I heard a lot of negative comments about theme nights on SCD but I think it makes the show exciting aswell as props. I especially love the Halloween night and I hope we have another. It was clearly better than Shoddy X Factors Halloween week.

Thoughts.

I don't want it to return as it's quite tacky, although I have to admit it wasn't bad last year.

Well, I am not sure. Cause on DWTS they had a theme night every week and it did get a bit boring.

I think they should be on every 3 weeks or so. Anyway I want it to return as I thought it was quite classy and not tacky.

Also, if any of you have watched DWTS I think we should copy one of there themes and put on a Classical Week theme. It was fantastic. If you can watch the dances on Youtube. Very moving performances.

If the dance or the choreography was good enough, there would be no need for any such props. But in too many cases the props were used (and I suspect would continue to be use) to mask the inadequacies of the choreography, or the celeb (and sometimes even, the pro). In other cases, the props simply distract from the dance.

No, they are not needed.

Disagree, Props make the dance more enjoyable.

Well I reckon that the choreography and the execution should do that (if they are good enough of course).

Agree, absolutely. Props should be used on and off. I think they make great introductions to a dance so we get the story etc.

I mean I think props should hardly be used on dances like a traditional waltz etc. But I find it more enjoyable when the not as good dancers use them like Ann Widdecombe etc.

The Acoustic Week on DWTS was also good.

If they are used too often it gets quite boring. It's ok when it tells a story but some dances just tell a story by its self

and for the Halloween theme i personally didnt mind it.

thats 700 posts for me too

I don't mind the props as long as they're not obtrusive. When Scott did his Viennese Waltz with that massive great cauldron in the middle of the floor, I found it very distracting.

Yeah it was quite distracting so not much notice for the dancing

I don't like the props at all.

I think they would have been better had they been something that had slowly occured over the years, appearing maybe once or twice in a series. I think the main problem I have with them is that they just seem to randomly hit with full force last year.

I forgave the earlier uses, but they still seemed somewhat unnecessary.

Scott's VW was lovely, but I agree to being a little distracted by the couldron. It wasn't a huge thing though, so I didn't mind too much.

I agree with Amandagirl, if it helps tell the story, then go for it, but certain dances, particularly ballroom ones are so much more beautiful left alone. In my opinion, anyway.

Agree. I prefer a traditional Waltz with no props.

But I feel a Charleston which is a theatrical dance should use them etc.

I think the use of props should be kept to an absolute minimum, it was definately overdone last year. After all it's a dance show not a circus.

The occasional theme night I suppose is OK

I hated Halloween night. The theme meant the music was forced to fit into dances where it didn't fit, and the over use of props was utterly ridiculous. I hope they don't repeat any theme nights because they just ruin the dancing for me. However, I will say that the classical music night they ran on DWTS did work to an extent, but it did narrow down the number of dances they could use. Classical music will usually only fit the waltz and viennese waltz (and maybe a tango or paso depending on a couple of criteria) and none of the latin dances at all (bar my paso exception). SCD doesn't tend to have everybody doing ballroom in a night so I can't see the theme working in the UK.

Props are an unnecessary distraction to the celebrities too, who have enough to cope with learning new steps without incorporating a prop too. We can't use them normally in competitions and it doesn't usually affect the quality of the dancing/storytelling by not having them.

I don't mind a theme night, but would prefer it to be kept to once per series and while I enjoyed the Halloween theme I don't think they can use that one again this year.
I suppose the Movies theme they could have again as there are so many that could still be used.

Maybe a 'Big Band' week would work, but again not so sure about the latin dances.

Props.....I don't mind, as long as they are used in moderation and help tell the story of the dance. I don't think they should be in EVERY style of dance though and think they should be kept for the more fun dances like Charleston, and maybe Jive and Salsa.

I found the classical week beautiful.

They where aloud to dance either a Waltz, VW or Paso. And I found some of them went fantastically with the Classical Music and they had the opera singers with the electric classical intruments too to go with the Paso.

Another theme night DWTS did well was a Story week. Where each dance must tell a story.

I agree the music was beautiful and it can fit really well, but I mean that I can't see the classical theme working well in the UK where we either have couples doing ballroom or latin, or a complete mixture. They would have to run it as a viennese waltz/paso week, which is a combination we don't normally have as far as I can recall. Classical music does work - Scott and Natalie's tango to Palladio by Karl Jenkins in the last series was a good example.

My concern is ensuring that the dances are done to suitable music. I would hate for classical music to either be re-scored into a dance that it doesn't fit against it, or for the celebs to contend with learning an alien dance in an odd timing. The celebrities, afterall, will find learning the dance easier when the music is suitable.
Sorry I know that seems like a dance purist attitude for a Saturday night entertainment show but I want to see the celebrities and the pros do a good job of showing ballroom and latin at its best. I think that will still be entertaining to the viewing public.

Don't apologize, I accept anyones opinions.

I do think theme nights work for a nice change. However, I can remember that DWTS did a theme night based on TV Serial Theme Tunes and it was perhaps the worst night I had ever seen.

IMO the theme nights should be carefully constructed so that there as you said effective music for them to dance to.

the halloween night last year was one of the best dances i thought, they really pulled it off amazingly with the set and everything!

Having to make every week fit some sort of spurious "theme" is a very large part of what made me stop watching the US version.

I don't mind it once or twice a year (and I guess Blackpool Week is a sort of "theme" loosely), and the theme weeks last year either produced or luckily coindied with, some of the best and most memorable dances of the series. But they should be used sparingly and the themes shouldn't be too restricting.

I think the use of props generally got better as the last series went on. I don't know whether this was because people were learning what worked, or because the less skilled performers went out, or it was just lucky, or if things just couldn't get worse than glittery wellies and binoculars.

Yeah - All of this I agree with too. I think a theme is good if it is a 'special' once or twice but no more than that, and I think the props are fine in moderation but should only be used in the more fun dances like Charleston, Jive.

I did however like the sparkly wellie boots and binoculars

Natalie was last night choreographing a Foxtrot for Halloween week according to her post on Facebook

I agree and Scott and Natalie's VW was the dance of the night for me.

I'd rather props were only allowed for certain weeks, rather than seeing them being slipped in when it suits the pro. I hated Matt and Aliona's VW with the swing because it added nothing to the dance and he was too good a dancer to need that kind of thing. In fact, last series Aliona was the biggest culprit in my eyes for using props. She should have let Matt's dancing speak for itself. Pamela and James got a bit carried away sometimes too.

Last year I felt a bit too much like Len when he goes on about 'too much faffing about' - the balance between the faffing about and the dancing was off too often for me.

I don't mind themed weeks as long as every week is not a themed week. I do remember liking the week on DWTS where there was a centre stage too - that was well done.

It is a good thing that the show isn't allowed to get stale, but I just get the feeling that some changes are allowed to happen, rather than being properly managed.

I think Moira Ross has given the show a modern funky edge. Approve totally.

100% agree.