Firstly of each British autumn we mark the turning season with three immutable certainties: vibrant chilly mornings, the beginning of a brand new educational 12 months and the launch of Strictly Come Dancing. This 12 months sees the twentieth sequence, with a line-up that has sparked nationwide conversations about gender, sexuality and incapacity.
Final 12 months’s ground-breaking last was praised for its inclusive illustration with deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis and John Whaite, the primary male contestant to bop in a same-sex pairing.
This 12 months’s sequence demonstrates the BBC’s dedication to persevering with its work in difficult norms about who can or ought to dance – and who they need to dance with. As a researcher within the discipline, my work seems to be at inclusive dance apply, main me to working with colleagues on a undertaking with the BBC how Strictly embraces range.
BBC
This 12 months’s line-up contains paralympian Ellie Simmonds and comic Jayde Adams, who’re nonetheless within the competitors, in addition to presenter Richie Anderson, who was eradicated in week three.
Simmonds, who was born with Achondroplasia dwarfism, is a part of a rising group of disabled celebrities showcasing their skills in Strictly Come Dancing, (together with final 12 months’s champion, Ayling-Ellis, who received individuals’s hearts along with her “silent dance”).
Anderson and Adams are the 2 contestants in same-sex pairings this 12 months. These partnerships had been first launched in 2020 when boxer Nicola Adams was partnered with Katya Jones, and continued final 12 months with finalists and fan favourites John Whaite {and professional} dancer Johannes Radebe.
With this 12 months being hailed as probably the most various sequence ever, Strictly is trying to higher replicate the variety that exists throughout the British inhabitants by difficult the dominant norms in dance traditions and kinds that function on the present.
The drive in the direction of extra inclusivity and illustration has been praised by many, not least by communities which have lengthy been underrepresented on tv usually, and extra particularly, on primetime reveals.
As a co-investigator on the Strictly Inclusive undertaking to rejoice the BBC’s centenary, I’ve been speaking to the general public in regards to the present. The undertaking collaborated with Coventry Satisfaction, the Deaf Cultural Centre and Deaf Explorer in Birmingham. We additionally spoke to native artists, analysed archival clips of the sequence, hosted discussions and mirrored on inclusion and illustration as entire on the present – previous, current and future.
Gender pairings and incapacity
This push for better inclusivity on Strictly doesn’t all the time discover assist. Creating the format away from the unique present Come Dancing (which launched in 1950) has been met with some destructive criticism.
Lately labelled as a “woke box-ticking train”, Strictly appears to be disrupting concepts of what dance must be and what dancers ought to appear like, in addition to increasing what now we have come to count on from Saturday evening leisure reveals.
Apparently, Strictly’s first disabled contestant was not on the primary present, however a 2015 Comedian Aid model. The Individuals’s Strictly welcomed specifically chosen members of the general public to take part in a one-off sequence. Battle veteran Cassidy Little took half and received.
Since then, many paralympians and veterans have launched into their “Strictly journeys”, working with dance companions and choreographers to adapt motion to greatest go well with their our bodies, whereas trying to stick to the principles and expectations of ballroom and Latin dance kinds.
Queer tradition has lengthy been part of Strictly’s id, from its fashionable judges to its celebration of queer celebrities via costuming and tune alternative – see Russell Grant’s 2011 American easy to LGBTQ+ anthem I’m what I’m.
It appears same-sex pairings had been requested and denied for a few years. The BBC launched the thought with the primary superstar same-sex partnership in 2020, ten years after it occurred on Israel’s Dancing with the Stars. Despite accusations of superficial tokenism, Strictly now seems to be dedicated to real sexual illustration, guaranteeing there’s a alternative in dance companions.
How issues change
Diversifying those that take part in actuality TV reveals can deliver urgent points to a bigger viewers. On final 12 months’s sequence, deaf actress Ayling-Ellis spotlighted British Signal Language (BSL) so prominently that there was a surge in searches for BSL programs.
Since being topped 2021 Strictly champion, she has led a marketing campaign to make BSL a recognised language in public life, championing a invoice that was handed by MPs in early 2022.
The actress has spoken of how the battle to get BSL recognised as an official language has been lengthy and hard-won, suggesting that the publicity and attain of Strictly contributed to the success of the marketing campaign. This highlights how the present can impact change and interact new audiences, champion distinction and assist inform public coverage. Televised dance has the potential to alter views on sexuality, gender and incapacity, in addition to who can dance.
What’s subsequent for Strictly?
For all of the developments and adjustments, Strictly’s work on inclusion shouldn’t be performed. To keep away from claims of “box-ticking”, the present ought to proceed exploring what dance is, who can dance and the way it’s shared with various audiences.
Though Ayling-Ellis’ stint on the programme made a substantial impression, there may be nonetheless no everlasting BSL interpretation supplied for the stay present, for instance. Additionally, the kinds or genres introduced on Strictly showcase specific dance traditions whereas different kinds practised throughout the UK are rendered considerably invisible to large public audiences on account of their exclusion.
By participating with audiences and the general public extra via analysis initiatives equivalent to Strictly Inclusive, we are able to perceive the influence televised dance can have on communities and wider society. There may be extra to be performed, however that is actually a step, a twirl and a shimmy in the direction of a extra progressive present and viewers.
