Sorry not sure how to crop to save space
Just want to say agree with all that Jayfan has written here. Every word.
Jayfan, do you remember me (+ daughter) and the fun we had in Wimbledon?
A time I will never forget, seeing J&A before the show, then seeing them dance live for the first time, then round to the stage door. And a big plus was meeting fellow Jalionistas.
Such a special partnership, so happy to be part of the whole shebang

I'm with you all the way. I think Danny is (probably) an all-round better dancer and certainly a more confident and assured performer - but I feel there are lots of Dannys out there, all equally confident and assured and accomplished and (dare I say it) interchangeable, and only one Jay, with all his quirks. He remains for me the most engaging and moving Strictly dancer ever, facial expressions or no facial expressions. I didn't know about DS in Alesha's year but have picked up she wasn't popular. I enjoyed her a lot as I found she lit up and became radiant when she danced and it seemed to touch something very profound in her, whatever she was like off the floor. I felt the same with Jay but even more so. It's very moving to watch.

Yes indeedy! Jay's moved me more than any other dancers. 💕 Second in line is the young Baryshnikov. 😍

I think train journeys afford you lots of deep reflection, Jayfan...

BIB - I'll definitely be here.

Wonderful post.

Yes, that's just it. I think you've honed in on exactly what I feel about Danny there.

Adventures in Edinburgh continued.

On Friday it was a beautiful day. I decided to leave the warm comfort of the Clooney bed and venture out into the city. I had a slow stroll to Princes Street and then, after trying to avert my eyes whilst walking past some lovely jewellers, thought I would collect my ticket for Saturday. I got to the box office and had to wait about 10 minutes for it to open.

There was a young man also waiting and it turned out he had been living in Edinburgh for 12 years but was originally from the next valley over from me in Wales. It seemed a little bizarre to speak what my English friends refer to as Wenglish in Scotland!

On an impulse, knowing I wasn't going far that evening, I got a ticket for Friday too. Well you only live once! The box office lady suggested the first row of the circle which would be a different perspective to the stalls which I had for Saturday. Feeling rather chuffed I stopped for a coffee, later realising it was the same pub where Jay, Aliona and Vin had their photo taken. My timing was off, as usual, because there was nobody from the cast there at the time.

I headed back to the hotel and, after various texts and calls, arranged to meet nelliek for a pre show meal. I asked to book a taxi from the hotel (another walk in the cold wasn't appealing) and, while I was waiting as the taxis were very busy, a well dressed gentleman came in and spoke to the concierge. The next thing I know I was ushered into the hotel limousine by aforementioned gentleman as he was going my way and could drop me off! So I arrived at the Omni centre in a Mercedes. How lucky am I?!

I met nelliek and then speedy arrived and we had a lovely meal before going to the theatre where we met Deise, PollyT and her sister.

I sat next to an older gentleman and his daughter and in front of 4 ladies who were on a girlie weekend. The lights dimmed and it was Showtime!

The view was wonderful. Having seen the show in Manchester with Louis Smith I knew to expect the fast and furious, fluid and dramatic. I wasn't disappointed.

Then came J&A. Viennese Waltz, elegance in abundance. It ebbed, it flowed and I loved it! The ladies behind me whooped and hollered. They weren't Jalionistas but should have been! The gentleman next to me was also very appreciative and said it was "very fine" (his foot was tapping at the Glenn Miller medley and I think he had been a bit of a dancer).

The Q&A was amusing and Jay was, obviously, pleased as punch for Ali and Vin about their expected new addition.

I got up at the interval and the gentleman next to me promised to hold onto my leg if it looked as if I would go over the balcony! The ladies behind were eagerly anticipating the second half.

Enjoyable dancing ensued then came the Rumba. I'm not sure what happened but J&A seemed to be trying to suppress the giggles. It was so natural and utterly charming.

Loved, loved, loved the show and afterwards we all went for drinks. You really do meet some wonderful people and it's all thanks to JAliona.

I haven't yet been persuaded for Big in Dublin (Polly did say they have saunas so I could be warm!) though my fellow Jalionistas did try hard. We'll wait and see what happens!

