I'm in two minds about this one, because while I was impressed by the obvious skill and precision needed to carry out all those lifts, it's just not my thing- I'd prefer to sit down and watch something like Anton's quickstep.
Whilst I appreciate her wonderful flexibility, control and athleticism and his strength, I'm afraid it does absolutely nothing for me as a dance. I guess I just like to see a couple moving around the dancefloor as one to the rhythm of wonderful music
My sentiments exactly... it's very clever, very skillful, etc etc, but for me it's more gymnastics in high heels and I don't like it.
she looks really different from the first time i saw her dancing in the competion last year she looked really thin this year she is still really thin but not as bad real skill she has and may god is she flexible at time i actually though it was scary how flexible she was but very good dance actually liked last years better and PHWOAR that man was gorgeous
I didn't enjoy it at all. I like my dancing to have some dancing in it. If I wanted to see a display of human weightlifting in drab leotards, I'd go to the circus.
Well, for one I was :eek: at the topless man, and the (lack of) clothes of the woman!
I was extremely impressed with their technical skill - but aside from that, it didn't feel like a dance at all to me. The girl spent more time off the floor than actually doing dance steps; it felt like a gymnastics exhibition. It also made me feel a bit weird that the girl was getting tossed around everywhere, as though she was an object that the man was having fun with (sorry, I'm not trying to be mean or anything ). All in all, technically brilliant, performance-wise I felt uneasy.
i didn't enjoy it either and also thought it was more like a gymnastic exhibition with all the lifts even though they were amazing and made it look like the woman weighed nothing but IMO it didn't have wnough dance/steps content in it.
I was so looking forward to seeing Hanna performing as its been so long since she was on SCD but what a disappointment was that. What has what they did to do with dancing.
What dance was it supposed to be. As someone else said it was more like a gymnastic, weight lifting exibition. Someone should remind them they are dancers and not circus performers.
Just thought I'd say that I disagree with the criticisms here that say it wasn't a dance. While I can see how some folks wouldn't like it, IMHO there was loads to admire from both a technical and artistic point of view.
It had real dramatic progress, coordinated carefully in line with the music, the timings were superb - which must be difficult when such technical challenges are involved - and the smoothness of the transitions into and out of the lifts was amazing: just imagine how those kind of actions could so easily look jerky or awkward!
Plus, it was simply breathtaking - you could see the reactions of the people in the audience there and of the celebrities. They, like me, were just blown away!
They were very talented (and very flexible) but it was completely not my cup of tea, and served to turn me off rather than excite me. I'm far more interested and attracted by subtle, and found his lack of a shirt and her lack of a skirt distracted from the 'dance', which came across as a routine lifted from the Cirque du Soleil with less class.
Give me the romance of a waltz any day. Give me smouldering looks or the touch of hands. Suggestion, hints, tantalising glimpses ... all of those do far more for me than that kind of graphic display.
I really wasn't fussed on the show dance, Can anyone tell me which bit of Victor's performance was classed as dancing?
I'm in no way an expert but it just looked to me as if he was there to lift Hanna and for Hanna to climb around his admittedly impressive body. Is this the role of a male pro show dancer? If there are any experts reading, I would really like to know. Ta
I wonder does Victor de Silva's dance skills go beyond exhibition
Imagine him as one of the male pros
Ohhh Yeah :cool:
Victor could never be one of the pro dancers as he is trained neither in ballroom or latin dance. He is there in the exhibition dances to show off and lift Hanna. That is his function.
I have seen hundreds of exhibition dances of varying styles and frankly am not a fan of many of them. This is certainly true for this particular couples performances this year and last. Clever and with great timing no doubt, but although dance takes many forms, I was frankly bored after a few seconds, the routine was predictable and to be honest I would rather have seen the regular pro dancers perform another routine.
Well, for one I was :eek: at the topless man, and the (lack of) clothes of the woman!
