now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. more of you spending today dry, certainly compared with yesterday, but we do have some heavy showers around. they are going to be mainly across parts of central, southern scotland, northern ireland as we go into the first part of the afternoon. easing a little bit here, but then spreading in across northern parts of england. to the north of it, dry with sunny spells, to the south of it, most places dry, wind is falling a little bit later through the day. —— mike lighter through the day... a good deal of sunshine, but cloud increasingly towards channel islands, devon, cornwall and south—west wales, bringing outbreaks of rain later in the afternoon and something a bit milder. chilly end to the day, though, in eastern areas, where we could see a widespread frost for the first half of the night. —6 may be in eastern scotland. but as this cloud spills its way eastwards through the night, temperatures will gradually rise, ten quite misty and murky in the west with the odd spot of light rain or drizzle, but we could be up to around eight to ten degrees a restart monday morning through some western areas. rather grey here, though, with some drizzle around, the heaviest burst of rain in northern and western scotland. gales starting to develop later in the day. patchy rain or drizzle pushing its way eastwards across england, though some in the far east of the country will stay dry with some hazy sunshine. hello this is bbc news. the headlines... england's education secretary backs reducing covid isolation down from seven days to five. the australian government say they did not give novak djokovic assurances that he could enter the country without a vaccination — according to documents filed ahead of a hearing on monday. russian troops arrive in kazakhstan as order is restored following six days of violence that killed 164 people. a bbc investigation into accommodation for asylum seekers in the uk discovers serial concerns about the living conditions provided for some people. and, the afghan baby separated from his parents in kabul during the chaos of the us withdrawal — is reunited with relatives. now on bbc news...it�*s the travel show — with lucy hedges. this week on the travel show. now, if you spent any part of lockdown dancing alone in the kitchen, this show is for you. now, for many of us, dancing offers a short cut to happiness and escape. over the years on the travel show, we've picked up some pretty nifty dance moves all over the world — and have failed miserably at others. so here, for your entertainment and our eternal embarrassment, are our attempts to remain co—ordinated under pressure and in front of a camera. let's kick off with my trip to south africa back in 2018, when i tried to keep up with a truly talented group of performers who have made news all over the world thanks to an energetic form of dancing known as pantsula. they set the bar a little high for me, though. fast-paced singing. this is pa ntsula. this style of dancing is absolutely incredible. it's fast—paced, it's energetic, and its technical. but for young south africans, it's so much more than this. it's a movement that encapsulates storytelling, fashion and social expression. and just look at those dance moves. my mind is just blown! for via vyndal, everything in their act holds a special significance — from their moves to their costumes. and their clothes are the colours of the national flag. pantsula, it's a local culture. you would never get it anywhere in the suburbs. whatever we do, we're telling our stories, background stories, through dance. from growing up in this poor neighbourhood, the group has gone on to international acclaim. in 2017, director danny boyle hand—picked them to perform at one of new york's most prestigious venues — carnegie hall. we really killed the stage. it was a peak experience, especially because, to be honest, it was our first time on the plane. and being in new york, it was something different. you could tell that we were far away from home. the background of the dance is closely tied to the history of the nation. we're on our way to the biggest township in south africa — soweto. here, the pantsula has a deeply political message. soweto has a reputation for activism. it was home to nelson mandela during apartheid in the years prior to his arrest. pantsula has its roots in the same era. it matched contemporary forms with traditional african dance — an act of cultural defiance against the oppressive white government. talk to me about the kind of social and political messages that you express when you dance. the first political message is to be seen as black people. we are powerful, you know. and the second is we're trying to tell the world that we're still free, but we're still bearing a lot of problems. we still have to push ourselves. and we have to push ourselves, like, ten times harder than any other individual. and now, the moment of truth. do i have what it takes to become an honorary member of the troupe? 0k, stand here. 0k. it's going to be, one, two, one, two. one, two, one, two. oh, no. yeah. so it's going to be, one, two, one, two. one, two, one, one, two, one, one, two, one. easy! 0k. slow. one, two, one, two. one, two, one, one, two, one, one, two, one. i'm not getting the last bit. come on, focus up here. focus on my feet. i'm not quite there. one, two, one, two, one, two, one, two, one. yes! it's funny, but i get tired watching that again. what amazing performers. in the same year, half a world away in norway, christa discovered a similar level of skill and dedication with a traditional form of dance is still going strong. watch out for the high kicks in this one still. dance company frikar perform around norway and beyond. they are inspired by traditional norwegian roots. they have agreed to come to show me traditional moves in norway's halling dance. traditional violin music the dance is mostly a show—off dance. many hundred years ago, women also did the dance, but it's mostly boys or men doing the dance, because we want to impress the other men or other women. put the right foot in front of the left, sidewards. believe me, this is harder than it looks. if you jump a bit on each step, one, two, yes, nice? i think i'm getting the hang of it. one, two. nice! back in the old days, they used the ceilings to kick down a coin orjust kick their heels. kick the ceiling? you know, they were smaller houses back in the old days. in the 1800s, the military started