On the fourth day of Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2024 celebrity reveals, my true love sent to me…… Harry Aikines-Aryeetey
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special is back! As the Ballroom is once again transformed into a magical winter wonderland, the fourth celebrity behind the all-star advent calendar doors this year has been revealed.
On Strictly: It Takes Two on BBC Two and iPlayer this evening, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey or ‘Nitro’ from Gladiators was announced as the fourth celebrity included in 2024’s Christmas line up, he will be paired with Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Nancy Xu.
Expect festive cheer, jingle bells, mistletoe madness, bedazzling baubles and six celebrities all sleighing their way to Elstree in a bid to be crowned the Strictly Christmas Champion 2024.
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey or ‘Nitro’ is a Gladiator and Olympian.
In 2023 Harry was unveiled as ‘Nitro’ in the BBC One series of Gladiators. He is also a Team GB sprinter, Commonwealth and World gold medallist sprinter. Harry has competed at the highest level in the UK since his youth. After becoming the first athlete to win gold medals at both 100 and 200 metres at the World Youth Championships, he won 2005 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year age 17.
Harry has gone on to win gold 4x in the men’s 100m European Championships and at the Commonwealth Games. His long list of achievements include: 2x Olympian, 3x European Champion, 2x Commonwealth Champion, 1x Commonwealth Silver Medallist, 1x European Bronze Medallist, 1x World Bronze Medallist, 1x British Champion, 2x World Youth Champion and 1x World Junior Champion.
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey says: “STRICTLY….ARE YOU READY?! Nitro’s blasting onto the Ballroom floor this Christmas! I’m swapping my trainers for dancing shoes, and trust me, I’m bringing the power, the energy and the moves! This December I’m gonna light up that dancefloor and crank the Christmas spirit all the way UP. Let’s do this!”
In the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, produced by BBC Studios, each of the six couples will perform a festive fuelled routine in the hope of impressing the judges, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Head Judge Shirley Ballas, and the voting studio audience. But who will emerge the Christmas star of the evening, and lift the sought after Christmas trophy?
The remaining Christmas line up will be announced on Strictly: It Takes Two in due course.
The ballet world is mourning the death of Vladimir Shklyarov, one of its leading male dancers.
Shklyarov, a principal with the prestigious Mariinsky Theatre, was an "extraordinary artist" who inspired fans worldwide, one tribute said.
His death, announced by the St Petersburg company on Saturday, is being investigated by federal authorities, according to Russian media reports.
Mariinsky representatives told media he had fallen from the fifth floor of a St Petersburg building while on painkillers.
"This is a huge loss not only for the theatre's staff but for all of contemporary ballet," the company said in a statement on Saturday.
"Our condolences to the artist’s family, loved ones, friends and all the numerous admirers of his work and talent."
Shklyarov was married to fellow company dancer Maria Shklyarov, with whom he had two children.
Born in Leningrad, he studied at the famed Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, graduating in 2003.
He joined the Mariinsky Theatre the same year, becoming a principal in 2011.
Over 20 years with the company, he danced leads across several productions, including Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet.
He performed at prestigious venues around the world, including the Royal Opera House in London and Metropolitan Opera in New York.
In 2014 and 2015, he featured as a guest artist at the American Ballet Theatre. The company issued a statement on Sunday mourning his "tragic loss."
"We mourn the tragic loss of Vladimir Shklyarov, an extraordinary artist whose grace and passion inspired audiences worldwide.
"Your light will continue to shine through the beauty you brought to this world," the company wrote on Instagram.
Shklyarov received several accolades during his lifetime, including the Léonide Massine International Prize in 2008. He was also appointed an Honoured Artist of Russia in 2020.
"He forever inscribed his name in the history of world ballet," the Mariinsky Theatre said.
Wynne Evans is the eighth celebrity to depart the dancefloor in Strictly Come Dancing 2024
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyThe Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyThe Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyThe Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyThe Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyThe Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones have left Strictly Come Dancing, following a dance off against Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe during the eighth results show of the series, this week from the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
Montell Douglas, Johannes Radebe, Katya Jones & Wynne Evans,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Both couples performed their routines again; Montell and Johannes performed their Salsa to Don’t Leave Me This Way by Thelma Houston. Then, Wynne and Katya performed their Charleston to Carmen Suite No. 1: 5. Les Toreadors by George Bizet.
Claudia Winkleman, Tess Daly, Katya Jones & Wynne Evans,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
After both couples had danced a second time, the judges delivered their verdicts:
· Craig Revel Horwood chose to save Montell and Johannes.
· Motsi Mabuse chose to save Montell and Johannes.
· Anton Du Beke chose to save Montell and Johannes.
With three votes in favour of Montell and Johannes, they won the majority vote meaning that Wynne and Katya would be leaving the competition. Head Judge Shirley Ballas also agreed and said she would have decided to save Montell and Johannes.
When asked by Tess about his time on the show, Wynne said: “It’s been wonderful, I’ve got to say. I feel like it’s what Strictly is all about. If I can come and do Strictly and last until week nine, then anybody can get out there and dance and have a brilliant time. Strictly is such a brilliant family, such a precious family, that I want everybody here in this room and at home to look after it for the generations to come because it is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Katya said: “To be honest with you, the smile hasn’t left my face since the first day of our training, since the day we got partnered up.
“You [to Wynne] have made this experience so joyous and so full of laughter for me. I’m sure everybody was jealous because you’re the kind of guy that everybody wants in their life. You bring light, you bring laughter, you bring charisma, you fill up every room you walk into with those qualities”
Wynne added: “To have been partnered with Katya has been amazing and coming every Saturday night to hang out with these guys [to fellow contestants in the Clauditorium], that’s been wonderful. But to spend every weekday dancing has been just fantastic. I’ve grown so much and I’m so thankful to have met this person [to Katya].”
Tess Daly, Wynne Evans & Katya Jones ,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyKatya Jones & Wynne Evans,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyKatya Jones & Wynne Evans,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Sunday’s results show also features a phenomenal additional performance from Pet Shop Boys, who perform their brand-new single All The Young Dudes, plus our professional dancers put on a passionate and sultry performance to Tango Jalouise.
Pet Shop Boys, Luba Mushtuk, Gorka Marquez,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
The remaining seven couples will take to the dancefloor next week when Strictly Come Dancing returns live on Saturday 23rd November at 19:05 with the return of the Dance-A-Thon feature, where all of the couples will take to the Ballroom floor together to impress the judges with their best Samba moves in a Samba-Thon. The results show will air on Sunday 24th November at 19:20 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Pet Shop Boys, Nadiya Bychkova, Nikita Kuzmin,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyPet Shop Boys, Nadiya Bychkova, Nikita Kuzmin, Luba Mushtuk, Gorka Marquez,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyPet Shop Boys, Luba Mushtuk, Gorka Marquez,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Both of this weekend’s episodes are available to watch now via BBC iPlayer.
