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Strictly Come Dancing\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u2013 inspired by the long-running BBC series Come Dancing<\/em>, which ran between 1949 and 1998 \u2013 is a reality television phenomenon. Produced in more than 50 countries (often under the alternative name Dancing with the Stars<\/em>) the show pairs celebrities with professional dance partners to compete in a dancing competition full of skill, theatre and glitz, overseen by a panel of judges armed with glittery score paddles and eagle-eyed critiques. So, what\u2019s the history behind some of our favourite routines, costumes and dance steps? Here are five facts from dance history\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 Over the course of the series, Strictly Come Dancing\u00a0<\/em>contestants are challenged to learn a variety of ballroom and Latin dances. Many of these have long traditions, from the passionate Paso doble \u2013 a French dance which takes inspiration from the Spanish tradition of bull-fighting \u2013 to the elegant waltz, which first originated at the end of the 18th century as a lively peasant dance. Although the latter is a popular dance on Strictly <\/em>today, it wasn\u2019t always considered appropriate; when the waltz, in which men and women spin together in close contact, first appeared in Regency society, the sight of dancers clasped in each other\u2019s arms led many to condemn the German dance as depraved<\/a>.<\/p>\n The ballroom tango we might recognise today evolved from the more risqu\u00e9 Argentine Tango, a dance that originated in the working-class neighbourhoods of Argentina and Uruguay in the late 19th-century. With its quick kicks and flicks between partners\u2019 legs, it\u2019s often styled as a seduction between a courtesan and a ga\u00facho (an Argentinean horseman). However, Daniel Trenner, a tango teacher who lectures on the history of the dance, has shared how the tango was originally danced by male couples<\/a> who would practice together \u201cso they could impress a woman when the time came\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe risqu\u00e9 thing that made the tango different from other dances is you put your leg in between the space between the follower\u2019s legs,\u201d Trenner says. \u201cThe tango was their fantasy dance of what they\u2019d like to do with the girls but didn\u2019t get to.\u201d<\/p>\n On the podcast |\u00a0Hilary French follows the history of ballroom dancing \u2013 from its early popularity among the leisured elites to its demise in the face of disco, and recent Strictly revival:<\/strong><\/p>\n\nStrictly traditional?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>