Medallist schools do tend to increase their intake after Strictly. But to be honest - and this is a result of a true survey - of every 80 couples who enrol for beginners lessons, fewer than 2 couple will go on to take dancing seriously and move onto open competitions.

But the coaches/teachers I was referring to previously, are those of the calibre - and far better - of the Strictly pros. When the UK was invaded by foreign couples (largely from Japan) some years ago who were mostly sponsored for their lessons, therefore money was no object, these coaches rubbed their hands in glee as they raised their fees, unfortunately to the extent many British couples had to drastically cut down on their lessons. However, those foreign students no longer come to UK in droves as they have developed their own coaches. They still have some lessons here, usually prior to a major championship, but the rest of the time, the over-priced coaches have been left standing.......

I don't know if you've heard of the Sunday Circuit? (OPen competitions that take place every week of the year.) At one time there would be six or more heats in all the grades for both bb & Latin - even more in the senior (over 35s). Now it is quite normal for a Sunday comp to have merely 2 or 3 couples in each event.

The ISTD along with all the other faculties (DTA, IDTA, etc etc) have all been aware of the situation for years.

Bruno's 53???!!!

That's a sad story. I infer from this that Strictly stirred up curiosity and appetite among non-dancers, but somehow this interest was not sustained as they went to dance studios.

Could it be that Strictly draws viewers because wellknown celebs perform colourful routines inside a pressure cooker, not because Strictly demonstrates the varied attractions of social dancing for ordinary Joe and Janet? Four clowns playing Punch and Judy and slicing celebs to ribbons would certainly not encourage social dancers.

When I used to go to dancing schools many were the persons who showed up wearing trainers and jeans, not helping the atmosphere. Those who arrive as singles rely on luck most weeks for a pleasing partner, or a partner at all. The realm of Dance is a continuum catering for all standards. It would help if each level can see the glamour of the next level up.

Where is the website for the Sunday Circuit please? Where is this event with only two contestants? Quick, surely my best chance to seize Third Prize.

As for the Japanese government subsidising training costs, that sounds like the old East German approach to athletics. The UK government subsidises ballet, so a little encouragement for ballroom dancing as an amenity will not come amiss. Recession and unemployment are with us now and in no hurry to go. Dancing is for the spirit, in good times and bad. Can anybody ask their parents, how did the ballroom dancing scene go during WW2 with bombs falling?

Excellent post.
I was talking to dancing teachers (at two different schools) earlier in the year about how good some of the Celeb dancers were on SCD. They both gave the same opinion that the Celeb would only know the routine that they had been taught by the Pro. They said they would not have any knowledge and would not know how to dance Ballroom etc - just the routine they had learned.

I'm betting on someone we would least expect it from, maybe Lilia , Darren, Anton, Erin, Vincent or Flavia. Not sure why but I don't think it'll be the usual suspects. Actually there a part of me that thinks it might be Matthew, he's had a go at the judges before, and frankly he taught Alesha everything she knows about dancing.

I actually starting to hope this is a "disaaaaaaster". JUst to stop the Beeb making stupid changes (ie bringing in the dance off!)

I'm not surptised at the pros feeling annoyed, after all, like many have already said, they know more than Alesha does and will obviously question how much authority she has to judge on their work. Even Anton said on The Wright Stuff the other week-before it was confirmed-that he didn't think that Alesha was qualified enough.

That being said, all of them are going to have to be careful when questioning the Beeb's decision, or even if they dare to answer back to Alesha when the show starts, as too much opposition would no doubt lead to losing their place on the show-something none of them would want, and many wouldn't even risk losing.

Maybe they will club together to get her some help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aAUAnXWB7g&fmt=18

This is the thing really. Will they put their money where their mouths are? If they really all do feel strongly about this, then Darren, Lilia, Erin, Anton, Brendan, Ian et al should issue an ultimatum. Singly they would carry no weight but together they could cause a fuss. If they really do not like the prospect of a former contestant on the panel (and they are right to be miffed) then club together and walk out. Else they will be lumbered and it'll fester backstage in an unhappy atmosphere. But it will be pointless to carry on moaning once it starts.

