0:00:02 > 0:00:05'In this series, Lucy and I have joined forces to uncover
0:00:05 > 0:00:07'the British love affair with dancing.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11'I've been putting her through her paces on the dance floor.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13'And she's been giving me a history lesson.'
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Lucy, chop, chop, a little bit quicker, please, time for lunch.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21'From the 17th to the 20th century, we've been finding out how much
0:00:21 > 0:00:25'our favourite dances tell us about the nation's social history.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28'From money and morals to sex and snobbery,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31'you can find it all on the British dance floor.'
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Twerking - nothing new...
0:00:33 > 0:00:35- Yeah.- It's from the Charleston!
0:00:35 > 0:00:36Yeah!
0:00:38 > 0:00:42We've visited fancy ballrooms to see how the other half danced...
0:00:42 > 0:00:46and factory floors to find out what the rest of us got up to.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Moira, I think Len's wiggling his hips.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54'We dressed to dance in perfect period style.'
0:00:54 > 0:00:57I'm a bit of eye-candy for a lot of the ladies.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01'From the tips of our toes to the tops of our wigs.'
0:01:01 > 0:01:03'And each episode, we've been experiencing the era's most
0:01:03 > 0:01:05'iconic dances for ourselves...'
0:01:05 > 0:01:06And then back to your partner.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09When in the hell are we ever going to get together and link arms?
0:01:09 > 0:01:13The next bit, the next bit. You've got to get the tension between you!
0:01:13 > 0:01:15'..as we learn them for a grand finale,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18'where we're dancing cheek to cheek!'
0:01:26 > 0:01:29By the turn of the 20th century,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Victorian ideals were becoming a bit of a bore.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34People were still waltzing,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37but it was starting to feel a bit out of step with the times.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Out of that erupted the most dynamic period in the whole
0:01:42 > 0:01:45evolution of dancing in Britain.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49There were new dances, daring dances, dances for a generation
0:01:49 > 0:01:53who didn't want to do it the way their parents had.
0:01:53 > 0:01:59These new dances weren't home-grown. Foreign dances were all the rage.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02We danced in unprecedented numbers,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06two million taking to the floor every week.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09This was boom time and there was money to be made.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11So, how did we get from
0:02:11 > 0:02:14the straight-laced Victorian ballroom to this?
0:02:20 > 0:02:24Throughout the 19th century, new dances had arrived in London
0:02:24 > 0:02:28almost exclusively from Europe via Paris.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Edwardian Britain may have been rather conservative,
0:02:33 > 0:02:34but by the turn of the 20th century,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37people were tired of the same old dances,
0:02:37 > 0:02:39and were hungry for something new.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44What they got was surprisingly radical,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47and came not from Europe, but from further afield.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51New dances driven by a brand new sound.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53- Hello, Ted.- Good morning.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58We're so used to listening to different styles of music,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01it's hard to imagine what it would have been like
0:03:01 > 0:03:03to hear a completely new sound,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07a radically new kind of music for the very first time.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Imagine if you'd been used to hearing this...
0:03:10 > 0:03:13HE PLAYS OFFENBACH'S BARCAROLLE
0:03:18 > 0:03:21..and then suddenly you heard something like this!
0:03:21 > 0:03:24RAGTIME MUSIC PLAYS
0:03:28 > 0:03:30It's irresistible.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40This was the African- American music of ragtime.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44It was syncopated rhythms and improvised melodies.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49It was exhilarating, energetic and downright dangerous.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52For some, this was exactly what was needed.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54A new tempo for the changing times.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03The radical sound of ragtime arrived on these shores
0:04:03 > 0:04:07arm in arm with some pretty quirky dances.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10RAGTIME MUSIC PLAYS
0:05:06 > 0:05:08That was fantastic.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Thank you, thank you very much.
0:05:11 > 0:05:12- So those were the animal dances? - Yeah.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14You did like a mix, didn't you?
0:05:14 > 0:05:16- Yeah.- You slipped in a bit of...
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Yeah, grizzly bear, so it was like wah, wah.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22- Yeah.- Forward and back, forward...
0:05:22 > 0:05:24- And then we got little bit of... - Turkey.- Yeah.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26The turkey trot.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29And the bunny hop was that, boom.
0:05:30 > 0:05:31The bunny hop.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34- Where did they come from? - They came from America.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36They were basically, erm,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40African-American dance forms that were actually danced
0:05:40 > 0:05:44on the plantation, dances - they were called plantation dances.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49And African-American slaves and plantation workers would teach
0:05:49 > 0:05:51their masters the dance steps,
0:05:51 > 0:05:56and the upper classes would actually go and do these dance steps
0:05:56 > 0:05:59in private parties and clubs, places like this.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02I would imagine that the white people were seeing all this fun...
0:06:02 > 0:06:04- Yeah.- ..going on.- Yeah.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07And they thought, well, we want a bit of this fun.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10Exactly, yeah, and it was actually seen as very risque, you see.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14There was a story that was written in one of the art papers
0:06:14 > 0:06:16that a lady was given
0:06:16 > 0:06:2050 days' imprisonment for doing the turkey trot.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23So, you can see how they didn't it want to be, you know,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25associated with negro dance forms.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Yes. So there's a real racial element to this story?
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Yes, there was a lot of racial, you know, segregation.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35Basically, ragtime, we look at 1890 to 1910.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39I certainly wouldn't be here talking to you, Len, no way.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42So, how did they arrive over here?
0:06:42 > 0:06:46Well, it came over in two ways. First, through the music,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50cos within ragtime music there were a lot of dance steps to do.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53- And also another way was the upper classes.- Yeah.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56They brought it over, and the crossover that happened
0:06:56 > 0:07:00and the integration of them both just made, you know,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02African-American and, erm,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04American Europeans that went over there,
0:07:04 > 0:07:08a whole genre of dance forms that influenced the world -
0:07:08 > 0:07:10not just Europe, the whole world.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Yeah, there's nothing new, you can watch, you know,
0:07:13 > 0:07:15- singers of today...- Yes.
0:07:15 > 0:07:21..dancing and, and you still see those movements in their perf...
0:07:21 > 0:07:22- Tina Turner!- Yes.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Chuck Berry. What about Chuck Berry going along?
0:07:24 > 0:07:26- All doing that, all that.- Yeah.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Oh, the backslide or the moonwalk, Michael Jackson did it.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Now, you look at the camel walk. You've got...
0:07:33 > 0:07:34Yeah.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37- That is your...- Moonwalk. Don't fall down the stairs.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39Moonwalk! No, I won't, your moonwalk.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Even when you look at Beyonce when she's doing all this.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45- Shaking all the back, the bottom. Nothing new.- No.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48They were doing it all the time. Twerking, nothing new.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50- Yeah.- It's from the Charleston.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Yeah!
