Date</a>. But as music historians, we know that the idea of dancing masters – instructors who prepared pupils to dance at balls to find the love of their life – dates back hundreds of years. It is rooted in the 17th- and 18th-century fashion for formal dances as a means to court and marry. </p>
<p>There is a fascinating history of colourful dancing masters, most of them working class, who knew a route up the social ladder when it was staring them in the face. These men endured ridicule from some who sought their services, but they would shape the future in a way that is too often forgotten. </p>
<h2>You shall go to the ball</h2>
<p>Think of the 18th century and it likely conjures up images of BBC period dramas, of grand houses and gloved hands, of Mr Darcy and proper behaviour and peacocks on the lawn. At least for those with the means, it was a time when balls and dances became public events. They spawned the purpose-built assembly rooms that are still found in many of the UK’s cities today. These were the most fashionable places to be seen in the era – often built at great expense to welcome local and visiting gentry. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300606/original/file-20191107-10940-51zcg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300606/original/file-20191107-10940-51zcg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300606/original/file-20191107-10940-51zcg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300606/original/file-20191107-10940-51zcg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300606/original/file-20191107-10940-51zcg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300606/original/file-20191107-10940-51zcg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1429&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300606/original/file-20191107-10940-51zcg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300606/original/file-20191107-10940-51zcg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1429&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Pochette violins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pochette.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>Dances served as a form of speed dating. Just like in Flirty Dancing, many couples would meet on the dance floor for the first time. As one of few opportunities for the sexes to freely mix, it facilitated courting between unfamiliar families or across the class divide. </p>
<p>Dancing masters became the must-have tutors of the era – not only in Britain but across Europe. Dance lessons were mostly held at pupils’ homes rather than dedicated schools, at least until later in the period. Musical accompanists were usually too costly, so dancing masters would often play simple popular tunes on small violins called <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/505410?&searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=pochette&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=1">kits or pochettes</a> – so-called because they would stow the instrument in the long pockets of their coats. </p>
<h2>Devil’s grasshoppers</h2>
<p>Yet if dancing masters were essential, they were not always held in high regard. They were disdained by genteel society for trying to emulate upper-class styles and mannerisms. They developed a reputation for seducing pupils, making many parents wary of inviting them into their homes, and there were many bastardy cases citing dancing masters as the presumed father. </p>
<p>The unease around these working-class men in close proximity to society women is famously documented in the diary of Samuel Pepys, where his suspicions of his wife’s tutor creep to the fore. On Friday, May 15, 1663, just four weeks after lessons began, Pepys <a href="https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1663/05/15/">writes of</a> returning home to find his “wife and the dancing master alone above, not dancing but talking”. Pepys was “so deadly full of jealousy” that he checked to see if his wife “did wear drawers … as she used to do” – though found no evidence of foul play. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300502/original/file-20191106-12481-1jkdbvn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300502/original/file-20191106-12481-1jkdbvn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300502/original/file-20191106-12481-1jkdbvn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300502/original/file-20191106-12481-1jkdbvn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300502/original/file-20191106-12481-1jkdbvn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300502/original/file-20191106-12481-1jkdbvn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300502/original/file-20191106-12481-1jkdbvn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300502/original/file-20191106-12481-1jkdbvn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Grown ladies taught to dance, John Collett c.1768.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3083220&partId=1&searchText=grown+ladies+taught+to+dance&page=1">British Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the words of the satirist Thomas Brown, from 1707, the dancing masters of London <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HXRMAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA247&lpg=PA247&dq=%E2%80%98held+in+very+slight+Esteem,+for+the+Gentry+call+them+Leg-Livers,+and+the+Mob+from+their+mighty+Number,+and+their+Nimbleness,+call+them+the+Devil%E2%80%99s+Grass-hoppers%E2%80%99&source=bl&ots=KjMwRW-IGH&sig=ACfU3U11NnyOLZ_5Oaw-jdJ0tai0RqRzXQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqp_rbjNblAhWxoFwKHYo8DxAQ6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%98held%20in%20very%20slight%20Esteem%2C%20for%20the%20Gentry%20call%20them%20Leg-Livers%2C%20and%20the%20Mob%20from%20their%20mighty%20Number%2C%20and%20their%20Nimbleness%2C%20call%20them%20the%20Devil%E2%80%99s%20Grass-hoppers%E2%80%99&f=false">were</a> “held in very slight esteem, for the gentry call them leg-livers, and the mob from their mighty number, and their nimbleness, call them the devil’s grasshoppers”. Edward Ward, a close friend of Brown, went one better in 1722 when he <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/dancing-master-a-satyr-canto-i/oclc/752525770">likened</a> them to “monkeys, baboons, and horrid grinning apes”, and “the dregs and scum of all the Earth”. </p>
