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Dancing Cheek to Cheek

An imitate history of dance - exploring your nation's favourite dances from the 17th to the 20th centuries.

Historian and curator Lucy Worsley and Strictly Come Dancing star Len Goodman, take to the floor to reveal the untold story of British dance. This three part series offers a fascinating insight into British society, exploring how the nation’s love of dance has always been more than just mastering the moves and feeling the rhythm. It’s about sex and seduction, power and politics, economics and of course, romance. Tracking the story of popular dance, they whirl through tales of debauchery around the maypole, to the delicate social etiquette of 18th century ballroom, to the revolutionary and scandalous flapper girls of the 1920’s. Len and Lucy train alongside a group of amateur dancers to learn the skills behind each dance and prepare for the energetic finale: to perform the Charleston, the most iconic dance from the 1920’s, in full period costume in front of a crowd at the famous Café de Paris in London.