0:07:52 > 0:07:55You've got it all, you know, and that's all the animal dances down,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57nothing is new.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04Ragtime music paved the way for a whole new generation of dances
0:08:04 > 0:08:07to cross the Atlantic from America,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10setting up a battle with the British dancing establishment
0:08:10 > 0:08:12which would shape the decades that followed.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18'The most controversial
0:08:18 > 0:08:22'and recognisable of these dances would emerge almost 20 years later.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24'The Charleston is the dance
0:08:24 > 0:08:27'Len and I are learning for our 1920s night out.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30'So, I've come to take a lesson with historical dance teacher
0:08:30 > 0:08:32'Darren Royston.'
0:08:32 > 0:08:34Right, everyone, up on your feet,
0:08:34 > 0:08:36- we're off to do the Charleston today.- Hooray!
0:08:36 > 0:08:38So, I hope you've got lots of energy,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40cos this dance is a crazy dance, OK?
0:08:40 > 0:08:43The legs are going to be going in weird positions, you're going to be
0:08:43 > 0:08:46moving your arms around and you're going to be having
0:08:46 > 0:08:47a bit of a frenzy.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Now, Lucy, you'll be with Len, so there'll be moments where you
0:08:50 > 0:08:53meet him and you have to stick together and really dance together,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56looking as if you're doing this mad dance together.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58- But then there's moments when you break away.- Yeah.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00And it's your moment to completely be a star.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02Do your own little thing, your own little show-off.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Right, let's come to the mirror, then.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08Now, we're going to have to now look at the basic Charleston step,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10- the step that everybody needs to know.- Hm-mm.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13So, it's the step touch, where you're stepping on one foot
0:09:13 > 0:09:15and letting the other foot touch.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18So, I'm going to come and stand next to you so you get the idea, OK?
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Now, you're doing a step, and just touching the foot there.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25A touch of the foot against the floor, that's it.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28So you're just having that little step.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32That's it - better, and then as it moves, now you can start to move
0:09:32 > 0:09:34the foot, that's it, good,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37and letting the arms go with the legs, good.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39So, let's just walk around the room now, OK,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41just walking with that step.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Just a normal walk, as you see someone, step, touch.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48- I see you and it's like, "Hello there."- "Hello there."
0:09:48 > 0:09:50And back. We're still in the 1920s...
0:09:50 > 0:09:51Hello there!
0:09:51 > 0:09:54..so it's all kind of high with the hands.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Yes, that's it, the head's up - better, that's it,
0:09:56 > 0:09:58now you're Charlestoning, Lucy, well done.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Good. Step touch, step touch.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04And how are you finding it with this sort of wild frenzied dance?
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Well, these hands just want to go the other way,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09they're really confused, they don't know what they're doing.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Yeah, you've gotta have that control of the opposition.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12So it's there all the time,
0:10:12 > 0:10:15but this is kind of a dance where you're meant to let go as well.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Let's all get into one long, straight line - Lucy, you come
0:10:18 > 0:10:21and stand next to me and we'll put some of these steps together, OK?
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Now, the first thing we do as the music starts is everyone's
0:10:24 > 0:10:25going to do a little shunt.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Why don't we do it towards each partner?
0:10:28 > 0:10:32So you're going, shunt and away and towards and away.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35And this time face your partner
0:10:35 > 0:10:38and do your runs crossing with the right shoulder
0:10:38 > 0:10:40all the way around...
0:10:40 > 0:10:43to come back into line. OK?
0:10:43 > 0:10:45Let's play the music.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47And a shunt.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52And with your partners.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Get ready to Charleston - and one!
0:10:57 > 0:10:58And one.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11Big finish and step! And down. Brilliant, well done.
0:11:12 > 0:11:13Stretch out, stretch out.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23Now, I thought I'd be quite good at this dance
0:11:23 > 0:11:25cos I've got the right haircut for it,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28but obviously that is not enough - and the prospect of doing
0:11:28 > 0:11:33this for "Head Judge Len" in a very short time is, is quite terrifying.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50'The first decade of the 20th century had seen
0:11:50 > 0:11:53'the invention of the electric typewriter,
0:11:53 > 0:11:57'the radio receiver and the rise of the automobile.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01'From technology to art, the world was changing faster than ever.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06'In 1912, hot on the heels of the animal dances,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10'another imported dance came along to shake up the British.'
0:12:25 > 0:12:28The Argentinian Tango was foreign.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32It was exotic, it was daring.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36There was the close embrace, the general sexual overtones.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40This was truly shocking, this was a dangerous new world.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43From shopping to socialising,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45the tango changed everything.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50The Argentinian Tango first emerged in the 1850s
0:12:50 > 0:12:53in Buenos Aires, in bordellos.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Here, poor young working men would dance with each other
0:12:56 > 0:13:00because the only women around were prostitutes they couldn't afford.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Wealthy Argentinian men would hang out in these bordellos
0:13:03 > 0:13:05to learn the dance.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08They were the ones who would take the tango on its travels.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Through them it arrived at the turn of the century in Paris.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16And what sort of impact did it make then in the early 20th century?
0:13:16 > 0:13:17Well, it was enormous.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21It became much more than a craze as young people wanted to...
0:13:22 > 0:13:23To move on a dance floor
0:13:23 > 0:13:26in a way that they hadn't been able to before.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36It was a dance that influenced fashion,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39mainly by loosening the skirt.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42French women, of course, were the first to shed their corsets,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44they were the first to adopt the tango earlier,
0:13:44 > 0:13:49so round about 1910, the lingerie suppliers in Paris
0:13:49 > 0:13:52were bemoaning their lack of business.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54A skirt that was slit to the knee,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57you have feathers, for example, going up in the air
0:13:57 > 0:13:59instead of being wrapped round your face,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02because you couldn't get close to the man with a feather in his eyes.
0:14:02 > 0:14:07- Ah!- And you had, you know, demonstrations and classes.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Everybody seemed to take to the tango.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12It was the height of fashion.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Everything was orange, completely bright coloured,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18but especially orange, which really was the colour of the tango.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20So there's this tango mania going on in London.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23- Tango mania.- Who was it that disapproved of the tango?
0:14:23 > 0:14:28This was an age in London, we were very conservative in 1912.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31The Church particularly disapproved.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35Establishment disapproved, I mean, this was a very raunchy dance.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38It was perceived as being about sex,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41and it was man and woman together
0:14:41 > 0:14:46in a, kind of, hold that had never been seen before.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55This is interesting because this is a message from the Pope.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58- The Pope?!- The Pope. - The Pope is against the tango, is he?
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Absolutely!
0:15:00 > 0:15:05- "Pope denounces new paganism, the tango."- The tango!
