Thanks for all the responses to my samba steps question on Kellie's samba. Yes, I see the botafogos now lol. And I did see Karen mention on ITT that they were batucadas but in slower time or something.

The 2 Latin routines that stick in my mind are Peter's jive, and Anita's Paso Doble.

I'm not sure what Peter was trying to do, but a jive it certainly was not. It completely lacked any proper jive steps - no idea whether it was because he couldn't dance them, or Janette couldn't teach them. Plus whatever he was doing was heavy, flat footed and stompy, while jive should be light on the feet, with ankles creating a bounce action, and while the heel does touch the floor on certain steps, it is mostly danced on the ball of the feet.

Anita's Paso Doble was a wonderful performance. She put her whole self into it, and what she did, she did beautifully. And it was a super routine - for a showdance. I wanted to see more "proper" Paso steps.

I'll leave the ballroom dances to others (Jennifer perhaps?) and likewise Jay's salsa which I loved, but I don't dance salsa so not a good judge.

I'm most interested to hear informed views on Georgia's VW based AS. I thought her lift transitions were every bit as awkward as Katie's, although her lifts were perhaps more ambitious? I really struggled to see much of her footwork with the smoke, dress and angles although her movement looked good. However, I did notice that the backing dancers seemed to be doing the lion's share of the hard rotation work, while she and Giovanni spent a long time in the centre. My feeling was that it was inferior in content to Katie's VW a few weeks back.

I think we all agree on Pete!

Regarding Anita, I liked the performance but I thought it had very little content of proper paso. Now I am not an expert, but the few seconds she was in hold looked awkward, or it is me?
The flamenco bits (I have a bit more knowledge in that) i thought they were good. I liked her hands which very rarely do like on Strictly when dancing a Paso.

Probably was inferiors in content since they had to fit in the lifts. But I really would love to hear the comments of the experts.

agree with your comments as usual Kaycee re the paso and jive - the paso was very dramatic and was a good showdance but far to paso light in the steps - the jive nough said

Re the salsa I enjoyed the dance and for me it was the least samba content salsa on the show for a while -I am sure it was not 'proper' salsa but really enjoyed the dance.

I know it is not popular on the outside threads but I loved the quickstep of Kellie and Kevin and thought it such a clever routine considering the props and extra dancers thought this routine made the best use of the extra dancers - did you notice Neil Jones in that? think he may end up on Strictly

Noticed Neil and Katya in Georgias VW and Jamelias QS too.

ahhh thanks Jennifer wondered if that was Katya

Think he may have been the "Elvis" at the end too

[quote=bendymixer;80452004]agree with your comments as usual Kaycee re the paso and jive - the paso was very dramatic and was a good showdance but far to paso light in the steps - the jive nough said

Re the salsa I enjoyed the dance and for me it was the least samba content salsa on the show for a while -I am sure it was not 'proper' salsa but really enjoyed the dance.

I know it is not popular on the outside threads but I loved the quickstep of Kellie and Kevin and thought it such a clever routine considering the props and extra dancers thought this routine made the best use of the extra dancers - did you notice Neil Jones in that? think he may end up on Strictly[/QUOTE

Yes I noticed Neil; he also helps choreograph some of the pro routines. He may end up as a Strictly pro, but I think he has a fair way to go with his competing still as he is doing really well.

[quote=kaycee;80497330]
As SCD salsa go Jay's wasn't at all bad. His steps (mambo and chucarachas) at the beginning, when he is facing off to the backing dancers were a bit gross. If his steps had been half the length he would have got better body movement and a more earthy feel, but they were recognisable basic steps.

I am not at all sure what the tip toey bit as he approaches Aliona was all about, but the section when they are in hold is pretty good and the body rolls aren't bad. Then it descends into a frenzy of ludicrous lifts and prancing about with one more small salsa section later on. Take out the lifts, the tip toeing and the skipping about and change the music and its a half decent salsa. I have seen many worse.

Yes, your thoughts echo mine, but if katie did a VW ( ? ) rather than an VW inspired American Smooth, I suppose thats why there was less VW content in Georgia's. I felt they spent a too much time in the centre and I would have liked a little more VW content. But it was a good dance overall.