with competitions, kicking a hat from a stick, and it was about kicking the highest. and then it became incorporated in the halling, the folk dance. everybody in norway, i think if i say halling, people say kicking the hat. it is the main goal in the halling. but the dance is the main goal, kicking the hat is sort of topping it. that was good kicking! you have got to admit those high kicks were pretty impressive. christa in norway back in 2018. here is something else to not try at home, especially if you value yourjoints. peruvian scissor dancing dates back over 500 years, and some people claim it is the inspiration behind modern break dancing. with a heritage like that, we just had to send carmen to investigate in 2017. the origin of the peruvian scissor dance is shrouded in mystery, but many believe the tradition began in the highlands of the andes as an act of worship to the mountain gods. in the 1500s, the dance was performed to show resistance to spanish rule. the movements display the performers�* dexterity. and the scissors represented their resistance to pain. but the conquistadors thought it was inspired by the devil and it was banned. despite the ban, the traditions survived, and the twisting, turning dance moves were passed down from generation to generation. now, its importance in peru's history has been recognised by unesco. and its backbreaking moves would put many break dancers to shame. although the scissors are not sharp, learning to control them while dancing and leaping can take years. hola! and i'm going to get a lesson to see how it's done. so the top ones stay still and the bottom one... 0h. it's all in the thumb, the thumb and the wrist. scissors chime first, i've got to get to grips with the scissors. the aim is to hit the handles together in time to the music. the blunt blades are not connected, so holding them in position is really tricky. there is no way i'm going to be able to do this and coordinate my feet. and it's notjust mastering the scissors. this is the one that makes your knees bleed. does it hurt to do the jumps and land on your back? does it hurt your head, your knees? do you have injuries? translation. is that blood on your trousers? wow, that's dedication! oh, and i'm getting a hat. gosh, as if it's not hard enough! after a few minutes, i'm exhausted. i can't even imagine how hard it would be to do these moves up in the andes, where the thin air makes everything so much harder. these guys are true athletes. oh, that was hard work! some of those moves looked truly, truly backbreaking. just amazing. carmen and the scissor dancers of peru back in 2017. well, we've got plenty more for you, so stay with us. because, coming up: henry learns it's all in the eyes in india and christa leaves the folk music of norway behind to attend a grand ball in vienna. now, in the same way that dance can lift your spirits, it can also tell a story and perhaps nowhere as intricately as india, which is where henry headed to meet the kathakali dancers of kerala, who not only use their bodies but their faces to tell a story. to learn more about kathakali, i've come here to meet a man whose family have been performing the dance for the past hundred years here in cochin. mr devan! how are you? welcome, welcome. good to see you! this is your theatre! amazing. central to kathakali is the complex ritual make—up, which turns the performers into supernatural beings, gods and demons. the process of applying the make—up can take many hours, and here in cochin, it's applied in front of the audience, and forms part of the performance. drumming. there's a singer who sings the stories... the river flowing! ..and the drummer, who supports. drumming. the dancer translates these songs through movement of eyebrows, eyes, eye muscles, lips, fingers, footwork. drumming. and all these stories come from the hindu books, religious books. drumming. originally developed as a way of teaching religious scripture to rural audiences, kathakali is now also a big draw for tourists coming here to kerala. i am very curious to know how do you tell a story with your eyebrows, your cheeks, your lips and your fingers? can you teach me? to start with, there are 2a alphabets in the language, katha kali language. these alphabets are the position of the hand. so how — show me a little segment of how you would use the alphabets to tell the story. please. come. and so with the eye movements, what different types of eye movements do you have? rolling the eyes is getting excited. team those moves with some fancy footwork and you have a performance — in theory, at least. drumbeat quickens. laughs. that is very good — very impressive! traditionally, a classic kathakali performance can go on for many hours, sometimes a whole night. but some modern audiences have shorter attention spans, so the art form has had to adapt. you lost me! you know, the original one, it goes throughout a night, you know? everything is in detail, everything is intricate. you know, and nowadays we are condensing it for a 1.5, two—hour programme. so in a way we do lose our originality. what is done for hours and, you know, throughout a night, that is not being shown now. it represents the fire god! but whether the performance is a marathon—length all—nighter or something more contained, the highlight of the show is always the appearance on stage of pacha, wearing his traditional green make—up and performing steps choreographed hundreds of years ago to captivate audiences of today. well, we're almost at the end of this week's programme, but we have just got time for one more dance—off. so let's take a trip all the way back to 2015, long before social distancing had ever been heard of, and when the bigger the party, the better it was. let's hope we can all return to those times before too long. in the meantime, here's christa trying to master a classic waltz in the run—up to a spectacular ball in vienna. it's just after dawn, but the town hall is already buzzing. preparations are under way for a grand dance event — part of the ball season that takes over vienna each winter. every year, over a50 grand balls take place and thousands of people descend on the city to get all dressed up and dance the night away. these preparations are for the blumenball, or flower ball — an event for 3000 guests. a team of 250 people have spent a week getting everything ready and today, they are busy decorating the hall with 80,000 flowers. translation: 200 years ago, common people were allowedl to dance for the first