0:15:05 > 0:15:07You'd think he had other things to worry about. I love this.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12Well, presumably in January 1914, this is what he said.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16"The tango, which has already been condemned by illustrious bishops
0:15:16 > 0:15:19"and is prohibited even in Protestant countries,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22- "must be absolutely..." - "Absolutely prohibited."
0:15:22 > 0:15:26"..in the seat of the Roman Pontiff, the centre of the Catholic religion.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29"If parents do not protect their children from corruption,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32"they will be guilty before God,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35"a failure in their most sacred duties."
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Well, if that wasn't enough to put people off, I don't know what was.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40But it didn't put them off, they couldn't have cared less.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42Everybody danced the tango.
0:15:53 > 0:15:54In an age before mass media,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57new foreign dances, like the animal dances and the tango,
0:15:57 > 0:16:02arrived in Britain via stage shows and exhibition dancers.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04These couples toured an international circuit
0:16:04 > 0:16:07centred on Paris, London and New York.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13'But a new innovation was to create the first ballroom superstars.'
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Brit Vernon Castle and his American wife Irene
0:16:18 > 0:16:20were the first professional dancers
0:16:20 > 0:16:23to exploit this powerful new technology,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27spreading their influence further and faster than any of their rivals.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33Now let me tell you, I love Vernon and Irene Castle,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36and one of the things that amazes me about them
0:16:36 > 0:16:38is the impact they had on British dance.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40Despite the fact they didn't live here
0:16:40 > 0:16:43and only visited this country a handful of times.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47And one of the reasons we Brits fell in love with the Castles
0:16:47 > 0:16:50is down to this - the big screen.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59'This was the dawn of the age of cinema
0:16:59 > 0:17:03'and the Castles captured that moment in 1915
0:17:03 > 0:17:06'with a silent film called Whirl of Life.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09'It was not only a very early feature film,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12'it was also, in effect, the first instructional dance film.'
0:17:15 > 0:17:19Well, Allison, of course we all think of Fred and Ginger,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22but of course there was a couple way before that,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25that in their time were just as famous.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27Absolutely. They were in fact so significant
0:17:27 > 0:17:30to the history of dance and so famous that Fred and Ginger,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32in their heyday, made a film about them.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34- They were so huge in Britain... - Mm-hmm.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36..and yet they virtually never came here.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39And I suppose a lot of that's down to the films they made.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Exactly. They were some of the first dancers to be filmed,
0:17:43 > 0:17:48so they do really pave the way for the cinematic dancers
0:17:48 > 0:17:51that we think of more readily, like Fred and Ginger.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53You know, I can only speak personally,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57but the reason I got so interested in dancing, was films.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00You know, and I used to walk in
0:18:00 > 0:18:01and I'd waltz out.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05And I guess that's partly what happened with the Castles.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Astaire said that they were his heroes.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12He did, and I think they really were the first dancing screen icons.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15What did they bring to the world of dance
0:18:15 > 0:18:16that hadn't been seen before?
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Well, there had been a really dramatic transformation to dance
0:18:19 > 0:18:22that had been associated with the rise to popularity
0:18:22 > 0:18:23of ragtime music.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26And with ragtime music came a series of dances
0:18:26 > 0:18:29and they were not like dances that anyone had ever seen before.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31There was also a racial element to this,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34since many of them originated in African-American culture
0:18:34 > 0:18:37that made the white dancing public a little uncomfortable.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41So what the Castles were able to do was to take those dances
0:18:41 > 0:18:45and transform them into something that was a little bit smoother,
0:18:45 > 0:18:49a little less wild and something that went, er,
0:18:49 > 0:18:50a little bit more mainstream.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53RAGTIME MUSIC
0:18:56 > 0:18:58They were the type of couple that people watched
0:18:58 > 0:19:00and wanted to emulate.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04Exactly. They really embodied the early days of Hollywood glamour.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Irene in particular really became a fashion icon.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09She bobbed her hair before that was the fashion,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12she wore a shorter skirt, she wore a looser corset.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15The Castles were wonderful self-publicists.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18They were, they really were a brand. Everything that they did,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22you know, there were a lot of products that bore their name -
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Castle House, Castle cigars, Castles by the Sea,
0:19:26 > 0:19:28their name was on everything that they did.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32They were in some ways kind of like the Posh and Becks of their day.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36Since Queen Victoria's death,
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Britain had been increasingly open to influences from abroad,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44but while some people embraced foreign dances like the tango
0:19:44 > 0:19:47and the foxtrot, a group of middle-class philanthropists
0:19:47 > 0:19:49were leading a different movement.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53They thought traditional English dancing was a wholesome
0:19:53 > 0:19:57and moral alternative - dancing that could do you good.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03100 years ago, this was one of the most impoverished parts of London.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06There was a charity worker called Mary Neal.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10She took over the running of an evening club for sewing girls
0:20:10 > 0:20:12who weren't very well off.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14Now, Mary Neal had been inspired by the suffragettes.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18She wanted to help these girls improve their lot
0:20:18 > 0:20:20and she thought that the best way to do this was
0:20:20 > 0:20:22by teaching them how to Morris dance.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26MORRIS DANCING MUSIC
0:20:26 > 0:20:30Industrialisation had seen people flock to the cities
0:20:30 > 0:20:34from the countryside, leaving rural traditions like music and dancing
0:20:34 > 0:20:36under threat of extinction.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40It was Mary Neal and her girls' group, called the Esperance Club,
0:20:40 > 0:20:45who preserved that most English of traditions, Morris dancing.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Now... Theresa, when I think of Morris dancers,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53I think of beer and I think of bearded men,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56but there's a whole female side of it too, isn't there?
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Yes, and we can trace that right back to the early 20th century,
0:20:59 > 0:21:03when in the revival, the very first dancers were actually
0:21:03 > 0:21:06working-class girls from the East End of London.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Led by this character, Mary Neal.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11How did Mary Neal get started with the folk dancing?
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Well, a key person in this, of course, was Cecil Sharp.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16He's often thought of as
0:21:16 > 0:21:19the architect of the English folk song and dance revival,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23but of course, without Neal, it would never have happened.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Up until the point of meeting Mary Neal,
0:21:26 > 0:21:28he was known for his folk song collections.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32Neal was interested not only in the songs, but also in the dances.
0:21:32 > 0:21:38And then that prompted both of them to go to search for dancers
0:21:38 > 0:21:43and to adopt actually different ways of collecting the material,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47so that for Sharp, he believed, you know, that what he was recording
0:21:47 > 0:21:50was something which had been passed on from the mists of time
0:21:50 > 0:21:52and he needed to fix it and for it to be accurate.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56For Mary Neal, she would get the dancers,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59the male dancers from the countryside to come to London
0:21:59 > 0:22:01to teach her girls.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Once Mary Neal had got her club of girls dancing,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06how did the news spread?
