This should be a fun one for you lot

What dance do you think is....

The best danced?

The worse danced?

Danced too much?

Not danced enough?

ooh good questions

Worst danced - rumba, without a doubt, the celebs are just to self conscious to do it any justice whatsoever - there are very few that have managed a decent rumba

Best Danced - hmmm, possibly the Charleston

Danced too much - not sure what you mean

Not danced enough - again, not too sure what you mean

Best dance? For me, Argentine Tango...intricate footwork and exciting lifts!

Worst dance? I don't really dislike any, but I find the Waltz very dull

Too much of? Waltz, haha.

Not enough of? Charleston...would love to see some more!

The best danced?
Charleston

The worse danced?
Rumba

Danced too much?
Waltz

Not danced enough?
Charleston

The best danced - quickstep, most celebs manage a halfway decent QS

The worse danced - rumba, a beautiful dance that's always murdered on scd!

Danced too much - charleston (hate it) & American Smooth, because nearly every ballroom dance is done as a Smooth, instead of International style

Not danced enough - decent Latin!

all of the above wish they had never included Charleston and Smooth just dont belong on show

The best danced? Waltz

The worse danced? Any of the latins, probably rumba

Danced too much? Charleston

Not danced enough? Argentine Tango

The best danced? Charleston. I just feel it's not as challenging as the others and so anyone above a certain level can 'master' it.

The worse danced? Not sure about this one... Probably Rumba tbh because the males rarely pull it off.

Danced too much? Charleston and Cha Cha Cha I think. Everyone always seems to do them. I don't mind so much with the CCC as it's pretty fundamental I think and I like it.

Not danced enough? Argentine Tango - I know it's difficult but we only get 3 or 4 each year.

The best danced? Charleston - it's the easiest to really nail, and the emphasis on performance can cover a multitude of sins.

The worst danced? Paso Doble - a lot of the intricacies get lost, and even Chelsee's was only a 9.5/10 really.

Danced too much? Cha-Cha-Cha - not so much too much, but too much too early, so we never really get an amazing one. Charleston too, although it suffers less in quality (I even thought Judy Murray's was undermarked).

Not danced enough? Argentine Tango - more than 2 good ones a season would be nice.

...wha?

Nearly everyone danced it last year - more so than a great deal of the 10 dances. They need to cut down on the number of Charlestons if anything.

Best danced? - either Foxtrot or Viennese Waltz (just going by the fact that we've never had a truly horrendous version of each shows that it's difficult to screw up unless you forget the routine - I think the lowest Viennese Waltz score is about 23 still?)

Worst danced? - Argentine Tango, just because for me there's a huge disparity between seeing it done professionally (where it's exciting like almost no other dance is) and seeing it done by the celebrities (where I find it kind of dull), whereas with almost every other dance I prefer watching a really good celebrity do it than a professional pair.

Danced too much? - Cha-Cha-Cha, good for week one and the early stages, but it feels limited in what you can do with it unless you think really creatively. (Also Charleston - I remember series 10 I feel like everybody did both Cha-Cha-Cha and Charleston and we only got about 3 pasos and waltzes and sambas)

Not danced enough? - A lot of people dodge the Samba, when it's one of my favourites and it's good at sorting out the wheat from the chaff.

The best danced? Waltz usually. It's a very simple dance. Yes, it looks better with great technique, but it has the simplest moves and basic count. Hard to trash it.

The worse danced? Most if not all of the Latin - the disassociation and flexibility required is too much for most of them. Their salsa is always horrendous. Ballroom people/pros do not understand Argentine Tango either so it's pretty hard for them to teach it. They always miss the finer points and Len does not help with his ridiculous and ignorant stories about 'gauchos and women of the night' rubbish. Stupid man. Pah.

Danced too much? Charleston. At best quirky, at worst a dreadful pantomime. Hate it. Rumba - virtually impossible to find the finesse and flexibility required to make this look half decent. Average English person too uptight and embarrassed to dance it well. Mostly eye-wateringly twee and awkward.

Not danced enough? Decent, genuine salsa and proper Argentine Tango. They do not understand American Smooth either.

The Charleston does liven the show up a bit though.

The best danced?

Different depending on the celeb but most of them manage to do pretty nice, entertaining and watchable waltzes.

The worse danced?

Rumba. I love rumba but the way it's handled on the show is pretty terrible. I hate the piano ballad rumbas they often do that are more like contemporary dances than a proper rumba. The male celebs never seem to even try to use their hips either which is disappointing.

