History Extra podcast

How ballroom dancing gripped Britain

From the Turkey trot to the scandalously intimate moves of the Parisian tango, the 20th century saw Britain gripped by dance craze after dance craze. Performed in public halls up and down the country, ballroom took the nation by storm as people from all walks of life sashayed to the dancefloor with their partners. Hilary French tells Emily Briffett about ballroom’s dramatic surge in popularity, its decline in the 1960s and its recent resurgence with Strictly Come Dancing.
 
(Ad) Hilary French is the author of Ballroom: A People’s History of Dancing (Reaktion Books, 2022). Buy it now from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ballroom-Peoples-History-Hilary-French/dp/1789145155/?tag=bbchistory045-21&amp;ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty
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The History Extra podcast brings you gripping stories from the past and fascinating historical conversations with the world's leading historical experts.  
 
Produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine, History Extra is a free history podcast, with episodes released six times a week. Subscribe now for the real stories behind your favourite films, TV shows and period dramas, as well as compelling insights into lesser-known aspects of the past. 
 
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