But once darkness fell, so did any remaining inhibitions, and using the gateway drug of Dancing Queen, the DJ managed to get people on to the harder stuff.

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"People's reaction was fantastic on Dancing Queen, " she says.

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Wearing a cloak with the legend "Dancing Queen" on it, she belted out Lucky Star, which segued seamlessly into her Number 1 hit Hung Up, finishing with a multitude of golden balloons falling over the exuberant crowds at the front.

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Maybe the attitude to Her Maj is summed up by Martin Honeysett, who portrayed the Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip heroically line dancing during the state visit to Ireland in 2011.

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He most enjoyed the dancing of Vernon and Irene Castle, then the king and queen of America's ballrooms.

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In previews for the 1997 TV movie, Houston's Fairy Godmother and pop singer Brandy's title character were much hyped, but the Rob Marshall-directed production itself was stolen by old pros Bernadette Peters as the stepmother, Victor Garber and Whoopee Goldberg as the King and Queen, and Jason Alexander as a kind of singing, dancing, pratfalling George Costanza.

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