Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance
SERIES 1 - 1. THE DEVIL'S WORK?
BBC Four Mon 17th Nov 9pm - 10pm
Repeat: BBC Four Tomorrow 3am
Repeat: BBC Four Thursday 10:30pm Review by: David Crawford
This is a jolly wheeze. Lucy Worsley and Len Goodman get powdered, bewigged and befrocked (not Len, he only goes so far as a pair of fetching court shoes with red high heels) for an entertaining waltz through British dance styles since the 17th century.
In between enjoying themselves getting to grips with routines from the rural cushion dance to court dances and the minuet, Lucy and Len deliver a potted history of how moving in time to music has been used for courtship, romance and sex.
There are bawdy stories about the licentiousness of maypole dancing, a demonstration of the strictures of court dancing and revelations about the disreputable image of 17th-century dance instructors, plus a rather off-colour joke about Len’s codpiece.
The real delight though is watching the Strictly head judge struggling to master the steps for the minuet. No way you’d get a “Seven!” for that, Len.
1/3. Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman and historian Lucy Worsley take a sideways look at the country's favourite dances from the past 400 years, and reveal how they relate to changes in society and culture. Len and Lucy explore how dancing went from being frowned upon as dangerous and debauched in the 17th century to being celebrated as an essential social skill a hundred years later. The pair begin by joining a group of performing arts students on Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire, to learn the cushion dance, a 17th-century favourite with a rather raunchy reputation.
www.radiotimes.com
