it was filmed a couple of saturdays ago

And this is Pasha and Chelsee's routine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cXK8mxi8ec

The concept sounds ridiculous at first but the dances were actually amazing.

Aw, the memories.

No, but you can make THIS into a Smooth!
That's the song that entered my head when I read the title "Dance With Me". Yes, I'm old and remember the 70s......

But Jayne & James's tune, I can't get my head round as a Tango at all.......
This is definitely Foxtrot/Smooth music

Is Radio Times wrong?

Absolutely amazing nick for 56!!!!

As each year passes, she looks fitter and more glamorous.

She used to be overshadowed by Chris, the Blonde Prince, in their early days, but not anymore. Her hubby (9 years her Junior) must be delighted!

Admittedly the choreo for the contestants in DOI last series was mundane and repetitive, but did you see the wonderful choreo for T&D's own performances (few and far between though they sadly were)? Especially the routine with the animation which they danced aswell as skated that was quite beautiful, and very creative in a multi-media way.
Here it is Skated
And here it is danced with animation, just beautiful!

As for Chris's talents as a choreographer, where do I start? Going back to their early competitive days in the late 70s/early 80s, when Skating was still Amateur, most icedance couples put together a routine with their Coach's ideas. T&D were the first couple to create and choreograph their own routines (with stylistic help from professionals if needed on the rhythm dances). Don't forget their haunting Blues OSP from 82 here.
They've had a 30 year career as Professionals, choreographing for competitive couples, touring shows and themselves, and Chris was invited by Derek Deane of English National Ballet to choreograph a piece in 1995 called "Encounters" to music by Paul Simon, which the company performed many times over the years as part of their repetoire. That illegal Lift, referred to by Three Left Feet, as to why they did not win 94 Oly Gold, was originally from their 83 Barnum routine, and when a French couple (Pechalat/Bouzat) did a Circus Freedance a few seasons ago, they pinched the exact same Lift from T&D! Their influence and legacy goes on and on in the Skating world, and beyond. Each season the top Russian Ice Dance choreographer for the competitive world, based in Detroit called Marina Zueva, recycles a past T&D choice of music for one of her couples, or uses one of their lifts or ideas.
The classic routines that T&D have choreographed over their career are far too many to mention, so I would hate anyone to judge their talents on what is seen on DOI only. Look beyond!

One of my favourites! In Contemporary style, it reminded me of a Russian Ice Dance you'd see in competition today at the Worlds. Infact someone should turn it into a Freedance, would be fab!

I loved that dance too. Great interpretation of the song into a dance and challenging for Matt to dance like that which I thought he did very well.

Me too.

^^^ BIB Technically, that wasn't an illegal lift. It was borderline illegal and open to interpretation. The rule was that the man can't lift his partner above a certain height (I think his hands can't go higher than his shoulders during a lift or something like that), so that move could have been said to have violated the rule. However, as Jayne was actually moving entirely under her own impetus (Chris' hands were holding hers but not supporting her) it could be said that the lift was a jump and not a lift. On the other hand, the winners that year blatantly, and without it being open to question or interpretation, did break the rules. In ice dance, a couple cannot break hold (dance or any other type of hold) for more than 5 seconds at a time and they did on more than one occasion for several seconds more than 5, yet they weren't penalised for it. That's the problem with judging something like dancing or skating: to an extent, it's subject to personal interpretation from the judges and there's no clear cut winner, like there is when running a race or jumping the highest or longest.

While T&D may have had assistance with choreo, it was only assistance; they did much, if not most of it, themselves during their career and Chris still regularly choreographs for others and has come up with some wonderful routines over the years.

This has to be my favourite T&D routine of all time. It's a professional performance routine, rather than for amateur competition, so there aren't any rules and they could do what they wanted with the routine. They used parts of the choreo from this routine in their Imagine routine in series 2 of DOI.

One of my favourites too!!

I have their DVDs with all their amateur and pro competition numbers. Love them together. But I am a little sick of Bolero now...

Definitely smooooth


Really? well I suppose that sort of thing has it's place,but not again on SCD,I hope.


"Challenging",yea,that's how I find it to watch.

ooh sorry, I was referring to LaRhumba liking Aliona and Matts contemporary AS

Oops.

I wonder if T&D had forgotten the politics that always went with ice skating. Each year, there was always a "feeling" relayed by the commentators that it was so-and-so's "turn" to win. I recall that whilst the Russian pro pair (Gordieva and Grinkov?) were welcomed back, there wasn't the same feeling towards T&D. Probably something to do with the strong Eastern bloc representatation in the Ice Dancing world and the fact that T&D were filthy rich after their pro careers.

Thus, it wasn't their "turn", and if it's not your turn, you're up against it, particularly given the make-up of the judging panel and the traditional East/West split of voting tendencies.

Thus, it was always likely that anything T&D did that was marginal would be held against them, whereas the Russians would be given much more latitude.

I guess even if they'd not done the lift that was judged illegal (irrespective of whether it was actually illegal) they'd still have lost, but by doing it, they gave the judges all the ammunition they needed.

I do love T&D tho and yes I am a little bored of their bolero too

You'll have to pop out of the house next Feb 14th, as it's the 30th anniversary of Bolero winning Oly Gold in Sarajevo, and I know they were being filmed in Nottingham earlier this year for what I think may be an ITV documentary to mark the anniversary.

But do strongly agree that there's so much more to T&D than just Bolero, but that's the routine that always gets mentioned and shown by TV producers and interviewers.

Oh I still love that routine. I think DOI didn't help. Won't miss the anniversary, as I enjoyed the 25th Anniversary.

Don't forget that Olympic Freedance was only cobbled together in the preceeding couple of weeks after Europeans, which they unexpectedly won by a mathematical placement skating their original routine which was much more step based, going by the edict laid down by the ISU Ice Dance Technical Committee for that season. Chris Howarth described it as "staid" and watching a German channel on my old Astra satellite dish around Christmas, the German Ice Dance Judge said she expected T&D to finish "3rd" - and that was before anyone had skated.
No, they weren't welcomed back, and none of the single skater pros who returned, like Kati Witt and Brian Bitano, went on to win either. As you say, only G&G did, though I preferred Mishkoutinok & Dimitriev's Free to Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2 myself.
Apart from T&D's comeback upsetting the Russians, those couples lower down, who had hoped to make the podium if they skated great, like Rakhamo/Kokko of Finland, had their noses put out of joint, and said so in a book a decade ago.

Was this the rule for that season? It's changed considerably now, it's actually a requirement. In the Short Dance a non-touching side by side step sequence is included.


Those Pro competitions in Maryland from 1984 onwards were such a creative period in their career, it's a shame they no longer exist. Some of the Skating at those events was amazing! T&D definitely took to the Pro ranks like ducks to water.

I like their Cicillia pro routine.

Love that one too, and "Still Crazy After All These Years" - Chris going through his Paul Simon period there - another golden era post 1994.

I don't think this aspect of the pros' return got enough coverage really. I guess it was overshadowed by understandable hype re T&D and then the hoohah with Nancy Kerrigan's kneecapping.

I still find that whole saga absolutely extraordinary!
What a trollop that Tonya Harding was.

On to happier things.........

Torvill & Pudsey!