About a month ago, I wrote a blog post (here) about attending a professional dance tour featuring Strictly Come Dancing‘s professional dancers Anton du Beke and Erin Boag. (Okay, technically, Erin is no longer on Strictly, but you get the idea.) After seeing that show, I almost immediately made the decision that I would try to go back again and see it before it ended. Luckily, I found that their final show of the tour would be in Wimbledon, which is right outside of London and on the Underground service, so naturally, I got myself a ticket since I could do that trip in a day.
It just so happened to be that I was already in London on the day of the tour – I had gone to London the day before, and due to the snow and ice delays on the trains, ended up deciding to stay overnight instead of rush back to Brighton. On Sunday, I went to Move it! at the ExCel London with a friend in the late morning to meet two of her favourite dancers, Neil & Katya Jones, who are also more commonly known now for their roles on Strictly. (Although they have both earned national and world championship titles over the years as well.) After this event, we went back into the city, where my friend would be taking her coach back home, and I could continue on my way to Wimbledon to see Anton & Erin’s final show.
As I’ve already written an entire blog post on the show itself, I’ll save myself the energy of writing a rather repetitive one about the show itself, but it was even more incredible the second time. Instead, I’m mostly focusing this one on the actual experience of properly being able to meet both Anton and Erin after the show. Since each show features different questions from the audience, it was cool to hear a new set of questions and answers, as well as a different view of the show itself. Once again, I went alone, and was seated next to a woman and her daughter, much further back than the first time I’d gone. Before the show even began, I was already chatting away with them about how I’d seen the tour and they would absolutely love it. We also compared our favourites from this past year on Strictly (luckily, we all agreed on everything!) and our favourite dances over the years.
By the interval, the mother who was sitting next to me and I were chatting about the show once again. This time, she was asking me if the second half gets better, which it most definitely did – though as a native New Yorker, I would have to admit that it does even if it didn’t. I also had grabbed my phone to charge during the interval, and she happened to notice the polaroid photo that I have tucked in the clear case (it’s from when I met Katie Derham back in December 2016), so I spent the rest of the interval telling her about my connection with Katie, and how I’d gotten to know her. (If you’ve forgotten that story, you can read it here.)
Anyway, since I’ve already rambled about how incredible the show itself is in my blog post from last month, I’ll focus on the fact that I went to meet Anton and Erin after the show. Admittedly, I mostly stayed because I wanted to talk to Anton again – and ask him to write something out for a tattoo that I have planned. To me, my favourite part about the wait until Anton and Erin were ready was being able to talk with others who were also waiting. We were all lucky enough to be let into the green room, so we didn’t have to stand outside in the snow, and I actually ended up sitting next to a woman who recognised me from my fandom twitter handle. (If you’re reading this, tweet me so I can make sure I’m following you!)
The nice thing about us all being inside was that we actually heard both Anton and Erin coming toward the green room before they actually got there. Erin was the first to get there, and as one of my closest friends has admired Erin for years, it meant a lot just to be in the same room as her and be aware of how much of an impact Erin has had on her life. I also happen to be horrible at taking selfies, so luckily, I was able to get someone to take my photos for both Erin and Anton. When it was my chance to get my picture with Anton, I was more anxious about asking him for the writing for my tattoo instead of the actual picture. Though, my highlight of the night is when Anton admitted that he remembers me because of how I know Katie (even after he’d seen the photo in the case on my phone).
All in all, Anton and Erin’s From Broadway to Hollywood tour was just as incredible the second time around, and I’m so glad that I managed to get a ticket to go again. And hopefully I’ll still be living in England next year so I can see next year’s tour.
the dreaming road 