Heike has strict praise for former judge Arlene

As BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing prepares to return to the small screen next Friday, a Teesside University Dance lecturer has criticised the replacement of one of the programme’s original judges, leading choreographer Arlene Phillips.

Heike Salzer, Programme Leader of the University’s BA (Hons) Dance, said: 'It is a pity that Arlene Philips has been asked to leave the show as a judge. She has extensive experience in the dance entertainment business and her expertise with regard to the dance performance of the participants of Strictly Come Dancing will be sorely missed. I very much look forward to following her important work as the government’s dance champion and I am convinced she will encourage many to get dancing.'

Heike, 36, moved from her international career in choreography and dance education in Germany and the Netherlands to take charge of the degree. She lives in Thornaby and is originally from Eppingen, a small village in Southern Germany.

In her teens Heike first studied dance in Cologne and then moved to explore dance education at a Conservatoire, the Dance Academy Arnhem in the Netherlands, whose most famous graduate was the late Audrey Hepburn. One of the early highlights of Heike’s career was performing to audiences of thousands in the contemporary dance exhibition, Expo 2000, in Hanover. Heike has also taught choreography and dance at Iceland’s National Ballet School, where she developed a contemporary dance programme. She has also taught the same areas in the Netherlands

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