Strictly Come Dancing Live in your home town!
This week Edinburgh’s residents were treated to a night of glitz and glamour straight from the set of Strictly Come Dancing. Following their hit show in 2023, Nadiya Bychkova and Kai Widdrington bring us a look behind the scenes of what goes into the showstopping dances through the ages.
Broken into sections, the pair introduced segments celebrating the fashion, music, choreography and performers who have graced the stage and screen through the ages. Each section was introduced by the pair, with the occasional moments of cringe due to a script that seemed to force the segues and stretched the moments on past comfort. Thankfully though, any awkwardness was all forgotten when the team of six incredibly talented dancers poured on to the stage in an explosion of energy and skill.
A true highlight was the section where they talked more about the life on the TV set of Strictly which saw three audience members plucked up on stage to become impromptu judges. Hilarity ensued with some classic live theatre mishaps including getting locked out of the stage door when trying to get on stage, and some salacious comments from one of the ladies who was very happy to be meeting Kai in the flesh! Both he and Nadiya did well to keep the section moving quickly with some well timed quips and good chemistry. Kai himself had the cheeky smile and cocksure attitude of someone angling for a west end casting. Paired with Nadiya’s sweet and graceful demeanor the two clearly won over the audience both on and off the stage.
Unfortunately not everything quite had the same charm. The beginning of act two was a tribute to the fashion and costumes involved in the world of dance. A catwalk was set up and all the dancers took a turn on the runway strutting their stuff to a bouncing soundtrack of pop favourites and club classics. Nadiya and Kai took it in turns to burst out of the back stage in a series of eye catching outfits that sadly fell a bit flat of the hype they had started with. An I’ll fitting pink suit, a cheap looking faux fur coat and a pleather LBD were a little disappointing compared to some of the outfits we would normally think of when we imagine ballroom dancing. Within the same section it was declared that while fashion may always be changing, ballroom remains the same… What followed was a truly charming Bridgerton-esque routine in frothy tulle ball gowns from the team, but when Nadiya joined the fray in a ruffled satin figure hugging halter neck dress with a thigh split, it felt a bit disjointed from a costuming standpoint.
Another moment of discomfort came near the end of the show. When it came to introduce the real heroes behind any great show, the pair took the moment to thank their families for all of the support and love that helped them achieve their dreams. While it felt a little bit like an Oscar speech, it rather dragged on and at the point where I might have begun rolling my eyes, Nadiya seemed to have a bit of a breakdown. Going into their big partner dance after, it was clear to see emotions were high and Nadiya especially seemed to throw everything she had into the performance. It was breathtaking work, but hard to ignore the tears and grimace on her face throughout which broke into full sobs when they took their bows. Whether something else is going on in their personal lives or it was just an emotional high, I do not know but it felt as though we were waiting for them to announce a break up or retirement – thankfully neither occurred and the pair finished the show off in a final group number full of the smiles, sparkle and pizazz that we had come to expect.
The music and the dancing is what will draw you to get tickets for this show, and in that regard, this show is worth it’s wait in diamantes. The energy and pure joy on the stage are infectious. This is an extremely talented cast of performers from the dancers to the musician who graced many of the numbers with his incredibly rich voice and nimble guitar skills. When one of the dancers even joined him to play piano for a few numbers it was very impressive. For some reason though, the music section was interrupted momentarily by Nadiya taking up a mic and singing along too. Sadly she does not have the strength of voice to hold up to the talents of her cast mate and it felt like a bit of a strained moment with the main singer having to drop his voice drastically or else overpower her fragile tone.
Although some elements left a little to be desired, this is still a great show and any Strictly fan will be out in force to all of the upcoming tour dates. With a tiny edit to the length of scripted sections to give more time to the dancing, this could be a five star show, and for that reason I would encourage any dance fans to book their tickets now!