Many of the better Strictly salsas seem to be some other modern dance or disco with a bit of Salsa arm weaving to keep the judges happy. To be honest, I really don't like the armography of the Strictly salsa. It's complicated, sure, but why exactly do I want to see it?

I don't mind Charlestons, but I wouldn't miss them if they were eliminated from Strictly's dance list. I agree with you about the non-slapstick ones -- I think my favourite Strictly Charleston was Sophie Ellis-Bextor's, even though some of the lifts were a bit ungainly, in large part because she didn't do the massive gurning that so many do in the Charleston - that would have been so out of character for her. And I also liked the fact that Natalie Gumede's was very Josephine Baker (just with clothes). But that's about it. I actually find the Charleston quite boring to watch, which is strange given that it's such a performance-based dance.

[quote=Monaogg;84568958]The main difference for Strictly seems to be lifts so they end up as a Salsasambacha. None have managed the constant loose and open hip movement needed with small steps.[/QUOTE

They don't flow at all do they? They need to spend more time getting the basic to flow, reinforce the 'pause' on the 4 doesn't mean you stop, it's a 123 flow through to 567 not 123 CLUMP KEERTHUNK 567 CLANG . You won't get the hips if you keep stopping and starting it!
Maybe if they did less show off lifts which I imagine take up lots of rehearsal time they could use making sure they get a passable basic but I guess big fancy lifts are better for the ratings!

If they drop any I think it would be one of the ones not in the 10 dance which I think is salsa, charleston, AS and AT. I can't see the charleston going as it does seem popular with celebs as well as with fans, AS and AT too because of the drama but I'm not sure salsas usually have the same effect tho I think Jake & Janette's was good.

I wouldn't miss the salsa tbh. I liked Daisy's but that was because of her legs not the steps. I do like the charleston but I don't like the faces they pull so I ignore the faces and look at the bits I do like. We've all got dances we love and we've probably all got dances we don't like so much. I really love the rumba and I think I'm in a minority there.

The dances have been all the same ones for years tho, it would be nice if maybe one was a random one chosen each year then held back for a few weeks so we don't know what it is. So 1 year it might b salsa, 1 year it might be mambo, just to mix things up a bit and also so if the celebs are getting in sneaky training beforehand, there's one they can't train for cause they don't know what it is.

I'm with you. Sophie's was just about my favourite.

They have 14 dances and 15 couples; if they did drop it, wouldn't they have to replace it to keep the numbers up, or reduce the number of contestants? I suppose they could bring back the fusion dances, or Lindyhop. But personally, given that they seem stuck on having 15 celebs, I'd rather they keep the salsa (or whichever dance gets your goat) than replace it with something else.

Add me to the list too. Detested it from the Ola/Hollins days . Not too struck on the rumba either but would prefer that to the dreadful Charleston.

Don't think it's the amount of couples but number of weeks the show runs for.

Iirc I think each couple all miss one routine out each year if they go the distance - maybe wrong though.

You're right. Jay didn't do a samba- it's the only way I'd know that So yep- they could drop a dance. As you were!

That's because its just silly for the sake of it arm movements like in Daisy's when they stand still and wriggle and just move their arms and are not actually leading someone into spins by using arm movements as is done in real salsa.

The armography as usually displayed in Strictly is just another example of them being too lazy to do the dance properly.

No.............

NEXT..................

When it's done well, it's great. Like the samba. If they danced to appropriate salsa music it would make the world of difference. Get rid of the awful Charleston I say, can't stand it. Best salsa music ever on SCD was John Barnes with Nicole Cutler wayyy back in '07, Ran Kan Kan. Brilliant! Watch this and see the difference great music can make



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoHaSQWAs38

The Charleston was always in the US DWTS from day one, it came over here about 5/6 years ago. Audiences seem to love the fun side of it, bit like the Jive. Surprised they never brought the Jiggerbug over from DWTS as well?

I don't mind the Salsa, sort of disco dance thing. I find the Samba the kiss of death for many couples, it and the Rumba are my two least favourites.

Bring hip hop in, don't get rid of salsa. Get rid of rumba if anything.

I loathe the cha cha, though as a pedestrian dance to get things going in the early weeks it has its place I suppose. Lindy hop would be great.

I didn't know that he'd done Danny's AT. I agree, it was pretty great, better than Ore's salsa, and he's a salsa champion/specialist.

Ballroom samba is a hard dance to master, which is why it usually looks flat and uneventful if the technique isn't there. If there's no bounce action and the basic samba moves like the walks, batucadas and rolls are not included, you might as well forget it. There are only a few celebs that have made it look anywhere near decent - Matt Baker is a good example, he was fantastic.

Anyway, if you drop the salsa (or samba for that matter), you are going to have to bring in another dance to replace it. And after the horrors of the short-lived lindyhop ......


And a difficult-to-master dance will always sort the wheat from the chaff.

I think it defeats the point of the show if you get rid of any of the ten dances - i.e the ones danced competitive in ballroom and latin american competitions. This is coming from someone who has just realised that they don't like the cha cha cha and will agree that most samba and rhumbas are pretty dire. I just don't rhumba mostly - it's a tribute to Rachel Stevens and Cherlie Lunghi that they managed to engage me with that dance.

That said I also find a lot of foxtrot as dull as ditchwater too.

This is perhaps because the impression we get from Strictly "salsas" is that armography is one of the tecnical features one is expected to master - like decorations in AT or appells in Paso.

In fact they are not and the term armography means nothing to a salsa dancer (unless they also watch SCD of course). They are just an incidental by-product of doing turns in a double hand hold. In most dance one breaks to do a turn. In salsa, because it is a compact dance where the dancers dance on a spot no bigger then their own dance space, they will often do turns in a double hand hold. However if you were to watch competent salsa dancers your attention wouldn't really be drawn to their "arm weaving" because it is so smooth and natural that it goes unremarked..

Samba is one of the main ballroom Latin dances.

Never even heard of armography until Strictly and I've danced a LOT of salsa. It's kind of like the figure 8, the gyrating, the lifts and the slut drop which they all seem to think are compulsory. At least they have stopped with the fruit headdresses. That used to be really annoying but I think even the BBC realized that was a cultural stereotype too far and too dated eventually.

But sometime I hope they work out that small steps, hold and transferring your weight are pretty basic.

I would just be happy if the dances contain more elements of the actual dance they were attempting. Many contain filler sections and of course crowd pleasing lifts which are not part of the dance style.

Agree big time.

I think they should definitely keep in Charleston as that is a dance for the non dancer trained contestants and as the show is having more trained contestants, it is good to have one dance that everyone can excel in as you don't need such a spefific technique.

I would like to see them do contemporary dance as i think it can be really beautiful to watch. I know some dances have elements, but like to see a whole dance dedicated to that style.