Oh mine too! No one can touch him for sheer talent and his incredible dancing. On eof the best choreographers.

But we will never see him on SCD again

I have seen some amazing salsa routines from Mr platero profesionally in the past. why do you assume that what you are fed on strictly as salsa in anyway, shape, or form represents the genre? with a few exceptions, Salsa on strictly is a blatant fraud to the actual Cuban dance. the main reason being that the dancers that the choreographers have to work with are completely alien to such rhythms and almost all look quite awkward trying to do it, so choreography is compromised.

I would suggest that you take a look at the link below so that can see the pontential of the genre performed by two familiar and amazing dancers. This was choreographed a couple of years ago by Janette Manrara and Jonathan Platero and while not a street salsa per say, it makes my point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dCerO9Ked8

I absolutely love this. Someone on the forum pointed this out to me a little while ago and it blew me away. Love salsa done right and love both these dancers

Definitely want all the new pros to stay. They have all been brilliant imo. Anton and Brendan are looking unlikely to stay. Think their time has come to an end and they've had their fair share. Can't see Anton doing it next year as he's becoming a dad to twins. He'll have to hands full. Don't know about Karen as she wants to have a baby. If she got pregnant and left think Kevin would leave too. Not sure about Natalie either. Think all the others will stay and Chloe and Neil will hopefully get celebs next year. They should get two more younger celebs for Chloe and AJ from the ages of 16-25. If they brought in a new pro I would like it to be a male from America, France or Germany. Think we need more pros from those kinda countries

Seeing as Ian is still active on Strictly, I wouldn't rule him out, but none of the others would return now. V & F were on television not so long back and Flavia said no when they were asked. It would be a step backwards she said, and they've moved on into other projects. I saw Robin last month in Keep Dancing, and he said the same thing when somebody asked him.


Really good, Janette's a fabulous Latin dancer, it's her ballroom that sometimes isn't right.

I really don't understand "if we have X we've got to have their husband/wife/significant other as well". The only thing it can make potentially make a difference to from the show's point of view is the couples dancing to the featured musician slot, and as dance professionals there is no reason why the pros cannot do this with an assigned partner. So it does seem odd to me that there are so many pairings - 8 out of the 17 dancers are in couples.

I can see it's convenient from the coupled-up pro's point of view to have two incomes and have visas sorted. But I can't believe there is a shortage of suitable candidates for the pro jobs which requires the show to take on someone less suitable in order to keep a pro. The BBC does not have that many high profile dance jobs to give out and I wonder a bit about the propriety of the selection process - are they getting the best dancers for the job or are they taking some lesser dancers just to get the couples - which potentially discriminates against better dancers who are single.

For instance, I'd be sorry to lose Aljaz and I think Janette is an excellent presenter but she hasn't done any of her celebs any favours. I'd be happy to see her in a non-dancing role (she would be lovely doing more on ITT) but not as a pro dancer.

Apart from the "couples" issue, it's noticeable that Brendan is no longer as mentally engaged as he used to be, but I thought Anton did a good job this year with Lesley and their partnership was an asset to the show.

Why from those countries?

I wish Tristan would come back

Of this years pros I am hoping that the following will be back with celeb partners
Katya
Neil
Oti
Oksana
Alijaz
Janette
Chloe

I wouldn't mind seeing some new pros again net year as some of the new ones have been a great asset this year.

Assuming no one leaves I think they'll swap Pasha with Neil and keeping Chloe on the sides for the one off specials/ITT
I'd would rather see anyone from Joanne, Janette, Karen, Brendan or Anton dropped from the line-up.

what happened to him?

Went to Australia and his wife had a baby. I miss him!

I'm worried for Pasha. One of my favourite pros, but he has been very much pushed to the back this year.

I'd also really like to see Katya back next year, and give Neil a chance too. Not bothered about AJ, Oksana, Gorka or Chloe. Also bored of the Cliftons, Janette and Aljaz being favoured in all the group dances. Would like to see less Burn the Floor alumni and more ballroom dancers from the competition circuit.