<p>The engraving above, Grown Ladies Taught to Dance, shows a dancing master of slight build instructing an elderly and much taller woman, watched by two giggling young girls. In the background, on the wall, you can just make out a painting in which a monkey dancing master is tutoring a cat in a dress. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300505/original/file-20191106-12464-uf2oi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300505/original/file-20191106-12464-uf2oi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300505/original/file-20191106-12464-uf2oi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300505/original/file-20191106-12464-uf2oi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300505/original/file-20191106-12464-uf2oi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=855&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300505/original/file-20191106-12464-uf2oi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300505/original/file-20191106-12464-uf2oi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300505/original/file-20191106-12464-uf2oi4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1074&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The enraged dancing master.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?assetId=620717&objectId=1674414&partId=1">British Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Dancing masters were still the butt of cruel jokes by the early 19th century. The 1803 cartoon opposite depicts a lesson being interrupted by the taxman, who was there to “collect duty on hops in which I’m told you deal very extensively”. To send up dancing masters’ fondness for faux-French mannerisms, this tutor is Frenchified with the replacement of “the” with “de”, as he threatens to make the taxman “hop to de Devils”. </p>
<h2>Pride and prejudice</h2>
<p>Despite their reputation, dancing masters were integral in constructing society as we know it today. They were essential employees of a household, and probably responsible for many marriages and business deals – some possibly highly influential. </p>
<p>One notable example was Abraham Mackintosh, born in Edinburgh in 1769, who made his name in Newcastle in the northeast of England. Mackintosh was particularly successful at schmoozing the well-heeled, shrewdly dedicating his compositions to notable members of society. </p>
<p>He specialised in bringing the latest fashionable dances to Newcastle from London, while taking advantage of the fashion for Scottishness at the turn of the 19th century by mainly publishing tunes in the style of strathspeys and reels. His work is the subject of <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dancing-on-the-tyne-registration-67524356167">an exhibition</a> that we are holding as part of the national <a href="https://beinghumanfestival.org/">Being Human festival</a>, which begins on November 14. </p>
<p>So when we watch Ashley Banjo in action on Flirty Dancing – or indeed the professional dancers that work with the celebrities on Strictly Come Dancing – it is fascinating to reflect on their lineage. The dancing masters who prepared the heirs of the Renaissance for the mating rituals of society balls may not always have got the thanks they deserved, but modern Britain might have looked very different without them. </p>
<p><em>Flirty Dancing starts on Channel 4 on Friday, November 8 at 8pm</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126533/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Butler received a small award from the Being Human festival for the exhibition on Abraham Mackintosh.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Durkin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Channel 4 dating show Flirty Dancing is a reminder of the 18th century men who endured endless abuse to get Britain moving.Rachael Durkin, Senior Lecturer in Music, Northumbria University, NewcastleKatherine Butler, Senior Lecturer in Music, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1228962019-09-05T14:19:52Z2019-09-05T14:19:52ZStrictly Come Dancing: research shows that the luck of the draw matters in talent shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290925/original/file-20190904-175696-pgyc6z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who goes first: the 2019 Strictly Come Dancing line-up.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC Pictures</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A viscountess, a radio DJ, a reality star, a vlogger, a comedian, several sportspeople and an assortment of actors and presenters. These, more or less, are the celebrities lined up to compete in the <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-09-04/strictly-2019-contestants-confirmed-lineup/">2019 season of Strictly Come Dancing</a>. </p>
<p>Outside their day jobs, few people know much about them yet. But over the 13 weeks or so of shows up until Christmas, viewers will at least learn how well the contestants can dance. But how much will their success in the competition have to do with their foxtrot and to what extent will it be, literally, the luck of the draw that sees the victors lift the trophy in December?</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016726810900211X">seminal study</a> published in 2010 looked at public voting at the end of episodes of the various Idol television pop singing contests and found that singers who were later on in the bill got a disproportionately higher share of the public vote than those who had preceded them. </p>
