Review of It`s Strictly Dancing

Introduction

Winners of the original 2003 series of Strictly Come Dancing - breakfast television newscaster Natasha Kaplinsky and ballroom dancing champion Brendan Cole take viewers on a 55 minute crash course in ballroom dancing techniques.

The disc offers tips on dancing the quickstep, the cha-cha-cha, the foxtrot, the rumba, the tango, the samba, the waltz and the pasadoble. A basic menu system allows you to run the entire disc as a single programme, or you can select each of the dances singly as a basic option or as a Master Class. The disc also contains thirteen and a half minutes of highlights of Natasha and Brendan`s performances on the Strictly Come Dancing competition.

Recorded at the Rivoli Ballroom, the instructional segments of the programme are slightly stilted as neither presenter seems entirely comfortable in the role of dancing instructor. However, with their glad-rags on and gliding around the dance floor they show the abilities that won them the competition.

Video

Presented in anamorphic 16:9, the programme is a pleasing enough visual reference for learning ballroom dancing, although the constantly changing camera angles really don`t give you the best view of what their feet are doing. And surely that`s the most important thing about learning to dance.

Audio

The sound is in Dolby Digital 2.0.

Features

The only extra on the disc is the 13 minute highlights segment from the BBC Strictly Come Dancing show. There are no subtitles available on either the main show or the featurette.

Conclusion

A pleasant enough primer for wannabe ballroom dancers. Natasha Kaplinsky and Brendan Cole are engaging presenters and the programme shows you how to cut a rug to a pretty high standard. If you want to study the Terpsichorean muse and don`t know where to start, you could try this disc. Who knows, you might even learn to dance.