I have to admit that I'm more concerned about the "more genres of dance" part of the news than I am the pro shake-up to be honest (though I'll miss Ian a lot!)

I don't *want* more dance styles... I'd rather go back to the standards than add more genres that the pros aren't necessarily as good at.

But... I'll wait and see before I complain too much.

Can't wait to see Anton eff up his next latin routine for his new celeb. Meanwhile Matt, Ian, Brian and Darren come out and do a blinding latin routine in the results show.

That's right, I am now wishing bad things on the show

Hmmm...

Well for a start I like the idea of bringing in fresh blood since the show desperately needed a refresh after last year. I of course don't know how they dance yet but the new guys do look hot which is a start (please say they can dance!)

But I do question the wisdom of who has gone. I'm glad they kept Erin as I think she's one of the best teachers on there but I think Anton's schtick has worn thin now. And Brendan. Getting rid of Matt and Ian is utterly crazy imo - the have personality and dance skill/flair. Darren and Lilia...I'm surprised. And Brian? No idea why.

New dane styles dont bother me funnily enough... I quite liked the Charleston last year... it brings a sense of anticipation and freshens up the show a bit as seeing diff dancers doing the same dances year in, year out can get a bit repetitive...

What irks me is keeping Du Beke and to a lesser extent Brendan. Du Beke esp is a weak dancer, most likely gonna get an oldie and will be the most unable to cope with new dancing styles...

What I assume is that earlier posters are right- these 2 are amongst the highest profile and media friendly male pro's and will be easy to fob off with a no hoper...

Can I hope that if the BBC are keeping the 2 longer standing dancers of Du Beke and Brendan, can we have one other "oldie" pensioned off please??? (Brucie??...)

Cant believe they put the five best teachers / choreographers in the dance troop.

When I read the news I thought that Anton, James and unfortunately Brendan were cut. Can't believe they kept Anton - as much as I started to like him again after seeing Stepping Out he cannot dance Latin and all the best latin dancers have been 'offered' a dance troop slot - how nice of them esp after Lilia, Darren, Ian & Matthew have been on the show since the second series (well third for Matthew).

Heard of Artem before. He was on SYTYCD USA and in a lot of DWTS group numbers.

Jared was Lacey's (from DWTS) dance partner and Lacey isn't the most traditional dancer on DWTS and he also dated Ashley Tisdale according to the internet.

Never heard of Robin

What happened to Derek??

Also the show has been cut by 2 weeks.

Think i might be tuning in only for the group pro dances ( IF Matt and Ian do them) and nothing else.......

If Matt and Ian decide not to return........the BBC might have lost a viewer.......

*big deal i hear the BBC say*

Aha, I think I'm alone in liking all of the ten standards far more than any of the new additions, but I suppose I'm not losing out if they add any more!

Anton being kept did confuse me slightly. I wonder if the dancers who have been moved to the "dance troupe" haven't been dropped per se, but that they and the competing pros are now part of a pool from which the producers will pick 14 (or however many) per series depending on how well the celebrities size up? Like, are there no tall women for Ian so he sits this series out but may be in next year? If that's the case, I'd be happier.

I'm trying to work out the reality of the dance troupe... it can't just be those five, or Lilia's gonna get tired partnering all four guys

So maybe three new female partners to dance with Ian, Matt and Brian? Oh, oh - Nicole!! Bring Nicole on to dance with Matt in the dance troupe!
Potentially Camilla? Karen?

Or Aliona, Natalie and Kristina are also in the dance troupe? Or the female pros in the competition take it in turns to dance with the three boys?

I would be quite excited to think that Darren and Lilia and Matt and Nicole would have a lot more time in pro routines. In fact if someone offered me that choice over having those dancers in the main show, I'd take it. What I can see happening though is that the competition pros also dominate the pro dancing (V&F and the Jordans in particular are in so many of the pro routines and music performance), in which case being in the 'dance troupe' isn't anything to write home about.

