I am a huge Strictly Come Dancing fan, its what autumn evenings were made for.  It gives autumn evenings a little sparkle with the dances, costumes, make up and hair, music, staging etc.. It is a show which genuinely makes me happy and relaxed, whether it be the big shows at the weekend or Zoe during the week, my family know to let me have a little time to watch Strictly.

I genuinely like all the contestants, there’s no one I’m ‘agin.’ (see @mariankeyes, SCD super fan) However this year there has been one contestant who has shone out and for whom I may have developed a bit of a girl crush, the magical Susan Calman.  Her joy and enthusiasm for Strictly was unrivalled and here was a contestant I could relate to, similar age, non dancer, not very girlie but whom adored Strictly and wanted to learn to dance.  Her choreography and music choices were brilliant, Kevin Clifton is so talented because he understands who is partner is and how to portray that in the dance.   Susan’s costumes and make up embraced all the glitz of Strictly and she looked stunning.  I liked how natural it felt to see Susan’s wife in the audience and how supportive she was, alongside Susan’s gang of friends the ‘Geek squad.’ Here were professors, lawyers, writers cheering on their friend in matching t-shirts at Blackpool and loving every minute, its the sort of thing I could see me and my friends doing.   Susan brought so much to Strictly and this evening, I thought the episode lacked a little something and I’ve come to  realise that it was missing the infectious joy and passion of Susan and Kevin.

On Monday  I led an assembly at the special needs school where I work on our theme of the week, learning something new.  I started with Susan’s pinned tweet when she was announced as a contestant to some of her quotes and interviews as she progressed and finished with her dance to Morecambe and Wise.  During the dance, my students started standing up and came to the front to dance, it was a totally spontaneous moment and it was a moment of pure joy and delight, Susan’s enthusiasm and love for dancing has made life a little more sparkling and joyful for so many.  Thank you Susan and please keep dancing.