Sunetra was like an extra dancer in that samba . The goal of having extra dancers is to enhance the routine and I felt that all these 3 dancers overpowered her .
I STILL cant get over Sophie's and Brendan's showdance from last year. It was dreadful and didnt her play to her strengths at all

I thought it was weird sophie did a latin showdance last year too but I think it may have been down to the producers. Pretty much all of the finalists were stronger ballroom dancers than latin dancers. Susanna got a foxtrotty showdance, abbey got a tangoey one, natalie's was more like a quickstep. Someone had to do a latin one... it should have been natalie really bc she was the only one who couldve made a good fist of it. I think sophie had done one of brendans lovely old hollywood style ballroom routines she would have made the final.

Actually I absolve Brenden of the Latin mess of the Snowdance last year, Sophie was insistent she chose and loved it. I think she may have been afraid she may win.😃

It's one thing to take part but to actually win

I don't think the OP and I are watching the same show!!!

I was coming in the thread to say something similar, but you've put it perfectly and made me laugh out loud at the same time. I agree with all you say.

I have to say I thought that samba was dire and did Sunetra no favours at all

The backup dancers seemed to dial it back somewhat for the dance off. I'd say as a general rule of thumb that using male dancers for a female sleb looks much better.

Fine. Next time Ofsted are in I'll give my year fours some degree level calculus to do. When the inspectors fail me for giving them work that's way beyond their capabilities, I'll simply tell them that there's nothing wrong with the work and it's not my fault if the children can't master what is, very difficult maths.

Facetious? Probably, but the point is there. As a teacher, I tailor my activities to the ability of my pupils and do my damnedest to ensure they have enough technique to be able to complete said activities. If they can't do it, it reflects on me; I can't simply say, "It's not my fault they're thick!" and absolve myself from responsibility, which, in effect, was what Brendan did with that routine. It felt like a case of - I'll do what I want, show myself off and Sunetra can flounder if she can't keep up.

the other female dancers were expert, and it took away from sunetra who was made to look leaden-footed. Also his 'showdance' with sophie last year was a disaster...a series of half-baked lifts which cost her a place in the last three.

I mean waht was the point of those backing dancers ? 3 tall, leggy, pro female dancers to make the celeb look bad and feel inferior . I bet Sunetra felt intimidated having them there .

Calm down. I doubt very much Brendan "absolved himself of responsibility". Its in his interest to ensure or try to ensure that Sunetra gets through to the next round.
I can see you are an experienced dancer and know the difficulties in Samba, so no need to spell out how difficult it is. It is probably the hardest of the Latin dances to dance well. As I said in earlier posts, Sunetra did not help herself by making so many mistakes. In the counter promenade runs and many of the groups, she was on the wrong leg, but I'm sure you saw that. So many different changes in rhythm and timing don't make it easy.
I fail to understand why you cannot accept the lack of technique is clear to see. The foundations of dance is solid technique.
Brendan would have done his best but not everyone is good at every dance. She has done well in the other dances, the Samba is not one for her.
Going back to technique...any fool can learn steps that is easy. But ask yourself, what is the difference between the standard of Judy and say, Pixie ? Nothing to do with routine, its the technique and the way it is applied, Pixie, has had dance training of course, but it is because her technique is better, she is the better dancer.
I've had this drummed into me for so many years.

I agree, they should have altered the theme ( which I assume the Producers gave Brendan) so that any backing dancers were male,

It was a mess, but then again Brendan cannot choreograph Latin to save his life and he is also a lousy teacher, unless he has someone really good who can showcase him.

He barely covers technique or frame or axis, but prefers to fling his slebs around rooms. His idea of a lead is a combined drag/push which means they are nearly always off axis.

Sunetra never got the samba rhythm right, it was all too fast for her, she couldn't keep up and Brendan did not even try to help her. Wrong choreography for her ability. Mega fail!

He's useless and I find him really irritating to watch.

Of course, anyone can see that, so don't be patronising please (I know your post wasn't addressed at me, but the point remains).

What you seem to be failing to grasp is the very simple point that Brendan could and should have choreographed a much less complicated routine - nothing wrong with pausing and waiting for a few beats sometimes, for example - hitting a line and holding it.

Had he done that, and had he concentrated on teaching Sunetra fewer steps, then there's a significant chance her technique would have better. To what extent, no-one knows, but with fewer steps to remember her mind would undoubtedly have been able to concentrate on it more - that's why we can all do a short sequence well with a bit of practice, but a longer one is more difficult. There's nothing to say Brendan had to include that many steps, and I doubt the judges would have criticised much if he'd produced a routine that was lighter on content if Sunetra had danced it well.

So, not a fan then?

I can't agree with you - I think he is very talented with Ballroom dances; Latin - not so much. Plus, he may have been on the show too long....

It was within her capabilities, if you noticed in the dance off, she was almost perfect, She nailed it. The problem was first time out, she went wrong early on, got on the wrong leg and never recovered.
Why would you want to pause and wait beats in Samba, its not that kind of dance. It travels, its continuous with its movement and rhythm.
Sorry if my post sounded patronising it was not meant.
The routine was fine, Sunetra just was dancing on the wrong leg through most of it, first time out, she did great in the DO.

I think the main problem with Brendan and Sunetra is the simple lack of training time Sunetra has.

She said on ITT last night that they put together that routine in just 9 hours, so it wasn't that bad an attempt, given that she probably only had time to get the routine learnt, never mind polish it to any degree.

Given the time restraints, Brendan could and should have put together a simpler routine for her, but I don't think that he's a bad choreographer, and he does put together some gorgeous routines.

And FWIW, I think that Lisa had a massive input into that terrible Bacofoil showdance. Brendan has never showed any desire to do a routine like that before or since, , and it was interesting that we'd had the performance by the world champion showdances in the semi final.

He is a great dancer and when he competed, was one of the worlds best latin dancers with Camilla. I like his ballroom too. Sunetra has done so well in all her other dances and Brendan gets no praise there, but as soon as Sunetra has a dance that perhaps may no suit her, suddenly its all Brendans fault.
The music was so fast for Samba for one.
The routine only looked too complicated ( to some) because she kept going wrong so much. She would not have the experience or skills to know how to either cover it up or correct it. Under difficult circumstances, Brendan of course had to "steer" her into position....what was he supposed to do? Live on TV as part of a comp, they couldn't stop, he had to get her back on tack to be in the correct position.

It's no surprise that he hasn't shown any desire to repeat the experience! (Particularly if he knows how it was recieved in this place.)

That's interesting, I didn't know that.

But I still think he has produced his best work on SCD in ballroom dances, particularly thinking of Lisa Snowdon (before the showdance, obviously!) and his foxtrot with SEB. But maybe over the longer term I could be forgetting some good latin routines - before SEB he had a few 'challenging' partners in a row, with not much to remember at all.

Never have been a fan Mr C I do not like his style of dancing at all. I find him arrogant and slightly up his own rear. Yes, his Ballroom is much better.

We can't expect pros to be good at everything and most dancers (myself included) tend to favour one dance form over another. I love a Foxtrot but also love proper Cuban salsa and son. Brenda likes to wear tails and look elegant because in reality he is only elegant on the floor.

Good point about too many years on SCD. I think he has been there too long and is getting lazy and very complacent!

I think generally speaking you're right OP, he is good at choreographing to his celebrity's strengths. Unfortunately, last week's effort wasn't a great example and it didn't suit Sunetra. However, in previous years he did wonders with Sophie Ellis Bextor and did his level best with Victoria Pendleton. I disagree with those who say he can't be bothered. He just got it wrong last week.