Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars 2008

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Dancing with the Stars 2008

Dancing with the Stars 2008

It's America's most prestigious TV dance competition and you can watch the new season exclusively on UKTV Gold, every Friday at 8pm from Friday 21st March.

Twelve very different celebs are paired with twelve frighteningly brilliant pros for a dance-off which sees them master an array of traditional ballroom styles.

The all-star line-up competing in this year's spectacular includes US royalty Priscilla Presley, tennis ace Monica Seles, Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, cult comedy legend Steve Guttenberg and R&B star Mario. Find out more...

Each week a different team is eliminated based on a combination of the judges' scores and the votes of the American viewing public. And speaking of judges, you'll recognise our very own Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli, the judges from Strictly Come Dancing, who are here teamed with the glamorous Carrie Ann Inaba, choreographer to the stars.

So which dance styles will our aspiring amateurs have to get their feet round? Well, funny you should ask...

The Cha Cha

It's more properly called the "cha-cha-cha", but nowadays ballroom fanatics tend to lop off the final "cha" from the name of this famous Cuban dance. The Cha Cha is playful and very cheeky, with the dancers taking turns to tease and chase each other. Even its jargon has a sense of humour – look out for such delightfully-named moves as the Runaway Chasse and the Turkish Towel.

The Foxtrot

It was back in 1914 that an American stage actor named Harry Fox created a dance that pundits soon dubbed "Fox's trot". But "trot" is a bit misleading here, as this is actually one of the smoothest of all dances. Jerkiness is a no-no, and it's all about fluid transitions from slow to fast and back again. Music nerds will be interested to know that this was originally the "official" dance for rock n roll music – and the first rock releases were actually known as Foxtrots.

The Jive

Let's hope the celebs have been keeping themselves fit, because the Jive is going to make them sweat. With roots reaching back to 40s Harlem, the Jive (which was originally known as the Jitterbug Jive) is one of the fastest and most strenuous dances in the competition, with plenty of kicks, flicks and flurried legs. It may look pretty crazy to us, but it's actually a very complex dance with strict etiquette.

The Mambo

Creation of the Mambo is credited to one Perez Prado, a musician who developed it in the Cuban city of Havana in the 40s. Saying that, the dance was actually named after Mambo music which goes back much earlier. A raunchy dance with an emphasis on some rather delicious hip movements, it caused a sensation in its day, with jazz legends like Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker all competing to come up with the best Mambo rhythms.

The Paso Doble

One of the most theatrical and compelling dances in the competition, the Paso Doble takes the form of a Spanish bullfight. We kid you not: the man plays the part of the matador, and the woman becomes either his cape or the bull itself. Unsurprisingly, the man is super-dominant with plenty of macho foot stomping, and the march-like music adds to the suspense. Surprisingly, though, the dance actually originated in France rather than Spain.

The Quickstep

The Quickstep has a rather charming history. Back in the 1920s (the Jazz Age), bands began to play the Foxtrot at a faster pace – which at first bemused and then delighted dancers. This faster version began to incorporate elements of other dances such as the Charleston and the, er, "Shag", and the final result was the Quickstep. It's a springy, vibrant dance – but the trick is to keep things elegant even as it all speeds up.

The Rumba

Ah, here's one for the soppy romantics among us. The Rumba is essentially a love story set to music, and is similar to the Paso Doble in that it has a "storyline". The Rumba follows a woman as she attempts to beguile and bewitch a man, so it's all about slow sensuality, with the woman approaching and withdrawing until the man can take it no more. Yep, it's hot.

The Samba

It can be easy to get the names confused, but the Samba and Rumba couldn't be more different. While the Rumba is slow and thoughtful, the Samba is flamboyant and fun – as befitting a dance that originated in the carnivals of Brazil. It's got elements of many South American dances, which means the competitors will be bouncing, thrusting and generally going nuts on the dancefloor.

The Tango

Thanks to films like Scent of a Woman and Evita, this is one of most famous dances of all. With its clipped, poised, deliberate movements, it's a rather elegant thing to behold, but the Tango actually had rather unglamorous beginnings in the brothels of Argentina, where seedy musicians and ladies of the night popularised the dance among their "clients" – who then popularised it around the world.

The Viennese Waltz

Some call the Viennese Waltz the "mother of dances", and you can see why. It goes right back to the beginning of the 17th Century, when polite society was shocked by its extravagant spins, flourishes and the fact that (gasp!) the dancers actually touched each other. Composers like Mozart loved it though, popularising the dance in their works.

The Waltz

It makes sense to assume that the Viennese Waltz is a variation of a dance called the Waltz, but actually the reverse is true. The Viennese Waltz is the original version, while the dance we now call the "Waltz" is basically a 20th Century, slower version of the Viennese Waltz. Hey, nobody said ballroom dancing was about logic...
 
 

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