<p>This was explained as a “<a href="https://psychology.iresearchnet.com/social-psychology/decision-making/recency-effect/">recency effect</a>” – meaning that those performing later are more recent in the memory of people who were judging or voting. Interestingly, a different study, of wine tasting, suggested that there is also a significant “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02453.x">primacy effect</a>” which favours the wines that people taste first (as well, to some extent, as last). </p>
<h2>A little bias is in order</h2>
<p>What would happen if the evaluation of each performance was carried out immediately after each performance instead of at the end – surely this would eliminate the benefit of going last as there would be equal recency in each case? The problem in implementing this is that the public need to see all the performers before they can choose which of them deserves their vote.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291084/original/file-20190905-175691-139jjzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291084/original/file-20190905-175691-139jjzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291084/original/file-20190905-175691-139jjzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291084/original/file-20190905-175691-139jjzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291084/original/file-20190905-175691-139jjzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291084/original/file-20190905-175691-139jjzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291084/original/file-20190905-175691-139jjzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291084/original/file-20190905-175691-139jjzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dress rehearsal for Strictly Come Dancing, August 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">madathanu / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You might think the solution is to award a vote to each performer immediately after each performance – by complementing the public vote with the scores of a panel of expert judges. And, of course, Strictly Come Dancing (or Dancing with the Stars if you are in the US) does just this. So there should be no “recency effect” in the expert voting – because the next performer does not take to the stage until the previous performer has been scored. </p>
<p>We might expect in this case that the later performers taking to the dance floor should have no advantage over earlier performing contestants in the expert evaluations – and, in particular, there should be no “last dance” advantage.</p>
<p>We decided to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176519300370">test this out</a> using a large data set of every performance ever danced on the UK and US versions of the show – going right back to the debut show in 2004. Our findings, published in <a href="http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/35773/">Economics Letters</a>, proved not only surprising, but almost a bit shocking.</p>
<h2>Last shall be first</h2>
<p>Contrary to expectations, we found the same sequence order bias by the expert panel judges – who voted after each act – as by the general public, voting after all performances had concluded. </p>
<p>We applied a range of statistical tests to allow for the difference in quality of the various performers and as a result we were able to exclude quality as a reason for getting high marks. This worked for all but the opening spot of the night, which we found was generally filled by one of the better performers.</p>
<p>So the findings matched the Idol study in demonstrating that the last dance slot should be most coveted, but that the first to perform also scored better than expected. This resembles a J-curve where there are sequence order effects such that the first and later performing contestants disproportionately gained higher expert panel scores.</p>
<figure>
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</figure>
<p>Although we believe the production team’s choice of opening performance may play a role in this, our best explanation of the key sequence biases is as a type of “grade inflation” in the expert panel’s scoring. In particular, we interpret the “order” effect as deriving from studio audience pressure – a little like the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029201000334">published evidence</a> of unconscious bias exhibited by referees in response to spectator pressure. The influence on the judges of increasing studio acclaim and euphoria as the contest progresses to a conclusion is likely to be further exacerbated by the proximity of the judges to the audience.</p>
<p>When the votes from the general public augment the expert panel scores – as is the case in Strictly Come Dancing – the biases observed in the expert panel scores are amplified. </p>
<p>All of which means that, based on past series, the best place to perform is last and second is the least successful place to perform.</p>
<p>The implications of this are worrying if they spill over into the real world. Is there an advantage in going last (or first) into the interview room for a job – even if the applicants are evaluated between interviews? The same effects could have implications in so many situations, such as sitting down in a dentist’s chair or doctor’s surgery, appearing in front of a magistrate or having your examination script marked by someone with a huge pile of work to get through.</p>
<p>One study, <a href="https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/time-and-judgment/">reported in the New York Times in 2011</a>, found that experienced parole judges granted freedom about 65% of the time to the first prisoner to appear before them on a given day, and the first after lunch – but to almost nobody by the end of a morning session. </p>
