Jason Gilkison has to be more "inventive" when creating dances for same-sex couples on 'Strictly Come Dancing.'
Jason Gilkison (left) on how he creates the routines for Strictly Come Dancing
The 56-year-old dancer has served as the director of choreography on the BBC Saturday night favourite - which has included several same-sex couples in recent years - since 2014 and admitted that while it feels "natural and nice to explore" the representation, he often faces "obstacles" when it comes to creating a dance around the costumes.
He said: "It does feel very natural and nice to explore. You come up against obstacles, it’s very easy for a man in a flat shoe to lift a woman in the air, but that’s the biggest thing we deal with, the costumes. Which just means we have to be more inventive when we’re thinking about how we want them to look. It becomes about defining each pro’s personality, rather than putting them in a box."
The former 'So You Think You Can Dance' judge went on to explain that it has been "wonderful" to explore diversity on the show - which this year features former Paralympian swimmer Ellie Simmonds and previously featured the now-eliminated pairings of comedienne Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer. as well as radio host Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice - because dancing is "for everybody."
He told Metro.co.uk: "It’s been a wonderful experience for us and we feel very lucky to get the opportunity to do this because we’re, again, exploring how dance is for absolutely everybody. 100 years ago, dancing was just a social activity and now it’s become so much more. But it was what people did, go out and have fun on a Saturday night, and it includes everybody. That’s why it’s been really important for us that there are no boundaries when it comes to who should be dancing."
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