Oti Mabuse's Dancing Legends - Ballroom dancer Fred Astaire

In a brand new series, professional dancer, choreographer and twice winner of Strictly Come Dancing, Oti Mabuse, explores the extraordinary people who have come before her and changed the course of dance.

In the first episode, Oti sits down with the world famous choreographer, Sir Matthew Bourne, to talk about the dancer who has been his inspiration. For Matthew, that person is the ballroom dancing legend, Fred Astaire. Astaire’s career spanned more than 75 years and he is considered to be one of the greatest dancers in film history.

Sir Matthew and Oti explore this amazing story with archive clips of Fred Astaire in action and expert help from film historian, John Kenrick.

And although Oti isn't trained in tap, she wants to give it a go. So she slips on some tap shoes and meets her teacher, Claire Miller, for a dance tutorial.

Producer: Candace Wilson
Production Team: Emily Knight and Rema Mukena
Editors: Kirsten Lass and Chris Ledgard
A BBC Audio Bristol production for BBC Radio 4

Published on Tuesday, 12th April 2022.

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