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The new series of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing ballroom show is well underway, launching us straight into the 14th season of the popular show. Vying for the Glitterball Trophy, like Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani last season, this year’s contestants will be putting their best foot forward and try their hand at a number of different ballroom and Latin routines.

The new series kicked off with a special launch show on 3 September. The pre-recorded episode saw the celebrity contestants paired up with their professional partners, before they began training together for the first live show at the end of September. The series continues until christmas, with judges Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli rating the performances and offering their critiques of the contestants. Earlier this year it was announced that this series of Strictly will be Len’s last, stepping down from his role as Head Judge.

This year the professional dancers have seen some new faces join their ranks. Ukrainian champion Oksana Platero, Spanish dance professional Gorka Marquez, World Champion Katya Jones, and undefeated four-time British National Champion Neil Jones, who is married to Katya, have hit our screens. They will be joined by British and European Youth Latin and Ballroom Champions AJ Pritchard and Chloe Hewitt, who previously appeared on Britain’s Got Talent in 2013, reaching the semi-finals. They are the youngest ever pro-dancers, at 21 and 20 respectively. Old favourites Anton du Beke, Brendan Cole, Joanne Clifton, Karen Clifton, Kevin Clifton, Pasha Kovalev, Natalie Lowe, Oti Mabuse, Janette Manrara, Giovanni Pernice and Aljaž Škorjanec have all returned.

In terms of contestants, this year will see former MP Ed Balls, Pop Idol winner Will Young, TV personality Laura Whitmore, former Xtra Factor host Melvin Odoom, Olympics presenter Ore Oduba, singer Louise Redknapp, Hollyoaks actor Danny Mac, model Daisy Lowe, BBC Breakfast host Naga Manchetty, singer Anastacia, gymnast Claudia Fragapane, daytime TV star Judge Rinder, Birds Of A Feather star Lesley Joseph, Olympic athlete Greg Rutherford and EastEnders actress Tameka Empson take to the stage.

Full West End casting has recently been announced for An American in Paris, set to descend on the Dominion Theatre from 4 March 2017. Christopher Wheeldon’s reinvention of the Oscar-winning film – that starred Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron – will see Broadway stars Robert Fairchild (as Jerry Mulligan) and Leanne Cope (as Lise Dassin) star in the Tony-Award-winning new musical. Joining the cast will be Haydn Oakley as Henri Baurel, Zoë Rainey as Milo Davenport, David Seadon-Young as Adam Hochberg and Jane Asher as Madame Baurel. Ashley Day will be the alternate Jerry Mulligan (and will assume the role from Monday 19 June 2017).

An American in Paris features the music and lyrics of George and Ira Gershwin, and a new book by Craig Lucas. Directly following celebrated engagements in Paris and New York, this critically acclaimed and multi award-winning new musical bursts into life in the West End next year, with the official opening night on Tuesday 21 March 2017: a major North American tour also begins in October 2016. Jerry Mulligan is an American GI striving to make it as a painter in a city suddenly bursting with hope and possibility. Following a chance encounter with a beautiful young dancer named Lise, the streets of Paris become the backdrop to a sensuous, modern romance of art, friendship and love in the aftermath of war…

In a career spanning more than six decades, Asher has appeared in many films and television series including Alfie with Michael Caine and A Voyage Round My Father with Laurence Olivier (BAFTA nomination, ‘Best Actress’). She made her West End stage debut in 1960 and has subsequently played leading roles at the Royal Court, National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Edinburgh Festival and on Broadway.

Oakley recently played in Sunset Boulevard at the London Coliseum. His other credits include the original casts of The Book of Mormon and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in the West End.

Rainey has most recently been part of the acclaimed Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company season at the Garrick Theatre, appearing as ‘Nessarose’ in Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre).

Seadon-Young recently played in Ghost The Musical (UK Tour and Australian Tour). His other recent credits include A Damsel in Distress (Chichester Festival Theatre), Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory) and ‘Sky’ in Mamma Mia! (International Tour).

Day was recently in the original London cast of The Book of Mormon. His other credits include ‘Curly’ in Oklahoma! (UK Tour), ‘Dream Gabey’ in Leonard Bernstein’s On The Town (ENO), ‘Troy Bolton’ in High School Musical (UK Tour) and the original London casts of Mary Poppins, The Wizard of Oz and the Michael Grandage production of Evita.

This autumn, BBC2 is set to screen a season of programmes on Saturday nights dedicated to arts and culture, including a full-length feature film by the BalletBoyz and a behind-the-scenes film about Christie’s auction house. Utilising one of the most popular television-viewing nights, the channel will be competing for the Saturday night audience with this new season of culture, taking on a new stance.

With the focus of the channel on arts – including poetry and dance – the channel will be up against programmes such as The X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and Casualty. Until now, the channel has aired programme repeats, now looking towards broadcasting about poetry, dance and the arts generally, with a large helping of culture alongside. The channel aims to be the most creative on television, with the arts central to the channel’s mission. It aims to be an alternative to the light entertainment battle between BBC1 and ITV.

