I have never seen anything which Ali has been in so can someone tell me if Ali is actually a good actress as it seems that a sports news reader is acting the dances better than she is at the moment.

What makes you think acting is relevant?

On the evidence of her (in)ability to act the dances and the nature of the shows she's appeared in, I'd say she isn't going to be up for an Olivier any time soon. She'd be a good model though.

I think there is a very big difference between being able to act and being able to act a dance.

I've only seen her occasionally in anything, but I can't pretend her acting has ever stood out to me as being either brilliant or terrible.

Having said that, I'd dispute that any of the remaining contestants act in their dances (and from them, I'd actually credit Ali with producing the best single performance in her charleston).

That's what boggles me...and annoys me that she can't put any fire into her Latin dances. I don't watch the Bill but surely she doesn't alway play 'good cop' and in the few Hollyoaks episodes I've watched did she not play a character with moral issues who eloped with a schoolboy? It sounds like she isn't typecast as Disney Princess. I wish this would translate into her Latin dances.

from the Hollyoaks episodes I did watch, she did do some really amazing emotional scenes, so I know there's nothing wrong with her acting skills, but maybe the nerves just really get to her so she just falls back on the kind of delicate and nice and fluffy personality?

just a thought

I wonder whether she's being given a suitable story for her dances. When she clearly was -- for her Charleston -- she seemed much more able to act the part.

For her tango, for example, what was the story supposed to be, beyond something hopelessly vague. (Compare, say, Kelly and Brendan's tango, where a story was reasonably clear.)

That is a very good question. Because without a character to play, or a story to get her teeth into, she's just kinda playing herself and that can't exactly help her nerves.

To be fair, I think characterisations of the dances (from all contestants) have been a bit off this series. But, that's just my opinion

I think she was going for the gormless look in her Charleston, so she has that part down to a tee!!! Her ballroom is fab but her Latin is really woeful.

I think .. with more training (dance).. she could absolutely sell any dance. She was able to do so convincingly with the Charleston .. but it was a fairly simple dance ... and the other dance she had to learn that week was the VW, which she had already done.

Her routines this week were complicated .. and I expect that much of her concentration goes into remembering and executing her routines .. she manages to do this without having a constipated look on her face so she's one up on Chris there .. even with his simplistic routines.

She was the only person to completely change character for the Charleston.

Music preceeds story. The outfit also confirms it. This week they had a nice tune for the Latin and an outfit that made her look like a graceful fluffy flamingo in a nice shade of pink. She danced something graceful to it - nothing else would have fitted.

The Charleston worked because the music supported it but even then Chris had the crowd pleasing familar music that lent itself to comedy. Indeed, the original of what he had actually has custard pie throwing in it. Brian probably needs to be brutally populist with at least one dance this week and give them some music they can sing along to thats more dramatic. Thats if they get to pick the music and if they don't its a bit odd that what may decide the finalists is decided by someone else. They also have to insist on something that makes her look like the public stereotype of the role rather than a nice girl in that role.

I wonder whether it's a coincidence that the one dance that seemed to have a clear story - the Charleston - was the one where outside experts (presumably) played a large part in the choreographing.

I agree that the story has to fit the music, etc. There also seems to be a tendency, when it comes it Ali's dances, for the judges to act like only the maximally raunchy (or otherwise extreme) interpretation of the character is acceptable.

But for the Tango, the song was "Born to be wild", she wore a red dress, it was a tango -- what more does she need?

Imo, a story. When I watch Ali, especially her face, in that dance, it looks like she's trying for an attitude, not a character. And I think that as an actress she may need a character.

Imo, it's not that hard to come up with a story for a tango, and so the lack of one makes me think they didn't really try that approach. Think of some of the lyrics. Who's going to "make it happen" and "take the world in a love embrace"? Ali? Brian? I don't think they decided. Also, where do they meet? Who's making the first move? Are they both feeling the same way, or does one of them have to be brought around? And so on. Instant story.

It often happens that soap characters far from acting simply play themselves, which is probably why, when they seek pastures new, very few succeed. In interview many come across with accent and inflection identical to their soap character - thus being called on to act the dance leaves them seriously lacking in aptitude.

The one person I thought most promising in this aspect of dance was Jade - an athlete not an actor.

