DS Forums

 
 

Best Charleston 2015 So Far?


View Poll Results: Best Charleston 2015 so far...
Anita & Gleb 12 4.76%
Jamelia & Tristan 15 5.95%
Kellie & Kevin 9 3.57%
Peter & Janette 33 13.10%
Georgia & Giovanni 183 72.62%
Voters: 252. You can't vote on this poll right now - are you signed in?

Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 20-11-2015, 21:02
TerryM22
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 17,987
As stated earlier, I LOVE the Charleston and liked every one of the above - obviously, some more than others - for various reasons. So, in judging this, I'm going to use two criteria:

1) Ambition/Originality of Routine (out of 10)
2) Execution of Routine (out of 10)

Anita & Gleb
Of the five, this was my least favourite...and I hate to say it...as I love Anita & Gleb as a couple. However, this was not one of their best - I didn't enjoy its contemporary styling. I would have loved to see Anita in typical Charleston get-up..I think she would have really carried it off I also hated the fact that she danced in flats - the ladies should ALWAYS dance Charleston in heels. And WHERE WAS THE SWIVEL???!

What I did like was the storytelling, some great tricks and the fact that Anita produced auch a great effort - especially for Week 2.

Ambition/Originality: 8/10
Execution: 9/10
TOTAL = 17/20



Jamelia & Tristan
Jamelia's dance of the series without doubt. I don't think I remember a time she enjoyed herself more on Strictly. Tristan produced a wonderful routine which played to all her best strengths and, as a result, she received a much-needed boost of confidence.

I loved the Josephine Baker inspired-style which made it slightly unique to the Charlestons we are used to on Strictly. Great storytelling, well-executed - a very pleasant surprise all round. Jamelia should be very proud of herself for this attempt. But again - why the dancing in FLATS???

Ambition/Originality: 8/10
Execution: 9/10
TOTAL: 17/20



Kellie & Kevin
When I saw their choice of music, I had very high hopes for this routine - and K&K did not disappoint in the silightest.

Their embracing of the whole theme, the magnificent use of props and their incredible synchronicity made me smile throughout the whole routine. For me, they had the best timing by a mile - as Bruno would say "[they] were right on it!". A absolutely flawless routine which was badly underscored by the judges.

Ambition/Originality: 9/10
Execution: 10/10
TOTAL: 19/20



Peter & Janette
I saw this routine about three days after it was originally performed and had not deliberately avoided all press & social media coverage on Strictly before doing so. On first viewing, I was cheering and clapping lie no tomorrow by the end, I was THAT impressed.

For me, this is the most ambitious of these five Charlestons and while Peter was not perfect, he well and truly sold the routine. Add in the fact that Janette, for me, has never been better and you have a truly winning combination.

I loved the mirror introduction, the different speeds it took in and, of course, all the tricks. Wonderful choreography (whoever did it), totally embraced by this couple. I would go as to say, routine-wise, this is my all-time favourite on Strictly.

Ambition/Originality: 10/10
Execution: 9/10
TOTAL: 19/20



Georgia & Giovanni
Again, another routine which I knew would come together just by the amazing choice of music. Throw in the fact it was the ever-rising Team GG performing to it, the routine itself, the costume, the make-up - well, what was not to like?

Although I did not enjoy it so much as a routine as some of the above, it has been said that Bob Fosse choreography is notoriously difficult to perform and, with that in mind, Georgia pulled out every stop going. Its just a pity Giovanni didn't because he visibly appeared to be "under-dancing" to me. Now, kudos to him if he wanted to make the dance 'all about Georgia' but it lost a little bit of "WOW" factor there for me.

Nevertheless, their effort was truly spectacular, with Georgia actively throwing every inch of her body in to it. Like K&K, some great & clever use of props, loads of classic moves mixed with plenty of lifts and tricks all executed beautifully. Like Peter & Janette, there were mistakes but these were barely noticeable. Again, like Peter & Janette & K&K, one that will live in the memory for a very long time

Ambition/Originality: 9/10
Execution: 9/10
TOTAL: 18/20



So, while this was a very closely-run fight (as totally expected), for me, this is a tie between Kellie & Kevin and Peter & Janette.

Well done to all!!!

Well done to all indeed, thank you jiroos
TerryM22 is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 21-11-2015, 16:57
DiamondBetty
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Manchester Lindy
Posts: 945
Depends on what you mean by best

It's funny that your opinion is pretty much at odds with mine JRoos - not that I am saying you are wrong, just that we come at it from two different angles.

So, IMO:

The routine that would stand up best in the contemporary Swing dance community (where Charleston lives in the real world) is Kellie and Kevin's - it's complicated, musical and really well timed (shame the good stuff was mostly eclipsed by the stupid theme).

Partnered Charleston steps are usually just used as an element in Lindy Hop/Balboa/Shag dancing, so it was good to see that Kevin and Kellie downplayed that element and put the emphasis on footwork. For comparison, this won the most comparative category at last month's ESDC in London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WANdl0xirM

Generally aerials/air steps are a Lindy Hop thing, they kind of shoe-horn them in to SCD Charlestons because they can't put them in the actual 10 Ballroom and Latin dances.

In fact, I suspect that the main reason AT, Salsa, Charleston, and AS exist on SCD is so we don't have to wait for the final show dance before lifts are allowed.

Jamelia looked the most authentic in her movement and posture, probably in part because she's the most natural at it of the 5 celebs in this poll (the Flapper-Charleston stereotype is a bit of weird one really - that was a brief moment when the white folk cottoned onto what the black kids were doing and made a prettied up version, first for a musical, which later became a short lived dance craze (think the Macarena or Whigfield's Saturday Night ). The trendy young white kids soon moved onto some other new fangled things and the original movements that inspired the Charleston developed on through the social ballrooms of America throughout the 30s, becoming part of what we now know as Lindy Hop). It's probably safe to assume that Josephine Baker's version of the dance is actually the closest to the original form, and was probably not unusual at all at the time (although obviously she was the IT girl, so had something special about her, even if it wasn't her moves) so it's kinda funny how we now look at SCD Charleston's danced this way and think they aren't right, or are super original and different to how they *should* be.