Hmmm, that reminds me of George Best's assessment of David Beckham ("he's slow, can't tackle and can't head the ball, but other than that he's OK")

Apologies for introducing footie into this fine dance discussion, but it just sprang into my mind unbidden when I read An Thro's post!

Pretty sure it was Neil Jones as Elvis as well as in some of the dances, he put a pic of him dressed as Elvis on his twitter.

Thanks for your thoughts!

now that we are inching closer to the final and all our couples have their strengths - some stronger than others I'm really interested to know how strong the celebs are specifically in terms of ballroom and Latin dancing technique.

- who is picking up the technique well
- and who is taking the technique to a whole new level

I'm not an expert but have watched the show since the start, so I'm interested to know whether I've gained any knowledge in this area or am still as ignorant as ever!

So I'm calling on those with ballroom and Latin knowledge to join the discussion and offer their insight!! Even if you just have time to comment on one celeb! Even if you comment on just one aspect of technique!

Thank you in advance for anyone who takes the time to post in this thread.

Love and hugs to all you strictly fans. Roll on tomorrow night

There is an ongoing thread at the moment..." Ballroom and Latin American Dance Questions!. You may have to scroll back to find it, but there are many knowledgeable ladies that post on there.

Going on tonight's training footage, Helen's Viennese Waltz lacks some technique - in VW to deal with the constant turning, the woman and man need to "drive" in turn. What that means is when the woman is dancing forward, her right leg and foot should land between the man's legs while she pushes off from her standing leg i.e. the left leg. The man does the same when he is dancing forward. This provides great momentum to keep the movement going and create that lovely flowing movement you see in a VW that is well done. Brendan Cole is fantastic at VW. Have a look at this lovely video of dancers in full flow. I love the Viennese waltz but can't do it because I get too dizzy

American pros often make it more of an American Smooth, as Janette did with Peter's VW a couple of weeks back.

http://youtu.be/QeOtdmkV7yU

Thanks Jennifer. And thanks social dancer.that's really interesting. I also wondered if she was a bit stiff looking and should look a softer in hold, or is that how you should be for a vw?

I've only seen a bit of Helen's VW, and it was fairly early on when she would have been under stress learning to cope with the rotation.

Generally she hasn't seemed particularly stiff to me in most of the ballroom. Maybe she was a bit in the Quickstep, but I noticed there wasn't much contact with Aljaz in that particular dance and that may not have helped since the woman's topline is partly influenced by changes in contact between her and her partner. But she's been ok in the other dances I think. I think she is very good at ballroom, but less so at Latin.

Jennifer can give a more expert opinion than me though.

Change of subject, but since quickstep is on everyone's mind at the moment I thought I'd post this link that a friend of mine posted on facebook. This is a very entertaining quickstep but closer to a showdance and so breaks Len's rules. Even so, lovely and awe inspiring. http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_co...xQhaGrqlqx9sx7

As Helen trained as a ballet dancer she should have little problem with the rotation of the VW as she will understand 'spotting'. People get dizzy when they haven't learnt how to spot, and also when they are dancing the whole thing wrongly to start with!

Love Mirko and Edita, and you are right, it is a showdance - the sort of thing they can only do when they have the floor to themselves. The rules Len was talking about covers proper competition, when multiple couples are dancing together. Can you imagine 20 or more couples on the floor together doing that sort of dance, with lifts, etc? Carnage wouldn't cover it!!!

Precisely Kaycee

No problems with Aljaz though, sure to be a fabulous dance for them. Was looking very nice in the most recent training session, bearing in mind they have been working on the dance only a matter of day. As usual would like to see more softness in the knees and legs

The hold looked basically fine to me. There needs to be lots of tone throughout the frame, but no stiffness.

Thanks Jen. Being a Latin dancer (though I have danced ballroom) I'm always a bit wary of commenting on ballroom technique as I know you are the real expert.

Hardly an expert.....but thank you so much. Hope its a good show for everyone and we see some nice dancing.