time. before that, it was a privilege of the nobility alone. the viennese people were enthralled, and that popularity continues to this day. over 300,000 people attend the city's balls each season but no two events are the same. they can be anything from grand affairs in the city's imperial palace with formal dress and classical music, to modern dance parties where anything goes. booming electronic music plays. this season of events also represents big business for the city, boosting the viennese economy by around 200 million euros each year. this is perhaps not surprising when the most sought—after events can cost you up to 250 euros just to get the door. well, if you are going to attend one of these grand balls, you can'tjust turn up injeans. you have to look the part. blue danube waltz plays. well, i've got a fancy frock and a lovely hairdo. the only thing left is to polish up my dance skills before the ball. matthias urrisk is in charge of directing the formal opening dance at the ball tonight, which will include a grand waltz. and for you, the first step is making a backward step. 0k. the viennese waltz is a very famous popular dance. you make two steps in place, two, three. two, three. it is our traditional dance, even our unofficial national song — the blue danube is a waltz — so it's — we are proud of it. one, two, three. left, two, three. yes! blue danube waltz plays. outside, dusk is falling over the city, and soon after, the guests of the blumenball begin to arrive. the ball opens with a formal performance then suddenly, the floor is crowded with dancing couples old and young, who seem to seriously know their stuff. it's so nice! it makes you want to take up dance lessons! the other ball guests seem equally taken with the romance of the event. i love to go to balls. i like to dress like a princess, and to dance like a princess. it's a journey into another world for me. eventually, it's time to stop being a wallflower and put my dance training into action. my terrible dancing! no, no! i onlyjust learned how to do it today! blue danube waltz plays. now, i do hope you've enjoyed this look back with me and that we've managed to give you some travel inspiration, and maybe even a few moves for when we can all hit the road again. let's hope it's not too long to wait until then. in the meantime, make sure you catch us next week, if you can, when... there's another chance to catch up with the family from america who decided to go on the road for the very first time with their two autistic little boys. they had a lot of fun at the theme parks and the theme parks were built for them. they welcomed them with open arms and let them enjoy themselves. until then, though, from me, lucy hedges, and everyone else here on the show, thanks for watching and goodbye. hello. yesterday we had rain across the uk and today the sun is out in some places and tomorrow you will find more cloud. it will be coming in from the atlantic and you see the first signs coming into the south west at the moment and ahead of these weak weather fronts this one has produced pokey showers across scotland, northern ireland and they are heading to northern parts of england and these are the temperatures, 6—8 , normalforthis time of year. those heavier showers move through northern england and get lighter towards lincolnshire and norfolk and then fade away and we will have clear skies for a while in eastern areas but that cloud comes in from the atlantic and brings rain into western areas, especially western scotland. these are the temperatures at the end of the now so above freezing but we could have an early frost across eastern parts of the uk, particularly in aberdeenshire and before these weather fronts bring cloud aberdeenshire and before these weatherfronts bring cloud in. two—week weather fronts tomorrow with not much rain and in between those there is milder air. as we head through tomorrow you can see the extent of the cloud and there is light rain or drizzle pushing eastwards across england and wales and much of the wetter weather is in northern and western parts of scotland with a stronger breeze. temperatures are higher today at 6-7- 8 temperatures are higher today at 6—7— 8 degrees and further west we have double figures and it could make 13 degrees with that milder air in northern ireland. and these two weather fronts toppled down across the uk, across england and wales and leave us with cloudy day on tuesday and across more southern parts of england and maybe light rain or drizzle from that weather front also. there is also fun trying to come on tuesday with wins stronger in the north—west bringing you more cloud. 8 degrees in glasgow so a bit cooler but above normal for the time of year and highest temperatures will be in that cloud across southern parts of england that is also in south wales. high pressure starts to build and then across the southern half of the uk and around that area of high pressure at the top we have stronger winds and stronger winds and may be bringing drizzle into north west of scotland but otherwise dry on wednesday and a fair bit of sunshine around as well with possibly mist and fog patches as we head to the latter part of the daysin as we head to the latter part of the days in england and wales, and that's where temperatures will be six or 7 degrees but highest temperatures will be in northern scotland, so it is topsy—turvy through the rest of the week and northern parts of the week there are milder with an atlantic wind coming our way bringing milder with an atlantic wind coming ourway bringing a milder with an atlantic wind coming our way bringing a fair bit of cloud and further south in the uk the wins will be lighter but colder, particularly where we see mist and fog lingering through thursday and into friday. this is bbc news. the latest headlines... the education secretary for england backs reducing the covid isolation period from seven days to five. the australian government did not give assurances to novak djokovic that he could enter the country without a vaccination — according to documents filed before tomorrow's court hearing. russian troops arrive in kazakhstan. there is relative calm there, after six days of violence that killed 164 people. look at this one, this is broken. a bbc investigation into accommodation for asylum seekers uncovers serious concerns about the living conditions provided for some people. the afghan baby separated from his parents in kabul during the chaos of the us withdrawal is reunited