Somehow - I don't see Alesha as a straight replacement for Arlene

I think she will be there as the representative of "Joe and Josie Public", and will judge like the average viewer does on whether she enjoyed the performance.

She (I'm pretty sure) will be the first to admit she knows the square root of f*** all about ballroom technique etc (and she is in good company as neither Craig nor Bruno do either!). She was however a Superfan of the programme before she went on it (like most of us) and I think she'll do a good job - and I don't think she will be making any nasty or sarky comments to the celebs or the pros either!

So I think the new style panel will be

Len - technical expert
Bruno - comedy interest
Craig - Mr Nasty and wannabee Head Judge
Alesha - voice of the viewers

An interesting idea, however, there is no need for a judge to be the voice of the viewers or to judge in the manner of the average viewer as that is already catered for via the phone vote.

I also feel that way. I don't like being told what to think and I'm not happy with any of the judges being the voice of the people. Let the judges have relevant expertise and let the people decide for themselves what they think.

But it could reduce the domination of the judges which was part of the problem last year. It will go some way to restoring the balance between the public and the judges that was upset by the introduction of the dance-off.

It will be much harder now for the judges to score their preferred couples in such a way that the viewer vote proves less effective.

Just my opinion of course.

Don't understand your reasoning, after all there will still, as far as we know, be 4 judges.

The problem with her being the voice of the public is that she isn't really. The phone votes are the voice of th public as Mossy said, if she was the 'voice of the public' really what she is is someone telling the couple whether SHE liked them or not.

I still think there were many roles they could have given her which would have been better for her and really can't see what she'll bring to the judges table. At the end of the day she's there to judge the couples and I really don't see how she'll be able to judge them. All she knows is what Matthew taught her and Matthew is SOOOO different from Brendan or Anton. She knows a good Matthew dance when she sees it (performance wise) but what if she just doesn't get the other styles from the other pros?

Very good post. BTW, it's nice to see a lot of the die hards back at this early stage, this news has sent us all galloping out of hibernation!

Bang on. How and why is Alesha assumed to be the voice of the people and we're all going to agree with whatever she says? Everybody's taste is different. Personally I could never get her and Matthew. She did nothing for me and in interviews it was cliche after cliche. :yawn:But anyway...

The judges role is to critique in the technical sense. They SHOULD actually try and keep personal opinions out of it as much as they can which they haven't done for the past couple of years or so. That was the real problem. If the public aren't constantly told how to vote and who to vote for and patronised, the public might even vote sensibly instead of spitefully.

That is my opinion too. The celebrities learn routines but they won't know what step they're actually dancing. Alesha will have some idea of the what the dance should look like, but probably no more than fans who have been watching since the beginning of the show. She won't be able to pick up on any of the technicalities of the dances - these take years of training to learn. Some people have mentioned that Alesha managed to follow when Matthew made mistakes and that does show that she had some feel for the dance, but that's all. A girl dancing with a pro-male of Matthew's standard would have little choice but to follow where he led.

I think you're right nancy1975, and the harder the judges pushed the more people dug their heels in. It might not be human nature everywhere, but it's a very British trait

It's going to be interesting if she criticses one of the more volatile pros like James Jordan or Brendon then I think sparks will fly. If it was me, I'd be funing. Theres no way I'd like an amateur to judge my ability as a professional.

Like Brendan and Lisa's showdance?

I must admit, I'd love to hear her - or anyone! - trying to find something positive to say about that!

Definitely. Plus you get people like JS- the voice of the public apparently wanted him to win, so by that logic she'd have to give him tens!


I agree completely with that.

Exactly! When the press were all busy talking about the support John Sergeant was getting last year, they all conveniently overlooked the fact that many people (although, to be fair, not all) weren't so much voting for John as they were voting against the judges. There's a big public vs judges power struggle on SCD and it's been escalating each year. I can't decide if Alesha will dilute or exacerbate that: if her role as a judge is to speak for the public, then her presence on the judges' panel could easily aggravate it as people won't want to be told what to think.

If they were desperate for her to appear on the show, they should have booted Bruce and given her his job, she'd then be able to say 'you're my favourite ' to all of them.

As much as I love Brendan and Lisa even I couldn't find anything really positive to say about that one . Though it makes me smile so I guess it did something right .