<p>So our research confirms what has long been suspected – that the order in which performers (and quite possibly interviewees) appear can make a big difference. So it’s now time to look more carefully at the potential dangers this can pose more generally for people’s daily lives – and what we can do to best address the problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122896/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leighton Vaughan Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A close look at 15 years of the popular dance competition shows that people dancing last have a distinct advantage.Leighton Vaughan Williams, Professor of Economics and Finance. Director of the Betting Research Unit and the Political Forecasting Unit at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1213852019-08-30T12:38:45Z2019-08-30T12:38:45ZWhy do people believe in curses?<p>Strictly Come Dancing, the TV show which pairs celebrities with professional dancers to compete in a ballroom dancing competition, has apparently been the cause of a number of divorces, break-ups, and scandals. This “<a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-08-19/strictly-come-dancing-strictly-curse-affairs-break-ups/">Strictly curse</a>” is not helped by the show’s demanding schedule, long practice hours, and intimate dancing. </p>
<p>Strictly is not the only modern curse featured in the media of late. The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49125467">curse of the Tour de France</a> returned, with the failure of a French rider to win the <a href="https://usimmigrationupdate.com/french-cyclists-hit-again-by-curse-of-tour-de-france-bbc-news/">cycling race</a>. Hopes that Julian Alaphillippe would this year end the 34-year drought were dashed.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the rapper Drake has been linked to a series of <a href="https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the-drake-curse-best-times-it-struck-down-sports-teams-athletes-2487702">sporting failures</a> over the years. The Drake curse <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-47947155">was broken</a>, however, when his team (the Raptors) won their first basketball championship earlier this summer. Other popular culture “curses” around James Dean’s <a href="https://sg.news.yahoo.com/curse-james-dean-porsche-550-010003800.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAF2ZVBzvFXEOzvnoMUgY8skG7UrCeRorWZqdpvaG_S4h25uBQpsuPmuhd4IF81thP1olYYRZm2M4UM9fnKeCgNd8_vW2c4TpA8cF8uNnsXs6roX4sjdbWZXpXeiVeqN9uKxf8ToZc2suFf0VKmK7OMf6gKX2xIJWf5xKupt25V5l">car</a> and the next <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jun/07/james-bond-25-film-cursed">James Bond</a> film, have also circulated of late.</p>
<p>What’s this all about? Most people these days surely don’t believe in supernatural curses. But their prevalence in the media suggests that they still have a hold on psyches, and that a good amount of people still pay credence to them.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1155273650666397696"}"></div></p>
<h2>Rational explanations</h2>
<p>From a scientific perspective, curses have rational explanations. These clarify why people directly ascribe supernatural powers to negative events.</p>
<p>For instance, belief in curses can arise from thinking style. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman has <a href="http://reflectd.co/2016/02/24/thinking-styles/">proposed</a> that there are two distinct modes of decision making. System 1 is automatic, rapid and largely unconscious. Subsequently, this system is intuitive and prone to biases and systematic errors. In contrast, System 2 is controlled, slow, effortful, and produces rational thought. So, perhaps people believe in curses because their spontaneous, subjective, System 1 thinking predominates.</p>
<p>Endorsement of curses may also stem from the desire to make sense of the world; ascribe meaning to chaos. Why do people sometimes see faces in clouds or Jesus in their toast? We have a tendency to find meaningful patterns in meaningless noise: which some call <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/reality-play/201207/being-amused-apophenia">apophenia</a> and others <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/patternicity-finding-meaningful-patterns/">patternicity</a>. In the case of curses, this can cause people to see links between random events and wrongly attribute misfortune and bad luck to a magical hex rather than factors such as chance and human error.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290279/original/file-20190830-165972-1eh7rip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290279/original/file-20190830-165972-1eh7rip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290279/original/file-20190830-165972-1eh7rip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290279/original/file-20190830-165972-1eh7rip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290279/original/file-20190830-165972-1eh7rip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290279/original/file-20190830-165972-1eh7rip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290279/original/file-20190830-165972-1eh7rip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cloud or dragon?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/clouds-shaped-like-dragon-1065151103?src=-1-2">Phloxii/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those who believe in curses may also be susceptible to the <a href="http://www.howtogetyourownway.com/effects/barnum_effect.html">Barnum</a> or Forer Effect. This is where people wrongly infer that general information has specific personal relevance. In the context of curses, this might explain the tendency to associate general misfortune with particular, personally significant jinxes. </p>
<h2>Psychological influences</h2>
<p>A belief in curses, once it exists, is often reinforced by other psychological tendencies.</p>
<p>Believers in curses may look for affirming evidence, such as potentially related bad luck, and discount contradictory data. This confirmatory bias produces coherent, but logically inconsistent narratives supporting the presumption of supernatural forces. </p>