BBC2’s Saturday night season began on 1 October with an evening of poetry and spoken word-themed programmes, and included the performance artist Kate Tempest. Tempest merges hip-hop, poetry and theatre, and gave a live rendition of her album, Let Them Eat Chaos, from the Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley, London. The channel will therefore be a place where audiences can come to find out about the world, be it complex, detailed or a specialism.

Additionally aired will be documentaries and performances, but without arts magazine and review programmes. Other commissions include a first full-length feature film by dance company BalletBoyz, telling the stories of young soldiers working to demonstrate the futility of war through movement. The season will continue until Christmas, when Alan Bennett’s Diaries, a programme following the 82-year-old writer around over the course of a year, will be shown.

De Montfort University in Leicester recently launched a groundbreaking new research centre, in order to explore the many facets of dance by bringing together academic practitioners from different disciplines. Named The Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Dance, it builds on the university’s internationally recognised profile in dance and will expand the university’s dance research further.

The Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Dance will offer a range of research perspectives and approaches, embracing diversity and connecting artistic academics in dance, adaptations, creative technologies, drama, English literature, fine art, music, performance and theatre. The Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Dance aims to bring together the university’s distinct characteristics of creativity, diversity, practice-based research and the building of partnerships in order to open up new perspectives on dance and its place in culture.

Users of The centre will be able to share with and experience researchers in other fields, encouraging growth and learning within all art forms, specifically dance. This is a large investment in dance research in order to understand how research sits in a wider context of practices which is important, especially from a student’s perspective. The centre provides an excellent opportunity for dance practice as research to be placed in conversation with so many other disciplines, and it is hoped the interdisciplinary approach will open up new areas of research in dance in the UK and globally.

Speakers at the launch included Professor Susan Jones from the University of Oxford and author of Literature, Modernism, and Dance, and Paul Russ, Artistic Director of Dance4 and IC4C, the International Centre for Choreography. This was in addition to De Montfort University alumnus and world-renowned choreographer Akram Khan, and Funmi Adewole, a Dance PhD student at the university exploring black choreography in Britain over a 20-year period between 1985 and 2005.

The entertainment group Global Creatures, the co-producers of Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, has confirmed it will bring Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! to the stage. Another hit production from Luhrmann, Moulin Rouge! tells the story of a young poet and writer, named Christian, who falls in love with the star of the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret show, the actress and courtesan Satine. The story uses the musical setting of the Montmartre Quarter of Paris, France.

The new production will have a book by John Logan (Tony Award-winner for Red), and will be directed by Alex Timbers (Rocky, Here Lies Love). The show is currently in development and a venue and dates are yet to be announced, however it looks as though the show is already highly anticipated. Luhrmann is a talented storyteller, with a number of iconic titles under his belt. Luhrmann’s 2001 film of the story, starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for eight Oscars at the 74th Academy Awards, winning two.

Following in the footsteps of McGregor and Kidman, the performers set to take on the leading roles of the production look as though they have big shoes to fill. There is no word yet on whether the new production will also adopt the film’s musical score and songs, which were adapted popular hits for the big screen. The film was a success as a result, and this approach has been similarly emulated by films such as Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. It is clearly a formula that works, and audiences may even see this production on stage in the not too distant future.

Dancers are often compared to athletes in the sense of their aesthetic performance, however it is clear the dancing body is just that – an athlete. As an athlete that places huge demands on the body, there is often no let up for the dancer to have a break, let alone an adequate break within the working day in the studio.

Some companies like to to keep their dancers warm in an attempt to keep them injury free but of course this is not the case for all studios. Warm or not, sweat is a natural part of a dancer and athletes’ work, working their bodies for long periods of time throughout classes, auditions, rehearsals and performances. Throughout the busy day of a dancer it is important to aid your body, and to keep your body properly hydrated, replacing the water lost through sweat throughout the day.

Without keeping the body properly hydrated, even mild dehydration can affect dancers’ performance. Many people cannot tell they are dehydrated before it is too late, and many also mistake their thirst for hunger. Ensuring dancers are hydrated means they are less likely to overheat or negatively affect their performance in any way. The first signs of dehydration are fatigue and poor balance, so helping the body promote heat loss through sweat will improve athletic performance and aid in recovery, especially important for dancers performing under hot stage lights.

Water makes up approximately 60% of the body’s weight and is the largest component of the human body. Muscles are made up of around 73% water, in addition to blood being about 93% water. Not only does water stave off dehydration but it also aids digestion and is important in the transport and elimination systems of the body, a vital part of bodily functions.

Colleges and universities which offer dance as a course of study have recently changed tack in what they offer students. For many, training students in a practical way – focusing on technique and the aesthetic – was as far as the course went. Students were left to graduate from the programme and blindly battle in the competitive sea of other dance graduates. However, there is now the realisation that this is only part of what a student needs – they must also learn about professionalism, creativity, entrepreneurship, networking skills, and have a strong sense of personal values. This rethinking is aimed at preparing students for more sustainable dance careers.