0:22:06 > 0:22:09She made sure that her girls were performing at places like
0:22:09 > 0:22:13the Queen's Hall, and it was covered by all the top papers
0:22:13 > 0:22:16and she would send her girls out to teach...
0:22:16 > 0:22:18- Oh!- ..all up and down the country.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21And in fact, within, you know, within a very few years
0:22:21 > 0:22:24they'd covered every county, pretty well, and, er,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27there are some wonderful pictures in here of the Esperance girls.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29The girls! Look, look,
0:22:29 > 0:22:30they're floating in the air.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32They must be leaping up there.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35So the Esperance girls take to the road, if you like?
0:22:35 > 0:22:36Yes, absolutely.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39One of Mary Neal's most successful pupils was
0:22:39 > 0:22:41a young woman called Florrie Warren.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43She was the best dancer of the group
0:22:43 > 0:22:45and she had a life that she would
0:22:45 > 0:22:50never have anticipated when she was born in the East End of London,
0:22:50 > 0:22:56because she travelled, indeed, to America, danced at the Carnegie Hall
0:22:56 > 0:22:58and ended up marrying an American.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02So if Mary Neal set out to improve the lot of East End girls
0:23:02 > 0:23:06like Florrie Warren, wow! She really succeeded there, didn't she?
0:23:06 > 0:23:07She certainly did.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11It seems to me that Mary Neal was interested in the sort of lost world
0:23:11 > 0:23:15of Merrie England and fields and villages and all that sort of thing.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17It's certainly the case, and she wasn't alone.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22It touched a nerve, the idea that English dancing was wholesome
0:23:22 > 0:23:27and good for you and rooted in the countryside and in tradition.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29This was one of the arguments
0:23:29 > 0:23:35against the introduction of dances like the one-step and the tango
0:23:35 > 0:23:38that really, they are foreign,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42that, er, really people should be dancing English folk dancing
0:23:42 > 0:23:46because it's actually in their genetic make-up,
0:23:46 > 0:23:47we would say today.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52There is something a bit goody-goody about "A-Nutting We Will Go".
0:23:52 > 0:23:55Yes! I mean, to us now, looking back on it,
0:23:55 > 0:23:59it does seem rather twee in a way,
0:23:59 > 0:24:03but at that time, this was material
0:24:03 > 0:24:06that most urban people and middle-class people
0:24:06 > 0:24:08had had no contact with.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Mary Neal set in motion a folk revival that would eventually
0:24:13 > 0:24:17see English country dancing taught in many British schools,
0:24:17 > 0:24:18including my own.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22I think Mary Neal would be rather pleased to know that
0:24:22 > 0:24:24there still are female Morris dancers,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27but I'm not sure she'd approve of this.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31We'll be starting on our right foot.
0:24:31 > 0:24:32We'll be dancing...
0:24:32 > 0:24:35right, left, right, hop.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Left, right, left, hop.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Right, left, right, hop.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41BELLS JINGLE
0:24:41 > 0:24:44- Give it a little flick. - You have to jingle your legs,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48- you can't just kick them, you have to jingle them.- Yes.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50- Is that too much jingling? - It might be a little bit too much.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52LAUGHTER
0:24:52 > 0:24:54- I can tell you're excited.- I am!
0:24:54 > 0:24:58BOTH: One, two, three. One, two, three.
0:24:58 > 0:24:59Hold it there.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05- Shall we do the dance from the beginning?- Yeah.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07OK, this time, and clash,
0:25:07 > 0:25:09right, left, right...
0:25:11 > 0:25:12Right foot, left foot,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14- feet together, oh!- Oh!
0:25:24 > 0:25:26Double time, step it!
0:25:29 > 0:25:32MUSIC GETS FASTER
0:25:35 > 0:25:36Haul up!
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Whoo!
0:25:38 > 0:25:40APPLAUSE
0:25:41 > 0:25:46I'm feeling the joy of dancing, as expressed by Mary Neal!
0:25:46 > 0:25:49And it's really great to be dancing here on this spot
0:25:49 > 0:25:53where she and her Esperance Club girls danced 100 years ago.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02The joy of dancing would be the last thing on people's minds
0:26:02 > 0:26:06as Britain became engulfed by the First World War.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14On the dance floor, things would never be the same again.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20The Great War had a profound effect on Britain -
0:26:20 > 0:26:22on the lives of the men at the front,
0:26:22 > 0:26:27and also the women at home, who took on traditionally masculine roles.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31It also changed the way that men and women danced together.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33This was a really pivotal moment
0:26:33 > 0:26:37in the whole history of dancing in Britain.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40After the horror and the austerity of wartime,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44people wanted to dance like there was no tomorrow.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46QUICKSTEP JAZZ MUSIC
0:26:49 > 0:26:51Ragtime had evolved into jazz
0:26:51 > 0:26:56and everyone wanted to dance to the very latest tunes. Rich or poor,
0:26:56 > 0:27:00soon there would be a glamorous place to dance for every pocket.
0:27:02 > 0:27:071919 saw the first of a new type of venue built solely
0:27:07 > 0:27:10for the purpose of dancing - the Hammersmith Palais.
0:27:10 > 0:27:16Admission was cheap. On opening night, 7,000 queued to get in.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21Soon, 11,000 more palais would open across the country
0:27:21 > 0:27:23and would be crammed with people
0:27:23 > 0:27:25trying out each new dance as it came along -
0:27:25 > 0:27:29the quickstep, the foxtrot, the modern waltz!
0:27:30 > 0:27:34The dancing profession, the teachers and demonstration dancers,
0:27:34 > 0:27:39no longer held sway over what was in or out of fashion
0:27:39 > 0:27:40on the dance floor.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44The dancing public quite literally voted with their feet.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50This was the greatest dance boom Britain had ever known
0:27:50 > 0:27:55and it was dance finally fully democratised.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00The palais were perfect for ordinary people
0:28:00 > 0:28:02who just wanted to dance.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07They went in their droves, they danced for hours and they drank tea.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10There were people with a bit more money in their pockets, though,
0:28:10 > 0:28:13who had a taste for something stronger.
0:28:13 > 0:28:18And there were those savvy enough to seize the opportunity to cash in.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24One of those was the legendary Queen of Soho, Kate Meyrick,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26known to her regulars as Ma Meyrick.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30She rode the wave
0:28:30 > 0:28:31'of a desire for a nightlife
0:28:31 > 0:28:35'that extended beyond the sober confines of the Palais.'
0:28:35 > 0:28:37- Do you fancy a drink?- Oh, yes.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41Two cocktails, but what we'd like, something from the '20s.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43- I think so.- Yes.
0:28:43 > 0:28:44What about a Hanky Panky, sir?
0:28:44 > 0:28:47- A Hanky Panky.- Couldn't be better.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51- Us two, we're always up for a bit of hanky panky.- Oh, yes.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55Oh, yes.
