...is really bugging me.

I've only been dancing a couple of years, so I'm no expert and I'm happy to defer to people who know better. But to me when she's in ballroom hold, there seems to be something very wrong about how she uses her left arm - instead of resting it lightly on Brian's, she holds it above his and only connects at her hand. It is, of course, important not to be lazy and rest too much weight - you're supposed to be supporting your own arms - but what she's doing is actually harder than the conventional hold, and must cause a fair amount of strain. When Craig said she looked nervous last night I wondered whether it was because you could actually see her left hand/wrist shaking, and I think that might have been due to the difficulty of holding it like that.

Of course maybe it's just that Brian has really hairy forearms that make her itch and she's trying to get away from them! But otherwise it's not something I've ever seen anyone else do. And if there's something technically wrong about it, I don't know why the judges haven't commented or Brian tried to correct it?

I agree that her arm is in the wrong position; the shaking last night looked like nerves to me though. It was there at the start of the competition, disappeared for a few weeks, but was back last night with a vengeance apparently

I agree it's been bugging me all series, its the only thing hampering her in Ballrom in my opinion. I don't know why any of the judges haven't picked up on it as I've never been taught of that being a correct frame. I noticed the shaking too and thought its probably due to the tension of holding her arm in such a forced position.

Other than that her ballroom is quite beautiful

I'm not a very advanced dancer, but my understanding is that the woman's left arm shouldn't really rest on the man's at all (I get told off if I do that). However Ali's arm does look rather high and exaggerated (and therefore tense). I tried to find some examples of a good hold:

Timothy Howson and Joanne Bolton:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRbJG...eature=related

Jonathan Wilkins and Hazel Newberry (less clear because of the floaty dress):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slweV...rom=PL&index=4
Last edited by Vivacious Lady : 22-11-2009 at 20:00

Her arm couldn't stop trembling last night.

She was clearly nervous so I have no idea why Len was so quick to shout down those judges who picked up on that.

See I get told off when I stick my elbow up which is exactly what Ali does (I get told off for a lot of other things which Ali doesn't do, as well ). I can never understand why everyone raves about her top line when that left elbow sticks out at such an angle. Glad there is a thread about this. Perhaps one of the teachers can come and tell us what the answer is?

Oh I get told off about everything (very nicely though) . Yes, I'd like to hear the expert view (although I will ask my teacher about Ali's hold next week).

As I understand it, it's not supposed to rest in the sense of putting any weight on the man's arm - you're supposed to be self supporting such that if the man vanished in a puff of smoke your topline would pretty much be unaffected! But I thought the two arms were supposed to be in contact, as part of the whole 'moving as one' nature of the dance. I'm finding her weird arm position to be as jarring as any gapping that goes on with other couples!

Surely Brian must feel what she's doing? Not only is it harder to hold her frame like that, surely it must also destabilise them in some positions.

thank goodness it's not just me! It was driving me mad! Someone picked up on the floating left elbow earlier in the series (Craig I think), but it keeps happening. Also, her hand is so splayed, it looks really uncomfortable!

Perhaps someone can tweet Brian about it, or something.

It's frustrating when a problem persists for week after week and you wonder why it's not been fixed.