The Stage

Forsyth to tap into history of dance

Published Tuesday 17 May 2005 at 13:50 by Liz Thomas

Bruce Forsyth is continuing the revival in dance programming started by Strictly Come Dancing with a new show that takes him all over the world researching the history of the artform.

The programme takes the veteran entertainer to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Los Angeles and London and features interviews with prestigious performers about the roots of different dance forms. He said: “It’s a history of dance - Latin American dance and tap dancing - getting into the story behind it. I have been doing interviews and learning about the music. I’ve never done interviews before, not in this way. It has been about the most fascinating trip I have ever had.”

Bruce Goes Dancing is a two-part production made by BBC Scotland and will be broadcast later this year. The success of Strictly Come Dancing, presented by Forsyth and Tess Daly, boosted flagging Saturday night ratings on BBC1 and has spawned a number of spin-off series and specials including Graham Norton’s Strictly Dance Fever and Strictly Ice Dancing.

It has been exported to the US television network ABC under the title Dancing With The Stars and will feature former world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield and supermodel Rachel Hunter.

The BBC team that created the show will make the US version and the programme has also been sold to broadcasters in Denmark, Poland, Belgium and New Zealand.

Forsyth started in showbusiness aged 14 touring Britain as The Boy Bruce - The Mighty Atom. He went on to host Sunday Night at the London Palladium in 1958, becoming the UK’s highest paid entertainer on £1,000 a week. He hosted the BBC’s The Generation Game in the early seventies and at the beginning of the nineties.