I've thought about it for weeks, but she is just a lousy choreographer when it comes down to her celebrities. The last straw came tonight with the frankly embarrassing Paso Doble, which had some nice moments, but they were executed so unbelievably poorly.

She did OK with Matt Di Angelo, and there was a glimmer of hope with Jimi last year, but it ended before they had a chance to shine.

You can't polish a t*rd, as the saying goes. But as t*rd goes, Russell at least wasn't delusional nor was he really that bad.

A mark of a good choreographer was to put in actual dance content into the number the celeb is attempting and Russell actually did quite a bit of paso in that dance. Alright he didn't do it particularly well, but he attempted it nonetheless.

Completely disagree. Think Flavia is a fab choreographer and pitches the routine just right to the celebrity she is given. Jimi Mistry was a great contestant last year. Voted off much too early.

I think she's done particularly well, it must be difficult to work with someone the size of Russell. You could never make him look like a proper dancer in a million years.
He's only there for the comedy element.

Lol, seriously??

Her choreography for Russell this year has been brilliant!! - That paso tonight was full of proper paso content with the exception of a few seconds at the beginning with the bull... which is more can be said for some of the pros with the best celebs.

They might have some prop use at the very beginning and end of their routines, but they are never faffing about mid dance running up stairs or sprawled over judges desks. They have proper routines that fit the dance they are doing and while the actual dancing might not be of the same standard as some of the other celebs, the choreography cannot be faulted imo.

Flav is a brilliant choreographer.

Her routines play to her celebs strenghts.

i think she's great!! she's taken the best of russel and showcased him to his best

although i admit the cow thing was a little crazy. when the camera panned down and i saw his head and torso rocking about in that manner was i was a little terrified

Minority of one there!

I think shes done well with Russell. Hes never going to be a good dancer & shes managed to get some good dance moves outta him. Given that hes been portrayed as this years Widdy I think shes done very well with him, unlike Anton who was just prepared to let Widdy stand there looking like an idiot.

Personally I didnt think Jimi was that good. It was sad when he went (Widdy factor) but he certainly wasnt final material

Matt was naturally a good dancer, she utilised this & gave him some challenging choreography & the results were (generally) excellent.

Withe the exception of Matt shes never had the opportunity to show her choreography skills with a decent celeb partner. I wonder if she'll get the chance next year??

Is this one of those threads were the OP hopes for the reverse of what he says ?

Actually, I thought Flavia choreographed very well tonight. She knows Russell is technically pretty awful BUT she's trying to appeal to the audience and she succeeded. I laughed throughout the dance. Don't think I've ever done that before!

Some people just do not have a clue. Flavia is doing a great job with Russel. He's no Widdecome or Seargent, Flavia has actually taught him to dance. I had my doubts from the outset about Russell, but by golly He's got the moves, it just doesnt show because bless him he's a short very rotound chappie which gives it a somewhat comedic air, but really if you look past his short fat hairy legs, you will see an improving dancer.

Im on the fence with Flavia in terms of her choreography.

Flavia has suffered from not having that many decent partners. Matt Di Angelo was sooooooooooooo overrated its not funny, and she had to give him fairly simple choroeography for him to cope (and even then he didnt really remmeber the whole sitting on the step thing), much like she has had to do with most of her partners. Also Matt being a pretty boy and the love interest thing between them kept them in for as long.

I think she has done well with Russell. She is adding the campness an showman-ness, as thats what Russell is all about, but she is actually teaching him some good steps, which he is capable of doing, but is cleverly balancing all three factors as if she put too many steps in Russell wouldnt be able to cope. Which is quite clever of her.

Jimi was probably tehcnically her best partner, and their shock elimination sadly meant she couldnt show off her true potential.

Big Time....

His dancing might not look pretty, but his enthusiasm is intoxicating.

I think Flavia is amazing, and tonight's dance was a hoot - BUT not an attempt to show up her partner. Also it was the first time she's really hammed things up with props. Kudos to her!

I really enjoyed Russell and Flavia tonight (though not greatly charmed to hear music from Carmen) but I loved that gawky/lovely mirrored twisty hand thing they did while turning. (I'm using the best technical terms at my disposal ) Bruno's 'hands that do dishes'

Ah how quickly we forget her giant clam...

Flavia is a superb choreographer and on top of that she has has the advantage of being Flavia : the show is always worse after Flavia gets knocked out . Plus isn't she the only home grown girl pro left on the show ?

But again only used at the very beginning of a routine. Once the actual dance starts she doesn't mess around trying to use up time with props and such.

Flavia is very protective of her partners and choreos to suit their needs, she is the best dancer there

Well, considering the OP hasn't bothered showing up again it could be that or a trolling exercise...

Exactly the point I wished to make. I hadn't forgotten the clam - but compared to some of the standing around that Audley did for ages tonight ...

I'd like Flavia more if she didn't spend half the routine doing some silly non-dancing segment. Like the stupid moment in their Tango on the bed, and the routine on the bull earlier. It was embarrassing. At least John Sergent actually did some dancing, as terrible as it was.

I don't think half of their routines are spent messing around....in each of the instances you mention there was only a few seconds at the beginning of each dance and then after that it was a full routine. Other pros have been much guiltier of having a 'non-dancing' segment than Flavia I'd say.

I don't think props were in use at the time when JS was on the show, but believe me if they were I'm pretty sure Kristina would have resorted to using them

You are just exposing yourself as having absolutely no clue. The bed thing was the beginning and the end, so they were allowed to set the story and end the story. Props used in the beginning and the end is alright. In the middle, they actually did more tango moves than Harry and Aliona ever did.

Pasha did the same thing more or less. He used the props to tell a story in the beginning and the end. The excellent example was his QS and the begining was to set up the story that they were at the airport, and then it was full on QS right until the end when the air ticket was taken out of Pasha (to end the story). The same with his tango, it was the beginning that that silly cauldron was used, NOT frivolously, but to tell a story of a man scientist creating a love machine from his love potion no. 9, and once the beginning story was set, it was full-on tango till the end. The same with the Charleston, the car was to tell a story that Chelsee needed help from a car mechanic, and then they went on with the charleston full on.

Flavia did use props, but she used it like Pasha did, and Russell wasn't even the best dancer and yet he was given recognisable ballroom/latin content to dance with. She's an excellent choreographer.

I'm not Russell's biggest fan and haven't really found many of his dances entertaining. However, remember that Russell is dancing with an injured knee. Considering that, the bull reduced the amount of time he had to dance, which is fair enough. Once off the bull, it was recognisable paso. In fact most of his dances have been recognisable, which is something Widdecombe never managed. So considering his limitations, Flavia has done a great job.

I can't say that I wouldn't mind something that wasn't camped up to high heaven, but obviously this is something that Russell either wants or doesn't mind as a storyline. It's working for him, as he hasn't hit the bottom two.

Edit: please don't think that's a spoiler; as we theoretically don't know the result, I'm considering it as unknown for those who don't want to know.