Strictly Scheduled: A Repetitive Week In The Life Of A Celebrity Dancer
For two hours every Saturday night, the BBC hopes to dominate the social media world with delightful dances, putrid puns, sparkling sequins… and occasional bouts of dragon-slaying. In short, Strictly Come Dancing takes over the United Kingdom… but what happens outside of the live show?
The great news for the celebrity dancers after the Saturday night show (and the recording of Sunday’s episode immediately after the live show ends) is that they get two days off. No more Strictly for them until Tuesday. The professional dancers aren’t so lucky — there are group dances to choreograph and rehearse, so after a day of rest on Sunday it’s back into the studio during the day on Monday.
Changing Practice Rooms
Now comes a scheduling exercise for our couples. As part of the commitment to appearing on Strictly, the celebrities agree to a minimum of twelve hours rehearsal time per week, no matter where they are. It’s easy if they are in London and can nip into the rehearsal space, but if they’ve got work outside of the capital then the professional dancer is going to be packaged up into steerage and shipped out to the celebrity. Last week Oksana Platero experienced the delights of a court-room in a Manchester TV studio, while Anton Du Beke had to face the horror of three days in Malta…
The professional dancers aren’t the only ones with travel warrants — ever Tuesday and Wednesday will see the Strictly Runners bouncing around the country recording the footage for the training montages and arranging the comedy experiences that you see on Saturday night. They also record a version of the dance for Saturday night and relay the requirements for props, costumes, and potential gotchas. That tape is passed to director Nikki Parsons back at Strictly HQ so Saturday night’s show can start to take place, the running order put together, and someone can be sent to the sewing room to make some leiderhosen.
Rehearsal, Rehearsal, Rehearsal
Friday is show and tell time. Each celebrity couple has twenty minutes in the studio to run through their dance three times. No costumes (these are still being made) but props should be available. As well as running through the dances, it’s also an opportunity for the camera crew and show directors to see how it looks on camera and make any changes to improve the show for Saturday night.
Friday is also Ed Balls’ tanning day. So it’s kind of important.
Show Time
Saturday dawns, and the lucky couples have three more chances to dance on the Elstree Stage (the unlucky ones get a fourth go in the Dance-Off). Once in the morning with costumes, props, and the lovely lovely Dave Arch and his band playing live; the second as part of an all-up dress rehearsal that follows the same timings as the upcoming live show.
And then the live show.
For one celebrity, it’s game over. For everyone else, the treadmill starts again, another week begins, as they all get to keep dancing.
Ewan Spence is a modern-day storyteller who travels between technology, mobility, popular culture, and the Eurovision Song Contest. You can find more of his writing here on Medium, or follow him on Facebook.
