I miss old strictly

[DawnieOwl]

Don't get me wrong, we are still big strictly fans in my house, but I cant help but feel that strictly has changed somewhat and pine for those old days. The days of Craig, Len, Darcy and Bruno, the days where movie week dances actually felt cohesive and every dance worked with the chosen film, the days where Anton danced with the older woman, the days where the celebrities would be paired with a member of the opposite sex, even the gay celebrities, the days where the strictly spoiler wasn't all over the Internet, and the days where the judges were allowed to be harsh without a woke social media backlash. Me and my whole family are still big fans but I can't help feeling like the last few years have definitely changed, and it will never be the same strictly experience.

I adore the jive to Rebel Yell (think I mentioned it earlier on the thread) and also 4 pros dancing to Rolling in the Deep (think it was Pascha, Natalie, Brendan and Katya V). I'll try and look for links.

More recently I loved Nikita and Carlos rumba-ing to a guest singer together. Was beautiful and strangely hot!

My cheer up Strictly routine favourite is Jill Halfpenny's jive. So good.

Oh my mistake, Fred Astaire was apparently straight so bad example. Most male dancers I have known have definitely not been though, so my point still stands.
I have met Peter Andre, and he was very very camp ( although apparently also very much not gay..)

As far as I’ve seen they are dancing and aren’t in a relationship. When the couples dance they may emote a feeling of love or anger but how does that make any difference? Jayde asked to be partnered with a female dancer because she didn’t want a male pro trying to lift her, she wanted to do the lifting. Nothing to do with attraction. The point that everyone that complains about the same sex partnerships appears to miss is………they’re only dancing!

Just watched Caroline Flack's show dance. Stunning. I didn't watch in those days so didn't realise how good she was. No wonder she won.

The dance that Flavia and Louis did in the final when they won was beautiful in a modern ballet type way

Ah’m aff it.

Bring back Come Dancing.

Do you also not like brown people or the disabled?

I couldn't stand Bruce Forsyth, he used to make me shout at the TV regularly. So I definitely don't want the days when he was the presenter again.

On the other hand, I don't care if I never watch another Contempowaft Couple's Choice again.

I don't think Sergeant would ever have won. History has shown that the Great British Public votes for the novelty act only up to a point; once they realise that it means kicking genuinely good dancers out, they knock it on the head and the novelty act goes out. Julian Clary was in the first series when it hadn't yet quite caught on and only had 8 contestants, so he's not really representative.

I voted for Jody this week, thought he did well under the circumstances. Also voted for Ellie Simmonds and Rose in past seasons, cos they were fab.

I gave my 2nd vote this week to Krishnan - really enjoyed his dance and was toying with giving the 3rd to Eddie. That man is such a snake hips, but decided on Nigel in the end as lets face it he would need the votes more.

To answer your question, I like brown people and the disabled.

The point that everyone that complains about the same sex partnerships appears to miss is………they’re only dancing!
No...that IS the point. They ARE only dancing so why can't a man and a woman of any orientation dance with each other? It's not like gay male dancers haven't partnered women forever. I'm not against mixing it up for the sake of art- would quite like to see a male/ male Argentine tango for example, but matching partners based on who they fancy is silly. And not even the tiniest bit comparable to ethnicity, which would have no bearing on the dance!

But WHY have dances been traditionally been done with a man and a woman? Because of heteronormativity. Which is fine, but same sex is also fine. It’s not so much about the sexuality of the dancers as the representation of same sex dance pairs on screen.

I agree with PP about Peter Andre being gay , I’ve always said it .

They’re just dancing with the partner of their choice I honestly don’t understand why anyone would have a problem and when you look back the majority of same sex couples have one heterosexual partner? Katya and Nicola, Layton and Nikita, Jayde and Karen, Ritchie and Giovanni only John and Johannes were both gay. It’s a Saturday night light entertainment tv show, not the pan pacific championships.

Jayde and Karen, and Giovanni and Ritchie were truly awful together - both Karen and Giovanni looked v uncomfortable. As I said upthread, I don’t know if was a personality or a professional thing but it was v obvious.

It peaked with the raw masculinity of Robbie Savage.

They’re just dancing with the partner of their choice

I don't think they get a choice, do they, except inasmuch as they can say if they want same sex or not? Isn't it mostly dictated by things like height and which pro dancer's turn it is to get the duffer?

Peter Andre 😂

I liked the original Come Dancing format, where they had regional competitions, with couples performing dances together and then also a formation team. I still remember Frank and Peggy Spencer and their team!

Sorry, but I'm also cackling at Peter Andre and Fred Astaire.

Ballroom does can look clumsy for same-sex partners if you're not extremely good at it (I've danced in a girl/girl couple so I know it's hard!).

For ballroom to work well, you want your hip heights to be the same. Women typically have a longer leg:torso ratio than men. So if you're dancing in a mixed-sex couple typically the woman will be about 6" shorter than the man, wearing 2.5" heels and the hips will line up nicely, and the woman will still be shorter. In a same-sex couple, you'd generally be the same height to get your hip heights to match. This can make it look more 'cluttered' because both heads and shoulders are at the same height.

Same-sex can look really good, but it's hard on Strictly. Most competitive same-sex Latin will have lots of mirroring and side-by-side work, and that just highlights how much worse the sleb is than the pro (quite reasonably). Layton is a fantastic dancer, but give even him a long side-by-side section in a jive next to Nikita and the difference would soon show because he doesn't have the same technique and sharpness. So instead they dance more like a m/f couple, but that isn't really how same-sex couples dance! There's a very different competitive style.

Competitive same-sex Latin

I think my favourite series were probably 4-8ish.

Much easier to compare with just two dances a week early on. And I preferred it when most of the pros were actually professional competitive ballroom or Latin dancers and danced in their actual competitive couples in the pro dances. It's very mix and match now!

There are some things I like now — the judges panel at the moment is good. But I think it's gone too showy and lost a lot of the ballroom and Latin and competitive feel.

It looks a bit silly

brace yourself for this then.

I like it better too! much more fun - not nearly as boring.

Also loving all the 'woke agenda' comments on this thread. Yep - everything is woke nowadays - so what - get over it.

It's the 21st century - maybe we should just crack on instead of hankering after the past?