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Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance

Len Goodman

Lucy Worsley

Silver River Productions

Emma Hindley

Eleanor Scoones

Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance: Episode 3: The Shock of the New

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

The Shock of the New

Episode 3

Episode 3: The Shock of the New

BBC Four - Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance, The Shock of the New

How the early 20th century saw the most revolutionary change in British dance history.

Len Goodman and Lucy Worsley show how the first few decades of the 20th century saw the most rapid and revolutionary change in the history of British dance.

Len Goodman and Lucy Worsley discover how the first few decades of the 20th century witnessed the most rapid and revolutionary change in the history of British dance. The bold new sound of ragtime music arrived on our shores from America and paved the way for wave after wave of new dances that would take the dance floor by storm.

Len gets to grips with quirky animal dances before exploring how a young couple called the Castles found fame as the first dancing screen icons. Lucy discovers how, whilst many people lapped up the new American imports, one woman saved that most English tradition, morris dancing, from extinction.

The First World War marked a pivotal moment - after the armistice everyone wanted to dance and Britain was swept up in the greatest dance boom the country had ever known. Palais de Danse opened across the country and for the first time dancing became a big business opportunity, with the dancing public holding sway over what was in or out of fashion on the dance floor. 

Len and Lucy explore how we danced in interwar Britain and how women's new-found freedoms were epitomised by the iconic and reckless dancing girl, the flapper. They visit that most famous dance floor, the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool, to examine how dancing professionals sought to take back control with standardisation of music and dancing.

Finally, under the tutelage of Darren Royston, historical dance teacher at Rada, Lucy and Len put together one final performance of the most iconic dance from the era, the Charleston, in full period costume in front of a crowd at the famous Cafe de Paris in London.

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Lucy Worsley and Len Goodman reveal the untold story of British dance.

Len Goodman and Lucy Worsley uncover the British love affair with dancing, exploring the nation's favourite dances from the 17th to the 20th centuries.

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Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance

Episode 3: The Shock of the New

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