I was extremely impressed with their technical skill - but aside from that, it didn't feel like a dance at all to me. The girl spent more time off the floor than actually doing dance steps; it felt like a gymnastics exhibition. It also made me feel a bit weird that the girl was getting tossed around everywhere, as though she was an object that the man was having fun with (sorry, I'm not trying to be mean or anything ). All in all, technically brilliant, performance-wise I felt uneasy.
It didn't help when he 'played' with her in the air and the singer screeched ONE NIGHT ONLY! ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Drives me MAD.
eda: I said in the beginning they did do some lines and 'dancing', kinda quasi rhumba moves here and there, but when the music picks up it went 'downhill' from there...
I'm in no way an expert but it just looked to me as if he was there to lift Hanna and for Hanna to climb around his admittedly impressive body. Is this the role of a male pro show dancer? If there are any experts reading, I would really like to know. Ta
Not an expert, but I've done a few exhibition style routines.
I think it's fair to say "man is the frame, woman is the picture" tends to go to the extreme in showdance. And a lot of the "man styling" is about making the lifts look effortless. I know for me, the result tends to be I "shut my face off" rather than show the effort, and that ends up making the man look pretty blank.
I'm seeing a lot of comments about what Hanna was wearing, but if you don't want the catsuit look, you really can't wear much of a skirt when you're doing those kinds of moves - it's not just the getting in the way, but lifting someone through a skirt costs you a lot of grip. So although most ladies will wear more than Hanna, I wouldn't say it actually covers more if she's doing the kind of moves Hanna does.
The other thing to realise is that most exhibition couples spend around a year working out a routine. So when Strictly says "Can you perform for us? You'll have to use different music, and it needs to be 45 seconds shorter", that's a lot more difficult for an exhibition couple to adapt to than a ballroom couple.
Now personally, I'm not a huge fan of Victor and Hanna (though I think they have improved a lot over the last few years). But they've consistently been ranked top exhibition dance couple in the world for ages now. So although I have no problems if you didn't like it, it seems a bit ridiculous for people to say it's not even dancing.
So although I have no problems if you didn't like it, it seems a bit ridiculous for people to say it's not even dancing.
Thanks for answering. I didn't particularly like it, but didn't hate it either. I just couldn't see him doing any dancing steps I could recognise. That's why I asked for other more knowledgable people's opnions. I have not really seen any other show dances other than on Strictly and wanted to know whether Hanna and Victor's dance was the norm for this type of dance. Especially his part in it.
Thanks for answering. I didn't particularly like it, but didn't hate it either. I just couldn't see him in particular doing any dancing steps I could recognise. That's why I asked for other more knowledgable people's opnions. I have not really seen any other show dances other than on Strictly and wanted to know whether Hanna and Victor's dance was the norm for this type of dance. Especially his part in it.
To clarify, exhibition dance is not "ballroom/latin with lifts" - it's much more freeform than that. So you may well not have seen any steps you'd recognize from the other SCD dances. But dancing covers a much wider range than just ballroom and latin; there's ballet, jazz, etc.
I would say Victor and Hanna's style is quite unusual even for exhibition: here's a much more 'traditional' routine:
To clarify, exhibition dance is not "ballroom/latin with lifts" - it's much more freeform than that. So you may well not have seen any steps you'd recognize from the other SCD dances. But dancing covers a much wider range than just ballroom and latin; there's ballet, jazz, etc.
I would say Victor and Hanna's style is quite unusual even for exhibition: here's a much more 'traditional' routine:
Comments
:eek::eek::eek: *scared*
My sentiments exactly... it's very clever, very skillful, etc etc, but for me it's more gymnastics in high heels and I don't like it.
I was extremely impressed with their technical skill - but aside from that, it didn't feel like a dance at all to me. The girl spent more time off the floor than actually doing dance steps; it felt like a gymnastics exhibition. It also made me feel a bit weird that the girl was getting tossed around everywhere, as though she was an object that the man was having fun with (sorry, I'm not trying to be mean or anything
What dance was it supposed to be. As someone else said it was more like a gymnastic, weight lifting exibition. Someone should remind them they are dancers and not circus performers.
