Blind students inspired by Strictly winner to dance

Visually-impaired students at Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland's old college said they "jumped" at the chance to take up ballroom dance classes which gave them an "opportunity to dance".

Some students at the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC), in Hereford, have spent the academic year learning how to quickstep and jive and recently passed their first dance exam.

Rashmi Becker, who created the country's first dedicated blind ballroom programme, said demand had grown since McCausland won the 22nd series of the dancing competition in 2024.

The comedian, who was born with the hereditary eye condition retinitis pigmentosa, studied at the college in the 1990s.

Becker, founder of Step Change Studios, said teaching blind ballroom was not as daunting as it might seem.

"It requires just some sensible adjustments in the way you communicate, because ballroom involves personal touch and working in hold, you get to use physical touch and you can use the music and cues in the music," she said.

"So there are these adjustments that are very easy to do and it just opens the programme up to more people."

The dance lessons are being delivered by Worcester-based Translucent Dance Studio, with teachers guiding participants through their steps.

One student, Amy Griffin, said she had always loved watching Strictly and was inspired by McCausland's win.

"I've always loved watching Strictly but I've obviously never been able to see the dancing, so i've wanted to know, 'You know, what does it look like' - so it's really given me the opportunity to visualise it because I'm doing it," she said.

"I've really enjoyed it, it's given me the opportunity to dance."

Fellow student Freeman Fox, said it was an opportunity that did not come around often.

"I jumped at it, because, who knows?," he said. "It's an option that you don't expect to see on a regular basis and when you get that shot, you take it.

"I'm at that right level where I am both mature enough to stick with it after I leave, but also young enough where I don't wake up in pain afterwards."

The lessons are extra curricular and have only been made available due to a special grant, but the college said it would like to make them a permanent feature.

"What we'd need to be able to do is find enough volunteers to dance with every student who wants to take part, but as an investment it's absolutely worth it," explained the RNC's Lucy Proctor.

"It's just so good for the students' wellbeing, for their mental health, their spatial awareness and they just enjoy it."

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