SCD#3

[Fiderer]

Thought about mentioning Halloween Hell in the title but it's a Sunday morning and some of us may be feeling delicate enough.

Does kevin not compete? A few of them came through from american dance shows i think. Kristina was a competing dancer as was natalie .

If you want to compare true versions of the dances (rather than the exaggerated ones we see on SCD these days) have a look at this video of street dancers in Buenos Aires to see what the AT should look like danced simply.

I'll try to find a good ballroom tango video to compare it with.

Sorry, failed to insert the video

Kevin did compete and did very well as a Junior, but when he turned pro he just wasn't good enough to compete at the top level in the UK and after competing overseas for a few years came back to the UK and headed for the West End.

I definitely think that SCD has improved since I started watching it 3 or 4 yrs. ago. I like the more retro feel of it now. Kevin over dances a bit IMO, it should be about the sleb not the pro., they should be good dancers, not too good, but very good teachers.

The lighting has improved and so has the orchestra and music (mainly) !! I'm enjoying this one the most I reckon.

Jay to win

I think Tess and Claudia are a good partnership. A little funny one and a tall "straight man". Claudia/Zoe wouldn't work as well, IMO as they are both funny and quirky. Tess/Zoe doesn't work as well somehow visually as they are both tall and blonde!

Finally found a non-fussy ballroom tango video! Ignore the quality of the video, it's pretty old. This couple (Chris Hawkins and Hazel Newberry) were World Ballroom champions 2002-2004. If my memory serves me correctly, Hazel did the first series of SCD but went out very early, possibly the first week!

This is a basic tango routine, no cabaret-style lifts/embellishments but helps to highlight the key differences between AT and BT.

What I think is funny about all the Tess comments is that the posters on these threads from the Bruce Years were always saying "sack Bruce and let Tess present it!" :)

WOW Cavemum Thanks soooo much for those tangos effing a maz ing. That Isabella Fusi !!!!!!! Those shoes , the same colour as blood they'd need to be !!!! She must suffer for her art.

Agree about Tess and Claudia pearpotter. Tess does ok-ish with the scripted stuff, but is no good at chit chat. Claudia is fantastic at the off the cuff and more silly stuff

The Brucie years seem like some horrible nightmare!

I'm not entirely sure Anton's problem is with choreography, I actually don't think he can dance latin. And he doesn't look as though he can keep u any more.

Better choreography might just show him up more.

I'm amazed Brendan has been there from the beginning - I must have completely missed the first series . And not been tuned in to the next couple. I remember him with an Emerdale actress.

Those videos are great CaveMum, thanks so much.

The street AT is so controlled, and the two show the difference in hold very well.

I didn't realise that the T was essentially a sanitised version of the AT, I thought the T came first and then was "sexed up" to make the AT.

I need to take this more seriously.

You can see how the AT evolved almost as foreplay, that's the kind of feeling you need to get when you watch a good AT: that you are watching two people who are on the edge of tearing each other's clothes off!

Sadly very few on SCD do give you that feeling (understandable, they're not pro's after all!), and the best to date was without doubt Mark Ramprakash and the amazing Karen Hardy.

True about Tess Soupdragon She does seem happier without Bruce but she hasn't quite got the 'people skills' to carry the bits of the programme that she has to do alone. She's a bit false IMO.

Although Wkipedia is not always the best source this is a good article on the history of the Tango.

Thanks for that too ( I must get on with some with some work!!) I thought that the street tango literally dripped sex which was nearly completely lacking in the ballroom version. This made the waltz look chaste !!!

Hazel was in the second series of SCD. Ironically despite being probably the most successful ballroom dancer ever to grace the Strictly floor she was partnered with Quentin Wilson who was epically awful, and got 9 (nine!) points. They were eliminated and Heather didn't return, which gives her the worst SCD professional record ever.

Thank you for the video and wiki links. I've had a fascinating afternoon - but haven't done a scrap of work!

When Strictly began was Come Dancing still being broadcast? I'm wondering who realised there was a public appetite for a more modern dance show, and why there was such an appetite?

Those of you who know these things - do you think the introduction of the jive/charleston etc is a good thing? What comments did Anton make re Laila? Also, can't remember where I read it now but I think I read something about Brendan making well dodgy remarks to/about Sunetra?

Apologies for all the questions - this dancing/Strictly stuff has really drawn me in!

Jive is one of the ballroom ten dances (five standard, five Latin).

Charleston, it's fun but shouldn't be danced at the expense of an actual ballroom dance IMO. When did they start putting lifts in the salsa? I'm sure they didn't always do that.

Ooh thank you for the dance info and videos

In unrelated news, my s1 who has spent 1 (one) night in the last 3 or so years here on a Sat was here last night all snotty and poorly and with his girlfriend. Because she's nicer than him, they ate with us & then watched the results show with me & my d.

And he, at 18 & DJ'ing at festivals & parties, asked "But where's Bruce? I like him."

Anton and Laila...... She was partnered with him on the show a few years ago. She's half Indian so fairly dark skinned but Strictly seems to want everyone the colour of gravy so she had a spray tan before the live shows. Apparently when Anton saw her post tan, he said OMG, you look like a Paki. Nice. She walked out of the training session there and then (fair enough) and had to be persuaded back. Anton made an apology. I remember Brucie being interviewed about it at the time and falling over himself to point out how dreadfully sensitive everyone was being about the whole episode and of course it wasn't a racist comment and blah blah. Again, nice.

So yeah, no idea how Anton kept his job after that

Charleston, it's fun but shouldn't be danced at the expense of an actual ballroom dance IMO

It appeals to the masses. I imagine that's why it is included at the expense of another dance. I imagine that the majority of Strictly viewers have no idea what they are meant to be looking for and just want to be entertained by dancing, half clad sportsmen and nice frocks :)

Juan The original Come Dancing finished being broadcast in 1998, by which time it had become very niche and I think was relegated to a late night slot.

Strictly Come Dancing started in 2004, I think it came about because at that time there was a fair few programmes of celebrities learning new skills and there was a resurgence in interest in dancing, films like Strictly Ballroom becoming a hit for example. They knew the old format of Come Dancing wouldn't work as it was seen as rather old fashioned (memories of the chicken/giant marshmallow dresses still loomed large), I think everyone was surprised at just how popular it proved to be.

I don't like the Charleston and wish they hadn't brought it in, I hate the hideous Lindy Hop thing even more though (I remember a couple doing a demonstration dance of the Lindy Hop on one of the earlier series of SCD and it was just dreadful - the outfits, the moves - just no, I can't erase the horror of it from my brain)

I was surprised to realise that the jive (and the quickstep tbh) were there from the beginning.

I think back in the day when they did only two dances a week, they didn't do the quicker ones early on. The first series only had The Waltz, Cha Cha Cha, Quickstep, Rumba, Tango, Jive, Foxtrot, Paso Doble and Samba (according to Wiki). I expect they started with the better known ones - Waltz, Tango etc, which is why I don't remember early quicksteps and jives.