Thank you, this is a very well explained and reasoned answer.

She did go to a dance school for a length of time though - from her bio "Alesha joined a West London dance academy, 'Dance Attic' " The ability was there as she would have never have made it as a singer and member of Mis-Teeq. For the record, I loved Alesha and was delighted when she won. She was/is a great dancer. Fab partnership with Matthew

Please read my post a little more carefully - I was talking about (a) Danny's dance experience not making him a professional in comparison to Oti, which is undoubtedly the case; (b) his being a stage school graduate being a label you could put on about half the people who've ever done Strictly, which is also true; and (c) musical theatre background undoubtedly being helpful for performance (which is true), but also that singers and actors will also know how to perform, which is also true.

I didn't actually comment on the extent to which the dancing he has learnt in the past would help him specifically (I was more dealing with the comparison to Oti). But now that you mention it, I disagree with you. Yes, knowing how to move is an advantage, but any stage school graduate would have that. Learning how to remember steps? Yes, but again taught at stage school, and singers and actors also need to have good memories in their professions.

Danny's advantage is not what his experience is, per se, it's that his experience is more recent than others who have similarly useful backgrounds.

It's already been said, but the ensemble in wicked do an awful lot of dancing, it may not be what you consider 'traditional dance musical', however the dancing in it is very technical and complex. You are talking about glitzy musicals, but they don't always require extensive dancing.

Surprisingly, there's not that much dancing in a chorus line and it's not very difficult either.

42nd Street, Chorus Line (one of my fave musicals of all time!) etc are typical "show" musicals. All jazz hands, tap, and high kicks. The dances in Wicked are more about partner work. of course they're not pure ballroom or anything, but they use lifts, they involve dancing with a partner, in short they're much closer to the Strictly style than 4nd Street is - unless Strictly ditched Samba for tap when I wasn't looking! The leads in the show only join in with a short part of one number (Dancing through Life, and it's really only Fiyero that does that). BTW.

I'd be willing to put money on Danny being the leading light of whichever provincial dance school he attended before he went to Arts Ed. Arts Ed is hugely dance-based, you don't get into Arts Ed if you're not a ruddy good dancer. And then he went on to dance in the West End for years. He really does have so much more expereicen adn training than any other Strictly alumnus that I can think of.

Honestly, I like him, I think he's a fantastic dancer and i hope he makes the finals. I love watching him and his partnership with Oti is sublime. BUT he's the ringiest ringer ever in the history of ringers. Personally it doesn't bother me in the slightest: a series full of non-dancers would be dull as all get out. I won't waste votes on him til the final, but I'll probably vote for him then.

I've really enjoyed watching him this year, also the best male celeb dancer that Strictly's ever had.

I saw Danny in Wicked as an ensemble cast member and also when he went on as a cover for Boc - neither of the roles were heavily dance based roles. I never saw him in Legally Blonde or Les Mis, in fact I didn't even know he was in those shows, but I have seen both shows and know that the role of Warner, in Legally Blonde is probably one of the only parts that does not really have a dance routine - as for Les Mis, I don't know the role he played but I wouldn't say it had dance in it - it's a very emotional musical that relies on its acting and singing to tell a story not dance.

Boq barely dances at all, but all the male ensemble do - including the understudies , which he was.

Louise went to Italia Conti where she got dance training. She was scouted for her band on the basis of her club dancing not her singing. She judged a dance show in which her critiques involved descriptions of the dedication her own dance training had required of her.

Danny went to Arts Ed, where he had training in ballet, tap, jazz and contemporary dance. He's done stage musical work which included dancing.

THEY ARE THE SAME!

Strictly has more than 10 million viewers to entertain. Some of those 10 million like to see a high standard of dancing. Danny and Louise are great for them. Some of those 10 million like to see improvement. People like Judge Rinder are great for them. Some of those 10 million people like to fall about laughing. People like Ed Balls are great for them.

Why is it so hard to comprehend that the show has 10 million viewers because it provides something for everyone?

Surely the definition of 'professional dancer' is that somebody is earning a living from it? It sounds like Danny very much fell into that category following on from his time at stage school, why is anyone even trying to argue that he's not a professional dancer?

If people enjoy watching him and want to vote for him, fill your boots. But to me, he's at the same (very high) standard now as he was at the start of the series, so I just find it pretty boring to watch.



Thanks for these posts - kinda dispels the idea that his role in Wicked was the equivalent of Denise Van Outen's 'sitting on a chair'

All the celebrities can be called professional dancers by that standard. After all, they are being paid to learn B&L routines each week, which they perform for an audience of 10 million or so each week.

I don't care who's trained/not trained.
Mixed ability celebs works, they've all improved from Day 1 &
I'd rather watch several Danny/Louise ability level dances on Strictly than a constant flow ofEd/Widdy types

So Ed Balls is a professional dancer now? Great, I look forward to seeing what kind of West End roles he gets offered when his time on Strictly is over! Who knows, stranger things have happened!

Ditto

I think the argument has been done to death that some viewers like Ed Balls type contestants, while others enjoy athletes & then there are those who like the so called ringers. Personally I like to see all types of contestants, but what's important to me is the improvement they make. Danny started from a high standard, yet he has improved. I feel others have improved more so he's not my winner of the whole competition. He was my winner for this week.

He's not a professional ballroom dancer, but he is a very very good dancer.

If Craig can take Widdy on tour, anything is possible.

Danny could obviously dance before strictly which makes him kind of boring to watch. He never really does comedy/character dances which again means that I never vote for Danny. It also annoys me when he acts nervous that he might not do well when he clearly knows how good he is. I wish Strictly would only have amateurs so we can watch them improve week by week like Ed Balls, Greg Rutherford and Judge Rinder.

IMO, that would be boring. Variety is the spice of life. We need different types of contestants.

He certainly appears to be professional by the extraordinary complexity of the dances he and Oti produce. They are almost too full on.
But I don't really feel any connection to them since they seem to be danced in a very clinical way and I see no "joy" in them.
I would rather watch Rinder loving what he is doing than Danny going through the motions.

i find danny a pure delight in this

Odd thing is, Danny loves dancing or at least it so appears to me. Don't belive anyone could keep going with the training hours people put in, unless they actually love dancing.

The ones I was not convinced were enjoying the experience have all since gone. The ones who love to dance (to a greater or lesser degree) are all those still in.

Probably not . Jenny Thomas usually helps with the Charleston .

They're all amateurs in ballroom and Latin.

And God forbid people get nervous - professionals can get nervous too, you know - look at Adele at any concert she ever does, for example, and plenty of others besides. But you've clearly made up your mind to dislike Danny, and that's your prerogative.

Me, I think he's a joy to watch - give me good dancers who can perform well any day. Danny is improving, if people can't appreciate subtle improvement and refinement that's their loss. You can never get a set of contestants with exactly equal starting points, that's simply impossible, and if it was a show full of Ed Balls I wouldn't be watching.

He's a bit strawberry yoghurt. Tasty and fine but boring and there lots better

He's a bit strawberry yoghurt. Tasty and fine but boring and there lots better