Edit: also an extra mention for Oti, she is divine!

There are worse places to be Did SCD sack him or was it his own choice?

Own choice.

No one gets sacked. They get a contract for one series only. Some will get offered repeat contracts the following year, some may not. Basically it's a temporary job.

Tristan wasn't invited back to DWTS, then not to SCD. Rumour has it both shows found him a tad lazy. By his own admission he didn't like putting together choreography, which is a large part and parcel of the job, and to be honest, I thought it showed.

I like all the female pros.

I haven't really seen much of Chloe so don't know how she'd do. My personal feeling is that she probably needs another couple of years on the circuit and then she'd be great. I think they rushed her and AJ in too soon because he's a pretty boy. I think he also needs a little bit more experience to be honest. I would be fine with them going off and coming back in another few years.

Giovanni I am taking to less and less the more I see of him, as he seems a bit smarmy, but then I felt the same way about Artem, and he was really popular.

I definitely want to see more of Katya and Gorka, I would like to see Oksana return as well. It would be interesting to see Neil with a partner. At the moment he seems to be a bit "Hello! I'm on stage!!!" whenever the camera is near him, but I suspect that that is because he doesn't have a partner this year. I would like to see what he's like as a proper member of the line up, because he definitely has the skills and experience to do it.

I agree Tristan didn't exactly seem super-invested in the show, but he did do 5 seasons on DWTS so they presumably didn't find him too lazy as they've dumped pros much quicker than that.

I definetly want to see Katya, Oti and the Cliftons (not Karen). I like their choreography and passion. Gorka hasn't really been given a chance to see what he can do.

I like the fact that they competition is pushing them to improve quality this year.

And what's the age difference between Katya and Ed? Leslie and Anton? I don't think age need effect the partnership. It's not a dating show.

I like the whole pro line up, I'd like to see them all stay.

Well Ed and Lesley weren't serious contenders - they were just there to pad out the show. Claudia was a contender and had to be given a decent chance with a properly matched Pro, so she got AJ, who has been great for her. Last night's ITT was proof that their partnership has been happy and mutually fulfilling.
Vincent won't be coming back so it's all immaterial anyway whether he was the right age or not. I don't think he is - Giovanni and Aljaz are the right age, but both far too tall.

And I think age does affect the partnership. The closer in age they are it works out better I think. Vincent is a prime example of that when you look at his partners.

I have actually really loved this year's line up.

Partly because Karen and Janette were out early on but they still managed to hog the limelight in the clauditorium and iritate me

But as with Pasha, who I find lovely - I haven't missed them at all and have found that I have thoroughly enjoyed Oti ripping it up!!! What a dancer!!

I would like them all to stay - I'd like to see it as a 2yr contract then a mix up. Anton, I take the forthcoming arrival of twins as a sign that he will not be able to comit as fully and therefore I think Len's leaving is timed perfectly.......I think Anton is too big a pull for the Beeb to want to lose and he will do well as a judge.

Katya - in no doubt that this lady has a fabulous dancer and a strict teacher, and would love to see her with the Danny of SCD 2017

Janette seems like a nice person but she's easily the worst pro there : teaching and choreographically speaking. Unfortunately, she'll most likely stay because = Aljaz.
I still don't understand what was the point of hiring dwts version of Troupes; they don't seem to use Neil, Chloe. .....that much.

My point really was that the salsa routines that Jon Platero choreographed on this year's Strictly were fairly dire. So.. I hope he doesn't join Strictly or do more choreography if that is what we are going to get.

I actually love to watch good salsa - I just wish what appears on Strictly is both better and more authentic. I take your point that Jon can do some lovely stuff - but... not on Strictly. If I am wrong and there was a really authentic, tip-top salsa that he choreo'd this year on the show, then I am genuinely happy to be corrected.