I don't think Ali's playing herself in the Bill, for example, and though I'd agree that soap acting is generally pretty poor (in the UK anyway), Ali doesn't seem a "soap actor" to me.

tbh I haven't seen The Bill or Hollyoaks, but it does seem to me Ali fails to capture the character of dance, and characterisation should, I'd have thought, given the actor celebs an advantage - yet I've never seen one shine.

I'm tending to agree with what's been discussed further up the thread - I think Ali needs to be given a story (or at least a vague narrative) in order to perform well - and her charleston is a good indicator that she can do it.

Whether or not she has an advantage on the performance and characterisation of the dance will more than likely depend on how she's told to approach it - if she knows what character she's meant to be playing then she should, logically. If she's just told something vague and subjective like "sexy" or "dramatic", I'm not sure if she'd be any better off than a non-actor.

I am, btw, sick of judges, when it's Ali dancing, using a narrow interpretation of the "character" of a dance - or a different interpretation than they do at other times. Also, the "acting" that seems to get praise as "selling" the dance etc in SCD is poor acting. Ham or worse. So it shouldn't be surprising that (good) actors don't do it.

But anyway ...

"Character" as in "the character of a dance", and "character" as in what an actor acts, are two different things.

That's one reason why I've been suggesting that it would help if her dances had a story and she was playing a character in the story.

BTW, I think it's a mistake to think that acting experience is bound to be helpful because there's something like acting in dancing or because the dances are performances.

Selling the dance!

Purely in the interests of research, I have forced myself to revisit many happy memories, and have watched far more clips of Bugsy Malone than I really needed to... (thank you so, so much!!).

I don't think there were any custard pies in the 'Fat Sam's Grand Slam Speakeasy' sequence. At least while the song and dance were in progress. 'Splurging' may have happened thereafter...

The reprise of 'Bad Boys (We could have been anything we wanted to be)' - which takes place in Fat Sam's speakeasy - is heavy on the effects of custard pies and, although excellent, does not (IMO) reach the heights of the first time it appears in the film ('knuckles' - sob).

TBH, I'm not terribly bothered

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Charlestons last week (blame seeing 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' at an impressionable age).

I sang and (kinda) danced along to Chris' Bugsy Malone track, and put the film on my Christmas list.

It has to be said, however, that my children, my mother and my much younger sibling had no idea what was going on, or why I was was bouncing (and, for a female my size, that is the only verb to use, alas ) around the living room doing a high-pitched vocal impersonation of Tallulah

So, much as I'd like to agree with you that the music was 'familiar', I think that might only hold true for a limited age range...

The acting I referred to was the portrayal of mood i.e. arrogant, haughty, provocative etc. and Ali just doesn't seem to have this ability. I can't forget how she smiled throughout the paso!

She's in her comfort zone when portraying 'romance' and her VW was one of my favourite dances this season - and she also surprised many (me included) with her charleston; so perhaps Zan is right - maybe she does need the dance to tell a story rather than a mood.

I reckon having a real theme and backstory to the dance could help any of them but at the same time the general mood, music, costumes also set the tone. Ali seems to me in the dancing to struggle with anything requiring "negative" emotions such as anger, jealousy, aggression, and with sensuality she seems very self- conscious. Again I haven't seen her acting formally so I am not sure to what extent this is an issue when she is doing so, but of course it is a different context.

I knew what you were referring to.


How's that supposed to show she doesn't have the ability. "Doesn't have the ability" is a very strong conclusion. I don't think anything we've see in this SCD could possibly justify it.


That's the point I have been making, though "need" might be too strong.

BTW, even the ones who supposedly get the spirit of the dance right, sell it, etc, seldom sustain the mood throughout the dance. However, because the judges don't repeatedly point that out, it's overlooked.

Perhaps it's Brian ? I cannot see how difficult it can be at this stage to coach an actress to get into character.
To begin with there was a good excuse, Ali would have been concentrating on her footwork, arms, head position etc..but at this stage, slipping into character should be almost second nature. In fact, even us mere mortals do it when dancing, most of us will listen to the music and "act" accordingly..well, we give it our best shot anyway.

She had one dance ... foxtrot? where she was visibly shaking during the dance. You could actually see it on the tele and according to something Darcy Bussell said on ITT last night it seems she was also shaking during the Tango on Saturday, although not so obvious to the tele viewer.

Perhaps she does have a character and a story - but perhaps she also has nerves too.