Category Archives: TV

‘I’m fighting for gay rights through same-sex ballroom dancing’

Posted on January 7, 2020 by mkmswain

The 2020 New Year Honours list included a landmark entry: the first honour for services to same-sex ballroom dancing. Pioneering dancer, DJ, event organiser and campaigner Jacky Logan now has a Medal of the Order of the British Empire – though … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, TV | Tagged ballroom, class, competition, dance, dancing, dancing on ice, equal rights, fitsteps, gay, gay games, giovanni pernice, h, ian watkins, jacky logan, johannes radebe, latin, learn to dance, lesbian, lgbtqi, matt evers, new years honours list, pink jukebox, rivoli ballroom, same sex ballroom, same sex dancing, steps, strictly, strictly come dancing | Leave a comment

Strictly Come Dancing, Grand Final: Brilliant Fletcher and Mabuse show power in simplicity

Posted on December 14, 2019 by mkmswain

Kelvin Fletcher and partner Oti Mabuse were the incredibly worthy winners of Strictly 2019. The super sub, drafted at the last minute to replace an injured Jamie Laing, turned out to the secret weapon of this series – the modest, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, TV | Tagged anton du beke, ballroom, bbc, blog, charleston, competition, contemporary, dance, dancing, emma barton, final, grand final, jive, judges, karim zeroual, kelvin fletcher, latin, musical, oti mabuse, quickstep, recap, review, rumba, samba, showdance, strictly, strictly come dancing, technique, telegraph, the final, tv, viennese waltz, win, winner, won | Leave a comment

Time to bring back Strictly Come Dancing’s ‘live TV’ edge

Posted on December 13, 2019 by mkmswain

Who can forget Mark Ramprakash’s salsa crisis in Series 4? It’s a classic Strictly moment: he and his partner became entangled in a microphone cable and had to stop their performance. Bruce Forsyth sprang into action – quickly ascertaining the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, TV | Tagged alex scott, anton du beke, ballroom, bbc, bruce forsyth, celebrity, competition, dance, dance off, dancing, emma barton, emmerdale, final, judges, karim zeroual, kelvin fletcher, latin, live tv, michelle visage, mike bushell, saffron barker, series 17, strictly, strictly come dancing, telegraph, tv | Leave a comment

Strictly Speaking: Week 12

Posted on December 9, 2019 by mkmswain

The semi-final offered up the two-dance challenge, which usually gives a strong indication of who’s ready for the final itself. But, in case you were in any doubt, the judges made their views very clear – i.e. no Chris under … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, TV | Tagged american smooth, anton du beke, ballroom, bbc, blog, celebrity, chris ramsey, dance off, dancing, dancing times, emma barton, final, judges, karim zeroual, kelvin fletcher, latin, oti mabuse, paso doble, quickstep, recap, review, rumba, semi final, strictly, strictly come dancing, strictly speaking, tv, waltz, week 12 | Leave a comment

Strictly Come Dancing 2019 semi-final: who danced it best? Kelvin Fletcher is the technical master across two dances

Posted on December 8, 2019 by mkmswain

By this stage, our celebrities can handle one dance – but two? That separates the contenders from the pretenders, as Len Goodman used to say. Leading contender, and surely hot favourite for the trophy, is Kelvin Fletcher, who impressed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, TV | Tagged american smooth, anton du beke, ballroom, bbc, celebrity, cha cha, chris ramsey, dance off, emma barton, judges, karen hauer, karim zeroual, kelvin fletcher, latin, oti mabuse, paso doble, quickstep, recap, review, rumba, semi final, technique, telegraph, tv, viennese waltz, waltz, week 12 | Leave a comment