<p>This was true of the curse of Tutankhamun, for example. This derived from the general notion that a curse would befall anyone who broke into a pharaoh’s burial site. At the time of the excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb, the archaeologists suffered no misfortune. But as a result of press coverage about “the pharaoh’s curse”, subsequent deaths and misfortunes of the archaeology team became associated with the curse. Similarly, the movies Poltergeist and The Omen have over time acquired a reputation <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/tutankhamuns-curse">as cursed</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290281/original/file-20190830-166005-1jeocn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290281/original/file-20190830-166005-1jeocn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290281/original/file-20190830-166005-1jeocn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290281/original/file-20190830-166005-1jeocn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290281/original/file-20190830-166005-1jeocn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290281/original/file-20190830-166005-1jeocn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290281/original/file-20190830-166005-1jeocn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tutankhamun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/funeral-mask-pharoah-tutankhamun-754025107?src=-1-4">Sean M Smith/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The power of curses to influence people stems from belief in their veracity. This often arises from an external locus of control, where people feel unable to influence events. In the absence of perceived control, people become more accepting of mysterious, external forces. Psychologists refer to this as <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/moments-matter/201708/locus-control">magical thinking</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, belief in curses is associated with certain personality characteristics. Particularly, tolerance of ambiguity and neuroticism. Tolerance of ambiguity describes the degree to which an individual can <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anger-in-the-age-entitlement/200902/uncertainty-is-your-friend-part-i">cope with uncertainty</a>. People with low tolerance of ambiguity tend to look for closure. This manifests as the failure to critically consider evidence and to jump to conclusions. These factors can lead to indiscriminate, premature acceptance of material. Neuroticism, meanwhile, can facilitate worry, concern and rumination about curses.</p>
<p>In extreme cases, belief in curses can undermine confidence in oneself and one’s future success. Psychologists refer to this as self-fulfilling prophecy. This is where belief in a curse produces the perception of inevitable misfortune. Indeed, the mere suggestion of bad luck can produce negative outcomes. Researchers call this the <a href="https://www.brainblogger.com/2009/07/15/the-curse-of-the-nocebo-effect">Nocebo Effect</a>.</p>
<h2>Social factors</h2>
<p>The influence of curses also originates from their grounding in culture. Specifically, through education and social narratives, the notion of curses perpetuates over time. Consequently, they become culturally acceptable and in some instances plausible. For example, the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180216-the-strange-power-of-the-evil-eye">evil eye</a> has a long tradition around the world. This derives from the belief that someone who achieves great success also attracts the envy of those around them, manifesting itself as a curse that will undo their good fortune. </p>
<p>Socially, media coverage can induce the notion that curses exist. A recent example is the <a href="https://www.nme.com/blogs/what-is-momo-your-guide-to-the-horrifying-meme-billed-as-the-new-slenderman-2364215">Momo Challenge</a>. This spread via WhatsApp and involved the appearance of a creepy, Japanese sculpture accompanied by instructions to perform dangerous tasks. The communication also predicted unfortunate consequences if the receiver failed to follow instructions, or pass on the message. This story went viral and caused children and parents great anxiety. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1101230074601320448"}"></div></p>
<p>Although there is of course no scientific evidence to support the supernatural basis of curses, they can still have a powerful psychological influence on people. Believing in curses can undermine decision making, well-being and self confidence. In extreme cases, they can also facilitate unusual ideas, undermine critical thinking and produce <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/apr/25/the-knowledge-football-curses">odd behaviours</a>.</p>
<p>Despite evidence to the contrary, some curses are compelling. So it will be interesting to see whether forthcoming contestants in Strictly Come Dancing avoid the bad luck associated with previous series.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121385/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From Strictly Come Dancing to the Tour de France ‘curses’ have rational explanations. Here, psychologists discuss why belief in them persists.Ken Drinkwater, Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Cognitive and Parapsychology, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityNeil Dagnall, Reader in Applied Cognitive Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/879202017-11-24T12:09:29Z2017-11-24T12:09:29ZJonnie Peacock’s Strictly experience highlights the need to rethink how disability is represented on TV<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196181/original/file-20171123-18006-b7baxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC/Guy Levy</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Paralympic sprinter <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/who-jonnie-peacock-strictly-contestant-11498349">Jonnie Peacock</a> recently appeared as a guest on Channel 4’s <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-last-leg">The Last Leg</a>, a late-night comedy chat show which aims to challenge the representation of disability on television. Adam Hills, the host, raised the question of whether it is fair to judge Peacock on the same criteria as the rest of the contestants on Strictly Come Dancing. </p>