0:28:55 > 0:28:56- Cheers.- Cheers.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Thank you.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03So tell me a little bit about Ma Meyrick.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05Well, she was very notorious.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10She was London's most fashionable nightclub owner in the 1920s.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12People crowded to go there.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15There was only one problem - they were illegal.
0:29:15 > 0:29:16Blimey, yeah?
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Absolutely. They were illegal
0:29:18 > 0:29:21because she served alcohol after the official hours.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23So these were quite dangerous places to go,
0:29:23 > 0:29:25so there must have been a bit of a buzz going in?
0:29:25 > 0:29:27Oh, yes, they were very edgy.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29I mean, the 43 was really a shady club.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31That was part of its allure.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34So was it just drinking or was there music and dancing going on?
0:29:34 > 0:29:36Well, drinking was important.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40Also, erm, at the 43, gambling, card games upstairs
0:29:40 > 0:29:42and dancing, of course, dancing.
0:29:42 > 0:29:47She had very good musicians and she had very pretty dance hostesses.
0:29:47 > 0:29:48But it had a dark side to it,
0:29:48 > 0:29:54especially for Kate Meyrick, who was accused by the press
0:29:54 > 0:30:00and hounded by a lot of people for running a decadent clip joint.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03They said her dance hostesses were all hookers.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07They said she ran drugs. She went to prison five times.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11There were other people running clubs like this. They were all men.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13- Hmm.- They didn't get sent to prison.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16What type of person would it have been that frequented these clubs?
0:30:16 > 0:30:18Debutantes or gangsters,
0:30:18 > 0:30:20- war profiteers.- Yeah.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23The Prince of Wales, erm, half of the House of Lords,
0:30:23 > 0:30:27but at Ma Meyrick's, you had to be wealthy enough to pay ten shillings
0:30:27 > 0:30:30to get in, and if she didn't like the look of you,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33she would charge a pound. And this is in an era where,
0:30:33 > 0:30:36you know, the average wage was only £3, maybe £5.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38So she was a proper businesswoman.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41Money was very important to Kate, absolutely.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45Legend has it that she would have the takings for every night
0:30:45 > 0:30:49in a big black handbag, and she was never parted from it, you know,
0:30:49 > 0:30:50and it was sort of under her chair,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54and wherever she was, she had this black bag stuffed with money.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56She was a naturally gifted businesswoman.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Kate Meyrick said that
0:30:58 > 0:31:02anyone who opened a club with a halfway decent dance floor
0:31:02 > 0:31:04could make a living in the 1920s
0:31:04 > 0:31:07- because everybody wanted to dance. - Yeah.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13This is what it was all about.
0:31:13 > 0:31:19Dancing was all the rage and there was plenty of money to be made.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21Two more of those gorgeous Hanky-Pankies.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31Women had done masculine jobs during the war, and now they could vote.
0:31:31 > 0:31:36One dance perfectly captured this new spirit of female independence.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42THEY SHRIEK
0:31:42 > 0:31:46When the Charleston arrived from America in 1925,
0:31:46 > 0:31:48it took the dance floor by storm.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52CHARLESTON MUSIC
0:31:52 > 0:31:55It allowed women to break free from a man's embrace
0:31:55 > 0:31:57and dance on her own.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00The Charleston became a full-blown dance craze,
0:32:00 > 0:32:04synonymous with the definitive 1920s dancing girl, the flapper.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13It was such a unique moment for British dance
0:32:13 > 0:32:16and I'm still trying to get into a flapper state of mind.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21Well, I'm about to learn the Charleston.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23Now, I do know a bit of Charleston,
0:32:23 > 0:32:25but of course, it's the ballroom version.
0:32:25 > 0:32:30I bet Lucy wants to do the 1920 raucous flapper version,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33and I'll be honest, I'm not looking forward to it.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35I've got a bad knee.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37HE WINCES
0:32:37 > 0:32:40- Ah, hello.- Ah-ha, here we are.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42I'm stripped and I'm ready for action.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44Well, you're going to need to strip
0:32:44 > 0:32:47because this is going to be very energetic, isn't it? Charleston,
0:32:47 > 0:32:50all the dance manuals tell us about the dangers of the knees,
0:32:50 > 0:32:53about how dangerous it's going to be moving in the knees,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56so turning in, so do a bit of a warm-up getting those...
0:32:56 > 0:32:58I've got bad knees already.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00- Right.- Well, this one.
0:33:00 > 0:33:01This knee is particularly nasty.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04This knee is in fine fettle.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06I will do anything you want with my right leg.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08So let's put you two together
0:33:08 > 0:33:10and let's just see, just nice and slowly,
0:33:10 > 0:33:13let's just step one leg forward and back.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15Oh, excuse me!
0:33:15 > 0:33:17- That was a great start. - You went, we both went forward.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21- Let's use the leg closest to the front.- Yes, so we go...
0:33:21 > 0:33:22# Bam, ba-da, ba, ba
0:33:22 > 0:33:24# Ba-ba ba-ba-ba, hey! #
0:33:24 > 0:33:29- Len, if you want to do a little... - # Lucy, Lennie... #- Yes, good.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31# Lennie and then Lucy...
0:33:31 > 0:33:34# Oh, yes, we're doing the Charleston! La, la... #
0:33:34 > 0:33:36- And what about a few jumps, a few little jumps?- Jump, jump?
0:33:36 > 0:33:39- A little shunt one way. - Oh, you go that way.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41- Now...- Now the do-si-do?
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Do-si-do, do-si-do back round you go...
0:33:44 > 0:33:45LUCY LAUGHS
0:33:45 > 0:33:47The more of a flapper you can be, Lucy.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49Is he supposed to do it like a fairy?
0:33:49 > 0:33:51- Well...- Yeah, it's all like that.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53They're kind of all enjoying it.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55What do you want me to do, stroll round like Colonel Bogey?
0:33:55 > 0:33:57He's been doing that.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00# Ba-dum, bam, bam da-da, bam, bam, diddily-do-dee-do. #
0:34:00 > 0:34:01# Do-do... #
0:34:01 > 0:34:03I can do that, you see.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06# Da-da-dee-dee-dee, dee-dee... #
0:34:06 > 0:34:08Yeah, you look a bit...
0:34:08 > 0:34:10- It looks a little too... - A little kangaroo.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12- I think it just needs to be little ones.- Light and dainty.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Very tiny little ones.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16- That's better. That's it. - On your balls.- That's it.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18On your own balls!
0:34:18 > 0:34:19Right, let's get this music on.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21And one, two...
0:34:21 > 0:34:22CHARLESTON MUSIC PLAYS
0:34:22 > 0:34:25One, two, three, step,
0:34:25 > 0:34:26and shunt, shunt.
0:34:26 > 0:34:27And shunt, and shunt.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29- Run round.- Do-si-do.
