Fantastic post, Sid
She can probably learn a lot from Brendan. He's not one of the hot, hot, hot school but rather a cool, elegant dancer. He may help her to adjust her own brand of insouciance to what's required more than one of the more Latiny pros.

I admit I am tempted to google the meaning of insouciance. Is it synonym to nonchalance?

Do you have a death wish or something

Good luck, mate

Definitely. Well I say definitely but I wasn't at all sure about this partnership when I first heard they'd been paired together. Turns out they are well suited for the very reason you've outlined


Yes!

It's a good word. Pet's like DS's answer to Vanessa

They may both be good words but I think they are entirely the wrong words for Sophie I don't think she has a lack of concern or indifference to SCD at all , laid back yes , but she definitely cares deeply about the programme and each dance you only have to look at her efforts in the training room and her attack on the dance floor .


And I heard Vanessa use words incorrectly as well

Sid, I enjoy reading your posts, was wondering if you write a strictly blog?

I took a different meaning from Pet when she said "own brand of insouciance" as in Sophie's not literally nonchalant or lacking concern but people might (mis)interpret her performance style or the way she carries herself in that way. So she has to adjust the way she presents herself in dances - and Brendan is a good pro to help her do that (hopefully!).


That's very kind, thanks Karina But no, I don't write a blog. Do have a read of Monkseal's though (if you haven't already) - very funny!

Someone might have said this already, if so sorry, if you watch Sophie's singing performances she has the same cool look. It is probably her performance persona and as a way of controlling nerves, maybe it's what she switches on to dance.

She's apparently releasing a new album and perhaps we'll see if she keeps that performance persona in one of her music videos.

One of the main battles Sophie is faceing is how selfconcious she's feels when she dances. Some might see it as being cool and nonchalont, but I don't think you can compare her cool attitude when she sings (which is her love and comfort zone and a specifi image she wants to give off to match her music style) with her dancing on Strictly which, she might love, but does not have the same degree of comfort in. And remember with dancing, they have certain styles and moods that you have to surrender yourself to and apply in which to make them recognisable, so applying your own mood comes after (which Sophie and all celebs have to concede in before how they feel. Dancing is letting another form over-take you, and if you try and control it, is doesn't work). Natalie on the other hand has no inhibition and is very self aware of her body, and has no problem conveying emotion (whether true or false which, as as an actor, she has the luxury of being able to completely fake it if need be and prob more convincingly than some).

If Sophie forget people are watching her, which I get is much easier said than done, she might go up a level or too. She's doing ok in the technicalities of things, but she isn't always full out in completeling moves or totally embodying a dance because she is as much stopping herself frm doing that as is her technical is. Other celebs on the show can't do certain things because, no matter how much they try and how much gusto they put into a dance, their lack of abilty, lack of natural talent and lack of rhyth and musicality will hold them back despite their bets efforts. Sophie on the other hand isn't trying enough, and it's frustrating. I sense she can do more and I think the ability is there but she needs to mentally anad emotionally open up.

Natalie and Sophie are both interesting contrasts to each other, and so like them both and don't give two hoots about others that make you think you need to pick a team, or can't just like one then the other depending on the dance. Some are uber fans of one, which is fine, but some can like many, which is fine too. Btw if someone else has said along the smae lines, I'm sorry, repetition is inevitable.

I am going to have to pick you up on nonchalance again , it means lack of concern and indifference

Neither of which terms apply to Sophie , laid back is fine but Sophie definatley does care and she is not indifferent .

It is now bugging me that 2 words which were originally used incorrectly ie not according to the dictionary definition have been taken up to incorrectly describe Sophie's style of dancing thereby compounding the original error.

And now having bored myself my stint at dictionary corner is over , unless of course someone else makes the same error all over again .

Miriam, I agree that Sophie's inhibitions probably stopped her decent samba from being really good (because she had a lot of good technique) but I'm not sure she isn't trying enough. As you say she's not an actress, so it's a whole other side of this that she has to learn. Some people get confidence from competence and I suspect she and Brendan are trying to get to that point first, but I think the characterisation will come. I really hope so, anyway, because she's great to watch .

On a side note, I think acting is one of the things that separates Mark and Dave at the other end of the spectrum. Mark has more musicality to start with, but he's fairly limited in what he can do just now (physically and technically), but he's able to draw on his background to add much more interpretation to his performance. I hope Dave can find a little musicality. And rhythm. And technique. And characterisation.

I do think to some Sophie can APPEAR to have a nonchalant attitude. I think it's to cover her crippling nerves and uncomfortableness.

If you only watch the Saturday show and miss ITT and the results show, you would not get from Sophie's 2 min dance that she cares.

I gather she was bullied badly and so appears to have this don't care attitude to cover any hurt but it's the nut Sophie really needs to crack, she needs to show her feelings, not bury them and I appreciate it's going to be hard for her, but if she can then I'll appreciate her performances more.