Saturday review to follow.

Thanks everyone for all the reports!

It's great to hear about the final performances of KD for Jay and Aliona and the enthusiasm that seems as strong as ever!

The thread has had over 6 million views, and it was very interesting to hear that some of the thread readers had introduced themselves - their viewings are much appreciated - we're all in the same club!

I think it is a good thing that so many people appreciate the ways in which Jay and Aliona are special together. Being yourself is a part of that and they both appreciated each other for who they were - as do we.

So who was this gentleman? Don't tell me it was George Clooney!

p.s. How full was the theatre? There seemed to be some concern beforehand about the large size of the Edinburgh theatre, but from the photos (although admittedly it's quite difficult to see) it looks like a fair size crowd.

Nope, not George, he was taller with fairer hair and a Scottish accent!

The theatre is quite big (taxi driver said it used to be a cinema) and was only about a third full as far as I could see but most were sitting "front and centre" so photo would show this. At both shows I went to the audience were mostly very enthusiastic so the reception they had was good.

As jayfan said, a few seemed a little disappointed but they may have been expecting a ballroom dancing show which this wasn't.

Ah Lola it must have been the lesser spotted haggis which remained invisible because I'm not a whisky drinker. I'll know better next time, promise!

Thank you all for such wonderful accounts of your adventures in Edinburgh. I so wanted to go but RL is a pain at times.

I am sad that I didn't get to see their last dance but I am very excited as this is the end of their beginngs and life looks good for both Jay and Aliona.

What a wonderful post Jayfan, putting everything in context so eloquently - I have to admit I shed a little tear.

I too hope that we can keep going, following both Jay and Aliona's futures and keeping each other company for a long time.

I also agree with your comment about the possibility of a J&A dancing and conversation tour - maybe after a bit longer in Big, Jay will come to think of himself as more of an all-rounder including a dancer and there might be a chance of J&A doing something together again in the future. I think he must be feeling nostalgic for what is ending now so let's hope!

ETA - it sounds like Jay has found another fan in Anya.
https://twitter.com/AnyaGarnisLA/sta...32235215118336

Hi All,

Still recovering from a fab-U-lous visit to Edinburgh, seeing the
magical Jay and Aliona dance ✨💃🎶🚶🏻✨and meeting with brilliant Jalionistas from DS and Twitter 👭👭👭-what craic we had🍷🍻😂

I am going to write up a proper report, as promised, so I will be back.😉😊

Thank you to EVERYONE 👍🤗who posted here or contacted DD & I to wish us a great trip✈️ for our first experience in seeing Jaliona dance and perform live - it was magical✨✨✨

Laters....still excited 😝

Afternoon all.

I've just been catching up with the last 24 hours posting on the thread. What a lot to read! Thank you everyone for all of the reports on Keep Dancing, and the reviews of last night's Strictly.

Someone - jayfan I think - mentioned how emotional Jay was. From when he met Aliona at the start of Strictly - was it really only 15 months ago? - this has been a wonderful chapter in his life that has reached the end, for now. Understandable that he would be feeling like this. I think we are too, to a lesser extent.

Who was it that said Aliona had turned Jay's world around? I think it may have been Tom or Max. Whoever it was, they weren't wrong, were they?

Agree. I recognise that Danny is an excellent dancer, but there are countless people out there like him. Jay is a one off. I quite enjoy Danny's dances, he's a pleasant enough guy, seems to have been marked fairly (in contrast to overmarking for a few others), but I don't really feel any emotion when I'm watching him. I won't mind if he wins - but then again I won't mind if Ed wins either.

💖💖💖


What a lovely, lovely post jayfan. It sums up totally what made SCD 2015 so special for so many of us, I'm sure that the thread will long continue, safe in the hands of so many kind, thoughtful & eloquent posters who wish J & Aliona all the best in their future. endeavours.

