This is really interesting. Do you mind me asking what age you were when you started dancing? I'm just curious about how young you need to start to turn professional. One of my teachers said she started when she was 12 and she said that was already too old for her to turn professional - she said you have to start when you're really young. But another teacher started at 20 and turned professional!

Happy Christmas everyone - maybe this thread will tick along through the year??

ha ha had to post this video of Josephine Braddley introducing the Jive to UK oh how times change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45T2uX3BEC0#t=199

Hello everyone, wishing you all a Merry Christmas. Thank you to everyone that has read through the postings on this thread and a special thanks to all that have contributed.
Warm wishes, Jennifer

ha ha indeed!! Makes me wonder how on earth jive ever caught on at all. Interesting to see the dancers dressed for ballroom - for some weird reason jive was considered ballroom, and tango Latin!

I started when I was 4, but had quite a long gap between ages 11-14 (health issues).

How young you need to be in order to turn professional depends largely on what you intend to do. It would be unusual for someone in their late teens, for example, to start dancing from scratch (with no experience of any dance discipline) with the intention of competing in the professional field - unusual but not impossible. Certainly someone aged 12, providing he/she had really good teachers, could work their way up through the ranks and eventually turn pro. Quite a few do - not everyone starts very young.

However, if the intention is to teach, perhaps in a medallist school for example, then there is no upper or lower age limit. I know an excellent medallist teacher who didn't take up bb & Lat until she was in her 40s.

Hope this answers what you wanted to know.

Yes, I fully agree Kaycee, it depends what your intention is. I actually know a lady that turned professional at the tender age of 16!. She has been successful competing as a pro (Latin) as well as dancing in West End shows and in USA.
Equally many current competitors chose to establish themselves in the Amateur ranks for many years before turning professional.

For anyone that may be interested, 2 new and very exciting professional partnerships have been formed.
Domen Krapez is now partnering the fabulous Natascha Karabey and Valerio Colantoni is partnering Monica Negro.
Can't wait to see them both competing. Best of luck to both.

I didn't realist the Karabeys had split Was never a huge fan of their dancing, they were always very good, but I found it a bit too bland. It's just a matter of taste.

As you say, good luck to both new partnerships

I do understand what you mean, however Natascha is a fabulous dancer , I am looking forward to seeing her with Domen.
I do wish SCD would regularly feature top ballroom and latin couples.

I agree, but when they had Joanne & Michael as guest dancers one year so many people, who were only used to seeing Strictly version of dancing, thought they were dreadful! They didn't understand what they were seeing.

Thanks so much!! It certainly does xx

You're more than welcome

Exactly. To have real-life ballroom competition dancers on this show would make it obvious that the show has nothing to do with ballroom dancing and is a distorted version which is organised and controlled exclusively by stage dancers. I always think that the title "Strictly" is a joke and the show should really be called "Loosely Come Dancing". The so-called "judges" have never included real-life ballroom competition judges (actually I seem to remember Shirley Ballas was on the panel once but not for long).

Even Len Goodman, who is always presented as Mr Big Expert, is in reality just a very ordinary elementary dance school teacher, no better qualified than hundreds of others, whose main business before this show started was putting on medal classes for beginners. Every time he nit-picks about footwork he betrays his medal-test background, and I have lost count of the number of talented celebrities he has used his position as "head judge" to vote off, most recently Pixie Lott. I will never forgive him for getting rid of the classy Cherie Lunghi like that!

Before long he will drop dancing altogether like Lionel Blair and go on the golden television trail as a presenter - he has already started!

Sorry, but I couldn't disagree with you more. The 10-standard dances in Strictly are all based on "real" dancing. They problem is the celebs are limited to what they can learn in such a short timescale, so only the same easy steps are used, which are then "disguised" with various tricks and gimmicks to prevent everyone looking alike and the viewers switching off in droves.

As for Len Goodman. Either you know him and he has upset you, or you are only guessing because you don't like him? Len has owned 3 very successful dance studios. Yes, beginners/medallist classes are part of those - as they are in virtually ALL dance studios. However, mostly these were run by Len's dance assistants, while he himself concentrated on World-Class Amateur (i.e. championship level) and professionals - some of whom are ex-Strictly pros, others who are Strictly pros.

As well as coaching, Len has, at various time, travelled all over the world to judge just about every prestigious dance competition there is, including the World Championships and, of coruse, Blackpool Festival. You don't get those jobs by being an "elementary medallist teacher".

As for his nit-picking - have you not yet realised that is precisely his job on Strictly? To pick up on technique, something which the other 3 haven't a clue about?

Voting off Cherie Lunghi? Classy does not make a good dancer; Pixie - he was one of 2 who chose to vote her off, simply and purely because Simon was the better dancer.

could not agree with your comments more Kaycee the OP must as you say have a grudge with Len or just not know his background.

Agree with all that you have said, Kaycee.

Bit of both, I suspect!

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR to you, Bendy, and to your brother. Always interesting when you repeat his views on the dancing/dancers.

Thank you, Jennifer. Our views of course come from being dancers, as opposed to just viewers!

As with Bendy, A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and yours. Let's hope it's a good one.

Finally managed to find a local ballroom/latin class! I've been looking for ages now but I live in the back-end of nowhere so the only local dance classes are ballet and street. Even this is only two introductory sessions (one each ballroom and latin) but hoping if it's successful they'll keep it going!

So, any tips for the first class?

I seem to remember Jonathan Roberts started ballroom at 21

A question How much do you lot rate Arunas and Katusha? I think they are simply magic

What part of the Country do you live? Would you be prepared to travel a distance for classes / lessons...this may be the only other alternative.
Have you danced before ( I am assuming these are beginners classes) and are you going alone or with a partner?
I hope that they are just waiting to see whether there are sufficient numbers interested?

To be a top flight dancer you really would have to start dancing far earlier than that, really. By that age, you really would want to be topping the World ranking as Youth/Amateur. I have seen some very talented dancers start late ( in their 20's), but as talented as they are, it is just far too late, there is too much to learn and work on, which does in reality take years. They will always be behind everyone in their category sadly.

With regards to Arunas and Katusha, they are sublime, almost perfection. Lovely soft powerful movement, technically excellent, very difficult to fault. There are couples behind them that are improving too, it will be exciting this year as there are a couple of new partnerships out there too.

I live in North East Scotland. I'd be absolutely willing to travel as long as I can fit it round university and the classes are worth the cost and time of travelling (saying that, I'm having to travel to the nearest city for these "local" classes anyway :P ). I've danced a lot before, but not ballroom/latin and I don't have a partner.

I find it very difficult to believe Jonathan started ballroom aged 21, if only for the reason he was United States Professional Rising Star Ballroom champion when he was 23! Maybe he turned pro aged 21.

Arunas and Katusha. Just simply brilliant.

Here's my not very technical question while we are the topic of Arunas' dancing. I have never seen him live but in the Youtube clips of their waltzes, he seems to me to achieve exaggerated rise and fall as much from knee flexion as footwork. Am I wrong about this? It's not something I have ever been taught in the waltz, certainly to the degree I see him bending the knee in conjunction with heel leads. Amazingly expressive couple.