How much do the women (excluding Alison) weigh?

I suspect 55kg to 70kg.

Even at 55kg that is quite a lot to lift up in the air.

I would imagine they're all between 7½ - 8 - 9½ stone tops. Even Natalie as tall as she is, which is light for someone her height.

I was wondering if Alison will put any lifts in her American smooth? Could she lift Aljaz? Is there anything in the rule book to say is must be the lady lifted? I know it happened on Dancing on ice some tears ago. The pro skater lifted her male celeb because he was such rubbbish on skates

Gosh, you got me interested as lifting is one of my favourite subjects. (Thus my handle...)

As a lady master (50 yr old) lifter, I weigh just under 70kg, and can lift 64kg over my head in competition. But I train for that, and the male celebs are unlikely to have the fitness or technique to know to use their legs for power and not their backs.

In true American Smooth competitions no lifts are allowed; lifts can only be used in demonstration/cabaret exhibition dances. In Strictly 3 lifts are allowed, but that doesn't mean they have to use them. As far as Alison & Aljaz are concerned, I think if Alison was to lift Aljaz it would just be a cheap gimmick.

Seems to me that the rules about lifts have largely been dropped. Only Craig seems bothered.

Yes, the old saying of one rule for one, and different rule for others? Wonder if any of the 'better' dancers started introducing 'illegal' lifts, if they would be penalised? Bet they would.

As you say only Craig seems bothered as by this stage in the competition in previous years illegal lifts had all been penalised.

Jake had a lift near the end of the Quickstep, but no-one mentioned it.

Jake had what is technically called, an assisted jump, not a lift.

The pro braking the rules left and right this year has been Anton. He has been fliying and throwning poor Judy all over the place.

I thought Karen Hardy explained that it was a jump if you could get there by yourself?

It looked to me like Jake definitely lifted her.

I tried to figure the meaning out when Rav assisted Aliona to go a bit higher than she would have got with her jump.
It seemed to me that you can use the man and the man's necessary movement that he would have to make to go with you on your jump, to assist your jump, but if he actually puts extra effort in that assists you to get to somewhere you couldn't get to from your own efforts, then its a lift.

I think it was a lift definitely. But it wasn't very flashy so flew under the radar.

The presence or absence of lifts makes no difference to me. I am more concerned by the absence of appropriate steps than the presence of inappropriate steps/moves. So I'm happy for Anton can do as many lifts as he likes as long as he has sufficient recognisable ballroom steps in his routines and he normally does have these.

I'd like to see them try and lift me then! (about 5ft 6/7 barefoot, and I'm in the upper 60s in kilos)


As for Jake's 'lift', I did have a look when I rewatched it for my blog, and it is what I would call an 'assisted jump'. It's a bit of a grey area if I'm honest - as well as Aliona's with Rav, Natalie did one with Audley back in series 9 and I had to ask at the time as I thought it was a lift. Scott and Joanne seem to have some 'assisted jumps' in their Foxtrot routine this week - if you watched Dancing on Ice then you would recognise them.

Here is a converter to Stones

http://www.laterlifetraining.co.uk/w...ion-chart1.pdf

60 kg = 9 1/2 Stone
70 kg = 11 Stone