Yes good dancing, with less controversy about fixing etc.

As having competed, albeit briefly (I don't enjoy competing that much), I understand competition rules, and wasn't suggesting anyone would dance like that in the quickstepathon. I thought that was clear from my post.

I really don't think that much about previous experience. Was just trying to give an possible explanation to socialdancer's suggestion. As I said in my post, I haven't noticed any signficant tenseness in her topline in previous dances and so I was assuming any sign of tenseness in rehearsals was just down to it being early days, but maybe, given her experience, rotation was not the issue.

Anyway, I think I am going to bow out of any discussions now.

Hope you have an enjoyable QS tonight !!
You know, I have never had a problem with dizziness in VW, but so many celebs seem to complain of this. I think there may be 2 issues here.
Firstly if it not danced on the correct alignments and not danced correctly in general, too much rotation results. This is quite a common sight on SCD with the non ballroom Pro's.
On naturals as lady coming forward,(4.5.6) there is always the feeling of passing your partner. Not going round.When you close feet you should be ended backing diag to centre, CBM to take steps 1,2,3, should again end facing diag to centre. So there is linear swing down the floor always, not just going round and round. There is undoubtedly more rotation in reverses, and footwork is different of course, and the lady has to work incredibly hard. I feel that perhaps when ladies get dizzy, they may have their heads held too far back to achieve the large topline, rather than stretched out to the left. I always think about ;looking down the back of my arm, past my elbow. When I am dancing anything with rotation, ie fleckerls or even standing spin in waltz for example, I always think about my head coming forward, following my elbow rather than staying back...ie following the direction you are dancing.Looking forward to watching Aljaz later...one of the few that do know what they are doing.

So ballroom dancers ... opinions on the QS-athon. Were the judges about right in their scores? I felt Helen and Aljaz were too still for much of it but the judges thought them best.

Views on Helen's VW and Jay's tango would be appreciated as would comments on Kellie's salsa, which I did not like I'm sorry to say.

I have not seen the show yet Maggie, but will be happy to share my views, maybe later/tomorrow, certainly on the QS and the VW. Sadly don't know too much about AT and salsa.

I look forward to your thoughts Jennifer.

Thanks. QS tonight wasn't my finest hour It never seems to be since it is the dance I never get round to practicing much!

That's interesting about following the elbow although generally I only ever get dizzy when I have sinus/ear problems which happens from time to time.

Looking forward to hearing your view on the QS!

I have no knowledge on whicht to base this but I thought Jay looked great, and showed far more musicality than I expected from a celeb leader, and that he and Aliona were underrated, and that Helen has really stepped up to the plate in terms of being a genuinely adequate partner for Aljaz (demonstrated to both their dances tonight).

Anton was (obviously) in his element, but I felt he was showboating a bit and Katie was rather out of the equation (would imagine that Anton could lead furniture in these kind of circumstances mind). Peter and Janette and Kevin and Kellie seemed to get a bit stuck (as in, in one place on the floor for unnaturally long periods) and seemed over focused on the gallopy steps and less on the flowing/running steps and I barely registered Gleb and Anita and Giovanni and Georgia (but Georgia's posture looked nice).

Super excited to see how Jay and Helen develop in the final weeks. Fingers crossed they don't end up in a dance off together.

Wow, so disappointed in the Qs-a-thon, Not from the dancers point of view but the appalling camera work once again. They really just need a static camera for these events, as in the dances, everyone comes round/past eventually, was really difficult to watch and access. Unlike the judges of course. I was struggling to see some dancers so can only comment on what I could see.
I would have placed ( can't remember what the actual placings were)
1 - helen
2-georgia
3-kellie
4-Katie
5-Jay
6-Anita
7-Peter

Peter - stompy flat feet, topline not nearly good enough, smiled to see when the pony "trots" were unleashed again, wasted a little too much time on stationary figures and could have moved a little more.

Kellie - Body positioning not right, should be more into Kevins right side, left arm position needs looking at in promenade position, in slow side closes feet need to close,good choreo though danced quite well and they had good movement.

Helen - Fab frame with just enough tone. Still think her head a little to too far back, great movement, great floorcraft from Aljaz and well followed by Helen, very elegant.

Georgia - A big no-no from me was after the first 10 seconds or so - Giovanni going against line of dance. He knows the rules !! Great movement, but again the feet need to close on the slow side closes, more connection to the floor needed, bit too skippy and light, would like to see just a little more tone in Georgias topline.

Jay - Way to wild for my tastes. QS is a swing dance and needs to be smooth and controlled. Flashy out of control "pivots" were unnecessary. Good movement otherwise, but was put off by his head out of position some of the time.

Katie - Very elegant and smooth mostly, but instead of keeping it simple, the choreo was too complex for this event.It highlighted her moving about in the frame and lost her poise at times.When they were moving, they were moving well.

Anita - I struggled to see much of them, so not many comments.The bits I saw were heavy and laboured, flat feet etc, but we were only allowed to see only a portion of their dance.

