Banijay Iberia Introduces New Dance Talent Show

Banijay Iberia’s Zeppelin has unveiled the new dance format Baila Como Puedas, tentatively titled Dance If You Can for the international market.

The format sees 16 accomplished professionals showcase their skills as dancers and choreographers as they instruct eight celebrities without dance experience in all types of disciplines, including contemporary, house, jazz and more.

For ten weeks, the professional dancers will immerse themselves in the competition and live together at the Baila Como Puedas Academy. In the first episode, each celebrity will select a professional dancer to form a duo with. The dancers can then accept the proposition or reject it and remain in the reserve waiting to be chosen by someone else. Professionals not matched in the initial round are placed on reserve.

A panel of judges will critique and evaluate each couple’s performance weekly and determine the fate of the professional dancers. The twist is that eliminated dancers can switch celebrity partners and return stronger than ever. At the halfway point of the series, the couples will begin to be eliminated together, and only the finalists will perform in the grand finale. The professional contestant of the winning pair will receive €50,000.

Baila Como Puedas is airing on RTVE’s La 1 and is produced in collaboration with RTVE. The celebrity stars are Álvaro Muñoz Escassi, Ana Guerra, Fabiola Martínez, Jaime Astrain, Lydia Lozano, Maestro Joao, Nicolás Vallejo-Nágera and Sabrina Salerno. The panel of judges consists of Beatriz Luengo, Norma Duval, Rafa Méndez and Yolanda Ramos.

“Building on Zeppelin’s experience and success as creators of reality, competition and entertainment programs like The Bridge and TimeZone, Baila Como Puedas is a fun and original series never seen before on television that represents an authentic evolution in dance programs,” said Miguel Martín, managing director of Zeppelin. “It is an entertainment blockbuster in which every week the contestants coexist and compete. We have turned the focus: those who take the risk, the real contestants, are the professional dancers, and subsequently, we will see celebrities like we have never seen them.”

James Townley, chief content officer, development, at Banijay, added, “Zeppelin is renowned for genre-defining entertainment, and this latest format is no different. Bringing this new and original show to market demonstrates the continued strength of our IP pipeline, and I’m looking forward to sharing the format with our teams around the world.”