Episode 8: Dame Darcey Bussell

Broadcast date: 13 April 2022

In this episode, we meet dance royalty – Dame Darcey Bussell, who is President of the Royal Academy of Dance. Darcey has been a warm and inspiring figurehead for dance as an artform and for the RAD in particular – whether it’s through her glittering career as a principal ballerina with the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, or as a broadcaster, or as a judge for seven years on Strictly Come Dancing. Speaking in the RAD’s purpose-built new home in London, we ask if dance feels like a home to her? And why does dance matter to Darcey?

Darcey Bussell

Dame Darcey Bussell is a former Principal with The Royal Ballet and the most famous British ballerina of her generation. Darcey trained at The Royal Ballet School and joined the Company in 1988, retiring from the Company in 2007. Her extensive broadcast work includes being a judge on Strictly Come Dancing and many BBC documentaries. She remains a Guest principal coach at The Royal Ballet and is Artist Laureate of The Royal Ballet School. In 2015 she founded the dance fitness charity DDMIX. Darcey became the President of the Royal Academy of Dance in 2012.

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