Synonym for indifference, casual, nonchalant very common words in spelling tests.

I am going to have to disagree with you over this, Jerry Hall was nonchalant and it showed by her lack of effort , I am not sure even the most casual observer would think that Sophie had any lack of effort,
yes I agree to connect more with the public she probably would benefit from looking as if she were really enjoying it more rather than keeping her face quite as closed off but hey who knows perhaps she is hitting all the right boxes from those who are fed up of The OTT performances so often seen on reality shows.

Not common to me, a foreigner.

It's not that I think she's not trying, it's that she's holding back, I think there's a slight difference (though they can sometimes seem the same even though the intention is different). That last sentence was meant to have a "to let go" in there. I think she clearly is trying, but embodying a dance is about letting natural expressions show (if you're not an actor and can fake it) alongside trying to nail the technique too (which of course isn't perfect). She's missing the ability to entirely express herself through the dance, maybe because she's not an actor, and that is that is the difference between someone actually dancing and someone still attempting to dance (in these specific styles that is, I'm not refering to freestye where anything goes). For some reason I feel she's not laying all her cards on the table, and I'm not sure why, but I can only guess it's her ongoing battle in her head, as her feet and arms have the potential (frm what we've so far seen, imo). She's better at showing an attempt to dance than others, hence why I think there is still more to come (as oposed to others whether we've yet to really see them dance once, let alone potentially more). It's when she's not comfortable that she becomes unsure and with that she becomes introverted which stops her peforming to what she prob can. Obv she doesn't suffer the extreme, like Joe Calzage did, he had stage fright and not great technique rolled into one (at least from his training where he was in a prob more comfortable environment he didn't look very promising, to me). That's more the point really, I think Sohie isn't convinced of herself (even though I'm sure Brendan is encouraging daily). But until she believes it herself she won't allow the full performance to come out, which I think she can offer (like the Charleston, but with the added technique element).SHe's already ok/decent at this point, so more is achevable.

Hello Sid. xxx

Sophie was one of my early favourites (still is) and I can't fault her performances. However whilst Brendan is full of praise for Sophie's performances she doesn't appear to return the favour. For me this partnership still lacks any chemistry.

Sophie certainly looks very nervous whilst awaiting the results but notably she was the only celeb not to give her partner a spontaneous hug when it was announced they were through.

You definitely need a new dickshunnery

As Columbo would say, just one more thing, although I am a little indifferent to them, I think both Natalie and Sophie are doing a fine job in their own respective ways.

I have to say I don't get at all the objection to insouciant or nonchalant. Audrey Hepburn is insouciant. Dark-mascared, straight-haired Sixties jazz singers aim to be. Nameless loose-limbed individuals found under twirls of smoke are nonchalant. Places with exotic beats that you have to approach down slippery dark stairs may actually expect it of you like a dress code.

It's an attitude. A close relative of louche. Sister to cool. But a very distant cousin of 'doesn't try, doesn't give a damn, will just lie here in a puddle of my own vomit, thank you'.

ETA 'mascared' on the other hand prob isn't a word at all

Sadly every dickshunnery:D would disagree with you ,

You can have your own meaning for a word , but it does help if it is the one found in the dictionary as generally that means people can understand what you mean.


if you mean Sophie has an Audrey Hepburn vibe about her, that's fine , but again do you mean Audrey as Holly or Audrey as Marian.

Ah, jeez, I can't believe I'm doing this.

Here is my bog standard, came-with-the-computer thesaurus entry for insouciant: nonchalant, untroubled, unworried, unruffled, unconcerned, indifferent, blasé, heedless, careless; relaxed, calm, equable, serene, composed, easy, easygoing, carefree, free and easy, happy-go-lucky, lighthearted, airy, blithe, mellow; informal cool, laid-back, slaphappy.

A nice range of cool words. You have to squint your eyes and stare across them... Right there in the middle, there is the coolly cool we're after.

To be clear and to avoid talking about a blummin' word [tears out tufts of hair], I was not meaning to criticise Sophie or to imply she doesn't care. (Going for a lie down now.)

(I don't think you have to worry about my word-selection, or police my posts for misuse of language. I have a PhD in English literature and at least some of the words there were the right ones. The better ones weren't. Misuse of language is poetry )

Sounds like you had one hell of a weekend I went to visit my brother and took my goddaughter to the park.


Perhaps it should be.

I am not at all worried about your ability,to choose words and I can't be bothered to quote my own qualifications,
I, together with several (physical) dictionaries believe you chose the wrong words for Sophie if what you actually meant was that she was like Aubrey Hepburn.

I am out of here now as I have no interst in debating this any further

Sadly I cannot spell nor at the moment can I edit my last post .