Courses are now beginning to encourage students to think about the wider dance sector, and consider how different factors may affect their future career, be it performing, choreographing, casting or working behind the scenes. Aside from technique classes, the academic side of the course – such as criticism, dance history, science or professional studies – is now working to prompt students to think about target audiences, marketing strategies and branding considerations, and how these might affect them. Even awareness of these aspects and how they feed into the dance sector is beneficial.

Entrepreneurial skills, for example, are perhaps what are leant on most in order to succeed – being resourceful and proactive in a very competitive environment. This is opposed to what has been taught in the past, doing little to help prepare a student for life outside an institution. Whilst there is no doubt that students must learn how to survive without relying on their tutors, there is still some responsibility of the course they enrol in to provide students with the best possible start into their chosen sector.

Alongside the technical training a student receives, this shift in approach can only be a good thing for students. Currently the dance sector is extremely saturated, and many graduates find that the only opportunities are those they create themselves through their own projects and companies.

DDMIX – Diverse Dance Mix – is new for 2016 in the dance fitness market. It is a full body aerobic workout programme, devised by former prima ballerina Darcey Bussell CBE, alongside Nathan Clarke. Adding another string to her bow, Bussell has since led DDMIX training sessions and one off workshops, adding her famous face to the longevity of DDMIX.

As with all dance fitness ventures, DDMIX is based on a range of easy to follow, yet diverse, dance styles. It is far from dance technique, but an opportunity to engage with many different styles of dance under the guise of dance fitness. It aims to be stimulating, fun and entertaining, and has trained teachers throughout the year to take on the DDMIX brand and teach their own classes.

Bussell and Clarke have used their knowledge of dance to draw on different genres to fulfil DDMIX, with a number of short routines adding up to a DDMIX mix, a little like Zumba. With the different routines and dance styles, for DDMIX there is emphasis on different cardio rates for the body and varying this to challenge the body. DDMIX incorporates two to three minute stints of different dance styles – from jive to salsa to Bollywood – keeping the movements fresh and interesting. Each genre places a different demand on the body and provides a taste of that same style for participants.

The core philosophy behind DDMIX is the distraction from the workout by fun and easy to follow aerobic dance moves, with short sections combined to form a longer workout. As a result DDMIX aims to appeal to a wide audience, from fitness fanatics to those erring of the side of dance. Either way it seems participants are eager to take part. The short sections of DDMIX are manageable and fun, supplementing missing dance knowledge that may be required in a straight dance class.

A new comedy web-series, Stage Mums, is the latest craze to hit screens, following in the wake of similar shows such as the US Dance Moms and the UK Dance Mums. For anyone who has been involved in a dance competition, they will immediately connect with the escapades and trials of the dance world for aspiring dancers.

Stage Mums stars Anna Massey-Waters and Tara Page, as Shaz and Trace respectively, debuted online and are now presenting a second series. The tongue-in-cheek creation, created by Massey-Waters, has been a YouTube sensation. Shaz and Trace are two ‘stereotypical’ Australian stage mums, both proud parents of talented triple threat teenage daughters, Shenaya and Abcde. The pair of mothers discuss pretentious children, parents, Australian eisteddfods, social media and castings, and will do whatever it takes to make their daughters stars.

Starting as an actress, Massey-Waters met Page during a local stage production and talked about collaborating for many years before beginning to write, and star in, Stage Mums. Massey-Waters is a former drama teacher; her daughter was an actress in a children’s television series and therefore the characters of Shaz and Trace are drawn from real-life experiences. For some, Stage Mums may be a little too close to the truth – stagey parents can be notorious for their reputation – however it seems to be a hit!

The series is filmed in Massey-Waters’ Gold Coast home by her husband, a camera operator and editor. He shoots several episodes simultaneously, with each one taking around two weeks to produce and upload to YouTube. At first Stage Mums began as a whim, however its many international hits online is definitely proving otherwise.

The UK & Irish premiere of new musical The Addams Family is scheduled to open at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh on 20 April 2017, directed by Matthew White. As a musical comedy, with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice( the creators of multi award-winning Jersey Boys) the show is set to delight fans across the country. Music and lyrics are by Andrew Lippa, based on the characters created by Charles Addams.

As a touring production, the show will see Wednesday Addams all grown up, with a secret that only Gomez knows; she’s fallen in love with a young man from a respectable family, far from The Addams family! Gomez Addams must now keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents, with all the usual clan present, including Uncle Fester, Lurch and son Pugsley.

The original Broadway production, starring Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia, ran for just under two years at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. The production also toured the US and international productions have been seen in Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Germany and the Czech Republic. Now it is the turn of UK and Irish audiences to relish the performances; British director White has directed the recent UK Tour of The Producers, and the UK Tour and West End run of Top Hat, so audiences are in for a treat. For the Menier Chocolate Factory, he has also directed Candide, Sweet Charity (and in the West End) and Little Shop of Horrors (also West End).

In terms of other creatives’ credits, Andrew Lippa wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical, Big Fish, the music for the Broadway production of Aaron Sorkin’s play The Farnsworth Invention and the book, music and lyrics for the Drama Desk award-winning musical The Wild Party.