I think I am a lost cause when it comes to dancing, but I guess if there was anyone who could teach me, it would be Aliona

She hasn't really got a proven track record in teaching novices

Will they give her a celeb novice next series on SCD so that we can see if she can? Let's hope so

When Aliona started teaching Harry, he had exactly the same dance tuition history as Robbie Savage - one weeks tuition from Ola.

Were Harry and Robbie not novices?

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Harry won the CIN special - I could see from the Paso he perfromed on that he had natural talent and rhythm when I watched it I knew if he ever went on to do SCD he'd win it whichever pro he was partnered with - just as I knew Kara would do well on SCD based on what I saw she could do on the Sports relief special she did - plus didn't he say on ITT that he performed in musicals when he was kid?....so no I wouldn't say Harry was a complete novice unlike Robbie Savage who was a novice because he's a footballer that had never danced or performed in his life before doing SCD.

I agree that Harry obviously had potential and I'm sure no matter which pro got him, he would have done well and maybe with the following he already had, would have won it.
As I remember it, Harry said he put his name forward for a part in a musical at school but his best friend got the part, but I dont know if he was ever in a musical at school.
He did do a bit of dancing with McFly where they were imitating their backing dancers and he did get a bit of tuition on the Paul (somebody) Show, and was pretty bad at whatever the dance was.

I would definately have classed him as a novice.

Kara IMO when she arrived on the show was already as good a dancer as any other new arrival had ever been, so I wouldn't see them as similar.

I would say that Rav showed potential and maybe if he had got Lilia for example (who i would rate as the best), he might have stayed in longer. Partly because Aliona was new and she had things to learn and partly because she was different and Len in particular doesn't 'get' her choreography, and she didn't have a history on the show for Rav to get confidence from. Rav wasn't the worst dancer though, with Joe, Jo, and Craig staying in longer through popularity.

You're not a novice if you've already had lessons and performed before and it's a matter of opinion as to how good Harry was before he started - as I've said my opnion from the Paso I saw I could see he was a gifted performer! I would also say performing in a band in front of large audiences and acting and dancing in videos helps too!

It's precisely because she did so badly with Rav - someone who on paper should have done well - that I'm saying she's not proven she can do well with novices - Katya was new too and she had an injured middle aged cricketer in Phil Tuffnell on her hands yet she worked around his shortcomings made him into a decent dancer and took him much further than Aliona took Rav!

That's a good point about Katya and Phil - Katya did a very good job on her first year with a somewhat lazy Phil. They also did very well as two extremes coming together to produce a lot of chemistry.

I agree that Rav leaves a questionmark at least over Aliona and novices.

She proved her teaching ability to me with Harry, but he had potential and was a hard worker.

Matt was someone I think was the perfect pupil, so the only surprise was that he had a 'sexy beast' side for Aliona to bring out.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Aliona gets someone awkward, because she's pretty determined that things will be done her way.

'On paper' I thought Gavin could be the next Matt Dawson, and Dan the next Matt Baker. You never know how they will work out.

Jason looked miles ahead of the rest after 3 shows last time.

Aliona deserves a lot more credit than she generally gets on this forum for what she achieved with Matt Baker and Harry.

I could not agree with you more!!!!!

Personally I think Aliona is given way too much credit by her fans for what THEY the celebrities achieved - both Matt and Harry had previous dance experience and strong fan bases and would have got to the finals with anyone of the pros!

Katya took Gavin to the semis which for a burly rugby player with no dance experience & who wasn't naturally gifted was a job well done! And you must be having a laugh about Dan he was an obscure, charmless tv presenter who was 6ft 6! I doubt if any of the pros with exception of Natalie could have done much more than Katya could have done with him - with Natalie he might have lasted a few more weeks but no more than that!

I think it's pretty easy to work out which contestants are going to be contenders and which ones aren't!

Quite how Gavin got to the semis I don't know, he should have gone a long time before that from what I recall. I think fan base had much to do with that.

And no I'm not joking about Dan.It maybe just me then, but with the odd exception I don't know who is going to be a contender and who isn't, that's what makes it so much fun.

I thought they might as well give Jason the trophy last year after 3 shows, the way Harry and Chelsee improved so much owes great credit to their pros, and themselves!

As usual on forums, I guess we see things differently and thats the way it is for each of us.

With Martina being so graceful on a tennis court I thought Matthew could get her dancing very well, but tennis hasn't turned out to be a favourable background so far, so I think its hard to predict until the first weeks dance.