I could see that, but are the celebs finalised this early on? I mean I'm sure they've got lists and things, but I always had the impression the final decision came a bit later than this.

I honestly don't know - it was just a thought which came to me as I was typing the reply! They're probably not confirmed yet, thinking about it...

This series sees the addition of a professional dance group, dedicated to performing routines on a scale never before seen on Strictly.

The group will comprise Strictly regulars and some new professional faces. The group routines promise to deliver show-stopping dance spectacles


http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pre...strictly.shtml

Interesting.

Well I'll hold out hope for Nicole- no more unlikely than it has been every other year since she was axed!

Even if Matt or Ian take the dance troupe route (likewise Darren/Lilia,Brian)........you get no training footage of them,prob no ITT interviews or very rare glimpses of them on there..........negatives.....

Positive.........you get to see them dance hopefully once a week........

I would be happy if this was the case but they haven't said that and the word 'offered' means to me that they haven't accepted yet.


I would be quite happy if it means we see the five pros in the dance troop are doing more pro dances / music performances

I guess we have to see what happens and see how the dance troop will work but I hope the 5 accept because they are some of my fav pros especially Lilia and Darren

The new pros all seem to be in the 'young and hot' end of the spectrum Anton is going to stand out like a sore thumb, I dont 'get' their thinking where he is concerned. He has just signed up a PR company and if its anything like last year they are going to be busy putting out the flames.

Hopefully they'll be on Claudias couch


I really think they want to avoid all the ageism claims in his case.

Going back to one of my earlier points......is it the BBC's way of thinking that any publicity (good or bad) is negative publicity for the show ??......if it all brings viewers in ....

4 male pros with celebs......Anton,Brendan,Vincent,James

3 not.........Brian,Matt,Ian

It fits........

That would be great. I guess the fine details haven't been worked out yet... the press release seems to be talking more about group routines than solos, and also saying the competing pros will be in the group routines as well. In which case 'dance group' just means 'not in the main competition', as effectively the competing pros will also be in the dance group...

I'll be a happy bunny if the solo routines are also done by the dance group members. It may be a case of taking the pressure off the competing pros and also raising the game on the pro routines (if that's possible) by allocating much more time to choreography and practice.

I'll be controversial and say I'd like to see outsiders come in to do the AT demo. I love V&F, but from what I've read they aren't quite the stars of the AT world that the BBC like to suggest... if only for comparison would be interesting to see another couple who are more recognised for AT.

I wonder if they will have some other involvement, such as choreography corner on ITT, or even doing the odd bit of presenting as James Jordan did last year. Even better, I'd like to see how they choreograph and rehearse the pro dems. I certainly hope they get a decent slice of the action, and I agree that Vincent & Flavia and the Jordans have dominated a lot of the pro spots in previous years. I'd be happy if these were all done by the 'troupe'. And I wouldn't be surprised if they had at least a couple of other females join.

Maybe but not as often as when they were competing.....

Yeah they can do things like choreography corner and the training updates which would be useful.

Two fewer weeks sounds like a good idea to me too. As long as they keep the standard dances I'm not bothered by the introduction of new ones.

I think they could probably sidestep it by saying they don't want to employ someone who brings bad publicity to the show through alleged racist comments.

In any case ageism claims have less merit when it comes to dancers, as dancers do actually have a shelf life.

I really think you're onto something there... they're all Strictlys bad boys... the rest are a bit nice and from a publicity point of view a little on the bland side.

Maybe the competing pros will move into working with dance group when they're eliminated? It would be a nice way to keep a balance between who is seen on the main show and who is seen on the results show.

The nosy part of me now wants to know what kind of salary has been offered for the dance group. I think it's a given that it will be less than the competing pros, which isn't necessarily a problem as presumably they will work shorter hours. But I think that will give a guide as to how serious the Beeb is about this group, as opposed to just fobbing off the sacked pros and their fans.

(On the other hand they've had no problems sacking, sometimes in a fairly callous way, in past series)