0:34:29 > 0:34:30That's it, all the way around.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32And knees, join,
0:34:32 > 0:34:34and one, two, three, four.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36And jump, two, three, four,
0:34:36 > 0:34:38step, kick,
0:34:38 > 0:34:40and step, kick and...
0:34:40 > 0:34:42# And then it's Lucy! #
0:34:42 > 0:34:43Go!
0:34:43 > 0:34:45Don't show him all the tricks.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48OK!
0:34:48 > 0:34:49And over to Len.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52Right, we'll have to work on this.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55HE LAUGHS
0:34:55 > 0:34:56And back.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58And join together.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00Charleston,
0:35:00 > 0:35:02and Charleston.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05And turn all the way round together as a couple
0:35:05 > 0:35:06and finish with a knee up.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08Put your arm across there,
0:35:08 > 0:35:11can't she jump? Jump, jump up.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14- Yeah!- Fantastic, how's the knees?
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Well, as long as it's only that, and we get it right.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19- That's perfect. - Better than the knee up.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21Better than the knee, we'll see it.
0:35:21 > 0:35:22Go home bouncing. Off you go.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25- Lucy, come on.- Let's bounce out of here.- Off you go bouncing.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27- # Dee-dee-dee-dee...- Dee-dee...
0:35:27 > 0:35:31# We're going to do the Charleston. Lucy, Lennie... #
0:35:31 > 0:35:34THEY HUM TOGETHER
0:35:42 > 0:35:45If dancing has always been basically about romance,
0:35:45 > 0:35:48the Charleston-dancing flappers
0:35:48 > 0:35:50were flying in the face of that convention.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56The flapper bobbed her hair, she wore trousers, she smoked,
0:35:56 > 0:36:01she drank, she danced the Charleston with reckless abandon.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03To some people, this represented
0:36:03 > 0:36:07long-awaited independence and freedom.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11For others, she represented womanhood gone dreadfully wrong.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15The Charleston was not a dance for romance,
0:36:15 > 0:36:17for boy-meet-girl intimacy,
0:36:17 > 0:36:20it was a dance of careless individual self-expression
0:36:20 > 0:36:23and it had got dangerously out of hand.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37In the early 1920s,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40readers of the Daily Express wrote a series of letters
0:36:40 > 0:36:44debating the state of relations between the sexes
0:36:44 > 0:36:48in the light of the post-war dancing frenzy.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50It was sparked by a letter from a soldier who
0:36:50 > 0:36:55had endured his time in the trenches by dreaming of the girls back home.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59"Out in France, or under the tropical sun,
0:36:59 > 0:37:03"how often the temporary soldier saw in his cigarette smoke
0:37:03 > 0:37:08"the face of a dear, affectionate, typical, home-loving English girl.
0:37:08 > 0:37:13"Instead of the girls of our fondest imagination, we find them
0:37:13 > 0:37:17"madly given over to dancing."
0:37:17 > 0:37:20"Sir, referring to an article in the Daily Express
0:37:20 > 0:37:24"headed Girls Who Shatter Men's Ideals,
0:37:24 > 0:37:29"I would just like to say that we are not all fogeys and old-fashioned now,
0:37:29 > 0:37:34"nor do we wish to look on the serious side of life just yet.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36"I think it is up to the girl
0:37:36 > 0:37:39"to remain as young and fascinating as she can,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42"even up to the age of 30."
0:37:42 > 0:37:46"The majority of men much preferred a girl of modest disposition,
0:37:46 > 0:37:52"that is, one who does not smoke, flirt or jazz."
0:37:52 > 0:37:56"The spirit of feminine independence rules in the ballroom.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00"We no longer, for instance, wait to be taken to a dance.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03"We pay for our own ticket at the door, our own refreshments."
0:38:03 > 0:38:09"No seriously-thinking man would ever look for his dream girl
0:38:09 > 0:38:11"in a jazz hall or nightclub."
0:38:13 > 0:38:14I might.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22Lucy! Chop chop, a little bit quicker, please. Time for lunch.
0:38:28 > 0:38:29But despite its critics,
0:38:29 > 0:38:32millions were going out dancing every week.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35The dance hall business was booming.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39And one remarkable innovation
0:38:39 > 0:38:43would fully exploit the potential of this growing market.
0:38:49 > 0:38:54The way we listened to music was changing, and changing fast.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59In 1922, the BBC lined up its first ever radio broadcast.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03If you could tune in your radio, which was no easy task,
0:39:03 > 0:39:09then you could hear dance band jazz live from the Savoy Ballroom.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12And then there was this.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14Oh-ho, yes!
0:39:14 > 0:39:17This put you in charge of what you listened to,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19when and even where.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25Before 1918, the popular music industry were limited to
0:39:25 > 0:39:29sales of sheet music, but the gramophone changed all that.
0:39:29 > 0:39:30Oh, yes.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36This simple machine helped create a new mass audience for music
0:39:36 > 0:39:38and for the dances that went with them.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42You could listen to the very latest music in your own front room,
0:39:42 > 0:39:44or host your own gramophone dances.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47And this, the portable, meant
0:39:47 > 0:39:50you could even take your music out with you,
0:39:50 > 0:39:52in the boot of your brand-new motor.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54Ho-ho, what a life!
0:39:57 > 0:39:58GENTLE SWING MUSIC PLAYS
0:40:03 > 0:40:04Oh, yes!
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Ho, ho, what a life.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22In just a few short years, record sales rocketed.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30Music and dance were now not just part of British culture,
0:40:30 > 0:40:33but an integral part of the economy too.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36And it was the public spending power that dictated
0:40:36 > 0:40:38what happened on the dance floor.
0:40:40 > 0:40:41The commercialisation of dancing
0:40:41 > 0:40:44and the relentless tide of new dances from America
0:40:44 > 0:40:47was pushing the professionals to the sidelines,
0:40:47 > 0:40:51but they were determined to regain some control.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54So, have you ever been in here, the Tower Ballroom?
0:40:54 > 0:40:56I have not, I have not, my first time.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58Oh! Well, you're in for a treat.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02The Tower Ballroom in Blackpool has been at the heart of the British
0:41:02 > 0:41:06ballroom dancing establishment for more than a hundred years.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10I know Blackpool extremely well
0:41:10 > 0:41:12and I want to show Lucy that it's still the place to come
0:41:12 > 0:41:15to see ballroom dancing done properly.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18- Thank you very much, sir. - Thank you.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24There it is!
0:41:24 > 0:41:27Oh!
0:41:27 > 0:41:29It's the most fan... I think it's fantastic.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32- Wow!- Oh, it's a wonderful place. - Look at the ceiling.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35Incredible.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41Great, eh?