Pet Shop Boys, Nadiya Bychkova, Nikita Kuzmin,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Wynne and Katya will join Fleur East for their first exclusive televised interview live on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday 18th November at 18:30 on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
Don’t miss a Strictly Come Dancing sequin by clicking on the image below, where you’ll be taken to the latest news
On a Friday afternoon on the last day of May, Donna Faye Burchfield was sitting on her deck in Philadelphia when a newspaper notification popped up on her friend’s phone: University of the Arts, where Burchfield had been dean of the School of Dance since 2010, was closing its doors in a week—for good. Were Burchfield and her colleagues given any warning? “Of course not,” she says with a laugh, still incredulous months after the fact. “And we had 31 students scheduled to leave for France in less than two weeks for the low-residency MFA program.”
Burchfield spent the rest of the night pacing her apartment, trying to process the shock. The next morning, she started making phone calls, relying on friends and colleagues in the field to help her compile a list of contacts who might be able to help. “I didn’t even know what I was going to ask for,” she remembers. “It was like being lost at sea. I needed to figure how to get to land.”
Eventually, Burchfield was connected to Bennington College president Laura Walker and provost Maurice Hall, and described her most immediate concern: that the 13 UArts low-residency MFA students expected to graduate at the end of the summer—many of whom had already accepted job offers predicated on earning their degrees—would be able to do so. “I explained that,” says Burchfield, “and Laura said, ‘Don’t stop there. How else can Bennington help? What else do you need?’ ”
Just two months later, thanks to Walker’s heroic fundraising efforts and the generosity of three major donors, The New York Times announced that the UArts School of Dance would be revived at Bennington College. In September, 36 BFA students, 20 continuing low-residency MFA students, and 13 faculty members matriculated to Bennington, trading UArts’ urban Philadelphia setting for Bennington’s pastoral Vermont campus.
While the partnership might seem unexpected, both Burchfield and Walker see it as a serendipitous continuation of Bennington’s modern dance legacy. In 1934, a group of artists including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Hanya Holm, and Charles Weidman helped to launch the Bennington School of Dance, a summer festival that acted as both a training program and a creative laboratory. In the decades since, dance has continued to play an important role at the college, with notable teachers including José Limón, Judith Dunn, and Steve Paxton.
Charles Weidman and Doris Humphrey.Martha Graham and Erick Hawkins. José Limón teaching at Bennington. Courtesy Bennington College (3).
“There’s a direct line from our founding dance faculty to what we’re doing now,” says Walker. “Bennington was the first college to put the arts at the center of the curriculum, and that still informs everything we do.” Other Philadelphia-based schools, like Temple University and Drexel University, offered to absorb UArts students and faculty. But Burchfield understood that what made UArts’ dance program special was more than just its people. “We were looking for a place where we could hold on to the ways that we’ve taught students,” she says. “There was already a history of experimental pedagogy in place at Bennington.”
A new program, made up of former UArts students and faculty, now exists alongside Bennington’s BA in dance. While the BFA is more geared towards preparing dancers for performance careers and the BA is primarily focused on choreography, interdisciplinary research, and critical inquiry, students are free to take classes across both tracks. Outside of their BFA classes—which will be taught by many former UArts professors (including Shayla-Vie Jenkins and Jesse Zaritt, who will act as faculty advisors), mostly in a rotating group who will visit Bennington to teach in three- and seven-week stints—the transfer students will be fully integrated into life at Bennington, living in campus housing and choosing their own BA courses. UArts’ low-residency MFA students will go to Bennington’s campus over the college’s fall and spring breaks, and then spend six weeks over the summer in Montpellier, France, just as they did before the merger.
While Walker and Burchfield hope that the UArts transplants feel settled in Vermont this year, they’re still hoping to find a satellite space in Philadelphia where the BFA program can build a home. “Philadelphia has such a rich cultural life,” says Walker. “I’m really excited about having an outpost in the city that all of Bennington College can use.”
Before the start of the academic year, Burchfield and her team laid down a support floor in Bennington’s student union, transforming it into a studio for the BFA students. “It was like this space was waiting for the floor to be laid. All those folks and all that labor, it still lives here,” says Burchfield, referencing Bennington’s dance history. But it’s Burchfield and Walker’s steadfast belief in arts education that’s allowing that legacy to continue to grow. As of press time, dance is the only one of UArts’ schools to find a way forward for a large group of students and faculty.
Walker hopes that this collaboration can serve as a blueprint for other programs suffering in the future. “As the arts are under attack, we need to find new models to ensure that programs like this, that are extraordinary, will continue,” she says. To that end, Burchfield has hung a quote by Merce Cunningham dancer Viola Farber—another member of Bennington’s storied dance faculty—on the door of her new office. It reads: “I think somehow all of us who work at dancing inspire one another; whether we have anything specifically to do with each other or not.”
It’s Halloween on Strictly Come Dancing, and the couples will be dancing to these spooktacular songs:
Chris and Diane performing a spooky Samba to “Stayin’ Alive” by Bee Gees
Jamie and Michelle with a scary American Smooth to “The Addams Family Theme” by Vic Mizzy
JB and Amy with a frightful Foxtrot to “Dancing in The Moonlight” by Toploader
Montell and Johannes with a chilling Cha Cha to “Love Potion No. 9” by The Clovers
Pete and Jowita gliding through a wicked Viennese Waltz to “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra
Dr Punam and Gorka with a terrifying Tango to “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics
Sam and Nikita in a jump-scare Jive to “Time Warp” by Richard O’Brien (from The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Sarah and Vito attempting the first “Argh’gentine Tango” to “Ready Or Not” by The Fugees
Shayne and Nancy showcasing a petrifying Paso Doble to “In The Hall of The Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg
Tasha and Aljaž with a spooky Samba to “I Like To Move It” by Reel 2 Real
Wynne and Katya in a scary Salsa to “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai
This year, in Sunday night’s results show, our professional dancers will cast a spell with a mesmerizing Beetlejuice-inspired routine that promises to be to die for! And as the witching hour approaches, don’t miss Lady Blackbird, who will be haunting the show with a chilling performance that’s sure to leave you spellbound.
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers 2024,BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarron
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell
Do you have any phobias? Dianne: Heights. I hate heights. Chris: I don’t like little alive things or things that were alive, like seafood. I can’t get on with things that look like they did when they were alive and you’ve got to eat them. I imagine them worse than what they look like. Give me anything in a steak and I’ll eat it but like mussels I can’t get on with. Chris: I can’t stand flying either actually. I’m a nightmare to sit next to. It’s just the not knowing if we’re going to crash. I think if I knew we were going to crash I’d be alright but it’s the not knowing so with every bit of turbulence, I can’t see the calmness around me, so I’m on edge all the time and I can’t relax. I’m always knackered by the time I get anywhere.
Do you believe in ghosts? And have you ever had a paranormal experience? Dianne: I do. I believe in ghosts. I feel like I’ve felt presence. Chris: I’m just keeping my mouth shut. I mean, do you think ghosts are just human or do you think ghosts are other things as well? Dianne: Ghosts are a spirit. Chris: But would you think there are ghost cats? Dianne: No, I don’t think there are ghost cats. The thing is ghost cats haunt other cats, they’re not going to haunt humans are they. Chris: I don’t believe in any of it. I think if there were ghosts, you wouldn’t be able to see anything else but ghosts. Imagine all the ghost bees.