<p>Hills asked Peacock <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/isitok?lang=en">#isitokay?</a> that in week three of the competition, he was criticised for sticking his bottom out when such a posture is a common result of wearing a prosthetic leg? Peacock agreed that it was difficult for him to dance in the desired posture and suggested that his incorrect posture was potentially due to the way he has to distribute his weight when using his prosthetic leg. </p>
<p>Although Peacock downplays any sense of being at a disadvantage, Hills raised an important issue. If reality shows want to increase the visibility of disabilities to their audience, there are some factors they must consider. It is worth discussing whether disabled competitors should be judged on the same criteria as their able-bodied competitors. The type of disability and/or prosthetic could also be taken into consideration when scoring these contestants. And perhaps most importantly, does marking disabled and able-bodied competitors on the same criteria lead to equality or exclusion?</p>
<h2>Disability on reality TV</h2>
<p>While Jonnie Peacock is the first paralympian to appear on Strictly Come Dancing, he is not the first disabled person to compete on a reality talent dancing show. In 2015, the US version of the show, <a href="http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars">Dancing with the Stars</a> featured an Iraq War veteran amputee, Sergeant Noah Galloway. And in the same year, Royal Marine veteran Lance Corporal Cassidy Little – who lost his leg in Afghanistan – appeared on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/14WxTJYynG31SvcLTtVTvc7/cassidy-little">The People’s Strictly</a> . </p>
<p>Galloway and Cassidy were both presented as “wounded heroes” – highlighting their veteran identities. In many instances their prosthetics were deliberately foregrounded in the routines and their video introductions each week focused on the practical and emotional difficulties of training for each dance. Most importantly, the judges’ comments acknowledged the difficulties they faced in performing the dances and took this into account when scoring. </p>
<p>In contrast, although Peacock has talked about his disability, he has generally downplayed any sense that it should hinder his performance. The only dance so far in which Peacock’s prosthetic has been visible is the jive, after which he was hailed as a <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/strictly-jonnie-peacock-blade-video-11267832">“hero”</a>“ by the media. In his <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/jonnie-peacock/">Huffpost blog</a> , Peacock wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I love reading that my prosthetic has got households across the UK talking about disability. I’m on this programme to show everyone that there is ability in disability and that if you put your mind to it, and work hard, then anything is possible.</p>
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<h2>Equality or exclusion?</h2>
<p>Peacock’s ability to compensate for his disability has meant that the narrative set up by Strictly rarely refers to his disability and the judges don’t appear to take it into account in their scoring of his performances. After he was voted out of the competition, Peacock thanked the judges for treating him the same as everybody else. </p>
<p>But having repeatedly drawn attention to an issue caused by his disability without acknowledging the reasons, can the judges really claim to have treated Peacock equally? </p>
<p>Ignoring Peacock’s disability potentially put him at a disadvantage in relation to his fellow competitors. This made it less likely that he would fulfil his hopes of demonstrating that, if we work hard enough, "anything is possible”.</p>
<p>Peacock’s inability to achieve the correct posture is a result of his disability – so, surely awarding him lower scores on this basis inevitably resulted in him being unable to progress beyond a certain point in the competition. His performance on Saturday night was given a standing ovation by the audience in Blackpool’s Tower Ballroom. But the judges’ comments repeatedly focused on Peacock’s incorrect posture and he found himself voted off the programme. </p>
<p>Peacock hopes that his appearance has paved the way for more contestants with disabilities to come forward and take part. But if this is to be the case, the programme will need to consider how this will work. As sporting organisations and academics begin to scrutinise the categorisation systems used in the Paralympics, perhaps it’s time for reality talent shows to consider how people with disabilities should be represented in order to ensure fairness and inclusivity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87920/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenna Pitchford-Hyde does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Should disabled competitors be judged on the same criteria as their able-bodied rivals when it comes to dance competitions?Jenna Pitchford-Hyde, Lecturer in Humanities, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/702952016-12-15T11:31:04Z2016-12-15T11:31:04ZWhy Ed Balls deserved the Strictly glitterball<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149913/original/image-20161213-1625-1wsp3n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC/Kieron McCarron</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This year has been a shocker. The memory of 2016 will be, after all, skewered in perpetuity by the image of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, standing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/13/donald-trump-nigel-farage-picture-trump-tower#img-1">grinning in a golden lift</a>. Above all, it is a year in which all the wrong people kept winning for all the wrong reasons. From an internecine power struggle among the Tory party leading to an exit from Europe, the consequences of which no one has the faintest idea, to a brash, belligerent reality TV star being elected US president, I wake up every morning to the horrible realisation that it really wasn’t all a dream.</p>