Lol....I agree, I was waiting for the dancing to begin. I think they were on the wrong show.:rolleyes:
It had real dramatic progress, coordinated carefully in line with the music, the timings were superb - which must be difficult when such technical challenges are involved - and the smoothness of the transitions into and out of the lifts was amazing: just imagine how those kind of actions could so easily look jerky or awkward!
Plus, it was simply breathtaking - you could see the reactions of the people in the audience there and of the celebrities. They, like me, were just blown away!
Give me the romance of a waltz any day. Give me smouldering looks or the touch of hands. Suggestion, hints, tantalising glimpses ... all of those do far more for me than that kind of graphic display.
It was dreadful.
Well, if it was meant to be dancing it was dreadful.
Call it gymnastics, circus, what-have-you. But dance? No.
Kenny got slated for unartistic lifts. Not altogether fairly. He wasn't too inelegant.
But those two?
I found it cringeworthy.
Same here, very much enjoyed Victor's rather magnificent torso
I thought it was brill
I wonder does Victor de Silva's dance skills go beyond exhibition
Imagine him as one of the male pros
Ohhh Yeah :cool:
I'm in no way an expert but it just looked to me as if he was there to lift Hanna and for Hanna to climb around his admittedly impressive body. Is this the role of a male pro show dancer? If there are any experts reading, I would really like to know. Ta
Victor could never be one of the pro dancers as he is trained neither in ballroom or latin dance. He is there in the exhibition dances to show off and lift Hanna. That is his function.
I have seen hundreds of exhibition dances of varying styles and frankly am not a fan of many of them. This is certainly true for this particular couples performances this year and last. Clever and with great timing no doubt, but although dance takes many forms, I was frankly bored after a few seconds, the routine was predictable and to be honest I would rather have seen the regular pro dancers perform another routine.
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It didn't help when he 'played' with her in the air and the singer screeched ONE NIGHT ONLY! ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Drives me MAD.
eda: I said in the beginning they did do some lines and 'dancing', kinda quasi rhumba moves here and there, but when the music picks up it went 'downhill' from there...
No you didn't...amazing display but not dancing as I know it!
I think it's fair to say "man is the frame, woman is the picture" tends to go to the extreme in showdance. And a lot of the "man styling" is about making the lifts look effortless. I know for me, the result tends to be I "shut my face off" rather than show the effort, and that ends up making the man look pretty blank.
I'm seeing a lot of comments about what Hanna was wearing, but if you don't want the catsuit look, you really can't wear much of a skirt when you're doing those kinds of moves - it's not just the getting in the way, but lifting someone through a skirt costs you a lot of grip. So although most ladies will wear more than Hanna, I wouldn't say it actually covers more if she's doing the kind of moves Hanna does.
The other thing to realise is that most exhibition couples spend around a year working out a routine. So when Strictly says "Can you perform for us? You'll have to use different music, and it needs to be 45 seconds shorter", that's a lot more difficult for an exhibition couple to adapt to than a ballroom couple.
Now personally, I'm not a huge fan of Victor and Hanna (though I think they have improved a lot over the last few years). But they've consistently been ranked top exhibition dance couple in the world for ages now. So although I have no problems if you didn't like it, it seems a bit ridiculous for people to say it's not even dancing.
Thanks for answering. I didn't particularly like it, but didn't hate it either. I just couldn't see him doing any dancing steps I could recognise. That's why I asked for other more knowledgable people's opnions. I have not really seen any other show dances other than on Strictly and wanted to know whether Hanna and Victor's dance was the norm for this type of dance. Especially his part in it.
I would say Victor and Hanna's style is quite unusual even for exhibition: here's a much more 'traditional' routine:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-JvZL-jcSl4
I have to say, I much prefer this more balletic style, but this routine came 2nd to Victor/Hanna in the Blackpool comp that year.
Oh, that clip! So much BETTER!!! :eek:
I think the judges are just blown away by Victor's difficult lifts after lifts after lifts... they were hypnotised...