0:41:41 > 0:41:45And then when you think of how many people have danced here over
0:41:45 > 0:41:46all those years.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50It's... It's just great.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57Ohh! It's lovely.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04- Shall we?- Let's!
0:42:04 > 0:42:05Hoh, hoh!
0:42:05 > 0:42:07On your right. Oh, lovely.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11Watch him. Don't start a fight.
0:42:11 > 0:42:12Eh?
0:42:18 > 0:42:20- Oh!- Oh, we could dance like this for ever.
0:42:20 > 0:42:21I like it so much.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23- Excuse me.- What?
0:42:23 > 0:42:25Oh! I've been taken, sorry.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Liberty.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32Sorry, what's your name?
0:42:32 > 0:42:36Now if floors could talk, this one could tell a tale or two.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40In the early 1920s, this place would have seen all the latest
0:42:40 > 0:42:42dances come and go.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45With the dancing public deciding what was in or out of fashion
0:42:45 > 0:42:49on the dance floor, dance professionals organised a series
0:42:49 > 0:42:54of conferences to discuss ways to get things back under control.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57It was agreed there was a need to get rid of the so-called
0:42:57 > 0:43:03freak steps from the new dances, and to agree on a standardised version
0:43:03 > 0:43:07of the foxtrot, the one-step, modern waltz and the tango.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11These standard four were the dances that would dominate British
0:43:11 > 0:43:13dance floors for decades to come.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20Leading the drive for standardisation was
0:43:20 > 0:43:24Victor Silvester, competition dancer, musician
0:43:24 > 0:43:28and founding member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33Victor Silvester's big idea was to provide strict tempo
0:43:33 > 0:43:36music for each dance.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39So wherever you danced it, whoever was playing,
0:43:39 > 0:43:43the tempo of the music would always be exactly the same.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49Silvester started an orchestra that played strict tempo
0:43:49 > 0:43:53and he sold a staggering 75 million records.
0:43:53 > 0:43:58I think the musicians' standardisation took some of the fun
0:43:58 > 0:44:02and freedom out of the playing of the music, but as a dancer,
0:44:02 > 0:44:05strict tempo was a real asset.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08It opened the way to competition dancing which has been my world
0:44:08 > 0:44:13for 40 years - and its heart has always been here,
0:44:13 > 0:44:15in Blackpool.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Well, now they've all gone, I've got the chance to do something
0:44:39 > 0:44:42I've been wanting to do all afternoon, which is
0:44:42 > 0:44:45to get my hands on the mighty Wurlitzer.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49This famous Wurlitzer organ was played for 40 years
0:44:49 > 0:44:52by the legendary Reginald Dixon, known as Mr Blackpool,
0:44:52 > 0:44:55he was the king of strict tempo.
0:44:55 > 0:44:56Hello, John.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58- Hello.- What an amazing instrument
0:44:58 > 0:45:01you've got here - it looks awfully sophisticated.
0:45:01 > 0:45:02Yeah, it's world famous.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05How did Reginald Dixon get his job then in the 1930s?
0:45:05 > 0:45:10Well, I believe that he said he could play a quickstep for dancing
0:45:10 > 0:45:13in strict tempo, plus strict tempo is very important to the
0:45:13 > 0:45:16dancers because they're the first to know
0:45:16 > 0:45:21if we go slower or faster and er, he did that, he did it perfect.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24So how do you keep the time, then?
0:45:24 > 0:45:29We have a metronome and you can set it to the correct speed for the dance.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33So did Reginald Dixon have one of those or was he like a human metronome?
0:45:33 > 0:45:35I wouldn't think so, at that time he would just guess
0:45:35 > 0:45:37the speed of a quickstep maybe, but, obviously it worked.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42So can I have a demonstration of the quickstep at 200 beats a minute -
0:45:42 > 0:45:45- that sounds pretty fast. - Of course, yeah, here we go.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49HE PLAYS: Bring Me Sunshine
0:46:13 > 0:46:17APPLAUSE
0:46:17 > 0:46:19That was brilliant.
0:46:19 > 0:46:20Now, can you teach me how to do that?
0:46:20 > 0:46:22- Oh, I'm sure we can...- OK. - ..have a go.
0:46:25 > 0:46:26So it goes...
0:46:26 > 0:46:27C.
0:46:29 > 0:46:30So we need a B, B flat, B flat.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35- B flat?- B flat, that's the one.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37We're going now, we're going now...
0:46:37 > 0:46:39and back to C.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48Then we're going back to the B flat.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06B flat.
0:47:21 > 0:47:22Hello.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25- ALL: Hi.- Hi, Lucy.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29'Now I've found my inner metronome, I'm raring to go for my final
0:47:29 > 0:47:32'Charleston rehearsal, the last one before Len and I have to
0:47:32 > 0:47:37'perform it in front of a crowd at an iconic 1920s nightclub.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41'And Darren has come up with some moves for my breakaway solo.'
0:47:41 > 0:47:43- And what we'd like to teach you... - Yeah?
0:47:43 > 0:47:47We'd like to teach you the Josephine Baker Scarecrow.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49The Josephine Baker Scarecrow?
0:47:49 > 0:47:50That's what I'd like to teach you,
0:47:50 > 0:47:52do you think you could be a scarecrow?
0:47:52 > 0:47:53Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59Star of the 1920s stage and screen,
0:47:59 > 0:48:03Josephine Baker was famous for her wild, exaggerated dancing.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05I think I'd be rather good at that.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10It's...you hang yourself up like a scarecrow and as you...
0:48:10 > 0:48:12I knew she'd be good at this, it's great.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15And then as you do that you're also bending up and down.
0:48:16 > 0:48:18And now I'm just going to show how...
0:48:18 > 0:48:20- Grrh.- Exactly.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22That's quite terrifying.
0:48:22 > 0:48:24It is a bit terrifying, isn't it, but...
0:48:24 > 0:48:25So, we have...
0:48:25 > 0:48:30one and two and three and then the arms go right round
0:48:30 > 0:48:32and then one more. One and...
0:48:32 > 0:48:36and then do half a scarecrow one way and half a scarecrow the other way.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39Arms are going one way...that's it.
0:48:39 > 0:48:40That's it.
0:48:40 > 0:48:46And then on the last one go all the way round to present Len who is next.
0:48:46 > 0:48:47OK.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50- Shall we give it a go?- Yeah, I think I can do that.- So...
0:49:19 > 0:49:21Len's solo!
0:49:25 > 0:49:27Over to Lucy Worsley.
0:49:30 > 0:49:31Whoo!
