Strictly '21 #6: Saturday Night at the Movies, Who Cares What Dances We See?

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

Last thread here.

Well, we care, because we're picky like that!

The Strictly chatter continues...

I much prefer the sections in the Clauditorium with just the two dancers. I used to hate how everyone would be squashed together up there. It definitely benefits from having an audience as I felt it was a bit flat last year.

Maybe it's just me then. I do like Anton as a judge.

Hoping for AJ to do a really great samba or salsa.

The audience thing is odd MyCat (I agree about the Clauditorium) it seems to me that the audience are distanced relations and or friends of the cast. It doesn't seem the same as it used to before covid. Better IMO ,not so hysterical.

I’m really enjoying it this year, possibly because my DDs are both really into it this year

I'm enjoying it so far. I like when the numbers are whittled down a little more, and I feel more invested in who stays or goes. At the moment, I have ones I like better than others, but no really strong favourites yet.

I think sadly Sara might be one of the ones who gets whittled, and she's one of my favourites at this point.

She's got a really good sense of timing and moves well — I think in a normal year she'd improve every week and get a long way. But there are so many good ones there this time!

I'm very late to the weekend's Strictly party but is anyone else missing the very early days of the show when for the first few weeks, they had 'simple' dances to learn? First week half would do a waltz and half a cha-cha then it would be reversed in week 2. Then something like a foxtrot and samba added with the more difficult dances AT/Paso/VS/Rhumba not added until week 8? They had rules too ie no lifts and a different 'must be in the dance' item each week.

Whilst there wasn't the variety or chance for the special effects team to strut their stuff, it made it much easier for a non dancer (like me) to follow everything and compare like for like dances!

@blobby10

I'm very late to the weekend's Strictly party but is anyone else missing the very early days of the show when for the first few weeks, they had 'simple' dances to learn? First week half would do a waltz and half a cha-cha then it would be reversed in week 2. Then something like a foxtrot and samba added with the more difficult dances AT/Paso/VS/Rhumba not added until week 8? They had rules too ie no lifts and a different 'must be in the dance' item each week.

Whilst there wasn't the variety or chance for the special effects team to strut their stuff, it made it much easier for a non dancer (like me) to follow everything and compare like for like dances!

Yes, I am. Unfair for one celeb to have to do a rumba and another to get away with prancing around in Couple's Choice.

I would also love to see a return to cha cha or waltz week 1 reversed in week two and then add in the other dances a couple at a time so we can make fair comparisons. I would more than happily never see a CGI effect again (all it does is distract from the actual dancing which is the point of the show). I'd even ban props or banish them to a 'prop week' if people really feel that hats/canes/papers add something. I would also like the faffing about and illegal lifts cracked down on. I know it is an entertainment show but it is supposed to be a dance competition and the dancing seems to be less and less the focus every year.

I do see the point about being able to compare if they’re all doing the same dance, and it being unfair when some have a harder dance than others, but I’m glad they don’t do that because I would find a whole evening of waltzes and cha chas really boring! I wouldn’t mind so much seeing several jives or charlestons in one go, but I like the variety of having different dances to watch. I know I’m out of step with that view on this thread though!!

@ChessieFL
You are obviously in step as that is the route the producers have taken and if it wasn't popular I'm sure they would have back tracked. I don't mind seeing Cha cha, waltz, Cha cha, waltz especially if there are beautiful dress and sleeve hankies to look at. I just don't have the dance knowledge to know if a AT is better than a Cha cha so I would rather see the same dance so I can decide which is better (in my totally uninformed) opinion. Without being able to compare directly it becomes even more of a popularity contest.

The problem with mixing up the dance styles is that it does make it harder to compare as @Runningupthecurtains says.

It’s a fact that some dances are “easier” than others. It’s easier to cover up mistakes in Latin if you have good hip action and a big old smile on your face, and fact is a fast paced Latin routine is always going to look more impressive than a steady Foxtrot which has so much more technique involved.

Also dances like Salsa are about as easy as you can get, but they talk it up about being “such a hard dance” - it’s not! I started out dancing salsa before I took Ballroom and Latin lessons and it doesn’t even compare in terms of technique. What they dance on SCD is a cabaret style of Salsa, you go to a Salsa club and you won’t see any lifts going on!

I love Salsa, I miss dancing it terribly, but it’s a social “club” dance so it’s not meant to be hard - literally anyone should be able to dance it in a nightclub. It has a basic 1-2-3-4 rhythm that remains throughout and the footwork is literally “heel up, heel down” - none of this “inside edge of toe, ball flat, heel turn” etc!

