Strictly Come Learning

PACK up the PlayStation, say bye-bye to burgers and shun the sofa. Children of today, your grandparents are suddenly trendy, because ballroom dancing is back and it’s the new way to get fit. After six series of the immensely popular Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1, the dance extravaganza is now heading to your school, as Hilary Douglas discovers...

Strictly Come Dancing stars Lilia Kopylova and Darren Bennett STEVE FINN Strictly Come Dancing stars Lilia Kopylova and Darren Bennett / STEVE FINN

Numerous Government initiatives aimed at reversing the alarming decline in fitness of Britain’s teenagers have been launched and failed, with the UK still nearing the top of the international list of fatties.

Now, in an intriguing attempt to re-energise the nation’s youth, an educational charity has funded a dance course for schools designed by Strictly stars Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova, currently being trialled in 30 schools up and down the country and earmarked for nationwide release this summer.

“I started doing dance lessons when I was four years old, and when I went to school in Moscow there were dance lessons for everyone. I thought, if it can happen in Russia, then why not in Britain with all its resources and advantages?,” says Lilia.

“Dance was so popular in Russia, and the young people loved it. It kept them fit but it was also a fun social activity to take part in. Strictly Come Dancing totally changed the image of ballroom almost overnight.

The stars teach the joy of ballroom to pupils The stars teach the joy of ballroom to pupils

"Gone was the image of older people wearing terrible outfits, to some of Britain’s top sportsmen and popular stars learning to dance on national television and succeeding. We all wear wonderful costumes and the make-up is dramatic. It’s also quickly obvious that with just a few weeks of tuition, it’s possible to become really very proficient.

“Boys especially might have been put off trying to learn to dance in the past but seeing cricketers Darren Gough and Mark Ramprakash on the show has stamped out the rather unmanly image of ballroom dancing.

“Teenage girls, who might balk slightly at the more traditional PE lessons, seem to be very attracted to the glamour of dance. They also can’t fail to see how quickly the celebrities on the show lose weight over the first few weeks as they become fitter and fitter with all the aerobic exercise they get through the practice sessions.

“During the series, the celebs all talk about how they are able to fit into smaller and smaller clothes, and most of them keep up some sort of dance sessions after they have been knocked out of Strictly because they have seen such a benefit for their health. Dance is such a good social activity too, much more fun than spending hours in the gym and it is certainly a change from the usual school sports lessons.”

The scheme is being launched by the Aldridge Foundation, an educational charity which plans to sponsor two of the Government’s City Academies.

Chairman Rod Aldridge, who founded Capita Group outsourcing business in 1984, decided to concentrate on his education trust two years ago and wanted to fund a dance project because learning to dance helped his own life take a positive turn as a schoolboy.

“I didn’t excel academically but I was good at sport and my father, who did dance to championship level, introduced me to dance.

"I was very good at it, taking part in competitions until I was 18 or 19 and it really increased my confidence overall.

"Being really good at this made me realise that I could succeed in life and I have no doubt that it increased my ability in terms of my academic achievement, too. I left school at 16 but qualified as an accountant at 22. I had this self belief and made it happen.

“A lot of people who were a lot more academic than me didn’t manage to do well at dancing, and in a way the increased self-esteem I got from being able to do something very well had a knock-on effect to all other areas of my life.”

The project, Essentially Dance, will give lessons to two teachers from each participating school so that they are able to lead the dance sessions for large groups of pupils.

“The popularity of Strictly really took everyone by surprise. Suddenly everyone was keen to try their hand at dancing ballroom steps,” says Darren Bennett, who partnered former EastEnders actress Jill Halfpenny when she won the competition in 2004.

“Both my parents were professional dancers and I started when I was just six years old but the beauty of dance, as Strictly shows, is that you can take it up at any point in your life really and actually become rather good at it.

“Not every school child is good at cricket or rugby or football but everyone can learn a few of the simple dance steps. Just by doing them to a nice piece of music, someone can look like a proficient dancer rather quickly.

“For school pupils, there is also the added advantage of the engagement and interaction it brings about between girls and boys. We’ve created a very people-friendly resource for schools, all the teachers need is in the teaching book and the DVD. There is a basic waltz, a quick step, a jive and a cha-cha-cha. These are very basic, rock-bottom dance steps.

“If youngsters end up being really good at them, they can go on to after school clubs and take the dance classes to another level.

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