Re Jays Tango - I really enjoyed this,fantastic musicality, loved the modern feel whilst still dancing some authentic tango. Lovely choreo that worked excellently with the music. Well done Aliona.
Comments are not to critique the performance but for further improvement.
Legs should not be straightened in tango, far more flex is needed. You need to feel that you are "sitting" in everything you do - odd feeling when you are not used to it.
The feet in a couple of the lines could be better, need far more connection with the floor, pushing through the legs and feet - thighs should work incredibly hard in this dance.

Great write-up. Initially I thought Anton and Kevin looked like they were doing well with the floor craft but then a short while later Kevin and Kellie seemed to get boxed in. I saw only a little of Helen and Aljaz and they were stationary for most of that so will need to re-watch. I noticed jay and thought he seemed to lead well. Missed the pivots! No thoughts about the others as it was hard to focus. I'll re-watch it again with your thoughts in my mind.

Nice comments in your other post on Jay's tango. What did you think of Helen's VW?

So enjoyed this VW - I think the best I have seen on this show, from start to finish.
Loved the B & W start, with fab acting by Helen. I really really enjoyed this, everything about it was just right. Aljaz is such a great dancer, teacher and choreographer. They were in their own bubble out there, it was really moving to watch.
Such great musicality danced really well.
As with Jay, I'm nit picking for further improvement. Couldn't see the footwork too much so can't comment, but I would like to see a little more connection with the floor through the legs and feet, little more flex in knees.Normally I would said that I would like to see more drive from the standing leg, but for some reason, the complete softness really worked for this dance/music, so I am overlooking this. The drive from both man and lady is essential for VW but the very soft style suited this performance, and I would not have wanted Helen to have tried to drive in the wrong way and ruined the end result. It looked divine.
I would like to see her a little more to Aljaz right side, in his right arm more, and stretched out to the left and little more, than head back.
But overall, simply fabulous.

Obviously Its a little more complex than how I have written it, as lady you must ensure that your shoulders remain parallel to your partner at all times, as you connect, without affecting the shoulders and topline, you turn your centre to your partner slightly so there is always this feeling of tortion if thats the right word. With this, with your centre slightly turned, your spine will rotate, and your head will stretch out to the left and back. Its one of the usual optical illusions as to non dancers it looks like the lady has to lean back and put her head back, but no. I Know we all have different ways of thinking about things but in rotations I always think of my nose and elbow going OUT and around my partner. Indeed in anything like standing spin, my upper body is forward going into turn keeping core and body strong rather than keeping back.

Thanks Jennifer. It sounds from your write-up as though Helen and Jay stand out for you in the standard ballroom dances.

They certainly do Maggie, head and shoulders above the others.

Question about body contact position between Katie and Anton: Twice in their AT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn1vY8dIdBs they are connected together in what I think might be called contra-body ... can someone confirm, refute and enlighten me? One of the moments is at 1:09. She is to his right side but almost facing forward but not quite.

Hi Maggie, I'm perhaps not looking at the right part but if I am, this is not CBM.
In basic terms its the L leg moving forward as the torso( R shoulder forward) turns to the left.
Left leg back , torso moves to the right( left should forward) etc.

I think you are looking properly and what I thought might be contra-body movement is not CBM!

We have CBM which is the Contra Body Movement ( you do CBM going into a contra check - something always done badly on SCD) and this results in CBMP which is the Contra Body Movement Position.

Oh my, so many contras ! Is this a (series of) movement common to all ballroom dances, or specifically the standard ones? Not sure what a contra check is; why is it done badly on SCD?

It is a common term used in the standard ballroom dances. The contra check is a lovely but difficult to dance variation, usually centre-ish of the floor, but doesn't have to be exclusively. The couple will be in closed position, man will rotate on his right leg to obtain the necessary contra body movement, this will create a rotation of his torso to the left. He will step forward with his left leg in a checking type movement, so balance is equal weight between the 2 feet, the mans thigh area will feel very close together, with pressure through the feet to the floor, this will fee very balanced.
The lady, when she feels the man rotate through his right thigh, will rotate on her own left thigh to produce the same CBM, her right shoulder will come forward. She will step back on her right foot in the same CBM shape. At all times through this, the 2 bodies must be upright. Sometimes an inexperienced man will allow his body to move forward and over the lady to try and create the effect, but this is wrong, Similarly, the beginner lady often - as she knows the variation is coming up - will allow her weight through the back to fall backwards, again giving false effect and back weightedness.
An example of a contra check can often be seen before the fleckerl when the man does reverses to centre, they contra check before the fleckerl. I noticed particularly bad ones in Anita/Gleb QS routine - not the QS a thon - when QS was their dance. Sounds confusing I know...

Ooh, where - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFqd6507Tw4?

Maggie, there is no 'contra-body' contact in AT. It is not even relevant to this dance and pertains only to ballroom (as far as I know) but is not even part of the language of the AT.

We talk only about the 'conversation' of the embrace and the connection.

Sadly, last night's AT was not good at all and rather went against everything we do in AT, from the hold to the lead, to the movements, most of which were incorrectly led and performed. He also danced it in ballroom hold, which is an absolute no, no.

I don't think Anton enjoyed having to do an AT, as it goes against everything he knows to be honest. I felt rather sorry for him.

Not his finest hour, but I cannot blame him for that. AT is not something you can earn in two hours.

About the 55 - 57 seconds mark where they are dancing from the corner to the centre.