Angela Rippon has opened up on GB News this morning about her new campaign to get Britain dancing, lauding its effects on both body and mind.
Founded by the broadcasting legend and Strictly star, the initiative “Let’s Dance” is backed by the nation’s top organisations in the business, including the Sport and Recreation Alliance.
The campaign is a nationwide movement of charities, health gurus, community groups and dance organisations – as well as a long line of celebrities – to inspire Britons to live healthier, connect with others and have fun.
While the campaigners are looking to boost awareness of the benefits of dance for both mental and physical health, they are also looking to encourage newbies to join in on the fun, no matter their experience.
Today, the nimble 81-year-old spoke to GB News, beaming from the press preview of her Let’s Dance campaign, ready and raring to welcome fleets of dancers into the doors.
She said: “On March 8, we’re hoping that the whole nation will be dancing on our national day of dance, when dance teachers all over the country, some between 20,000 and 30,000 of them, will be opening their doors.
“Dance is the best kind of exercise you can possibly do for your mind and your body.
“And if you’re somebody who wants to get fit, if you’re a bit older and you want to keep having a long and healthy lifestyle, but you don’t want to go to the gym, you don’t want to do a park run, particularly when the weather’s like this in the rain.
‘I’ve never seen anyone coming out of a dance class that doesn’t have a big smile on their face,’ the broadcasting legend raved
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GB NEWS
“Go to a dance class. It is the best exercise you can possibly do, and that’s what we’re trying to get everyone to understand or to experience.
“But leading up to that today, we’ve got our preview. I’ve got 100 dancers here, in 10 dance groups who are all going to show us different forms of dance that demonstrate that dance really is brilliant for any age group and for any kind of dance that you want to do.”
The Strictly star, who renewed her love for the exercise on the BBC show with professional Kai Widdrington back in 2023, said the campaign was welcoming a contemporary dance group with more than 60, as well as an entirely male group hailing from Southampton.
Ms Rippon said: “They go to a wonderful school, to a class there with a fantastic teacher. She’s so brilliant at what she does with people who are trying to work through the darkness of mental health.
Kai Widdrington and Angela Rippon were partners on the BBC show in 2023
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GETTY
“It’s all men and they dance together. They’re going to be dancing here.”
Raving about the inclusivity of the campaign, she added some of her youngest are from the City of Westminster Girls School with 12-year-old children.
Meanwhile, some of her oldest dancers hail from Brighton, from a group called Mum’s the Word, welcoming mothers and grandmothers aged between 30 and 60.
She added: “We’ve got all ages that are here and, as well as dancing for mental health, we’re just demonstrating the way in which dance is absolutely brilliant to help people recover or live with certain serious mental conditions and medical conditions.
“We’ve got a group of dancers who are Parkinson’s dancers, and Arlene Phillips, the choreographer, has choreographed a special piece for them, which we’re actually about to give its premiere here in about a half an hour’s time.”
She said for those with Parkinson’s, dance can help strengthen the core, as well as improve balance and coordination.
“And once people start dancing, even though they may have the shakes, which very often come with Parkinson’s, it’s as if they take back control of their bodies again,” she added.
“I know I’m biased, but dance is a superpower. It’s not just something for entertainment, something to watch. It’s something you can do to get fit, to get well, to meet lots of friends.
“You have a lot of fun. I’ve never seen anyone coming out of a dance class that doesn’t have a big smile on their face.”