What’s the most scared you’ve ever been in your life? Chris: Episode one of this show. Generally, I was terrified. Dianne: Anything to do with heights, I had to jump off a bridge for a show I was filming and I’ll never forget how scared I was. I was terrified and I would never do it again.
Did you go trick or treating either with kids now or when you were a kid? Chris: I take my daughter trick or treating around our neighbourhood. You can always tell the people that are into it as they’ll have a little pumpkin in the window, I think that’s the sign now isn’t it. Dianne: I bet you don’t have a pumpkin in your house do you? I bet you’ve got a graveyard in front of your house… Chris: I’ve just got a sign that says stay away!
How do you trick and also treat each other when you’re in training? Dianne: I trick Chris quite a bit don’t I. We have a good old laugh. Chris: like yesterday you filmed a video with me with all different filters on and I didn’t know. We have a laugh but we don’t really play tricks. Dianne: I’m forever buying him presents. I’m yet to get one off him but I’m forever getting you things. I’ve got you a glitter ball, a bracelet…
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers 2024,BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarron
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas
Do you have any phobias? Michelle: Claustrophobia. Jamie: Yes, emetophobia (fear of vomiting). Not Halloween related though.
Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever had a paranormal encounter? Michelle: I believe in spirits. There are too many things we don’t understand. I’ve never had an encounter, but I’m quite spiritual. Ghosts as we portray them to be, no, but I think there’s a spiritual world that we can’t see with our own eyes. Jamie: I think I do, there’s too many things not to believe. I’ve never had an encounter though.
When have you been the most scared? Jamie: Probably the first Strictly live show! Michelle: The first live show for me too. Jamie was nervous, but I was more excited. It’s that mix of fear and anticipation.
What’s the best Halloween costume you’ve ever dressed up as? Michelle: Catwoman. I’m one of those girls who actually tries to look good for Halloween instead of scary! Jamie: I don’t think I’ve ever really done Halloween properly.
How do you trick each other during training? Jamie: I’ll deliberately mess up the steps just to throw her off. Michelle: He thinks it’s funny, but messing up steps builds bad muscle memory! I might prank him by pretending to be sick – it’ll freak him out because he’s scared of vomiting. Jamie: That’s nasty! She treats me with bacon rolls and I treat her with lunch.
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers 2024,BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarron
JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE
What are you genuinely scared of? Amy: I’m scared of a lot of things, to be honest, like anything that makes you jump – even in films. When villains would come out in kid’s films, I’d even get scared then. Maybe that’s why I’m not a fan of Halloween. Just a very scared person in general! JB: I’m scared of snakes. Predominantly snakes. Everything else – dogs, heights, small spaces – I’m fine with. But snakes, they’re just too quick and unpredictable.
What’s the most scared you’ve ever been in your life? JB: I remember being lost as a child. I was probably around six or seven and was at Woolworths with my parents. I couldn’t find them, so I freaked out, calling out for them. In my mind, I was lost forever. They found me eventually, but it was terrifying at the time.
Do you have any phobias? Amy: I had a phobia of dogs, but I got over it through therapy. JB: Snakes, definitely. I love watching wildlife shows, but snakes are too unpredictable. I once had one on my shoulders, and I couldn’t relax!
Best Halloween costume you’ve ever dressed up in? Amy: Strictly 2021 – I was painted red and dressed as a devil alongside Tom Fletcher. JB: I’ve never really done Halloween, but I dressed as Wonka for Movies Week which I loved. I’ve also been an American football player before.
Did you go trick-or-treating as a child? Amy: Yes, but only to the neighbours that my parents knew – it was all pre-arranged. JB: Maybe when I was really young, but not much since then.
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers 2024,BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarron
Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe
What are you genuinely scared of? Montell: I’m genuinely scared of heights, I do not like free falling at all, petrified! Also rats and mice can’t do that and the thought of being buried alive also comes to mind, not a fan of the thought process of that. Johannes: Creepy crawlies, especially rats and mice.
What’s the most scared you’ve ever been in your life? Montell: The most scared I’ve been was when I was on an adventurous holiday in Costa Rica and I was zip lining across mountains which with the heights thing just threw me. I was genuinely the most scared I’ve been I thought I was going to die – it was chaotic. Johannes: My sister chasing me around the house with a dead mouse.
Do you have any phobias? Johannes: Darkness and Spiders
Best Halloween costume you’ve ever dressed up in? OR best costume in general you’ve ever dressed up in? Montell: I dressed up as Whitney Houston a couple of years ago for a Halloween party, that was proper fancy dress, that was probably the best outfit I’ve ever done. Johannes: My look for the Halloween special with Ellie for our couples choice to ‘I Put a Spell On You’.
Did you go trick or treating? (as a kid/with your kids?) Montell: When I was younger I did go Trick or Treating, a group of us would go together family and friends. But I actually preferred giving the sweets to the kids when I got a bit older. Especially when you’re in an estate or residential area and around a community lots of kids come and knock. So that was really exciting, giving out the sweets rather than going Trick or Treating. Johannes: No unfortunately only as an adult, had the best time.
How would you trick your partner and how would you treat your partner? Montell: To trick my partner I would probably do little weird things, like move things in our studio and turn off the lights and stuff – I think that would freak him out a little. For a treat I would probably make a personalised playlist of all the songs that we love. Johannes: I would mislead them with paper or rock filled with sweets. Treat, have a stash of really good goodies!
What are you carving into your pumpkin? Montell: In my pumpkin I am carving a glitterball, this is going to be quite difficult, with shoes inside, just to signify my Strictly experience with these heels! Johannes: I would crave a really happy smiley pumpkin.
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers 2024, BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarron
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal
What genuinely scares you? Pete: Nothing. Actually, gorillas. If they wanted to take over the world, they would, and they would just rip my arm off and beat me with it. Other than that, nothing really. Jowita: Spiders. Super creepy, they’re not for me.
Have you ever had a paranormal experience? Jowita: I believe in an energy and everything, but I haven’t experienced it in my own skin. Pete: I actually agree with that. There might be, I don’t know. I don’t necessarily believe but I also don’t definitely disbelieve. I have got a ghost tattooed on me. I used to present a podcast called Just a Little Prick about tattoos and interviewed tattoo artists whilst they tattooed me. And [the tattoo artist who did the ghost] was apparently the oldest working artist in the world. He was 93 and I expected him just to be doing like a little tattoo or something like that so I let him do whatever he wanted, but I didn’t realise it was going to be Casper the Friendly Ghost, who looks like a fat baby. It is absolutely ridiculous.
What is the best Halloween costume you’ve ever dressed up in? Pete: Nothing because I hate Halloween. I hate fancy dress! Jowita: In Poland, we don’t celebrate Halloween so as a child I’ve never dressed up or anything. But at an old job I worked on a cruise ship that held a competition for Halloween. Whoever had the best outfit won, I didn’t really want to dress up because we had a double show that day, so what I decided to do was backcomb my hair so it was absolutely massive, painted my face white, wore a black dress and simply acted creepy. I was so creepy that people voted for me and I won.