<p>In a world where everything seems to be falling butter side down, the cosy escapism offered by the BBC in its two ratings juggernauts <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-great-british-bake-off-12314">The Great British Bake Off</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8dq">Strictly Come Dancing</a> is at its most welcome. One could argue that their respective focus on home baking and ballroom dancing offers more than a subliminal nod to the longing for a return to a fantasy Britain of jam, Jerusalem and military two-steps that drove the vote of many a Brexiter itching to take back control. But both shows also offer a view into another, more hopeful world – one in which winning isn’t actually everything, one where people can make fun of themselves.</p>
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<span class="caption">Finest glitter distraction.</span>
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<p>Sure, this year’s Strictly has delivered a climax that no one could argue with. The final will see the very cream of this year’s contestants compete for the Strictly trophy. Nineties pop starlet <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkiaNCTCKfs">Louise Redknapp</a> will dance it out with Hollyoaks’ heartthrob <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CABJfSW6MXE">Danny Mac</a> and TV sports presenter <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSq3Hr62-Ig">Ore Oduba</a>. All are brilliant dancers who have delivered some spectacular routines with their partners over the past 12 weeks.</p>
<p>Yet, honestly, shamefully, I’m bored with them all. I’m bored of their predictable, identikit excellence and almost professional levels of ability, and I don’t care who wins Strictly’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/strictlycomedancing/entries/7b3927d5-1a2e-4144-8428-6425c9255748">Grand Final</a>. Strictly in 2016 has for me – and going by social media, <a href="http://www.dailystar.co.uk/strictly/565482/Strictly-Ed-Balls-gives-Zoolander-Blue-Steel-for-tango">many, many others</a> – been all about the wrong man. This year’s oldest, squarest male contestant, someone who traditionally would have had to have packed up his dancing shoes and got his coat by around week two, is in fact 2016’s breakout star.</p>
<p>Scourge of the judges and provider of some of the most memorably joyous performances, former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Ed Balls has owned 2016. While by the end of the series, Danny Mac and Louise Redknapp will have racked up any number of nines and tens with their sizzling sambas and elegant quicksteps, it is Ed and his partner Katya Jones’s recreation of the K Pop smash hit <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=9bZkp7q19f0">Gangnam Style</a> which will sit forever in the Strictly hall of fame. </p>
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<p>Despite the judging panel’s constant refrain that Strictly is a dancing competition, Balls personifies what it is that makes the series such an engaging and absorbing experience. While the likely winners of this year were already evident from week one, who could have predicted the nimble footwork, pitch perfect comic timing and cheeky, laddish bravado that Balls would bring to his wittily ingenious routines? Before his performances, there was always a genuine buzz of anticipation. No one knew what he was about to do next. While he did not technically win the competition, leaving in week ten, Strictly 2016 was Ed Balls’s show.</p>
<p>In the light entertainment, shiny-floor show world of Strictly, sometimes we don’t always want the best man (or woman) to win. Strictly after all has always thrived on results that go against the predicted grain. In 2005 and 2006, for example, there were two thrillingly unlikely winners in the shape of cricketers <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/1sjjGdqygCZfdkfg7WWC3hZ/darren-gough">Darren Gough</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/26ggnvYXTfcVn27SL8mycFX/mark-ramprakash">Mark Ramprakash</a>. </p>
<p>First, bluff, matter-of-fact Gough transformed into an elegant, assured ballroom dancer, and then shy, self-effacing Ramprakash revealed an undiscovered talent for sultry, sexy Latin routines. While neither man was necessarily the best or most natural dancer of their respective series, the draw for the audience was the unexpected pleasure of what they achieved in a few months, set against the experienced, stage school-trained contestant who of course hits the ground running on week one.</p>
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<p>Ed Balls’s hand-knitted, homespun amateur charms also had other rather more significant implications in a 2016 when not an only exit from Europe but also questions of British identity itself have been continually under the spotlight. Set against the angry troubled images of conflicted nationhood that the year has confronted us with, Balls, with his endearingly imperfect dancing, serves as a reminder of some of the positive qualities which have long been associated with Britishness. His popularity drew fundamentally upon his ability to laugh at himself and to take a weekly slating from the judges in good heart. </p>
<p>At the same time, in the best tradition of the gentleman amateur, he genuinely gave it his very best shot every week. And who could miss the spirited twinkle in his eye that showed he was enjoying the pop-culture joke along with everyone else? For a few minutes on Saturday nights, Balls banished 2016’s Brexit Britain gloom with a long forgotten sprinkle of 1990s Cool Britannia insouciance. What a pity that the year that took a TV star to the top of the political tree couldn’t also send a politician the other way. </p>
