Dance Party

This programme takes a tour through significant 20th-century dance styles: the waltz, the charleston, the lindy hop, the twist and breakdancing. In each film, we watch someone getting dressed up for the party, and follow them through the doors into the room where the party is in full swing.

Revelling in the music and fashions of each era, these films highlight significant social aspects of each dance: the formality and etiquette of partner dancing in the waltz; the breakaway solos allowed in the charleston with its two competing styles; the influence of US troops who taught the British how to lindy hop; dancing solo in the sixties; and the face-off of street-based breakdancing.