I like Aliona's choreography and I think she and Rav were getting on well at the start. I thought Aliona did a good job of teaching and choreographing until the week before the Quickstep where something went wrong in the relationship - so that is the only questionmark I have.
Despite dancing better than at least 3 other dancers each week, the public put them in the bottom 2 so it wasn't on dancing IMO that had them eliminated early.

Any of the pros should have been able to get Matt to the final by using every opportunity and location to train - like Aliona did.

Harry said the only previous dancing he had done was with Ola. I take it that he meant trained dancing, not Harry's have a go dancing. They started a week after the others to compensate for his week with Ola and Harry was a slow learner, which is consistent with him not having been taught before. IMO he was effectively a complete novice and everything he danced down to the smallest detail, he had to be taught by Aliona.

I have a lot of respect for all the pros and have learned that being a professional dancer is a very tough and undervalued job. They have almost all done well when given someone with potential.

I like Aliona's personality and her choreography, I think she is a good dance teacher and getting back on topic, I think she is quite hot too.

Yes I'm sure Gavin had a strong fan base but Katya did actually get some very decent dances out of him too - he was good at ballroom - his Latin wasn't much cop the only memorable half decent Latin dance he did was his cha cha because Katya spiced it up and made it entertaining with the rugby ball element in it. Even with those limitations Katya forged a fun and entertaining partnership with him - part of the reason why they got so far!

There's no doubt in my mind if Katya had been given Harry or Matt - she could have done as well in if not better than Aliona did with them - but there's plenty of doubt in my mind that if Aliona had been given Phil or Gavin that she would have done as well as Katya did with them because as I've said before she hasn't got a proven track record with novices!

I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to work out whose going to be good or not - the producers even audition the celebs and it was obvious from the moment he was announced as a contestant that Dan was never going to be a contender - very tall celebs have never faired well in Strictly!

You talk as if Chelsee and Harry were completely hopeless to start with just because Jason was outstanding - they weren't - they were good at the start of the show too - both of them were earmarked as finalists on the forums after they'd done their first dances!

As to whether Aliona is 'hot' - I think she's an attractive woman and she has a striking look about her but then I think all the female pros are attractive and hot in their own way but to me she's not the hottest or the best personality and she's certainly not the best dancer/teacher/choreographer IMO!

Absolutely

Nice photo.

http://media.mademan.com/chickipedia...b_585x795.jpeg

Sounds like Aliona is back this year, fantastic!!

Has any pro won 2 years on the trot before?

not yet!!!!!!

Lilia won with Goughie and made it to the final with Matt Dawson but Aliona has won with Harry and made it to the final with Matt but no pro has won twice - they have on DTWS, I think Cheryl Burke has won 3 times!!

If the new producers have any sense and out of respect to the other female pros - they'll give Aliona a weaker celeb so we can actually see how she does with a not so talented partner!

She's had enough luck with her naturally gifted partners and we've seen enough of her for two years running in the finals! It's time to give other pros a chance!

Its nice to have Aliona confirmed for the next series.

I'm glad they have kept so many of the pros. The format is about right and although they could maybe have changed a few of the pros, I think its more important to get the right celebrities.
They only had 4 out of 14 last series who had dance potential, whereas I would like to see about 7 of the 14 with good dance potential. Problem is, the public might chuck them out early if they are relatively unknown - like Spoony.

My guess is that Aliona is highly regarded by the producers and they may want her to feature for a while, so if they have enough celebs with potential they may pair Aliona with someone half-decent.

Didn't work like that for Lilia unfortunately, so I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Yes, an early exit in her first series when she was finding her way. Then 2 years of brilliance and not a bottom 2 finish.

Smokin hot indeed

Yes she was given a keen, fit, young man who she should have done better with in her first year and exited due to her own error and then for two years on a trot the cream of the crop in partners.......is it any wonder she did well with her partners! ............She is a very lucky pro indeed

As I said earlier it's time to give other pros a chance!

BIB I totally agree - I am sure it wont be long until some names start to trickle into the papers

It was a shame about Spoony, he had such potential but was a relative unknown in the celeb stakes

Just read somewhere Harry and Aliona will dance with the Olympic flame in Blackpool Ballroom on Friday.

That would be incredible! Anyone heard anything about this?

Yeah and someone I'm friends with on Twitter wants it to be filmed like I do too - it is completely true.

From Hayley