Click onto the following link and you will see the amazing spectacle of ballroom dancing without the use of stairs, chairs, cannons and coffins etc. And the couples couldn't give two hoots about 'telling a story'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ODOm...1&feature=fvwp

No doubt the usual suspects will say that it's all very boring. But how nice to hear the appropriate music for each dance played at the correct tempo. Yes, we all know that it's not entertainment for the masses, but for all genuine aspiring ballroom dancers it's reassuring to know that there's another side to ballroom dancing apart from the misleading bilge emanating from the BBC every Saturday.

Yes, the faffing has really got to me this year, they really need to loose the props

Won't they all fall over?

Reminds me of the old style 'Come Dancing'. Great to hear 'Somewhere in Time' by John Barry.

Putting just two Strictly couples on the floor will be sufficient to inhibit all these indulgences with canons and coffins. Too much showboating, too little dancing.

instead of the coffins they seem to have gone mad on the arm hankies

Breathtaking. Beautiful. Idyllic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ejp0...eature=related

For those who like a little informed commentary, the IDSF 2010 world championship in Germany with thrills and spills.

Thanks, Blomes, but who won?

I've been watching Strictly since the first series and I have seen it deteriorating progressively at every level.
In an effort to make it more 'popular', the producers have now lost the plot and are now totally ignoring the basic recipe that made the show a success in the first place.

I now record it on Saturdays and just run over it on Sundays skipping over the 'faffing' (especially the cheesy intro's before each dance).

Ho well ... next!

OOOOh I'm not an elitist tw4t.... some of my best friends are plebs who watch Strictly


,,,,and someone is compelling you to watch Strictly with threats to your life or to your family if you don't?

I agree props are over-used, but "bilge" is a bit strong.
It's not compulsory to watch strictly you know.

Exactly. I'm amazed anyone would watch a programme they thought was 'bilge'.

Arunas Bizokas and Katusha Demidova. They were representing the USA !!

Beautiful dancers though - and, in truth, a standard that no ballroom professionals on SCD could equal.

and this competion was not televised sadly but SCD is getting 10 million viewers

Just goes to show that when it comes to ballroom dancing the general public (and the BBC) prefer cannons, coffins and gimmicks to dancing ability. So why do some dancers watch it?
Well, it's so dumbed-down and excrutiatingly misguided that it verges on the hilarious. Mind you, we all record it first so that we can fast-forward through the bumbling Forsyth, the cringe-worthy 'here they are in training', the appalling 'guest singers' and all the rest of the juvenile dross.
And don't get us started on the judges !!!!

Are they the very first couple we see? Number 14?

That's right Fern - they are the first couple you see in the first dance (Katusha in white).

It's sad to say that we had no English couples in the top six.
Warren & Kristi Boyce (England) were placed last (7th).

In the Professional Latin, again there were no English couples in the top six.

In the past we had long periods when British couples won most of the World Professional Ballroom titles but it seems that those days are gone. Perhaps our best dancers have been watching too much 'Strictly Come Dancing'

What - not even the lamppost?

I miss the lamppost but at least it's making a re-appearance in J&K's AS!

Absolutely gorgeous and the dresses are beautiful

Could not help hearing Alan Dedlicote's voice (voiceover man on SCD and DWTS) when I read that thread title...

"Welcome.. to Dancing Without Stairs!"

I won't be satisfied until I see the contestants drop in by parachute. You can fit in a lot of leg scissors in the time it takes to drop from 10000ft. When we get fed up of them we can take real scissors to the cords and their exit from Strictly will be more final than they ever intended.

I like it Problem is that it would never take off because the dancers would then have to dance properly for a couple of minutes instead of wasting most of the time faffing about.

If they use them for a few high kicks, clever steps etc for a couple of seconds then fair enough..but just milling about on them is a waste of time IMO and on DWTS in particular they spend umpteen seconds running up or down them before/after various poses at the top or bottom.

I expect to see even more props this saturday.