I did think that as well, he might as he wasn't impressed with Craigs comments but Brendan is a chamced man will be interesting to see backstage and ITT reaction

Sophie's Charleston remains the highlight of the series and most memorable dance so far for most people I would imagine. Almost a shame she was so good so early.

I don't think anyone is saying that Sophie is a better dancer than Natalie. The fact is Natalie has not progressed and TBH Sophie hasn't progressed much either. I think the comment about no u turn is wrong. I never liked Patrick at all at the start. His Halloween dance turned my opinion of him around. I have enjoyed his last 3 dances immensely and believe he can win.

Sorry Liza. I didn't mean no U turn at all. I accept it happens, probably more than rarely. But I think that when people express their views very strongly (particularly when it gets personal), it is often very difficult for them to backtrack.

I think Sophie has progressed a fair bit when you compare similar dances. Her QS compares well with her first Waltz and she has a stronger frame. It was a difficult dance for her being so fast and covering so much ground. Her Latin has progressed less, if not at all. Her Charleston has no similar dance to compare to and therein lies the problem. Some people are better at certain types of dance.

Aaaaarrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

No one can even agree on what a Charleston IS, not the celebs, not the pros, not the forummers or the judges!

Stop arguing over who performed a 'proper Charleston'! It's tedious! Let's argue over who we like best, our reasoning might be irrational but at least it won't be wrong.

(I don't post about dances until I've seen it at least twice, but I might do a step by step count of actual named, period dance moves, just as an experiment)

I am probably in the minority here. No I didnt think Sopie's Charleston was better than Natalie's. Sophie IMO was better than Abbey.

I think Brendan may have taken inspiration from Anton's routine with Fiona, when he allowed pauses in the dance - the face mopping - in order for Fiona to remember the routine and keep up.

If so, it was a good move, though as we had seen a similar tactic used so recently it did feel exactly that, a tactic, and probably why I didn't enjoy Sophie's routine as much as I could have on first view.

I would love to see Sophie repeat it later when they can repeat dances, it will be interesting to see what she can do with more experience.

Love Natalie but thought her Charleston was a bit flop. Sophie's one was fantastic.

Love Natalie but thought her Charleston was a bit floppy. Sophie's one was miles better but it was too early in the series to whip out the 10s.

Sophie without a doubt

Have watched Natalie again and still feel a bit flat. She was aware of the camera angles and looked into them whenever possible but the whole thing was a bit flat.The facial expression didn't suit the dance and looked overly exagerated. Dissapointed and no it wasn't better than Sophies or Abbies.

Sophie's was far better and deserved 10's, but noone get's 10's on the second week.

OK, I've now youtubed both dances three times in a row.

Sophie's Charleston contained 8 different steps that genuinely belong in the dances of the period.

Natalie had performed 5 recognisable steps before she'd even left the podium and made it to 22 by the end of the number. Some of the steps Natalie did I have never seen on SCD before and those that come up all the time were much better than usual.

However, Natalie's was overproduced, too much distraction! And there were timing issues, caused in part by the disjointed song, and the odd fluff up too.

Sophie's had more airsteps, but some of them were very poor indeed, as hairy as Patrick and Anya's AS lifts in places. Brilliant "Pancake" though, more likeable atmosphere and song. Weight in the wrong places most of the time so poor technique over all... neither was a 10. I reckon Natalie is a point higher, so maybe Sophie a 7 and Natalie an 8.

(and I'm not an EXPERT either, but I am the nearest DS has to one in the particular area, maybe!)

Any nominations for a similar analysis of Charlestons past? DVO or Hollins perhaps?

i dont think you can really compare the two as natalie in my opinion is a more natural and competent dancer and is leagues ahead of everybody else.... but each to their own and all that

it would be boring if we all liked the same contestants!!

I think you are now Betty. That post has a ring of knowledge about it. I am glad I held back my comment that Charleston has fallen out of living memory now so probably anybody who knows how it is supposed to be has passed on - you might have thought I was calling you old!

i think Natalie ( aint I the best) was quite ordinary and Sophie was definate better then her.

Abby for me is Queen,

Interesting post, thank you for taking the time to write it!

I would love an analysis of Chris/Ola's Charleston as I always thought I'd missed something with it when everyone went mad for how good it was.

(also Harry/Aliona's - it was my favourite for how fun it was, but no idea if it was a "good" Charleston!)

Nice idea for its own thread. As they were in the same year, I would like to nominate the Bastian and Hollins Charlestons for comparison. I never took to Ali's dancing, which why be why I didn't rate it quite as much as many did on this forum at the time. I'm aware it is a bit of an unfair comparison as Chris didn't have the dancing ability of either Ricky or Ali, but that's why it/he made such an impact.

A fairer comparison might be between Ali and Kara's Charleston. The two girls had comparable ability and suffered from the same mishaps in the earlier weeks. Plus both had the 'romance with Pro story' going during their time on the show

Natalie is a pro dancer even more so than Denise was..

Sophie was better than Natalie but the judges are blinded

I agree that it's a great idea for its own thread

I have no memory of either Ali or Kara's Charleston, off to youtube!

It's OK, I'm an old-young(ish) person!
We're committed to keeping the spirit alive

In the 1980s some young dancers tracked down some of the great dancers of the Jazz period, none of them were still dancing but these new dancers traveled from Sweden, Britain and all over America and begged the old timers to teach them how it was done. Some of those old dancers (most noticeably Frankie Manning) went on to make a new twilight career out of dance teaching.

Sadly, most of those rediscovered in the 80's have passed away, but luckily, I get to study from people that learned from Frankie, so weirdly despite being 80 odd years ago, many of today's dancers are only second or third generation.


Swing dance is a lot like Country music, we prize our older generation, rather than discard them when they get past 40

This is Jean Veloz (a dancer in lots of 40s movies) still dancing at 88!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRlhfUvq8hQ

and in her heyday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuLUOk--yxg

Let's hope Betty is doing the same

Edit: Ah, there she is. Betty, we request a thread....please

Sorry, don't agree that Sophie's Charleston was better than Natalie's, and to suggest that Nat & Artem tried to copy Sophie is laughable.

Bruno was spot on when he said it was like watching a performance by Josephine Baker.She had loads of authentic Charleston moves in her dance and her body was fascinatingly 'rubbery', whereas Sophie was stiff as always.

However I don't think their Charleston was as good as Suzanna & Kevin's Paso, so I don't think it deserved equal marks with them.
I can't believe Craig didn't give that a 10.

Charlestons are supposed to be floppy.