Have either of you been trick or treating ever? Pete: I switch off all the lights in my house on Halloween. I don’t remember ever going trick or treating.
How do you trick or treat your partner during training? Jowita: We buy each other coffee… Pete: I bought you some banana bread! Jowita: Yes, he bought me banana bread and I didn’t even ask. Pete: I remember your family’s names and I tried to learn some Polish so that I could say hello to your brother in Polish.
Have you ever carved pumpkins? Pete: To be honest with you, I’d make quite a good pumpkin because we have the same skin tone. Just whack a wig on it. It would be really easy to make me into a pumpkin. Pumpkin Pete. Jowita: Yes I did, I was quite inventive. I also love pumpkin soup. Pumpkins usually have smiley faces so it would be quite easy to do Pete as there would just be a line instead.
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers 2024,BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarron
Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez
What are you genuinely scared of? Punam: Spiders creep me out. Gorka: I’m scared of cats. I cross the road if there’s a cat on the same road as me.
Do you believe in ghosts or paranormal? Punam: I do believe in spirits but it’s more kind of feeling the presence of being I love that have passed. I don’t believe in ghosts lurking round dark corners.
What’s the most scared you’ve ever been in your life? Punam: It’s very easy to spook me. Really dark rooms I cannot enter because I’ll just freak myself out.
Best Halloween costume you’ve ever dressed up in? Gorka: Strictly costume always. Nothing ever tops it. My Beetlejuice outfit (that you’ll see in the results show on Sunday!) was incredible, though it was very itchy.
Did you go trick or treating? Punam: Yes, I go trick or treating as an adult. My whole household, including the dogs, dress up. It’s a big thing in my neighbourhood.
How would you trick your partner and how would you treat your partner? Punam: Every day is a trick with Gorka. I’ve tricked Gorka with jump scares, but it went wrong, and I went flying through a table. Gorka: Treats are croissants and coffee.
What are you carving into your pumpkin? Punam: I love going to the pumpkin patch and choosing pumpkins. This year, we’re doing the Addams Family, and we compete as a family to see who can carve the best pumpkin.
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers 2024,BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarron
Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin
What are you genuinely scared of this Halloween? Sam: I hate spiders. Anything really small that can get into places in a fast way without you knowing. I also don’t like to be scared. We had no curtains on our front room for a while and the thought of someone appearing at the window. Nikita: Spiders also. There was a spider on my car the other day and I had to evacuate to get rid of it. I’m scared of rats. The ones in Italy are huge. I’m terrified of them. I hate small vegetables, small insects. I’m so scared of ants.
What’s the most scared you’ve ever been in your life? Sam: I remember going to watch Paranormal Activity with the team GB Hockey Girls when it first came out. It seemed like a really good idea at the time but we all came up traumatised. My friend even ended up sleeping at my flat so we could share a bed together. It was really scary but also really funny.
What’s the best Halloween costume you’ve ever dressed up in? Nikita: I’ve been a gherkin before. This year I’m going to be Dobby. I’ve got great socks for the costume. I’m going to be driving from my house to the studio in the Dobby costume, so everyone can look at me driving and wonder where Dobby is going. Sam: I’ve never gone sexy. I went as dead Lara Croft at university and also as a dead policewoman. I also did a dead NFL player. Nikita: Me and Vito are dead NFL players this Halloween for the group number!
Did you go trick or treating as a kid? Sam: yes, I went as a kid and with my kids now. Nikita: I’m going for the first time this year as an adult. I missed that part of my life because I was away competing.
How would you trick and treat each other? Do you do tricks on each other? Sam: Nikita is really easy to trick because I could just jump out from behind door. Nikita: I’ll come for training dressed as Dobby. Sam: Our treat is anything caffeine based. Nikita: Coffee. What are you carving into your pumpkin this year? Sam: A glitterball.
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers 2024,BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarron
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola
What are you most scared of? Sarah: People jumping out at me. I’m such jumpy person. Vito does it all the time and it always gets me. I can be in my own house knowing that there are other family members in the house but I’ll still get scared when they jump out at me. Vito: I’m afraid of the dark. I have a little light that comes on at night time. I never sleep with the curtains pulled.
What’s made you the most scared on Halloween before? Sarah: In my road where I live Halloween is massive. One year a friend bought this really simple rubber mask. I really didn’t like. It really freaked me out, even though I knew who it was. I also once went on The Saw Experience at Thorpe Park. I started crying halfway round and my friend had to drag me out. My friend thought it was hilarious. It was just terrifying, but my friend loved it.
Are you scared of ghosts or have you ever had a paranormal experience? Vito: Since I was little I’ve always had things I can see and speak to. When I was a baby, I used to scare my mum because I would stand up in the night and be speaking to someone. The last experience I had was at home here in London. My speaker started to make sounds and talking in the middle of the night. I froze and couldn’t move. My phone died as I went to try and record it even though it didn’t have a low battery. I recorded it on my watch for about five minutes but when I went back to listen to it there was no sound. I have this energy around me which I call Carmela. She’s always around and plays with lights.
What’s the best Halloween costume? Sarah: The pumpkin I had on in the Strictly Halloween teaser. I absolutely loved it, it really is the stuff of dreams. I love dressing up for Halloween and that would definitely be my favourite. I think it was intended for a child. Vito: In Italy we don’t have the Halloween culture but I remember when I was young watching Halloween films made in Hollywood and begging my mum to let me dress up so she took a white sheet and threw it on me, so I was a ghost. She made two little holes for my eyes. I enjoyed that day so much.
Did you go trick or treating as a kid? Sarah: I didn’t as a child but I do now and, like I say, the street I live on is a massive Halloween street. I think it’s fantastic and I love it. It’s really safe and really good fun. I think most kids love dressing up so it’s exciting and fun. This year Percey (my cat) is going to dress up as a purple witch.
How do you trick and treat each other in the training room? Sarah: I need to get it together because at the minute, I feel like it’s 10 tricks to none to Vito. Vito treats me by making me a cup of tea when I arrive at training in the morning. It’s something he’s just learned to do and he makes so much effort with it. I really, really, really appreciate it. He really critiques himself. We’re both similar in terms of food too and we’ll always share if we need to. I really like that. Vito: It shows that I love you because I don’t share food with people if I don’t love them.
Are you into pumpkin carving? Sarah: Pumpkin carving, I think is absolutely hazardous. It’s so risky. I’ve got all the equipment, like the special spoons but you’ve got to be so careful. Vito: I’ve never done it in my life until last year on Strictly which was the first time in my life. I enjoyed it so much. Sarah: I’m a very clumsy person. I’m a bit slap dash and I’m the sort of person who would chop my own finger off!
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu
Have you had any spooky or paranormal encounters? Shayne: One time I was staying in a pub B&B and on the door was Henry VIII. I thought I’d go straight to bed as I had an early start, I switched off the light and was on my side. As soon as I rolled over I opened my eyes and saw a figure there. I hadn’t even been asleep yet and it was just after 9pm, I literally looked at it and did that movie thing of rubbing your eyes. Then I watched it walk off.
