From what I've seen of Pixie thus far this Tango could present two major challenges for her - stepping outside of her comfort zone of fluid movement, and delivering a fierce characterisation.

She reminds me of Natalie last year - having walked into the training room on Day 1 already trained in ballet and tap dancing, and therefore already equipped with the with basic skills necessary for most of the dances.

But the Tango is one dance where some of those basic skills can be more of a hindrance than a help.

I've just watched Natalie's to see if she was able to master what is expected from a Tango - or whether Artem simply choreographed a routine to conceal her lack of ability to master technique alien to her, as he did with the majority of her dances I did watch before I gave up on the series.

The judges allocated her Tango three 9s and a 10. I spared myself the trauma of listening to their excuses for failing to penalise her -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS5UMIWYnpk

If you're in any doubt about what she failed to deliver, watch this routine from Kimberley and then watch Natalie's again -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5z-5-EE3vY

Btw - I'm sure nobody else managed to achieve anywhere near Natalie's expertise by the end of the series. I'll be surprised if the others got anywhere near the standard of Natalie's Week 8 Charleston.

I haven't been able to bring myself to watch Abbey's Week 13 Waltz. It would be horrible to discover that the judges awarded four 10s for exactly the same cleverly choreographed but technically void routine she delivered in Week 1.

However - will Pixie deliver the staccato movement and appropriate characterisation Natalie failed to master for her Tango?

The training footage on ITT today showed the fluid movement which is Pixie's strength. Not very promising.

But if she does fail to deliver an appropriate routine, at least we may learn a lot more about the judge's agenda from the way they mark it.

I've always thought Natalie's Tango was horrendously overmarked - for me it was no better than Sophie's Rumba that week, so either Natalie deserved three 8s and a 7, or Sophie deserved three 9s and a 10, or (more likely) they were both worth about 34/40.

It feels like people are obsessed with Pixie, I look forward to her and Trent, what she did in the past is not something that bothers me.

This thread seems to be more about Natalie than Pixie

Are we not a year late for this ?

What prompted the post in the first place were a couple of rather bizarre suggestions that Caroline could end up in the bottom two tomorrow. I personally can't think of a dance Caroline would be more suited to than the Samba, and the judges' recent scoring suggests Caroline is one of the celebs they don't want to see in the dance-off.

Initially I intended to point out that other celebs do have challenging dances for a variety of reasons. Luckily I changed course, and avoided paranoid reaction from followers of six celebs rather than two.

For me it's an intriguing idea that once a dancer has highly-developed fluidity of movement, it might feel so "wrong" to dance in any other way that staccato movement is a lot more difficult to master than it is for a less accomplished dancer with adequate core strength.

Hopefully somebody experienced in teaching dance will be good enough to offer an informed opinion.

I never thought Natalie was as amazing as most people seemd to anyway. As for Pixie, I'll be interested to see whether you're right OP, and the style/aggression of a Tango just might not suit her.

Natalie's ballroom turned out to be massively disappointing for such a talented dancer.

Having just watched her American Smooth it confirmed the suspicions raised early in the series by the abomination the judges waived through under the title "Viennese Waltz".

It seems she was simply unable to master the art of traveling smoothly across the floor in hold. Little wonder they allowed her to skip the foxtrot.

I'm really hoping Pixie is better at mastering new technique.

I don't think the Tango styling and temperament will particularly faze Pixie.

That's not a high standard you are setting, as her Charleston was not even the best (Charleston) in her series Heck, even most of her fans would agree that it was one of her weaker dances (in terms of performance, obviously not in terms of scoring, LOL).

Agree with the tango comments, though. Even if I do believe that Pixie will deliver a superior tango (in comparison to Natalie).

Maybe,but balance aside,comparisons are valid.
I found myself thinking about Natalie after watching Pixie's first two routines; those same flashes of honed technique that raise an eyebrow,only to be left at the end of the routine feeling strangely unsatisfied

BIB is exactly what I've been feeling about Pixie, thanks for putting it into words. I just feel that if she really, really went for it, she could've had 10s week 2, and as such feel shortchanged by all her dances so far.

But I don't find Pixie and Natalie remotely alike. Or I should say, I don't find Trent and Pixie remotely like Artem and Natalie, since the pro is quite important in this comparison.

I thought Artem and Natalie tended to subvert the format of Strictly by performing a more AS version of all the ballroom. Trent and Pixie are more traditional. I prefer the latter. In fact I really like how Trent has choreographed for Pixie so far.

On a personal level I find Pixie more relaxed than Natalie. It feels more like she is doing SCD for fun.

I would actually agree with this in a similar way to Natalie and also Denise (if we're compairing Pixie to 'ringers' of other series) both seemed more as though they were taking it like it was extremely serious. But I think that may be down to the pro pairings they got. Artem always comes across extremely serious and I doubt the mass competitive streak that runs through James Jordan helped Denise either.

Tell us A LOTT about Pixie - I see what you did there!

We never got to see Natalie's best dance.
<mournes jive and hair>

I think for Natalie it was a chance to reconnect with something that she had loved doing and had entertained vague ambition in so it came pre packaged with a whole lot of expection and hope. I don't think that it's ... important? ... for Pixie. It's a fun thing she enoys but her thing is music.

I do think that Natalie's back issues can't be underestimated in the part they played in dictating a lot of what went into the routines. She was probably lucky she was with Artem who had form in that area already, but I do think most of the pros would have struggled as much with the injury constraints.

Have to say, I do like Trent. He seems to be doing his best to make it fun for Pixie and it's nice to see a pro with a contender who hasn't started to get super competitive and twitchy as yet!

Yes, I'm really looking forward to seeing how she channels the Tango vibe. For me there is something about Tango and Pixie that doesn't seem like an easy fit but I'm hoping to be proved wrong.

Just watched Kimberley's Tango and have to say she was harshly marked. I thought she did a great job and preferred it to Natelie's.....

...would that be Kimberley's 40-scoring Tango by any chance?

Which might have been more of an issue if they were in the same series?

Yes to all of that.

Oh Dear Oh Dear Oh Dear.

After the jive, waltz, and quickstep, which required a smiley happy face from Pixie, I thought the rumba would be the test - could she pull off a serious look for a change. She managed it beautifully - producing one of the best rumba's we've seen. I think she'll give a great performance tonight, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Trent has devised for her - he's showing us some really good choreography.

They're not alike,but for me they are cast in a similar role.
Agree,the pro is important and I think you're right about the choreo.