<p>Oh well, that was 2016 it seems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70295/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Irwin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Strictly Come Dancing final looks to be somewhat dull – all glitter, no Balls.Mary Irwin, Senior Lecturer in Media, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/689482016-11-16T17:31:21Z2016-11-16T17:31:21ZJungle boogie: five dancing animals who know how to strut their stuff<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146268/original/image-20161116-13521-137ibst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">No, I can't see the supermoon either.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gooney_Bird_Dance.jpg">Gary Edstrom/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Strictly Come Dancing is no longer the only must-watch weekend TV show where viewers are entertained with impressive moves. The second edition of nature documentary Planet Earth II featured footage of grizzly bears that appeared to be dancing against trees. The “pole-dancing” bears appeared to seek out specific trees then rub their backs up and down them. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, it’s doubtful the bears were performing a routine that would take them to the much-coveted Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Instead, they were actually scratching their backs against the trees to help them shed their thick winter coat. The moves also help them to <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070909221303.htm">spread their scent</a> so that other bears know who is around and potential lethal fights can be avoided.</p>
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<p>Plenty of other animals perform what looks like a dance for specific reasons, whether this is to attract a mate, lure prey or as a form of communication. The dance rituals have evolved because animals that behave this way gain some sort of competitive advantage, so are able to live longer and pass their “dancing” genes on when they reproduce.</p>
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<p>For example, gulls do a <a href="http://animalbehaviouraberdeen.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/seagull-rain-dance.html">kind of Riverdance</a> that simulates the vibrations of rain on the ground. This draws worms up to the surface where they are easily picked off and eaten by the gulls. The individual gulls that undertake this apparent dancing behaviour gain food and so decrease their chance of starvation, leading to the survival of the fittest.</p>
<p>Here are just a few more animals that dance:</p>
<h2>Honey bees</h2>
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<p>Could you tell your friends where to find food just by dancing? Honey bees perform an interpretative “<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8176000/8176878.stm">waggle dance</a>” for members of their hive to show where a food source of nectar is. The dance consists of waggles (vibrations) and loops, where the direction of the waggle indicates the direction of the nectar source in relation to the position of the sun in the sky. The length of the waggle indicates how far away the nectar source is.</p>
<p>For example, a dance containing two seconds of waggling in a vertical direction indicates that other bees should head out directly towards the sun for roughly two kilometres to find the source of the nectar. Many performances on Strictly tell a story but perhaps not to quite the same extent as the waggle dance.</p>
<h2>Stoats</h2>
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<p>Strictly viewers were mesmerised by Ed Balls’ salsa to Gangnam Style. There was even footage of Darcey Bussell gripping her fellow judges and freezing in either delight or terror.</p>
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<p>In a similar way, prey can be mesmerised by the dance of the stoat. When capturing large or difficult-to-catch prey, the stoat performs <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0074tkf">a fast, bizarre dance</a>, creeping closer and closer until it is able to pounce and deliver a killing blow. They prey is transfixed until it is too late to run.</p>
<h2>Grebes</h2>
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<p>Grebes are graceful water birds that are noted for their <a href="http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150417-the-beauty-of-courting-grebes">elaborate courtship dances</a>. Males and females pair up and undertake a dance duet in perfect synchrony, similar to a passionate Argentine tango or possibly a beautiful Viennese waltz. The purpose of this dance is to form bonds between the pairs and show commitment. The more effort your partner puts in, the more effort they should also put in to raising offspring.</p>
<h2>Birds-of-Paradise</h2>
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<p>Most birds-of-paradise, such as the six-plumed bird-of-paradise species, have elaborate mating rituals. The males are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20150129-why-do-birds-of-paradise-dance">typical show-offs</a>. They are highly ornamented with head plumes and iridescent feathers, and they prance around to attract the drab females. The females choose the highest quality mates, and this is indicated via the quality of their dance performance.</p>
<p>First, the males undertake careful preparation, producing a meticulously cleaned stage to perform on, which they decorate with berries. Then, the males show off their amazing plumage by performing a dance of head bobs, shimmies and turns. They even fan their feathers to produce a skirt or cape that they show off to great effect, similar to the matadors in the Paso Doble dance. The females will only choose the males that they view as “fab-u-lous”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Gentle works for Nottingham Trent University. </span></em></p>Planet Earth’s bears have nothing on these critters.Louise Gentle, Senior Lecturer in Behavioural Ecology, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.