Did you go trick or treating as a kid? Shayne: I loved trick or treating as a kid and I love it now as a kid. Now my son is old enough to go he’s going to be walking up to all of the doors and asking for treats.
How do you trick and treat each other in training? Nancy: once at the very beginning I was about to do an interview and he tried to prank me Shayne: we were doing a VT and they were filming as I said to Nancy ‘how do I say I want to cry in Chinese’ and she taught me and I kept saying what she told me but every time she was laughing and I thought I just wasn’t saying it right. Then I found out I’d been saying ‘I love you.’ Nancy: He always buys me treats like blueberry muffins and I buy him coffee.
What will you be carving into your pumpkin this year? Nancy: I’ve never done it. Shayne: Oh we have to! I love it. I’ve done it with the kids over the years. We’ll do this together this year. Nancy: the amazing thing about this show is that there is so many different cultures bringing things to celebrate. I knew about Halloween but I didn’t know how to celebrate it. In China we celebrate differently.
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec
What are you genuinely scared for? Tasha: Insects, snakes, darkness, and people wearing scary masks or with chainsaws. Aljaž: We should have that in the corridors in the studios. I’m scared of everything really that’s supposed to scare you. I’ve never been good with scary things.
What’s the most scared you’ve ever been in your life? Tasha: When going to a Halloween event at Tulley’s farm where they had themed houses, including clowns, and some actors could touch you. It was actually really funny. I’ll never forget that in every single room, Andrew would push me away and run off. Didn’t check on me once. He’d push me to the front! Good to know for a real life situation. Afterwards I was like “you literally gave my life away.”
Do you believe in the paranormal? Tasha: I believe in the afterlife, but I don’t believe in scary ghosts or anything, I’ve never seen one thank goodness.
Do you have any phobias? Tasha: Claustrophobia, especially in lifts or tight spaces full of people. I feel like I can’t breathe. Aljaž: Going blank on Strictly is my phobia.
Best Halloween costume you’ve ever dressed up in? Aljaž: Day of the Dead costume for a Paso Doble. I don’t usually go scary for Halloween. Tasha: Probably just the basic cat or devil. For Strictly Halloween I’m going to be Frankenstein’s girlfriend.
Did you go trick or treating? Tasha: Yes, I loved trick or treating, it was the only time you can get unlimited chocolate and sweets. I didn’t care about the tricks. Aljaž: Lyra will dress up as a bumblebee this year. Janette is very excited because we’re going to take her trick or treating.
How do you trick or treat your partner during training? Tasha: Any chance I get, I make Aljaž jump. Aljaž: In a nutshell, I bring Tasha croissants and chocolate, and in return she scares me.
What are you carving into your pumpkin? Tasha: I love the smell of pumpkins. I love the feeling of the slime when you take the seeds out. I’d carve out the word ‘slay’ then put some cat ears above it. Aljaž: You’re weird! My dad is very good at carving pumpkins, he’s very artsy. His pumpkins were always stories, he’d never do a face. Maybe this year I will try to make Tasha’s face.
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones
Do you have any phobias? Wynne: I don’t like rides, rollercoasters and I really don’t like rats. Katya: Me too. Rats.
Have you had any spooky or paranormal encounters? Wynne: This morning! Katya put a temporary tattoo on my hand yesterday. She put the sticker on then you put water over it and then she took it off and there was nothing. We were like ‘oh well that hasn’t worked, has it?’ then this morning I was in the shower and the tattoo with the writing saying: ‘you are enough’ came up on my arm. I thought it was weird.
Have you ever seen a ghost or had any paranormal encounters? Wynne: I’ve never seen a ghost. Katya: The only thing I’ve had is when my dog died, he was a massive Great Dane and my bedroom was upstairs but downstairs is like wooden floor. She used to walk around and you’d hear her claws on the wooden floor. For months after she died I would still hear her claws on the wooden floor. I believe in some sort of energy. Wynne: I do as well. I don’t know what I believe in. I’m open to everything. I kind of think what happens after we die but also what happens before we’re born? Who knows next?
What’s the best Halloween costume you’ve ever dressed up in ? Katya: Myself. Wynne: I’ve done the house up for kids parties, so I put like hand prints on the window and signs saying, keep out, but I’ve never got dressed up myself. I wouldn’t mind getting dressed up though. Katya: Well, you will for Strictly Halloween! I was Alice in Wonderland on Strictly. I was also a ghost that came out of the piano. On Strictly we get to do some great fancy dress. This year might be my favourite.
How would you trick or treat each other in training? Wynne: Katya is easily tricked with food so I reckon I could put food dye in to your tongue or teeth blue or something. As a treat, I am really into watches and she’s got a watch that has stopped so I’ll go and get it fixed. Katya: I thought you were going to say buy a new one! Just change batteries? Katya: I treat you a lot. I bring cakes and coffee. Tattoos with affirmations. I do the opposite, I’m like the judges are not going to be nice to us this week because they can’t be every single week. Then we get a nine and that’s a nice treat. Wynne: It would be nice if the judges treated us not tricked us for Halloween.
What are you carving into your pumpkin? Wynne: I was the only person in school at 13 to fail art whereas Katya loves a craft. I’ll just make it into a soup.
‘I think AI’s going to change everything,” Tamara Rojo, artistic director of San Francisco Ballet, told me earlier this year. “We just don’t know quite how.” The impact of artificial intelligence on the creative industries can already be seen across film, television and music, but to some extent dance seems insulated, as a form that so much relies on live bodies performing in front of an audience. But this week choreographers Aoi Nakamura and Esteban Lecoq, collectively known as AΦE, are launching what is billed as the world’s first AI-driven dance production, Lilith.Aeon. Lilith, the performer, is an AI entity, who has co-created the work, with Nakamura and Lecoq. “She” will appear on an LED cube that the audience move around, their motion triggering Lilith’s dance.
Nakamura and Lecoq insist they’re interested not in chasing the latest technology for its own sake but in enhancing their storytelling. Working as dancers with theatre company Punchdrunk turned them on to the idea of immersive experiences, which led to virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and now AI. Their question is always: “How can we make this tech come alive?” But not in a robots-taking-over-the-world way.
The story in Lilith.Aeon is inspired by transhumanism (using technology to evolve beyond human limitations) and began as a script written by an AI bot. Nakamura and Lecoq fed it all their research – images, audiobooks, discussions – “and we were able to talk and collaborate with the AI, and co-create the piece together”. The duo created steps, “like a dictionary”, that Lilith was trained on, but the AI went on to generate its own new “words”. They were excited when Lilith did something they never would have thought of, but the choreography remains tailored to their aesthetic. “It’s not random,” says Lecoq. “I’m not interested in seeing something that looks like a screensaver.”
‘It’s not random. I’m not interested in seeing something that looks like a screensaver’ … Lilith.Aeon. Photograph: Shane Benson @Shaneobenson
You can’t talk about AI in dance without discussing Wayne McGregor. Always on the front foot when it comes to tech, he first started researching AI 20 years ago. With Google, McGregor developed AISOMA, a choreographic tool trained on his 25-year archive of work, analysing thousands of hours of video, which can then come up with real-time suggestions, much like a dancer improvising in the studio. He has used AISOMA to generate new versions of his 2017 piece Autobiography that are different at every performance. His latest project, opening next year, is On the Other Earth, developed with Professor Jeffrey Shaw in Hong Kong, which uses a 360-degree screen with sensing technology for the audience to construct their own experience.
