Breaking Barriers
(Quick) Steps Towards Inclusion Laura Nicholson reports on how Strictly Come Dancing has brought new audiences to dance. She speaks with 2021 champion Giovanni Pernice about how the show, with groundbreaking representation on primetime, has shown the nation how brilliantly diverse and inclusive dance should be.
Laura Nicholson
Since Strictly Come Dancing first hit our television screens in 2004 it’s become difficult to imagine an autumn without the glitterball sparkle, glamour and music. With 11 million people tuning in to watch the 2021 final, it is fair to say that last year’s series of the flagship BBC primetime show certainly made a splash. For a ‘light entertainment’ show seemingly embedded in glitz and glamour, Strictly has developed a reputation for charting new territory – not least when in 2014 Claudia Winkleman joined Tess Daly to form the long-overdue first female pairing to front a primetime Saturday night TV show.
It is perhaps surprising, then, that it took until 2017 for a disabled contestant to be included in the Strictly line up, with Paralympian and amputee Jonnie Peacock openly expressing his desire to normalise disability and break down barriers through his inclusion in the hit show. Since that pivotal moment, Strictly has seen disabled participants included in each series. At One Dance UK, we firmly believe in the ability of dance to transform lives, so it is no surprise to hear Strictly contestants talk passionately about all they have gained through taking part in the show. More than ever though, the class of 2021 seem to have captured the public’s imagination about the transformative power and significance of dance.
Photos: Top: Dani Bower for One Dance UK Bottom: Dave J Hogan
Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice on the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour 2022
20 The One Dance UK Magazine | Spring 2022