0:49:46 > 0:49:47Here they come.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52Um, this is clearly utter madness.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55They go so fast, I'm never going to be able to keep up with that,
0:49:55 > 0:49:58I can...I can see it all falling to pieces, quite frankly.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05Standardisation had been devised by professionals
0:50:05 > 0:50:10to restore order to the dance floor. By the late 1930s, it had taken
0:50:10 > 0:50:13the edge off the public's enthusiasm for dancing.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23We know Mecca for bingo,
0:50:23 > 0:50:27but in the '30s, the company was a big dance hall chain.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29Three, two, 32.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33At its height, it was so successful,
0:50:33 > 0:50:37that even the Royal Opera House was turned into a Mecca dance hall.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41Allison, do you think it's true that as
0:50:41 > 0:50:43ballroom dancing became standardised,
0:50:43 > 0:50:46it also became a little bit boring?
0:50:46 > 0:50:48Boring and overly complicated.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51There was a feeling by the late '30s that for those who erm,
0:50:51 > 0:50:55were not willing or able to invest in serious instruction, that it
0:50:55 > 0:50:57had become a little bit out of reach.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04With numbers dwindling, Mecca were at the forefront of inventing
0:51:04 > 0:51:08new ways to get people back through the dance hall door.
0:51:09 > 0:51:14So, who has creative control of dancing in the 1930s, would you say?
0:51:14 > 0:51:17I think by this point it's, it's a combination of
0:51:17 > 0:51:19the dancing teachers and the professionals
0:51:19 > 0:51:22and a number of businessmen who were definitely having a decisive
0:51:22 > 0:51:25impact on what people were dancing and how they were dancing it.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28By the '30s you have this push towards, erm,
0:51:28 > 0:51:32corporatisation or franchising, they had a slogan than went
0:51:32 > 0:51:35something like, Dancing The Mecca Way.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37So that, whether you were in Edinburgh or Birmingham or
0:51:37 > 0:51:40Glasgow, you could know to expect walking into that hall.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44And so, in fact, Mecca was really at the forefront of trying to
0:51:44 > 0:51:47develop new dances that anybody could do, that anybody would
0:51:47 > 0:51:49feel comfortable with, erm, and that was when they started
0:51:49 > 0:51:53a series of novelty dances or party dances, as they're called, wherein
0:51:53 > 0:51:56effectively, people just walk around in a circle doing silly things.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59Erm, the most famous of which is probably the Lambeth Walk.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02# Once you get down Lambeth way
0:52:02 > 0:52:04# Any evening, any day
0:52:04 > 0:52:06# You'll find us all
0:52:06 > 0:52:09# Doing the Lambeth walk... #
0:52:09 > 0:52:12What's the story of the Lambeth Walk then, where does that come from?
0:52:12 > 0:52:16People think it's a sort of Cockney legend from days of yore, don't they?
0:52:16 > 0:52:18It actually took on a bit of a life of its own.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Mecca was very much interested in suggesting that this had
0:52:21 > 0:52:23a longer history, but the actual dance that was being
0:52:23 > 0:52:27performed then was entirely a product of 1938.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32It was just fun, it enabled people to er,
0:52:32 > 0:52:36to dance even if they didn't really know how to dance correctly.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38It's funny to think that they're coming up with new dances,
0:52:38 > 0:52:41not in ballrooms, but in boardrooms.
0:52:41 > 0:52:42Absolutely, people were very
0:52:42 > 0:52:45excited about the fact that there was this very British dance,
0:52:45 > 0:52:48and there was a lot of discussion that it was serving as a bulwark
0:52:48 > 0:52:49- against Americanisation.- Ah!
0:52:49 > 0:52:52Because so much of what was coming into Britain in that period
0:52:52 > 0:52:55was in fact American music and dances, and finally
0:52:55 > 0:52:59they had something that was home-grown, that was a huge success.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01# Any evening, any day
0:53:01 > 0:53:07- # You'll find us all doing the Lambeth walk...- #
0:53:07 > 0:53:09And then even as the war broke out, there was
0:53:09 > 0:53:14this important image of the er, vital dancing nation.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17They thought that this was a really good morale booster.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19There was this sense that if we keep dancing,
0:53:19 > 0:53:21this distinguishes us from the Germans,
0:53:21 > 0:53:25this is a sign of our fortitude and a sign of our national spirit.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31It really was being danced all over the place and that was
0:53:31 > 0:53:35part of the fervour, erm, people loved reading stories about unique
0:53:35 > 0:53:39places that had been danced, or that the King and Queen had danced it.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41Do you think it's possible, Allison, that
0:53:41 > 0:53:47the Lambeth Walk in 1938 was the most danced dance of history?
0:53:47 > 0:53:50I think for Britain that is very well likely the case,
0:53:50 > 0:53:53it really was a very distinct moment in the history
0:53:53 > 0:53:55of dance that we may never see again.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57It's all been downhill from there, hasn't it?
0:53:57 > 0:53:58To some degree, yes.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09By the time that World War II brought Britain to its knees
0:54:09 > 0:54:13once again, dancing had been through the two most rapid
0:54:13 > 0:54:17and revolutionary decades of change in its history.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20Most significantly in these inter-war years, dancing had been
0:54:20 > 0:54:23thoroughly democratised and cannily commercialised.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31That era had a truly glorious moment
0:54:31 > 0:54:35in the short-lived dance craze of the Charleston.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39And that's where our journey through 300 years of British dancing will end -
0:54:39 > 0:54:44with one final performance at the famous Cafe de Paris in London.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48Lucy, are you nervous?
0:54:48 > 0:54:52I am...terrified, I've got the butterflies.
0:54:52 > 0:54:53No!
0:54:53 > 0:54:54I have, it's my favourite dance, this one
0:54:54 > 0:54:58and I really want to do it well and it's really, really difficult.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02I think if we just go out there and give it plenty of razzmatazz
0:55:02 > 0:55:03and plenty of gusto,
0:55:03 > 0:55:06I think we'll be fine, yes.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10- I'll take your word for it.- But I must say, you look very flapperish.
0:55:10 > 0:55:11- Thank you.- You do indeed.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13You look very dapper...ish.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16Let me have a look at your flapper face.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18Oooooh! Yes, thank you.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23MUSIC: The Charleston
0:57:12 > 0:57:16Like every dance craze, before and since, along came
0:57:16 > 0:57:19the Charleston, which shook up the status quo, it became the
0:57:19 > 0:57:23height of fashion and then it died away when the next craze came along.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29The dances may have changed, but the appeal hasn't.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33We've always looked for the same essential ingredients -
0:57:33 > 0:57:36relaxation, release,
0:57:36 > 0:57:40and most importantly... romance.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43Whether it's the minuet, the polka, the morris or the waltz,
0:57:43 > 0:57:46the way we've danced hasn't just held up
0:57:46 > 0:57:49a mirror to the world, it's changed it too.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10Hey! Hey!
0:58:12 > 0:58:13Hey!
0:58:24 > 0:58:26- Ha-hey!- Whoo!
0:58:26 > 0:58:27Wo-ho-ho!
0:58:27 > 0:58:29Got her!