Choreographer Alexander Whitley is also using AI to develop ways to integrate the audience into the work. In a VR version of The Rite of Spring, he is working on using the movement of the audience as triggers for avatars trained on a database of Whitley’s choreography. The tech can make an amateur audience member’s movement more artful, and even place it in time with the music, like a dance version of Auto-Tune.
The technology is developing fast. The kind of motion capture that was once the domain of Hollywood studios is now accessible on an app on your phone (try Move.ai), and much of the progress is led by the gaming industry. But it’s worth looking there to see some of the pitfalls, too. Video game performers, including motion capture actors, are striking in the US over concerns about being replaced by AI (much like the actors strike of 2023). Dancers are already being recorded by companies building motion banks (“I’ve done about a million projects where I’ve had to motion capture, like, somebody spinning on their head,” says McGregor). And the question of rights and royalties for using dancers’ movement (and expertise) in order to train AI is a big one. McGregor says that in the past it was common in motion-capture contracts to have a complete buyout. “We didn’t understand what the application of that technology was in the future.” Now he wants to do some work with Arts Council England on intellectual property (IP), motion data and “ethical AI”. Done well, this could be another income stream for dancers. “Coding choreo creates coin,” quotes Jonzi D from his hip-hop show Fray, which features an AI-generated dancing avatar.
But what happens when it’s creating coin for someone else? Dance is an ever-morphing art form, passed on via dancefloors, studios and now social media, and it can be difficult to know, or prove, where an idea began. You can copyright a dance work, but not a step, as dancers found when they tried to sue the makers of the Fortnite video game. You can copyright a file, and Nigerian choreographer Qudus Onikeku is researching using AI to recognise and classify movements to build a dance databank and protect IP, especially for Black artists, so often misappropriated in the past.
Artists working seriously in AI are partnering with big corporations including Nvidia, Amazon and Dell. They get the tech, and in return the companies get the ideas, the kudos and importantly, the data. Are they selling their souls, or is it just pragmatism? There’s influence both ways, potentially. “You don’t want to be the technology adopters,” says McGregor. “You want to be in the conversation at the beginning, being generators. You want to be ahead of it, otherwise you’re just servicing the technology.” Commercial funding is often the only way to develop tools, some of which could go on to democratise and demystify dance – Whitley is working on software that could be used in education, allowing students without previous dance knowhow to create their own choreography on screen.
A scene from Autobiography (v95 and v96) by Company Wayne McGregor at Sadler's Wells, London, earlier this year. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian
“I think that humans and AI can do some beautiful things together,” says Jonzi D. But he has also noticed that most AI-created content he sees has a particular, samey look. “It’s always going to boil down to how creatively we’re able to use it.” Lecoq agrees that everything will look the same if it’s all trained on the same content; the art will eat itself. “It’s laziness in not pushing the boundaries further,” he says. AI isn’t a shortcut when, like AΦE, you’re creating the tech as you go. “It’s a longcut. It’s a very hard, lonely process.”
Rojo can think of some helpful applications for AI in dance. An algorithm that was able to solve the headache of recasting a ballet when someone’s injured, for example, and compute in seconds who’s available, who knows the role, etc. Less helpful would be “if composers were replaced, set and lighting designers were replaced, if patterns in choreography were made by artificial intelligence,” she says. “And that is not out of the realms of possibility.”
The computer’s incursion into creativity is nothing new, though. “Computers are the future of dance,” said the choreographer Merce Cunningham back in 1995, by which time he’d already been working with the programme LifeForms for six years, manipulating avatars on screen then transferring the results on to his dancers. The intention was to shed dancers’ natural habits, where one movement instinctively leads to another, and find something new, something choreographers have always tried to do.
So is it a good or a bad thing for the industry? “I try to avoid falling into the kind of binaries of technology as saviour or destroyer,” says Whitley. There will inevitably be a disruptive impact on industries, “but also really exciting possibilities to emerge with it.” Dancers aren’t all about to lose their jobs. “I never worry about the replacement argument,” says McGregor. For him, it’s about using technology to better understand the complexity of the human body. “And we’re so super-far from building a version that in any way replicates the brilliance of the human body. Human virtuosity and ingenuity is the thing that we connect to most of the time.”
Part of watching dance is knowing, intimately, the limitations of the human body, and seeing them being pushed. That’s meaningless if an avatar can do anything. As McGregor puts it: “There’s no jeopardy in the digital world.” But even if choreography uses AI interventions, “when it’s enacted by a living, breathing human it becomes a meaningful, tangible thing,” says Whitley. “Live performance never can be replaced by the digital experience, for sure,” says Nakamura. She’s not interested in seeing a real person replicated on screen (“What’s the point?”) but in Lilith.Aeon she does want to create something that couldn’t exist any other way. Yet despite the fact AΦE are pioneering the latest in artificial intelligence, they’re not really into tech, insists Lecoq. “The best technology I like is my washing machine and my microwave.”
The Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers 2024,BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarronCarlos Gu,BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarronThe Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancers 2024,BBC Public Service,Kieron McCarron
Dr Punam Krishan is the fifth celebrity to depart the dancefloor in Strictly Come Dancing 2024
Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez, Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu ,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez have left Strictly Come Dancing, following a dance off against Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu during the fifth results show of the series.
Both couples performed their routines again; Punam and her partner Gorka performed their Tango to Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics. Then, Shayne and his dance partner Nancy performed their Paso Doble to In The Hall of The Mountain King by Edvard Grieg.
Tess Daly, Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez ,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
After both couples had danced a second time, the judges delivered their verdicts:
· Craig Revel Horwood chose to save Shayne and Nancy.
· Motsi Mabuse chose to save Shayne and Nancy.
· Anton Du Beke chose to save Shayne and Nancy.
With three votes in favour of Shayne and Nancy, they won the majority vote meaning that Punam and Gorka would be leaving the competition. Head Judge Shirley Ballas also agreed and said she would have decided to save Shayne and Nancy.
When asked by Tess about their time on the show, Punam said: “I am really proud of myself. You know I’ve taken on something that’s so out of my comfort zone. The one thing that I’ve very much learnt is to say yes more, and that there is no point in your life when you can stop learning new skills. I’ve learnt more than dancing, I’ve learnt so much from Gorka. Everyone’s been so incredible and it’s just memories that I’ll take home forever and I am very proud. I’ve made my family very proud, I’m just really grateful.”
Tess Daly, Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez ,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
When Tess asked whether Punam’s family are proud, she responded: “They really are. My kids are so proud, my parents, my husband, everyone. This is just one of those things that I have dreamt about for years and I think to have one of your dreams genuinely come true is just a surreal feeling. Week after week it’s been incredible, I’ve made friends for life and everyone’s just been so kind, so thank you.”
Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Gorka said: “It’s been incredible, it’s been a fantastic six weeks. I’m very proud of what she has achieved. She’s a GP and a Mum. She had never danced before and I think she improved week by week. I think she is truly what the show is about, someone who doesn’t have experience in the performance world came here and learnt to dance. She wanted to do so well and worked so hard. Also I feel very proud and very honoured that we got to do a Bollywood dance, to represent your culture, show your culture to the world and open doors for so many people in your culture.”
Punam added: “Thank you. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for giving me the gift of dancing. I’ve never danced before, but you’ve definitely sparked so much dancing. I want to learn more, and I definitely don’t think this will be the end of my journey dancing.”
Lauren Oakley & Carlos Gu,,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLady Blackbird, Lauren Oakley and Carlos Gu,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLady Blackbird, Lauren Oakley and Carlos Gu,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Sunday’s results show also features a spook-tastic routine from our fabulous professional dancers in a Beetlejuice-inspired routine led by Carlos Gu. Plus a show stopping musical performance from Lady Blackbird sure to leave viewers spellbound.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Amy Dowden MBE was unable to be in tonight’s results show.
The remaining ten couples will take to the dancefloor next week for the brand-new icons themed week when Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday 2nd November at 1830 with the results show on Sunday 3rd November at 1920 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Both of this weekend’s episodes are available to watch now via BBC iPlayer.
Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Dr Punam and Gorka will be joining Fleur East for their first exclusive televised interview live on Strictly: It Takes Two on Monday 28th October at 1830 on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
Don’t miss a Strictly sequin by clicking on the image below
LIVE SHOW,Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu ,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyShayne Ward and Nancy Xu ,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyShayne Ward and Nancy Xu, BBC Public Service,Guy LevyShayne Ward and Nancy Xu ,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,The Strictly Come Dancing Pro Dancers and Celebrities 2024,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
It’s Halloween on Strictly Come Dancing, and the couples danced to these spooktacular songs:
Chris and Diane performing a spooky Samba to “Stayin’ Alive” by Bee Gees
Jamie and Michelle with a scary American Smooth to “The Addams Family Theme” by Vic Mizzy
JB and Amy with a frightful Foxtrot to “Dancing in The Moonlight” by Toploader
Montell and Johannes with a chilling Cha Cha to “Love Potion No. 9” by The Clovers
Pete and Jowita gliding through a wicked Viennese Waltz to “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra
Dr Punam and Gorka with a terrifying Tango to “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics
Sam and Nikita in a jump-scare Jive to “Time Warp” by Richard O’Brien (from The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Sarah and Vito attempting the first “Argh’gentine Tango” to “Ready Or Not” by The Fugees
Shayne and Nancy showcasing a petrifying Paso Doble to “In The Hall of The Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg
Tasha and Aljaž with a spooky Samba to “I Like To Move It” by Reel 2 Real
Wynne and Katya in a scary Salsa to “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai
LIVE SHOW,Pete Wicks,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal ,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal ,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy,Jamie Borthwick & Michelle Tsiakkas,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyJamie Borthwick & Michelle Tsiakkas,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Wednesday, on a Saturday. A disco sequin graveyard. Scarecrows, pumpkins & wheelbarrows.
Gorka Marquez & Dr Punam Krishan,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyGorka Marquez & Dr Punam Krishan,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell ,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,Katya Jones & Wynne Evans,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,Craig Revel-Horwood and Anton Du Beke,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyJB Gill and Amy Dowden, BBC Public Service,Guy LevyJohannes Radebe & Montell Douglas,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyJohannes Radebe & Montell Douglas,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,Jamie Borthwick & Michelle Tsiakkas,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,Sam Quek MBE & Nikita Kuzmin,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,Sam Quek MBE & Nikita Kuzmin,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,Sarah Hadland & Vito Coppola,BBC Public Service,Guy LevyLIVE SHOW,Sarah Hadland & Vito Coppola,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
The Strictly Come Dancing Halloween scoreboard looks like this :
LIVE SHOW,Tasha Ghouri and Alja korjanec ,BBC Public Service,Guy Levy
Choreographic details are not the only things that can get lost in the theater: contemporary/modern dance history can dissolve into obscurity due to its innate ephemerality and the industry’s preference for creating new live work over preserving the old. As such, the fact that art museums – houses of preservation by nature – have an increasing interest in dance is a great help in the quest to capture, document, and share lesser-known performance histories. The current Edges of Ailey exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, which celebrates the legacy of pre-eminent African-American dancer, choreographer, and civil-rights activist Alvin Ailey, is a prime example. It’s an ‘important political move’ according to Lewis, since postmodern dance figures, such as the Judson Dance Theater collective, who enjoyed a retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) back in 2018, have been the artworld’s key reference point for dance for too long. ‘Historically, Black dancers have been written out of that trajectory, so it’s super important to have someone as iconic and influential as Ailey [celebrated in an art context],’ she says. ‘Finally we can break with a really reductive idea of what dance is.’
While not as easy as acquiring inanimate art objects, museums have become more skilled at collecting and conserving dance over the years. ‘A flat [video] documentation of a great dance piece doesn’t cut it,’ says Wood. Instead, methods such as showcasing products of collaboration between dancers and artists from other disciplines or certifying dancers to serve as living archives of specific works are becoming more common. Carmela Hermann Dietrich and Sarah Swenson, for example, are instructors of Italian-American choreographer Simone Forti’s seminal Dance Constructions (1960–1), which were acquired by MoMA in 2015. Likewise, Wookey is a teacher of Rainer’s Trio A, and was responsible for staging the aforementioned performance of the work in Berlin. Alongside colleagues, she’s currently investigating how the unique verbal lexica choreographers use may be helpful in the conservation process. ‘There’s this old idea that dancers use their body but not their voice, but [they] are incredibly articulate. I have hundreds of note cards capturing [Rainer’s] language,’ she says, explaining that the words she used to talk about dance would be wildly different to someone like Martha Graham. ‘Words [in choreography] are fascinating and open up worlds.’
Kevin is an alumnus of the School and First Artist with The Royal Ballet
He will leave the Company and join the Upper School artistic faculty in January
Kevin Emerton. Photographed by Andre Uspenski
The Royal Ballet School is delighted to announce that Kevin Emerton, dancer of The Royal Ballet and alumnus of the School, will join the Upper School in January as Pre-professional Year Ballet Teacher.
This appointment marks a significant addition to the School’s artistic faculty as Kevin transitions from an outstanding 17-year performance career with The Royal Ballet to mentoring and nurturing the next generation of dancers.
Kevin trained at Elmhurst Ballet School before joining The Royal Ballet School’s Upper School. In 2007, Kevin graduated into The Royal Ballet and was promoted to First Artist in 2014.
Kevin brings a wealth of expertise to The Royal Ballet School as an artist and dance teacher. In 2022, he completed The Royal Ballet School’s two-year Diploma of Dance Teaching course. He has since taught as a Guest Teacher with The Royal Ballet School and Company and other international institutions, balancing this with his performance career.