Jayfan, I often think that, if Fatskia was the thread's founder, you are the thread's heart. ❤

Watching Strictly last night one thing that did come to mind was that Jay and Ali were always so good at just doing the dance, they didn’t make use of numerous props and themes and storylines, “in this dance Ali will play the part of Princess Leia and Jay will play the part of Chewbacca” I know they had to on the theme weeks but it was, in the main, kept to a minimum.

I have watched enough series to remember when dancing with an umbrella was considered dancing with a prop! It would be interesting to see if some of the front runners would still be the front runners if they had their props taken away and they actually had to do the dance instead of “faffing” about for the first 30secs. Why does Len never mention “faffing abaht” anymore, is he happy with it now?

Beautiful Jayfan. It's spot on and made me very teary (in a good way). X

deleted

Totally agree with this. There seems to be an awful lot of time spent not doing the dances, this series, both at the beginning and the middle of the routines.

BIB1 It had to be done ...

https://www.instagram.com/p/BAxpi9RN...spotting&hl=en

BIB2 The ultimate "pah, who needs the ruddy props" musicals week dance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O21dGiEdE4c

It was Max, I think in the last ITT before the final, and so beautifully interpreted in that upside down entrance to their exquisite show dance.

Some lovely sentiments expressed today, in reviews, poetry and reminiscences - our two people are clearly much loved and their delightful partnership will be much missed while they're 'on hiatus' doing different things for a while. I really hope they do something together again, and I'm sure they will actively seek out opportunuties in the future.

That backlit stage pic is gorgeous - perfect partners!

Lovely, lovely post, Jayfan.

I hope he still has his Chewie onesie to keep him warm in Dublin, it will look lovely with that huge scarf he is surgically attached to

I love the rumba, it's so beautiful and evocative in its simplicity. Some of the pros, mentioning no names, seem to think that good choreography means throwing everything including the kitchen sink and bells and whistles at it when in reality less is more.

Evening all
Not currently on a train!

Just skimmed through last night's Strictly.
What a truly dispiriting set of dances.

Hideous colours, music choices, staging and routines. Truly a case of style over substance. Ridiculous marking. Assorted backing dancers who added no value at all.

Danny's was the best of a bad lot but there are so many more charleston routines I prefer. There were minor mistakes and Oti is not a great Charleston dancer in my view. I just kept comparing her dancing to Aliona's precision and elegance.

Goodness knows what they had dressed Louise and Kevin in- old curtains? A truly sub-Gleb copy of a routine.

Could they have given Claudia a more unflattering dress? It was obvious that what she needed at her height was a few tall basketball or baseball players ( I forget which) joining her on the dance floor. I think the music and routines she has given have been totally patronising. Yes she is small and young but she doesn't have to be given such stereotypical and unimaginative routines and music which rarely match the supposed dances.

I had to look away from Ore and Joanne's overacted routine. Does absolutely nothing for me but make me wince.

Poor Greg. Trying hard with his quickstep but hampered by a bright purple shiny suit, awful music and a hand jive. It made me yearn for the relative simplicity and purity of Jay and Aliona's quickstep to The Who.

I usually quite like the judge but I thought he was not great, not in time with the music (which he usually is) and the routine was really dull, relying on some cheap tricks like the twerking (which wasn't very good anyway).

Compared to all of the above, Ed was actually relatively restrained, with a routine and theme which was pretty appropriate to the supposed dance.

Really not my cup of tea.

Thank you all for your kind words about my posts.

Very sweet of you Janetshep.

Kmelly - yes of course I remember you and your daughter. In fact last night, we were trying to remember people's real names and DS names. We were trying to remember your real name as we know that neither your DS name or Twitter name are your real name! I wonder if we got it right?

I kept calling people different things yesterday, mixing up DS and real names in a very inconsistent way! Luckily Nelliek answers to both!

Jelly L and I were also reminiscing about Nottingham (and Manchester) and meeting up with Ellie Bee, Karin and Dancingfosse. (((Hugs to you all)))

As we 'speak', Arnostae is trying to upload the vids I took yesterday. I do so hope that I recorded what I meant to!

Teaser - A new Jayjob is identified for someone (Korky get ready) in the Q&A session.....