I don't have a problem with trained dancers on SCD. eg those who've been to a dancing or stage school. I just want them to declare previous experience as did Natalie Gunmede last year. Her dancing was exquisite and she freely admitted to dance training until injury put paid to her hopes of becoming a professional dancer; thus she never danced professionally. Compare this with DVO who tried to play down her West End and Broadway experiences as just 'sitting on a chair.'

Viewers don't like to be taken for mugs and DVO suffered accordingly.

This year both Pixie and Frankie have had previous training and Pixie has appeared in a musical on the West End stage; she also appeared in the BBC's 'Celebrate the Sound of Music.' It seems Frankie's training is limited to dance lessons after school before attending stage school but no early training can be dismissed.

I just wish someone - perhaps Zoe Ball - would ask the direct question "How much previous training have you had?" Dependent upon their honesty viewers could make an informed decision as to their advantage (?) over other contestants.

Hi Ignazio

I think Pixie's dance training did come up on It Takes Two either last week or the week before. Zoe mentioned it and Pixie said something about having to unlearn certain habits in order to adapt to Ballroom dancing (words to that effect, I wasn't paying close attention!). Also, looking elsewhere (at Twitter, Facebook and comments sections under articles about the show) viewers do seem to be aware of Pixie's previous experience. I don't get the impression it's being hidden or anything. I'd say Caroline's experience is probably being overlooked more. I notice people mention Pixie and Frankie's but rarely hers.

x

It definitely looks better when someone can dance better and Craig can say 'fa-bu-lous darling' to them. But it sidelines those who learn slower and people even complain that those dancers kick out the better ones if they have more support. I resent that a bit.

Pixie did appear in Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang aged 13, and the BBC's Celebrate The Sound of Music aged 14. But she only had minor parts and I don't know how much dancing was involved. That was 9/10 years ago, since then it appears to have been all singing, writing or acting.
It would certainly give her an advantage in terms of stage presence and playing to an audience, but that's the same for any of the actors/singers involved. How much advantage it gives her in ballroom/Latin dancing, I don't know.

Pixie admits her dancing training (though not ballroom and latin) at Italia Conte as someone has said Caroline is seldom mentioned and she has had some ballroom and latin and like Frankie and Pixie did other styles of dance as a kid

Err yes - she suffered all the way to the final.

I don't have a problem with it either. It doesn't mean they have been trained to professional dancer standard. It just means that they are more clued up than the rank beginners. If you think about it. if everyone started out with no experience whatsoever, just how embarrassing would the first few weeks be to watch?

Then there are those who are naturals, and I would say that Pixie, Frankie, Caroline and Jake all fall into that category. They have talent (i.e.. a natural aptitude for dancing). This is inborn. It cannot be taught, so you either have it or you don't. Scott, very obviously, doesn't. No matter how hard Joanne works him, and no matter how much effort he puts in, he will never be able to match the performance of the four previously mentioned. It may not be fair, but that is how talent works.

If the BBC don't have a problem with them having some dance training then I don't mind either. The actors will be able to act the story of the dance better perhaps, the athletes might have more stamina and strength for lifts, the pop singers be able to keep time to the beat - almost all of the contestants will have something they can bring to the show that gives them a bit of an advantage. Pixie is very balletic obviously, as was Natalie Gumede, but they weren't trained in ballroom or latin. Is every female contestant who perhaps did a bit of ballet and tap as a little girl going to be thought to have too much dance training ? Personally I prefer to see the likes of Pixie and Natalie than Judy or Scott !!

i really don't mind having people in the show who have previous experience of dancing, as i prefer to have a range of abilities, not all duffers, or all journeys - which from zero wouldn't take most people very far.

i don't go along with the bit about fessing up 'properly' as i expect everyone's idea of what 'properly' is will differ depending on whether they like / take a shine to / dislike said celeb.

i liked the dancing of both natalie and denise. dance wise i think natalie was better but personality wise i preferred denise. so it goes.

exactly..pixie and frankie are carrying the can for a number of others who MUST have had SOME dance training/experience before Strictly started....caroline, jake, thom,sunetra,even I suspect alison
Only the likes of Scott,Steve, Judy and Tim are REAL novices.
YOU CAN TELL! EVEN STEVIE WONDER COULD!

True, but didn't the training of NATALIE GO COMPLETELY AGAINST HER last year at the end? The public were turned off her, or many were anyway..... Whilst Abbey Clancey pretended she hadn't had hours of dance lessons or been in a girl band before! And went on to win.