Danced too much?

Charleston. If they were more like Sophie Ellis Bextor's charleston I'd enjoy it more but I just find it a bit mad and manic and ott.

Not danced enough?

Samba and paso doble. They are tough but I think they're fun to watch (and to perform)

Best danced - Quickstep - most people manage a decent effort, which is surprising as it's also the fastest of the ballroom dances so the most tiring

Worst danced - Rumba - with a few honorable exceptions, most people get their worst score on it, and also Samba - it's that dreaded 'double-bounce'

Danced too much - Charleston - just don't like it much and nobody seems to quite know what it's supposed to be

Not danced enough - Paso - if done right it's brilliant and showstopping (but can also be a bit of a car crash)

Couldn't agree more. Charlestons, at best, looks horrid; at least with the Smooth they have stopped trying to do a Smooth Quickstep!!!!! When I told my USA dance teacher friend that's what Anton & Erin (I think it was who did it first) were doing, he said his colleagues (all 'Smooth' experts) were rolling on the floor laughing. A&E were not the only ones to make the same mistake.

The best danced? Paso Doble

The worse danced? Rumba

Danced too much? Rumba

Not danced enough? Rock'n'Roll, disappeared after two dances, I think they should have kept it. Of the current dances, maybe Argentine Tango.

Oh Nice one OP.

Best danced - I am inclined to say Waltz or Viennese Waltz . But this probably just shows I don't have a good eye or know what to look for in either of these.

Worst danced - I guess the rumba because so many contestants are inhibited by it.

Danced too much - For me its the salsa. It could almost qualify as my worst danced in many cases because usually what passes for salsa in SCD contains very little authentic salsa. The problem starts with shockingly poor music choices which have nether the timing or the tempo for the salsa, quite aside from having no Latin feel. It makes me cross that SCD see fit to churn out any old scramble of disco, Latin hustle and general musical theatre show dancing and call it salsa. It disrespects a dance which has a long tradition even if it is informal.

Not danced enough _ I love a paso preferably to a good fiery Spanish inspired track with lots of drama and at least an attempt to incorporate some Flamenco.

Completely agree as usual. Though I would add proper Paso as not Danced enough and worse danced!

BIB my sentiments exactly.

Yeah I don't really get strictly's version of american smooth. I didn't think AS had lifts, plus why is it they are usually VWs or foxtrots when AS would also have tango and slow waltz? And why have american smooth but not american rhythm?

I'm not a huge fan of the american styles, personally, but none of it really makes sense does it?

That's interesting. The point being I assume that an American Smooth should be ..well..uhmm... smooth? So if you start with a dance that is inherently more jaunty the final result can't be smooth?

In competitive latin and ballroom dancing there are two different styles - international and american. The american counterpart of international standard (ballroom as opposed to latin) is called american smooth and is comprised of waltz, foxtrot, viennese waltz and tango.

Quickstep is an international standard dance, not an american smooth dance so shouldn't really have been named as one on strictly.

The style of ballroom dance that is used in competitions worldwide is known as International & consists of Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep & Viennese waltz, and are all danced throughout in closed hold.

American Smooth (which also has it's own competitions) consists of just Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot & Viennese Waltz, and the couples have far more freedom to move as they wish (within reason of course) and do not have to stay in hold. Apart from the ascetics, trying to dance a quickstep as a "Smooth" would actually be quite dangerous on a crowded floor.
Unlike Strictly "Smooths" there are no lifts.

America also has it's own style of Latin - which they call Rhythm (i.e. Rhythm cha cha, etc.) and I believe there are about 8 or 9 dances in the rhythm section - standard 5, plus swing, bolero, mambo, etc.

I know of some dancers who learn and compete in both US & International styles - about 25 dances to study altogether!!!!!

American rhythm (sadly) doesn't have samba or paso dole - the dances are; cha cha cha, rumba, east coast swing, bolero and mambo.

The cha cha cha and rumba are also danced in international latin, but in a slightly different way (different speed, some different steps I think and the focus on straight legs isnt there.) ECS I think is a bit like jive, bolero is another slow one a little bit like rumba, and a big shrug of the shoulders from me on what mambo is, haha. Is it like samba? I feel sad that there's no samba in american rhythm! It's such a great dance!

I watched some final rounds of the emerald ball dance competition for pro american rhythm recently and was pretty amazed by how different it is to international latin.

edit: I think mambo might be based on salsa?