Could it be because there has not been a decent tango this year and I know I've said it elsewhere but part of that is the ridiculous music they are trying to shoehorn a tango into. It's quite shocking and cannot be helping the celebrities who are unfamiliar with the dance to start with.

I totally agree

I do agree with you about the daft choice of music. On the otherhand, the fact that the celebs are unfamiliar with the dance to start with means they are possibly unaware the music is unsuitable. It just makes it harder to watch.

Also it has to be remembered each dance is specially choreographed to a particular piece of music, it's not like doing a "proper" competition when the dancers have to dance to whatever is being played whether they like it or not. I can remember doing a paso in competition when the piece played was Spanish Waltz - similar tune to Spanish gypsy but in 3/4 time. We just had to get on with it.

Ballroom Tango has become a travesty, that's why. It substitutes the language of love increasingly for aggression and contempt. People seem to have acquired strange ideas of the Ballroom Tango. If I hear one more time the lame excuse about prostitutes I will kick someone in the pampas. Since when was the way to win women to be aggressive with them.

As Anton said, the Tango is a bit standalone in the ballroom dances as it doesn't have swing or sway or rise and fall. The method of walking is completely different. It is often taught to beginners, in the same way as cha cha cha is, but both dances have a similar problem in that, whilst it is easy to get started with the dances and learn a routine, it is more difficult to make them look good enough to impress an audience.

In the case of tango, it is the delay and sharpness in the movement of the legs and feet that is difficult. What often happens is that people either don't get it or they also arrest the movement of the body as well which makes the dance look clumpy. There's a specifc technique to the staccato action. Add to that side leads, contrabody movement position and use of the inside edge of the foot and dissociation between hips and upper body. And those are just the basics!

Poor Leslie was hamstrung from the moment she had to do that ungainly crawl across the table and then do a very ugly lift-spin with un-pointed toes and koala-bear clinging. Very uncharacteristic of Anton to choreograph something so unnecessary in a ballroom number, unless it was "required" of them to use props. It set the tone for it being a lumpy dance which was a real shame.

I have to say that seeing my fav celeb this year (not the best by a long chalk I'll agree but my fav - I've been chewed up for refusing to acknowledge the distinction between worst and less fav on another thread) make a complete pig's ear of that dance has just ceremented the lack of love I have for it. It's telling that on the fav dances post - the only ccc on my list was one that was almost a deliberate parody of the dance - Mark and Iveta's. You have to wonder how much love Iveta had for it because I don't even like Alesha's effort or Ricky W's and they were danced in SCD finals.

Tangos can be exciting and dramatic but it's like they've tried to get it out of the costumes and themes, not the actual dances.

Usually when I watch a dance-off I'm thinking I hope they do it better this time, partly for them and partly cause I want to see it done properly

With these tangos I was just thinking oh no not that again, even if they do it well I'm going to be bored

It's because the tango is essentially sexy and passionate, and not everyone can pull that off, even if they have mastered the steps. It also really helps enormously if you have proper tango music to dance to.

All of the above.

I also think the Charleston is often ridiculous when danced as a smutty seaside postcard and is a lot better when it looks more like Swing.

Agree about cha cha. Shame it has lost it's Cuban roots, but when ballroom get hold of a dance expect anodyne and arch, with a lot of camp thrown in.

I hate to admit it, but I have to agree.

However, I am only agreeing to what they put out on Strictly, competitive dancing is somewhat different, certainly not camp.

Ditto rumba and salsa. I wonder if it is the codification that does the damage. Perhasp the minute you try to put in rules or benchmark these indigenous dances they go from what they are to something they were never supposed to be. The result seems to be they get cleaned up and the spontenaity and raw expression is replaced with something a bit prissy.

Not a complaint by the way, just an observation. I love Cuban rumba and I also (unusually on here) like ballroom rumba - but they are, to my mind, different dances.

I don't think anyone expects ballroom Latin to be like the original dances.

The ideas for the ballroom Latin dances were taken from the original, and invented and adapted for the sole purpose of being danced in a ballroom, whether socially or competitively. They were never intended to be a copy of the originals.

Very sad that Laura is dancing the Tango on Saturday.

All being well, she will be OK - dancing with Giovanni too - fab routine that he put together last year, can't wait to see what they do on Saturday.

interesting stat