While the U.S. has celebrated National Dance Day since 2010, the U.K. has had yet to host an equivalent event. That is about to change. On March 2 of this year, the country will have its first-ever National Dance Day, with institutions, schools, and studios across the nation offering open classes and performances. This event is the centerpiece of the wider national campaign Let’s Dancewhich aims to encourage Brits—52 percent of whom can’t remember the last time they danced, according to recent polling by More in Common—to get moving to improve their health and well-being.
The U.K.’s Let’s Dance and National Dance Day (which is unaffiliated with the annual U.S. event) are gaining momentum due, in a large part, to significant backing from major health charities, medical experts, and government departments. Chris Whitty and Gregor Smith, the Chief Medical Officers for England and Scotland, are supporters, as is the U.K.’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting. “He’s organizing a dance event in his own constituency,” says British broadcaster and former newsreader Angela Rippon, the mastermind behind the event and campaign.
The governmental support of National Dance Day in the U.K. is a stark contrast to the extensive funding cuts being made to the arts in other countries, including the U.S. Yet, “even here, funding for the arts in terms of health is not where it should be,” Rippon says. “I find it frustrating that while you have the Secretary of State for health saying this is a great way for people to get fit, the funding for things like dancing in schools is either under review or at risk of being cut completely. There is a sort of dichotomy between various areas of government.”
Rippon is a longtime advocate for dance. Prior to initiating Let’s Dance and National Dance Day, she served on the board of the English National Ballet for 10 years (including a term as chair of the board). Additionally, she is an ambassador for the Royal Academy of Dance’s Silver Swans program, which offers ballet classes to people over 55. In 2023, at age 79, she became the oldest-ever contestant to compete in “Strictly Come Dancing,” the U.K. version of “Dancing with the Stars.”
Angela Rippon and “Strictly Come Dancing” pro Kai Widdrington at the Let’s Dance launch event. Photo by Alex Daniels, courtesy Let’s Dance.
Highlights of National Dance Day will include an all-day ballroom dance event at Blackpool’s Winter Gardena “Bhangrathon” in Birmingham, and 200 retirees being invited to tea with Scottish Ballet at Dumfries House. Pineapple Dance Studios in London will offer a range of classes, including several tailored to dancers with visual impairments. The Royal Ballet School will open its doors to the public for the first time in its 100-year history to offer free lessons in ballet, contemporary, character, mime, and gesture, led by the school’s teachers as well as its artistic director, former Birmingham Royal Ballet principal Iain Mackay.
Nondance organizations are taking part too. Cornwall’s The Eden Project—botanical gardens contained in adjoining domes—will host dance classes by local teachers, and the National Health Service will bring nurses and patients together to dance on hospital wards. NHS has also added dance to its list of exercises available through its social-prescribing initiative, through which health-care providers refer patients to nonclinical services, like dance, for preventive and therapeutic care.
Members of The Place’s Shift Youth Dance Company performing at the launch event for Let’s Dance. Photo by Alex Daniels, courtesy Let’s Dance.
While National Dance Day will offer a wide variety of events to suit all ages and abilities, many may still feel intimidated to take part, worrying they have no rhythm or two left feet. But Rippon emphasizes that “you’re not doing it to win the glitter ball on ‘Strictly’ or appear at The Royal Ballet, you’re doing it for yourself.” She’s particularly keen to encourage older generations to try a dance class. “People lose their mobility and self-confidence because they’ve lost core strength, balance, and flexibility,” says Rippon. “If you dance, you’ll always have those things.”
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