I wish they would make a programme that was a cross between SYTYCD and Strictly come dancing. Where celebrities are taught different dance forms, not just ball room and latin.

I prefer modern or hip hop or jazz. Maybe they could put a round into Strictly where people could do whatever form they wanted. I know there is a showdance but that still tends to be ballroom or latin in style.


I think Ann Widdecombe would be amazing at hip hop.

There would be absolute uproar if that happened, people got angry enough about the RnR and Charleston last year!


Strictly is Strictly because it's about ballroom and Latin, that's what most of the professionals have competed in for years and are magnificent at. So no changes, thank you very much.

You do realise you have just made a nation bring up its breakfast?

Sorry there were demonstrations of hiphop last year - certainly Lilia and Darren did some non ballroom demo dancing and it looked SO out of place. Even the costumes looked - well, terrible.

There are other programmes - eg So You Think You Can Dance , gyrations on X-factor, music videos etc


Let's leave Strictly in its groove - remember, few of our contestants are gymnastic enough (Matt excepted) to manage modern dance moves without landing on chiropractor/osteopath treatment bench. Their dance training is strenuous enough as it is - viz the amount of weight the celebs lose.

One of the BBC executives has already threatened that Strictly will do that this year.

My stance is against it, as it waters down Strictly's identity, although I dont mind them doing showdances of Strictly type dances with moves from other dance styles blended in - if they can make it work. Some dance styles have common origins with the Ballroom or Latin dances anyway.

Examples are Darcy and Ian's Jive/ballet, which I didn't think was a great mix, and Matt and Aliona's Samba/Hip Hop which I thought worked very well.

Why?


Only because the pros are ballroom / latin pros; so ballroom / latin is really all they know.


I think I could have died happy without ever reading that sentence.

Got a link?


Getting technical, you have to be at least competent in both dance forms, before you can even attempt a "fusion".

And even then, it's bloody difficult, and it depends on the tempo requirements for both dance forms.

For example, I reckon you could probably fuse - say - Milonga and Quickstep. But you'd need to be good at both to do it.

During the jive Darcey's arms were instinctively making ballet-style round garlands. Perhaps there simply is no nonstop vertical piston motion in ballet. After the dance Darcey was so out of breath she could hardly speak.

I've no problem with having a programme about other dance forms, but I'd rather it were completely separate rather than hijacking strictly. Otherwise, it's like saying you'd like the Apprentice to be about charity work, or Masterchef about cheesemaking. It becomes a completely different programme.

It would be a lot harder to make the dances look good as well, I suspect. Part of the thing with ballroom and Latin is that if someone not that good, the pro can keep them in hold and lead them as much as possible. That would be almost impossible with a modern/ ballet/ jazz/ hiphop routine. I don't think anyone would seriously suggest ballet as an option, but even weekly contemporary/ modern/ jazz routines would be incredibly difficult to choreograph for a complete beginner if said routines are supposed to be spectacular and entertaining, as most of the celebs just wouldn't have the flexibility, technique or stamina to do most of the impressive moves. Think of the trouble many of the non-cross-trained hip hop dancers and b-boys/ girls have had with the contemporary, jazz and broadway routines on SYTYCD.

Hip hop I won't comment on as I've really no idea of the technicalities of it.

It'd be an interesting idea if they could find a successful format for it, but I wouldn't really want to see other styles on Strictly.

I don't think I'd like to see non-partner dances - but there are thousands of possible partner dances they could work on.

True enough, there are plenty more of those around if you know where to look. I was going along the lines of the OP though, who specifically mentioned modern, jazz and hip hop.
(I added contemporary because it seems more popular than modern nowadays and it's a similiar style.)

I know she is. She's got that shoulder dip because she walks like a rapper. She busts out her speeches and hangs with the Tory Posse. Safe. No dissin' or she'll bust a cap in yo ass. Peace.

Hmm. You didn't mean "hip op" by any chance, instead?

Oh the memories.......

Any of the other old 'uns remember the "Off Beat" round in the old Come Dancing???

Wasn't it the North East who churned out the Polish Folk Dancers every year???

Well said VL, I totally agree with you!

SCD is about ballroom and latin dancing, using highly trained professional ballroom/latin dancers as teachers. We have Chris and Jackie to give specialist expert advice on the Salsa.

Please keep other forms of dancing out of SCD.

Mark Linsey said that they would be introducing more genres of dance. Probably in the dance troupe, so I dont know if they will also add more for the celebs like they did last year.

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

I agree that ballet would be out of the question for anyone who is an adult who hasn't ever done ballet and would look stupid.

However all of the stage school people as well as the pop stars will probably have done some kind of dance training that includes modern/ contemporary, tap, jazz etc. so it would be interesting to see how well they can dance?


Maybe if they did some of the latin or ball room routines in bare feet it would count as ''modern''?

I take your point, but the thing is that if you're using stage school trained adults who would be dancing in a genre they already have some experience in, really what's in it for them? Either they're not experienced enough to do a really good routine or they have enough experience to audition for simpler roles on the West End.

Equally I'm not sure how much of the audience would be entertained watching semi-pros dancing reasonably (but not brilliantly) well on a weekly basis. SYTYCD UK had enough trouble last year because it was sold as another Strictly and a lot of people seemed to feel that there was limited entertainment in watching trained dancers dance, even if they were being taken out of their comfort zones. If you take half-trained people, you run the risk of losing both the audience that likes seeing people pick up a new skill *and* the audience that likes watching trained dancers do their thing.

Sorry, I don't mean to be so negative. I like your idea in theory, I'm just struggling to see how it would work in practice.

I understand the concern that new dances could effect SCD in a negative way, but new dances are added every series to make sure the general viewing audience don't feel as though it's not moved on. Look at X-Factor with slight changes to the main core each year.

Some dances wouldn't work - ballet clearly. If DWTS can include mambo and lindy hop, why shouldn't SCD look at adding new dances to keep the programme attractive to both 'dedicated' fans and the more wider audience?

I don't think ballet is beyond reach. If kids aged 6 can do it, why not adults?

In fact, I would like to propose a compulsory Pas de Deux to music of "Swan Lake", both dancers in tights and one of them wearing a tutu. Now, if Ann finds that uncomfortable, I'm sure Anton would oblige.

Because if adults do ballet, then the woman has to go en pointe. Thats not something that you can just pick up in a week or so?

I think the other poster was being slightly sarcastic....

I think you can keep it Strictly Come Dancing or bring in new dance genres and make it Loosely Come Dancing.

Its inevitable that it becomes harder to come up with something new. This year they have a good lineup of celebs, and that is a big factor in keeping it interesting.

There is a character to strictly, which is based on the past, when men were gentlemen and women were ladies. There were rules and formalities to be adhered to.
The latin was the alternative - more volatile, more emotional, but always about the relationship between the two dancers.

I'm not looking forward to a time when Len is as qualified to judge a dance as Alesha.