This week proved that Brendan is the best pro to sort choreography for his partner showing their strength respecting musicality and technique #respect font show off to distract from celeb doing badly

Since they were in the bottom two, I think he failed somewhat.

Did you and I watch the same show?

I think the opposite of the title is true - Brendan did a really poor job with that samba as it was obviously beyond Sunetra's capabilities in Latin.

On the other hand, Janette did a great job at choreography that hides a celebrity's shortcomings, even if it was lacking in actual Foxtrot content!

I didn't think it was horrendous - just the male dancer equivalent of a blokerumba. "my celeb looks awkward so i'll gyrate myself about to try and draw focus." well... it worked on me! more of the male pros should resort to such tactics.

sunetra probably would have been better off with a load of disco nonsense and a samba roll chucked in to keep the punters happy... but at least he actually gave her the dance content to have a go at.

Generally I'd say it's true. Excluding this weekend just gone where the samba and the backing dancers left her very exposed. NB There was the dress rehearsal wardrobe slip, which might have unnerved her before the live show.

Janette's salsa and her AS were genuinely eye-catching dances because of her amazing ability rather more than because of Jake IMO, whereas Brendan has choreographed for Sunetra more throughout the competition.

He's had the classier dances. Janette has produced the more dramatic ones, and has been able to draw on a certain menace in Jake's character.

But that's a completely inexpert view. Just guessing really

Of every week you could have chosen to vaunt Brendan's supposedly superior skills in choreography, you choose the week where he leaves Sunetra flailing around in the middle of the floor while he cavorts with the backing dancers. It was a big, old mess on every level. Brendan can generally choreograph decent ballroom. Latin? Not so much. Particularly when his celeb isn't much cop either. He might as well have come out with a big sign saying

"CAN'T BE ARSED. SHE'S CARP AT PARTY LATIN. JUST DANCE ROUND YOUR HANDBAG SUNETRA, NOBODY'LL KNOW THE BLOODY DIFFERENCE - IT'S BLAAAACKPOOOOOL!"

Hopefully they do have the waltz this week and Brendan might just spend more time on it than sketching out a few moves on the back of a fag packet.

If Brendan had a choice I'm sure he'd have got rid of those backing dancers. Sunetra is a bit floppy and those tall girls dancing upright behind her really exaggerated it.

You thought there was something fishy about her party Latin? Happen you are right.

I think Aljâz is great at choreographing routines to his partners strengths personally!

Brendan is hit and miss imo on Saturday he left Sunetra high and dry with that routine and it showed her faults to the max felt really sorry for her

I prefer Brendan's ballroom to his latin .

I've come here to say the same - his ballroom routines are always elegant, his partners always seem to do well in those - Lisa , Sophie and now Sunetra have done some stand - out dances. But I haven't been impressed with the Latin numbers, they always seem to come off badly. The Samba was just a lot of racing around trying to cover the Tower ballroom floor with poor Sunetra clinging on for dear life.

Kristina and Trent are the ones who stand out for me this year. I know they have help with choreo on some dances, and obviously it helps considerably if they get a good partner, but even so...

As others have said, Brendan is good at Ballroom, but doesn't seem to make the same effort with Latin - he certainly didn't do Sunetra any favours with that Samba.

So, strange timing of the op methinks.

I usually expect something classy from Brendan. I was annoyed with him this Saturday and felt extremely bad for Sunetra .Whether the backing dancers were foisted on him or not he's savvy enough to be able to have dealt with them better. Hen night theme? He looked like he preferred the tall leggy cool mates . I got the impression I was being introduced to Trent's wife's at the expense of Sunetra , however subtly .

Did you actually watch saturday's show?

There was nothing wrong with Brendans choreo. As usual if the correct technique is not applied, the dance will not look good. If you saw one of the female pro's dance that same routine with Brendan, it would have looked brilliant. Its not Brendans fault if Sunetra couldn't master, what is, very difficult technique. Plus the music was far to fast for a samba.
I suspect the theme and extra dancers were not Brendans choice.

Weii I beg to differ. It IS Brendan's fault that he choreographed a routine that his celeb could not master. That is not what he is supposed to do. I think he was showing off and left poor Sunetra hung out to dry.

It is not the routine, it is the lack of technique applied. Any routine, whether it be jive, Cha or any of the ballroom dances, HAS to have correct technique otherwise it looks rubbish. It is not Brendans fault, or due to the choreo. If the celeb cannot master the technique, no choreo will disguise bad dancing.

I felt the choregraphy & speed left Sunetra very exposed.

But then it's up to the pro dancer to mask as many of the deficits as they can - not shine a huge great spotlight on them by having the celeb trying to keep up on the end of a what is in effect a pro line dance.

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the whole backing dancer thing, and guess they are foisted on the pros - but it is then up to the pro to use them to enhance not detract as much as they can.

This post brings to mind that embarrassing showdance with Lisa Snowden where Brendan completely failed with his over-ambitious attempt at choreography. A small reminder - forgive me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAZ0nOmfWwY

2 things

isn't it Brenden's job to teach the correct technique? So it was his fault if she was not doing it correctly.

If she physically is unable to do the technique, then isn't it Brendens job to choreograph something she could do?


Personally I thought the premise of the whole show was to teach a celeb to dance AND help them win a competition. By choreographing a dance they either cannot do or they have not taught them to do properly then they have failed miserably in both aspects of the show.

I am not at all sure how in that case it is not Brendens fault?


He never learns see Victoria Pendleton, who. He assured us endlessly did everything perfectly IN REHERSAL, in competition she never ever delivered presumably due to nerves yet he choreographed increasingly difficult routines for her to mess up. Something simple done well is always better than over ambitious choreography showing up celebs failings. That is in this show, to win this competition, which ultimately is the whole premise of the show.

The image that stays with me unfortunately is of Sunetra at the side on the right in a line of Brendan and the backing dancers. Generally the backing dancers (which I'd not have if it was up to me) frame the celeb, to make them look better and more special. It felt off and almost hurtful somehow. But I think it's possible that Brendan was going for something that didn't quite work - maybe he was going for a 'nobody puts Baby in a corner' moment where he chose Sunetra and drew her into the spotlight, but it didn't come across like that.

All the pros do an amazing job, particularly bearing in mind they got no time with the backing dancers on this week's dances and don't ever see the costumes till Friday. I think ridiculous things are expected of them and none of them will get the choreography perfect every time. Brendan has done some gorgeous dances for Sunetra and I'm sure he will with the waltz.

The first time I saw that video, I cried of laughter

You are having a laugh, aren't you?

Brendan always seems to be at a loss how to deal with female celebs who struggle with the Latin dances. And to make things worse, he doesn't appear to notice it!
Look at Sophie last year. She struggled badly with Latin, but what did Brendan choreograph for her showdance? A Latin routine. Madness.

I know it was a case of taking up the floor with last Saturday's Samba, but there must have been other ways Brendan could have arranged that, without dragging poor Sunetra around the floor, obviously out of pace, and lacking her normal good posture in the rush to keep up.
Brendan has been an SCD pro long enough to have learned from his mistakes, but sadly it appears that he hasn't.