Hit TV dramas fuelling Regency dance revival - teacher

Lottie Adcock says the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (pictured) and more recent TV dramas have ignited interest in historical dance

Hit drama Bridgerton and continued interest in Pride and Prejudice have fuelled a resurgence of people taking up Regency-era dancing, a teacher says.

Lottie Adcock, who teaches historical dance classes in York, said most of her customers wanted to emulate the lavish balls of the early 1800s.

She has seen numbers rise "across North Yorkshire and the UK", with the age of those getting involved getting lower.

It helped to tell pupils "it's like Jane Austen dancing", she added.

It is almost 30 years since a sodden Colin Firth emerged from the lake as the brooding Mr Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

However, Ms Adcock, 30, who runs Dance the Past, said: "Regency dancing is definitely having a resurgence and the people who watched Mr Darcy think, 'actually I want to have a go at doing that'.

"Things like Bridgerton have really helped as well."

Regency balls were one of the few times "people could touch hands with members of the opposite sex", Ms Adcock said

She told BBC Radio York her industry had seen significant recent change, with a wider spectrum of people elegantly striding to the dancefloor.

"When I started off it was mostly people who were retired, older people," she said.

"I was the youngest person by about 50 years and now I get lots of 20 and 30-year-olds."

Ms Adcock said when she arrived in the city she had been shocked an "ancient place like York" which was "designed for historical dance" had no dance classes of its type.

"I was really surprised so I thought I'd start my own," she added.

Ms Adcock has been performing in historic dance groups for more than a decade

The dance teacher jokingly said she had discovered York residents were very difficult to shock.

"You see people on the streets dressed as Vikings and I walk about in my Regency outfit," she said.

"Nobody stops and stares."