I think people are more upset than usual because it was very obvious from the VTs that she was struggling with both the dance itself and the speed it was set at. Others professionals aren't perfect but unlike with Ores jive last week that was fast and showed off not only him but her as well, Claudias routine didn't show her off to her best ability at all.

I'm not saying AJs a bad dancer, just his inexperience in being a teacher is showing slightly.

I think, without being privvy to all their training and rehearsals, that is a pretty big assumption on your part.

I was under the impression the pro is given the edited cut of the song they're dancing to which would already have the exact timings and parts of the song for their routine. Maybe when it came to the studio rehearsals they could have slowed it down, but at that point it would have been too late anyway. I still don't think all the blame can be placed on him.

I agree his inexperience is showing - but I don't think this is the first time something like this has happened, so I'm just surprised that it's seems such a big deal for people now.

I actually don't think it was that much of a disaster as some are claiming, either! Obviously not Claudia's best dance, no, but I'd be very shocked if they were to go.

It's a shame it happened, but it isn't surprising. I don't think people can start making assumptions about AJ's ego etc based on one case of poor judgement. I can't help but feel his young age is potentially making some be more critical than they would usually be?

It ain't an "assumption" it's applying a bit of common sense. You don't have to like it.

He's a professional dancer.


Most people could see she was struggling with the pace.

So should he.

As Len said her footwork was good, but she lost it trying to keep up.

All he needed to do was slow it down a bit and it could have been brilliant.



Claudia made the point in training, that he was always looking in the mirror at himself. You can't believe everything that's said on ITT, but they managed to then find enough clips of him doing it to prove the point. If he's looking at the mirror he should be observing Claudia's footwork, not his hair or whatever.

He's doing fine - pros can't win, they either get accused of being too ambitious or not ambitious enough with their partners.

I think considering it's his first series and the calibre of his partner, he's doing a great job and yeah, maybe he could have put less in, but I liked that he pushes her and had the confidence in her ability to dance it and I think we'll see the benefit to that later in the competition. People struggle with different dances, and if this is her ~bad week, then she won't be doing too badly!

Agreed

(I don't even know why I'm on this thread defending him - they're one of my least favourite couples this year. Just don't think AJ ballsed up as much as people claim he did, that's all!)

Agree completely. They're a great little couple. Overall AJ has done brilliantly with Claudia thus far. That's not to say he gets it right all of the time. None of the pros do. They're all human!

The music was far too fast. Don't know why because Young hearts run free isn't that fast!!! Why did the band speed it up!!

AJ is a brilliant dancer and is capable of teaching. Blame the music.

The pros choose the tempo.

The band do what they are told.

Blame A.J,, not the band.

To be fair to A.J. it was only really this dance that Claudia was struggling to keep up with. The music choice/speed we know is usually a team picking process with production and the pros (we've seen it reported on ITT), so we don't know if it was a mix and mash of decisions regarding the speed of the music (as it doesn't actually have to be that fast, it can be slowed down). I know the Pros did a Samba in Blackpool to the same tune in a previous year, so the dance and tune do go well and it looks fine if you know how to Samba at Pro level.

Plenty of the Pros over the years have choreographed odd ball dances at times, sometimes the weird music choice and the dance don't work and it can occur when the dance/music are too slow/fast or mismatched beat wise. I don't think A.J. has done badly in his previous routines so far, and while I've personally not felt excited by any of them, they pretty much have been danceable for Claudia up till now. Plenty of dances Anton has done (in Latin) have been dire, so it's not like age has much to do with whether you have the ability to choreograph. Choreographing is about creative ability and being able to marry the skills of the dance and the music together. Teaching is about knowledge and being able to apply that, and while dancing all your life doesn't equate you to being a good teacher (just like being a good footy player doesn't mean you'll be a good manager) A.J. has been able to teach to a level that is okay for Claudia. His dances haven't been awful dancers, and Claudia isn't so good a dancer that she's been wasted on A.J. He's doing enough, given his partner and what she can manage. This is the first dance he really over stretched her, so I don't think this represents all he ash done.

I think AJ is a breath of fresh air. He's young, yes and he will learn. He threw every samba move in there and unfortunately it was too complex for Claudia. The music was far too fast.

My feelings exactly

There was no reason for A.J. to choose that tempo. As for "a team picking process," in this case I don't buy it. The reduction of 5 BPM would have made no difference to the production team as the public would have not been any the wiser.


I've said the same about him being self-obsessed, but I wouldn't say I can't stand him. To me he's just one of the pros, but he shouldn't be learning at Claudia's expense.

of course the song could have been slowed down

Aliona and Matt did a samba to the same song at a slower pace

Matt Baker was almost professional compared to Claudia - but note how the version of the same song was slowed down for him:

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

katt - just beat me to it...I included an example however!!!

I timed them out.

Candy Staton was at around 110 BPM.
Matt Baker's was at around 100 BPM,
Claudia's was around 120 BPM.

Claudia was on a hiding to nothing from the outset - wish I 'd given her a vote now...

now I like AJ but I think they should've waited another year or 2 before putting him on SCD

I like Claudia being push to he limit... she can do it... it just she is inexperience on dancing that was it was felt rushed... but having said that the Samba was full of wow factor it just bit rushed but over all well deserve of 32.

Perhaps he has found that Claudia responds better to feeling like there's a lot to get her head around than feeling bored? Look at her gymnastics - there are some particular skills she does which are as difficult as they get, but often not cleanly done. She scores very highly because of the difficulty. Somehow, this routine was very like her gymnastics for me - some bits technically extremely good, but lacking a bit of polish around the edges.

I don't think he's a bad teacher as opposed to an inexperience choreographer. Her technique was actually pretty good overall and it's a tough dance; he gave her all the moves and she could do them but just not transition at that speed. The music was just too fast - could he have requested it slower? Presumably he could, and he should have.

Did AJ do something on SCD years ago as a child/teenager dancer? His face seems familiar...

His choreography was ridiculous.

It was far too fast for any amateur and particularly for Claudia who is only a child sized 4' 8".

If he had been a parent he would have seen how a kid has to almost skip along when a parent is walking at pace.

The pity is that she looked really good in the slower parts when her great body movement could be shown off.



Maggie

AJ could have easily asked for the tempo of the music to have been slowed down.

He took not one bit of notice from Len who was telling him in no uncertain words, that the routine was far too complicated.

As someone else said, I feel AJ is showcasing himself at the expense of his partner.

IMHO he's far to young to be teaching on the program and far too self aware.