The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special lineup has been confirmed with the show returning to Christmas Day again for 2013. Six brand new celebrities take part in a festive edition of the show.
The pairings are as follows:
Rochelle Humes & Ian Waite
Sara Cox & Robin Windsor
Elaine Paige & Pasha Kovalev
Matt Goss & Aliona Vilani
Ricky Norwood & Janette Manrara
Rufus Hound & Flavia Cacace
Star of The Saturdays Rochelle Humes, West End singing sensation Elaine Paige and radio DJ Sara Cox will be appearing, alongside the males, singer Matt Goss, actor Ricky Norwood and comedian and West End performer Rufus Hound. Professional dancers Robin Windsor, Pasha Kovalev and Ian Waite will partner the female celebrities, and Aliona Vilani, Janette Manrara and Flavia Cacace will partner the male celebrities.
All six celebrities are huge fans of Strictly, and two have even had a go at the BBC dance shows before in the name of charity. Rochelle took part in Strictly Come Dancing for Children in Need in 2010 against Harry Judd, before he went on to become Strictly champion in 2011. Rufus wowed audiences during Let’s Dance for Comic Relief in 2010, where he famously morphed into Cheryl Cole and performed her Fight For This Love routine. Elaine and Sara are both Strictly super fans, who both present shows on BBC Radio 2; singer Matt, famous for his part in boy band Bros has preciously performed on Strictly as a singer and Ricky will be trading the streets of Eastenders’ Albert Square for the Strictly dance floor.
The beautiful winter wonderland opening number will be filmed at LaplandUK, with Sir Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly presenting the show and its festivities, with judges Len Goodman, Darcey Bussell, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood ready to provide some Christmas scores.
The Australian Ballet School has introduced a new fundraising initiative called World Tutu Day, which will utilise an online fundraising platform allowing ballet lovers from all walks of life to create their own fundraising pages. Through integration on social networking sites, fundraisers will be able to gather supporters and spread the World Tutu Day message. The School hopes that in the future the concept will spread to the best ballet schools around the world, giving peers a great way to raise funds. As a result, World Tutu Day will fulfil its ultimate goal of supporting ballet education internationally.
Jersey Boys actor David McGranaghan, who is currently starring as Nick Massi in the hit West End musical, has launched the board game Game for Fame. David teamed up with fellow actor Joseph Pitcher to create Game for Fame, where you ‘race from rags to riches and end up in stitches’.
The Bodyguard, hit West End musical based on the iconic film, has recently recently released another 300,000 tickets in an announcement that it is extending its triumphant run until August 2014. Fans can now enjoy Thea Sharrock’s hit production for even longer, based on Lawrence Kasdan’s 1992 Oscar nominated Warner Bros. Film.
Phoenix Dance Theatre has grown over the last thirty years to become a renowned and respected British dance company. Founded in inner-city Leeds, the company has become a leading contemporary company and now completes both national and international tours in the aim to bring inspiring and entertaining dance to the widest possible audience.
The producing company Bill Kenwright Limited is planning to bring around 10 shows into the West End in 2014, under the guise of new producer Jeremy Meadow. His roster of shows which he is set to transfer to the capital will follow the opening of Twelve Angry Men at the Garrick Theatre. Also planned by Bill Kenwright Limited is the revival of French farce Chin-Chin with Simon Callow and Felicity Kendal and The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo, which are both currently on tour, and the two classics Oleanna by David Mamet and JB Priestly’s Dangerous Corner also set for revival.
The Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle has announced the list of nominations for the 14th National Dance Awards, to be awarded at a central London venue on 27 January 2014. The National Dance Awards have been organised each year since 2000, celebrating the variety of Britain’s dance culture. They are the only awards given by the body of professional dance critics in the UK.
The UK’s largest dance house, Sadler’s Wells, has announced plans for a new performance space as part of its recent ten year plan. The vision of Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Alistair Spalding, is one which is ambitious, but exciting for a city in which dance thrives. The announcement came almost ten years after he was appointed in his current role, and outlines plans for the next decade.
2013 marks the 25th anniversary of English National Ballet School, to be celebrated by a series of events which showcase the skills and talents of the students. The events will kick off with a 90 minute live broadcast from the School on 28 November, during which audiences will have a unique insight into a day in the life of the students. Also included in the broadcast will be an interview with Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director of English National Ballet, with the School being a common feeder for the main company.
The Royal Ballet has recently hit cinemas all over America and is continuing to do! Select cinemas throughout the United States will present the 2013 ‘Royal Opera House Ballet Series,’ featuring 3, one-night-only screenings of the new Don Quixote staged by and starring Carlos Acosta, Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Peter Wright’s classic production of The Nutcracker. High definition cameras are used to film the performances, which provide multiple points of view including close-ups and wide shots with a Royal Opera House production truck transmitting the live feed via satellite to the US.