Probably because it was the first time he had danced quickstep

Blimey, I'd like to see you learn to quickstep in a week! Most quicksteps are done later on in the competition I think but Peter has had to go from having three weeks to learn one dance, to just one week to learn a particularly difficult one... He did really well considering he isn't a dancer and probably hasn't had any previous training! Janette is a brilliant teacher for him, brings out the best.

I saw that, and wanted to know if anyone could clarify her explanation. It was a pity she didn't choose that for her obligatory one per session demo

Slow and plodding? I thought he looked like a bucking bronco at times!

He's done more dancing and training than ainsley and carole and iwen and one or two others, obvs!

They are all in the same boat, they all had 1 week to learn a new dance


It really isn't a particularly difficult dance just fast and Janette isn't a brilliant teacher, so far we have seen her teach Jake to wriggle his bum really well but when asked to produce ballroom he could never do well, because she can't do it well herself.

As for the mess she made of the screeching designer whose name escapes me, she didn't produce a recognisable dance with him. No one including the judges knew what that thing was he danced on the table

She is a Latin specialist and it shows.

And yet she couldn't teach PA to push his feet through to the floor, one of the most basic principles of the Cha Cha Cha.

I'm no dance expert but i thought it was frenzied and his footwork was chaotic

So not a good teacher even in her specialism.

You know I have long thought Janettes entire reason for being on this show is that she is absolutely tiny and can be flung about like a ball or dangle on a rope.

I get it she is fearless but dancing is more than that.

Dear me you have been reading the Daily Mail too much, I doubt anyone at the BBC thinks an 80s pop star is going to appeal to people who were not even born in his decade. At the very least I am sure they can do maths.

To be fair to Janette (and I am far from being her number one fan), just because Peter didn't do it doesn't mean it wasn't taught. Sometimes students don't listen to their teachers.

Same with Tristan and Jamelia, and Ola and Iwan. In fact I'm pretty sure from her past record that Ola would have tried to drum it in to Iwan, but he couldn't do it and so eventually she gave up and choreographed round him. I'm less convinced about Tristan and Janette, since they had more capable celebs.

I thought his quickstep wasn't too bad, but a bit weird in places.

Julien McDonald

Yes pretty much how I felt though to be fair, it could have been fabulous, I think I was too mesmerized by his trousers to watch the dance properly.


He does appear to be the judge's pet doesn't he? Very odd that all the judges seem to be so enamored by him especially so early on in the series.
He's had decades of practice at finding the camera so I can't say that impressed me.

I am not a dance teacher and have only been ballroom dancing for (not even) a couple of years so someone more experienced PLEASE jump in but this is something my dance teachers have spoken to me about before (though not in terms of...whatever step Peter was doing at that moment.)

Basically, Peter was transferring his weight from his standing leg by just throwing the other leg out. The power and drive should come from the standing leg by bending the knee and pushing off, not by swinging the other leg.

I think this is close to what Karen said, Ithough i am struggling to picture it (visual learner you see ). But thanks for confirming. Perhaps if I dig out some clips of it being done properly i will see the proper action and catch on to the explanation.

I wondered about that description of Karen's too. So did she mean they way in Latin styles you push into the floor to get the movement through the hips but in this instance use it to produce a spring rather than lateral movement?

Okay let me give it another bash. First of all - I accept no responsibility for any DSers who fall flat on their faces trying this! Secondly - this is not really how you do it when you dance as there's no sense of control in what I describe below, but just to explain the concept of having power in the standing leg rather than the free leg.

Try walking with very stiff straight legs - do you find that to take a step forward you need to swing your leg out? Now stand on one leg with your other leg raised just a cm off the ground and bend the knee of the leg your standing on and lean forward slightly while straightening as if youre stepping onto the other leg but DON'T STEP OUT YET just keep pushing with your knee like it's a piston. Before you fall your other leg will come out and "catch you" but the leg you bent has done all the work. It's not exactly the same as what you do when dancing but a similar sort of concept.

It is veeery tough for me to describe verbally - I'm sure there's a super neat, dance teacher way of describing "push through the standing leg" that makes sense to non dancers.

I think you drop more into the knee than you would in latin - "piston" is a word my dance teachers seem to use a lot. I feel a bit out of my depth in trying to explain it tbh!

I wish Jennifer F was still here - I bet she'd know how to put it!

Piston makes sense. As for falling on ones face. I have been trying to reproduce what Karen's was talking about since dinner time. But all I get is a hop.


Does the heel make contact/kiss the floor?

I wish I had many years more worth of experience to share with you but sadly my lack of it is showing! Maybe one for the newly revived latin and ballroom dance questions?

No worries. I appreciate the effort you have made and it has provided some insight. Also don't worry too much about the vocabulary thing. It takes time for anyone to learn the jargon in dance as with other things, so when you have a complete novice its a question of using analogies and trial and error until you see the light flicker in their eyes.

You should hear some of the weird and wonderful ways I use to explain posture and lead with our Argentine Tango students. Some of them are physically impossible i.e make the top of your body heavier than the bottom, raise your centre of balance into the solar plexus area etc. Its not about what happens but about finding a description that resonates and people differ with what they will latch onto. You just plug away until you get the bingo moment.

Makes sense to me! I know exactly what you mean, which doesn't mean I would know how to do it!

It surprises me that Peter's talent is called "innate" and Jay arms were described as being "naturally fluid" in another thread. Nothing to do with their years of experience and/or training then.

I have just watched his QS for the first time having walked out the room when he came on Sat night (I am certainly no fan of his). In my slightly biased eyes the only thing resembling a QS was the music!