Rant over!

I always think that in movie week, the couples who have to wear ridiculous costumes are at a disadvantage. Rose/AJ wafted around looking elegant while Robert had a frog on his head. Either they all wear fancy dress or nobody does. I also think the couples choice dances should all be done in the same programme.

Saturday was the first time in all my years of watching that I turned it off before the end and went to bed(I record it) I was bored and just felt something was missing?
I think it might have been movie week dislike...the daft costumes distract and cheapen the dance-not to mention the music! Muppets and spiderman theme!!!
Judy made a bit of a mistake with the braces and it annoyed me how only anton mentioned it.
However I do enjoy her dances and I like grazanio and want him to really get a good partner he can go far with! Sadly it won't be Judy..but preferred them over Katie and gorka.

@MyCatEatsPrawnCrackers

I always think that in movie week, the couples who have to wear ridiculous costumes are at a disadvantage. Rose/AJ wafted around looking elegant while Robert had a frog on his head. Either they all wear fancy dress or nobody does. I also think the couples choice dances should all be done in the same programme.

I had the exact same thought re the costumes/ fancy dress. Some couples got to look really lovely, and some most definitely didn't. Anyone will look automatically more elegant, and possibly gain better marks/ more votes, when beautifully dressed rather than ridiculously dressed, imo. Make it all or nothing, everyone in ridiculous costumes, or everyone in elegant, flattering costumes. Good point re couples choice too.

They’ve started Strictly late this year haven’t they? It’ll be Halloween week in a couple weeks with more costumes!

Good points about the fancy dress costumes - and fine as he looked dressed as Moana, I noticed that Ugo put a shirt on really quickly after he had finished and it made me wonder if he would rather have been covered up for the actual dance?

Can anyone tell me the point of the Couples Choice dances? I thought that the original 'show dance' in the final was supposed to incorporate all aspects of the dances that had been learned but these Couples dances seem to be more the thing that young kids would make up dancing in their living room rather than have any defined purpose/style/steps.

It started as a "choice" between street/commercial, contemporary (aka air grabbing while barefoot and wearing a net curtain) and theatre/jazz (I think those were the options) but given Mr Emma Thompson did disco I think it's now a complete free for all. How judges are meant to judge something without rules/ criteria I don't know.

The only Couples Choice dance that I have really enjoyed was Fay Tozer's. I think the CC is a chance for the crapper dancers to shake some booty with less chance of criticism.

I don’t think there is a point to the Couple’s choice dance other than to do something a bit different and try to appeal to a younger demographic.

What it does, particularly in shortened runs, is mean that couples getting to the Final can avoid certain dances - there are the 10 traditional dances, plus the American Smooth, Argentine Tango, Salsa, Charleston and now Couple’s Choice.

I thought it was noticeable last year that there was a lack of Rumba and a look at the rundown for the Finalists last year shows that only Janette and HRVY danced actually danced one, everyone else dodged it .

Looking at the winner alone, Bill and Oti didn’t dance - Waltz, Samba, Rumba, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot or Salsa. That’s quite a CV gap!

In the wildly unlikely scenario that I a) become famous b) get asked to do Strictly c) go for it and d) wasn't first boot I would absolutely be claiming a deep and life long attachment to a film that stars actual living, breathing people so I didn't get lumbered with padding (I have enough already), body paint and fake fur.

fb.watch/8zVVedNA0N/

The microphone footage from Saturday is now up. Not sure if my attempt at a link will work.

I like Couple Choice. And I am younger (ish), so yes it does appeal to me. I love dance of all kinds. I think it’s brilliant. I don’t care whether it’s traditional or not. I love street & theatre dancing, I think it’s brilliant.

At the end of the day, it’s a TV show. People vote for a favourite who can dance well. If you want proper ballroom & latin with proper critique, go watch some professional competitions 😂

How is which dance they do when decided?

@Bobholll

I like Couple Choice. And I am younger (ish), so yes it does appeal to me. I love dance of all kinds. I think it’s brilliant. I don’t care whether it’s traditional or not. I love street & theatre dancing, I think it’s brilliant.

At the end of the day, it’s a TV show. People vote for a favourite who can dance well. If you want proper ballroom & latin with proper critique, go watch some professional competitions 😂

Equally I could say if you like a variety of dance styles great, watch the Greatest Dancer and leave the CC out of what is supposed to be a Latin/Ballroom show.