Natalie Gumede did similar and it's a great routine, probably the most complex ever seen on Strictly, although it was RUINED by the awful music. I now turn the sound off and enjoy the dance much more (I'm actually tempted to make a fan edit video and give it a new track)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R0VKKt6J74
(also, Artem was actually pretty good at the Charleston, probably my favourite at it of the male pros, so far)

Why do you hate flat shoes by the way? It's perfectly normal to Swing dance in flats (and even when heels are worn, they are generally very square and stumpy by say, Latin dance standards). Annoyingly, much of the Josephine Baker footage shoes her from the knees up (presumably where the SCD camera operators have taken their inspiration from: snark) but in this clip she is clearly wearing flats at 1:04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BhNv7dRHQI (and has a small heel earlier on in the film).
Now, the widely accepted standard is flats for Swing dances (especially with lifts and tricks, check out Boogie Woogie for good examples) both for historical accuracy and safety. Heels are just an optional extra, many dancers never, ever wear them).

These are dancers from the ballroom widely credited with inventing the aerials you see in SCD Charlestons- early on in the clip there is a mix of small heels and flats but by the time they start bring out the big tricks at the end, all the girls are in plimsoll type flats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwc3rEFitkg

(one of the few girls wearing heels at the beginning - black shoes, black skirt, white jacket - is actually dancing a different dance altogether, Balboa, which is a very subtle weight change dance, not a flashy tricks dance, and the accepted standard shoe for Balboa today IS a heel).

For *just* vintage dancer's feet in (flat) shoes! (0:41) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqsc0dhoED0

but I digress...

Georgia and Giovanni pulled off the best performance for a TV audience, but then, they've done it most recently, and actually had somewhat appropriate music. She obviously loved her character and that helped enormously.


Peter's I thought was a lot like Georgia's in content, but not as well performed, partly because of that weird steppy-up thing he does with his legs, and partly because he flits between that slack jawed look at Janette (as if to say, "uh, what are we meant to be doing") and actually performing to the audience. It would have stood up better if Georgia hadn't smashed it the very next week.

Anita and Gleb's is almost good, but it was early days, and just doesn't have enough power behind their movement. I like the routine though, and the music was almost there (it's a song that is played in the real world, but purists like me are not happy about it!) but I think it did take them down the rock and roll route a little too far, especially the way the strictly band played it.

Looking forward to Helen's tonight
DiamondBetty is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 21-11-2015, 17:01
Minnie_Holder
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 73
Peter and Janette for me based mostly on the fact that Georgia's dance was a complete rip off from the original choreography and not an original piece of work.
Minnie_Holder is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21-11-2015, 17:07
DiamondBetty
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Manchester Lindy
Posts: 945
Peter and Janette for me based mostly on the fact that Georgia's dance was a complete rip off from the original choreography and not an original piece of work.
Peter and Janette's Charleston and Georgia and Giovanni's Charleston were both choreographed by the same guest choreographer, Jenny Thomas.

So, yes, they were similar routines, but no ripping off occurred, and neither dance was originated by the celeb, nor their pro partner.
DiamondBetty is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 21-11-2015, 21:39
kirstylouise666
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 6,848
Georgia's, but I did like Peter's. Him for 2nd.
kirstylouise666 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-11-2015, 15:53
TerryM22
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 17,987
Georgia's, but I did like Peter's. Him for 2nd.
Peters all the way for me kirsty
TerryM22 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22-11-2015, 17:36
hannah
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 7,352
Only Jay and Katie left do the Charleston could one of them get 40
hannah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23-11-2015, 15:38
Cadiva
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: In sunny (hah!) Yorkshire
Posts: 13,940
For comparison, this won the most comparative category at last month's ESDC in London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WANdl0xirM
Oh my, the slow mo sections in that are an absolute dream, I love it!

I agree with most of your comments Betty, especially when it comes to footwear. Every time I danced Charleston back in my tap/contemporary days we used what I call a jazz shoe (although it wasn't the soft ones) which was basically a tap shoe with no taps on it, just a little heel of less than half an inch.

Also agree with you re Jamelia. I said at the time that the Charleston would suit her because of the habit she had of dancing down onto the seat of her bum with bent legs and I was right, she got the Josephine Baker style perfectly.

Peter's Charleston had great energy but he was flat footed and heavy legged as he is in all his dances but the style of it suited him so it was a great performance.
I also agree re Kellie and Kevin's being the most authentic in terms of choreography but I also found the theme to be too much, Star Wars nerd that I am as well, the music was fab but in combo with the costums and lightsabres it took over from the excellence of the dancing.

My favourite all time Charleston is, surprisingly given that I didn't like many of her dances, that of Natalie Gumede who had a brilliant routine combining a variety of styles from the Betty Boop Jazz era through the Josephine Baker style and onto the more modern elements. Unlike you though I love the music
I also loved Amber Riley & Derek Hough's Charleston to the same piece on the US DWtS.

Peter and Janette for me based mostly on the fact that Georgia's dance was a complete rip off from the original choreography and not an original piece of work.
No it wasn't, it had elements of the Fosse choreography but it was not a rip off of the routine danced by Catherine Zeta Jones and Rene Zellweiger, neither was it a rip off of the choreography from the stage production.
That's why it was so good, because it embodied that Bob Fosse style without simply being a rehash of the original number.
Cadiva is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 08:02.