Strictly Speaking: Week 11

Posted on December 2, 2019 by mkmswain

Ah, Musicals Week – AKA Dressing-up Box Explosion 2: Wig Warz!. Pretty unsubtle work here from the Strictly producers and judges, with a clear division between sensible theme/dance matches and bizarre combos, and between sky-high quarter-final scores and mediocre ones. … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, TV | Tagged 40, alex scott, ballroom, bbc, beauty and the beast, blog, celebrity, chris ramsey, craig revel-horwood, dance, dance off, dancing, dancing times, elimination, foxtrot, gaston, hairspray, jive, judges, karim zeroual, kelvin fletcher, latin, musical, musicals week, quarter finals, recap, review, samba, scd, shirley ballas, strictly, strictly come dancing, strictly speaking, tv, week 11 | Leave a comment

Strictly Come Dancing 2019, Musicals Week: Karim Zeroual’s technique stops the show – and finally locates Craig’s 10 paddle

Posted on December 1, 2019 by mkmswain

Dancing a jive to Hairspray’s “You Can’t Stop the Beat” might be unoriginal (it’s the fourth on Strictly so far), but it proved a perfect match for Karim Zeroual’s boundless energy – and gave us the first perfect score this … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, TV | Tagged 40, alex scott, ballroom, bbc, beauty and the beast, blog, celebrity, chris ramsey, craig revel-horwood, dance, dance off, dancing, elimination, foxtrot, gaston, hairspray, jive, judges, karim zeroual, kelvin fletcher, latin, musical, musicals week, quarter finals, recap, review, samba, scd, shirley ballas, strictly, strictly come dancing, technique, telegraph, tv, week 11 | Leave a comment

Strictly Fabulous

Posted on November 30, 2019 by mkmswain

New Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse shares her thoughts on glamming up, learning to dance, and family time. Read my full Dancing Times interview here

Posted in Dance, Journalism, TV | Tagged ballroom, bbc, celebrity, competition, dance, dancing, dancing times, emma barton, family, germany, interview, judge, judging, karim zeroual, kelvin fletcher, latin, learn to dance, lets dance, motsi mabuse, oti mabuse, scd, sister, south africa, strictly, strictly come dancing, tv | Leave a comment

Strictly Speaking: Week 10

Posted on November 25, 2019 by mkmswain

So, there are flat post-Blackpool shows, and there’s…whatever this was. Barely one rung up from everyone calling in sick while still nursing their hangovers on the tour bus. We’re in the closing stages of hard-fought competition, and yet by far … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, TV | Tagged alex scott, argentine tango, ballroom, bbc, blackpool, blog, bruno tonioli, celebrity, chris ramsey, competition, couples choice, dance, dance off, dancing, dancing times, judges, karim zeroual, kelvin fletcher, latin, leaderboard, paso doble, recap, review, saffron barker, samba, singing, strictly, strictly come dancing, strictly speaking, technique, tv, week 10 | Leave a comment

Strictly Come Dancing Week 10: Who danced it best?

Posted on November 24, 2019 by mkmswain

The post-Blackpool week can often feel like a comedown, and so it proved with a rather flat show. But this most unpredictable of series still produced another curious dance-off: former leaderboard-topper Saffron Barker versus boy wonder Karim Zeroual – despite … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Journalism, TV | Tagged alex scott, argentine tango, ballroom, bbc, blackpool, blog, celebrity, chris ramsey, competition, couples choice, dance, dance off, dancing, judges, karim zeroual, kelvin fletcher, latin, leaderboard, paso doble, recap, review, saffron barker, samba, strictly, strictly come dancing, technique, telegraph, tv, week 10 | Leave a comment

Category Archives: TV

‘I’m fighting for gay rights through same-sex ballroom dancing’

Strictly Come Dancing, Grand Final: Brilliant Fletcher and Mabuse show power in simplicity

Time to bring back Strictly Come Dancing’s ‘live TV’ edge

Strictly Speaking: Week 12

Strictly Come Dancing 2019 semi-final: who danced it best? Kelvin Fletcher is the technical master across two dances

Strictly Speaking: Week 11

Strictly Come Dancing 2019, Musicals Week: Karim Zeroual’s technique stops the show – and finally locates Craig’s 10 paddle

Strictly Fabulous

Strictly Speaking: Week 10

Strictly Come Dancing Week 10: Who danced it best?

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