Caroline has demonstrably had professional ballroom and Latin training before doing this show (including by Kristina, Brian Fortuna and James Jordan) since she did a tv series about it. So it can't even be said that her dance experience is ballet/tap/modern and nothing to do with ballroom and Latin.
That said, I am less bothered about the fact of clearly advantaged celebs as there are so many of them this year at least it is a competition between them and not a walkover for one to the final as in previous year. It does mean the genuine beginners look even worse and get subjected to a lot of unfair criticism.

Hi to you Sid.

I wasn't aware that Pixie had answered the question about previous training but from what I've googled she does seem to have played down her experience and I do wonder why she has escaped the flak that was meted out to Natalie Gunmede. Similarly Frankie - a beautiful dancer - but no threads of criticism such as Natalie endured.

I wasn't aware that Caroline had previous training - so yes I'd like to know the details. Furthermore there seem to be question marks over Simon and Sunetra. Apparently a former national dance champion who now runs a dancing school claimed that any previous training puts a contestant at an advantage - particularly those who attended dance classes as children and those who carried on dancing at stage school.

As for the untrained dancers despite suspicions no one seems able to come up with any evidence of dance training for Jake who is imo excellent but quite frankly leaves me cold.

x

Hello new in this forum.
I don't have no problems with any of the celebrities taking part on SCD with some sort of training in dancing. As long they don't do it for living is OK.
I'm a dance teacher for people with disabilities and teaching a partner to dance with a person in wheelchair is not the same as teaching a person with to dance with not problems at all. You teach the movements to not damage the person in wheelchair.
In my opinion even Caroline doesn't has any advantage, she may know a little bit of some basics but she learned just a couple of movements but not all the basic training because she needed first to understand movements that help her dance with a person with disabilities not with an able body.
And Frankie and Pixie just learn basic balletic dance when they were little.
Anyway I understand people feelings about this matter, in my opinions none of them are professionals dancers and they trying to compete like the rest.
Good night

She ended up in the dance-off twice. Perhaps if she'd been honest about her dance background instead of playing it down, she might have been able to avoid the dance-off and even win! As it was, she only made he final because the judges saved her twice.

We must be the only country in the world to care about contestants backgrounds, on DWTS around the world popstars and actors win without a fuss being made.

I agree with you. I do agree though with a previous poster that previous dance experience/training should be announced. It really annoyed me about DVO - I saw her in Chicago and she was dancing!!!

That's the main problem for me. I think it's good to have a variety of experience, but when so many of the contestants have had dance training, and some of it considerable, then it makes entering Strictly as a genuine novice a bit of a fool's errand.

Clearly, some of the trained contestants are also more naturally talented, but the advantage of previous training is you know whether or not you are talented, so can enter the show with a bit of a safety net, knowing you won't make a fool of yourself. Even if you haven't ever done the Cha Cha before, you still start the week with a significant advantage if you've been in a girl group that has worked with a choreographer for multiple dance routines and tours. You are used to dancing in heels and striking a pose etc.

I agree, especially the BIB. The norm is now the exception and it must be hard for someone like Gregg or Scott to be surrounded by so many good dancers. I've given up being bothered by how much previous experience a celeb may have and just try enjoy the show as it these days.

Viewers generally can't be trusted to adopt a consistent policy on this from year-to-year....or even from contestant-to-contestant in the same year. That's blatantly obvious from this very forum. To their credit a few FMs have admitted as much. So I don't really care if they're being mugged off because, in that sense, they are mugs.

One lesson I've learnt myself over the years is that if you take a hard line on anything you will end up mugging yourself off. In part that's why I'm relaxed about previous training...particularly as we have such incomplete information.

she was on the Beebs Dancing on Wheels, so would have garnered a pretty good basis of the steps and routine development as well as working with the pros and the demands of the show.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dancingonwheels...caroline.shtml

Excellent post and I agree with every word

Surely it is more of an "advantage" ( should any, really exist) to have had stage experience? Those celebrities who are used to performing live ( as opposed to say tv actors ) , in front of a reactive audience will not be so overwhelmed when they have to dance live in the studio.

Don't forget that an actor best known for playing a role on TV is not restricted to that. Many of them also do theatre work as well, and most probably got the bug originally by appearing in school plays.

It would be nice if people were a bit more open about it, but we don't know whether the Beeb asks them to, e.g. Fiona Fullerton went to ballet school, and that was never mentioned, nor Tim's tab dancing (!!!!).

Having had previous dance training doesn't mean you're any good. We've had a few people who've gone to stage school, where there will be some dance training, if only to help people hold themselves well, who haven't dazzled.

Perhaps the judges could say things like: "I'm being critical here, as I know you've had some dance training, therefore I expect more of you" or "You haven't done anything like this before, so in order to master this you need to do X"?