His understanding of the demands of classical ballet at the highest level, combined with his first-hand experience of The Royal Ballet’s repertoire, and The Royal Ballet School’s holistic training ethos, make him uniquely equipped to mentor students at the final stages of their training to success.
Iain Mackay, Artistic Director of The Royal Ballet School, said:
‘We are delighted to welcome Kevin back to The Royal Ballet School. Kevin brings valuable experience of The Royal Ballet’s repertoire and the distinctive English style. His connection with the School, both as a student and graduate of our Diploma of Dance Teaching course, makes him the ideal mentor for our Pre-professional Year students. I know that Kevin’s skill and passion for teaching will inspire and guide them as they prepare to take their first professional steps.’
Kevin Emerton said of his appointment:
‘I am thrilled to be returning to The Royal Ballet School as a teacher. I am truly looking forward to guiding, nurturing and collaborating with the next generation of young dancers.’
This announcement follows the news that Stuart Cassidy will leave the School in January to return to The Royal Ballet as Répétiteur to the Principal Artists.
While with The Royal Ballet, Kevin has performed in a diverse array of the company’s heritage, classical and contemporary repertoire. He has also created roles in new productions for The Royal Ballet with renowned choreographers, including Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor, Crystal Pite and Liam Scarlett as well as performing many revivals of works by Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan and George Balanchine.
Philadelphia Ballet opens the second year of its 60th anniversary season with a revamped production of Le Corsaire, and artistic director Angel Corella says plenty of changes are on deck for the story (more on that below). I was glad to hear it, but as I sat down with Corella to talk about his decade at the helm, I wanted to learn more about his journey as a leader and a choreographer.
Despite its glamor and glitz, the company had fallen into financial disaster in the past, and in 2014 it was on the downslide again. It needed an artistic director who could bring the excitement back to the stage and the donors back to their checkbooks. “We needed fresh blood,” board chair David Hoffman told me in in 2020, “and Angel was a star of his generation in dance. [He] remembers every part of every ballet he’s ever been in or seen, and he is a tremendous teacher.”
“You can’t please everyone”
For Corella, the Philadelphia Ballet seemed a perfect match: he knew the company and had visited it regularly when his sister, Carmen, danced here. But changing a company’s direction is never easy. While Corella charmed donors, there was trouble behind the scenes. In his 20-year career, he said he’d never experienced that kind of rejection.
“I even heard from one of the dancers, ‘we will get rid of you the same way that we got rid of [former director Kaiser] Roy,’ so I was like, ‘ooow. That’s a little bit much!” In hindsight, Corella admits, “I was kind of naïve.” He’s a people pleaser by nature, he said, and “it was really difficult for me to understand that you can’t please everyone.”
Ashton Roxander and artists of Philadelphia Ballet in Angel Corella’s ‘Carmen’. (Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.)
Ten years later
Since that contentious beginning, Corella has turned the company around with vivid dancing in a mix of newer works, lots more classical story ballets, and enough Balanchine to tie the company back to its roots. But he said that his own greatest talent is recognizing it in others: not just his dancers, but also Brazilian artist Juliano Nunes, who served as the ballet’s resident choreographer for two seasons beginning in 2021. “To be able to see the talent so clearly, so quick, that was great,” Corella remembered, plus “being able to grab him before everyone else.”
And he’s proud of his 2023 Carmen, which was a turning point for him. After the 2021 performance of his Landscaping the Mist at the Performance Garage (the company’s soft return thanks to Covid vaccine rollout), he said that he’d created the piece because they had a hole to fill in the program. He was more comfortable staging the classical ballets and didn’t consider himself a “real” choreographer. Now, with a full-length story ballet of his own and another major piece, Bolero, set for the spring, he says, “I have to eat my words now. I surprised myself.”
Artists of Philadelphia Ballet in Angel Corella’s ‘Landscaping the Mist’. (Photo by Alexander Iziliaev.)
Ballet in the pandemic
In March of 2020, the company was in the middle of its run of Bayadère
when the order came to shut down the theaters. It was dancer Nayara Lopes’s first time doing the show. “I remember very clearly because she started to cry,” Corella said. “She had been working so hard and she was ready to do it, and we had to say we’re not performing tonight.”
When everyone realized that the Covid shutdowns would last more than a week or two, the company pivoted to at-home and digital. “It was crazy,” he told me. “You might see a dancer jumping and doing turns a la second [a turn with the leg extended] over the sofa, like, literally brushing the sofa. Nick Patterson was doing a double tour, and he hit his head on the ceiling, and I was like, oh my God, they’re going to kill themselves! And he was like, ‘I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay.’ Just be careful, okay? Measure where you are!”
The company stayed in the public eye with past performances on video and a series of digital performances, created with the dancers in those well-remembered pods for safety and recorded at the Performance Garage. But years of plans for a new building were on hold again, and efforts long in the works to tour the company abroad evaporated. Then, on the advice of a marketing company, the ballet chose that moment to rebrand itself, changing its name from the Pennsylvania Ballet to the Philadelphia Ballet. (The switch drew a mixed response in the dance world.)
Work-life balance
Some challenges have been joyful, even in a pandemic. Four years ago, Corella and company dancer and choreographer Russell Ducker were married. (We’ll be seeing Ducker’s choreography in Dance Card later this season.) The couple has been together for more than 17 years, with a house in the burbs and a dog. Still, Corella is sensitive to navigating the professional part of the relationship in the public eye. Sometimes, he said, “I balance it out in the wrong way, because he’s my partner, and sometimes I don’t give him as many opportunities as he deserves, because I don’t want people to feel that I’m [showing] favoritism.” The company is a low-drama environment these days, he said, with lots of couples among the principal dancers.
The future of Philadelphia Ballet
Corella’s new take on Le Corsaire (running October 18-26, 2024 at the Academy of Music) opens the season. It’s a complete revamp of the story that keeps the fun of the fantastical 19th-century ballet but jettisons many of the bits that made us wince (here’s my review of Corella’s 2017 version). Lankedem is now arranging a wealthy marriage for his sister Medora, who is smitten with the pirate Conrad. So there will still be rollicking pirates and close escapes and swoony duets. The faithful servant Ali will doubtless steal Act 2, but no villains will be bowing to Mecca. And according to Corella, the new story is easier to follow.
Artistic director Angel Corella with Yuka Iseda and artists of Philadelphia Ballet rehearsing his ‘Sleeping Beauty’. (Photo by Arian Molina Soca.)
As for the future, Corella is looking forward to the company’s new building on North Broad. It has been on the drawing board since 2007, but changing plans and finances left the space a vacant lot until this year. During the pandemic, however, the need for the added space became painfully clear, and construction is now underway. And the company is once again putting out feelers for international touring: there’s been interest in Carmen.
Corella has another hope for the future. He has his eye on productions we haven’t seen here, like Onegin, or Manon or The Merry Widow, but he’s having a hard time making that happen. Some are expensive, and the marketing department worries that they are not as well known. The company increasingly relies on the classic story ballets to bring in audiences, but much as we love them, we can weary of a constant diet of Cinderella or even Giselle. The point of bringing Corella on board was to shake things up, and hopefully the donors—and the audiences—will step up to let him do it again.
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