#fact tho - innit?

I disagree a bit. Claudia may or may not have had dance training but she, like Louis Smith, who we all know won, have an advantage because of what they both excel in.

Ore did a Sports Science degree at Loughborough University, which is where a lot of top athletes have trained, and there will have been a significant practical aspect to his degree as well as the academic side. His degree shows that he had both an inclination towards and training in physical activity, and he will have learnt to be fit and flexible and body-aware - all big advantages in learning to dance.

So his background could be seen as parallel to the sort of physical training that Danny and Louise had in their teens, just not specific to dance as theirs was.

Are we seriously considering a Sports Science degree to be dance training now?

BIB Exactly. I dont know why some Louise or Kevin fans act like she doesn't have enough experience herself

My goodness, there is a huge difference between being generally sporty, even having a degree in sport, than being an Olympic gymnast or a trained dancer. I have a friend's son who has a sports degree and he could no more balance and do the intricate steps that they do on the beam than fly!

There is no lack of imagination in DS forums

I did a degree course which was taught within the same faculty as the Sports Science course - some of it even in the same building - so that probably means that I've had some dance training too!

What are they doing to ensure Claudia goes this week?

No, I said nothing about it being dance training specifically, just that it is physical training. I think it means that Ore has an interest in, training in and participation in physical/athletic activities that most of the non-entertainer beginners on Strictly won't have had, and from that point of view he is starting in a better position than anyone except the professional athletes or the trained dancers whose interest, training and participation in physical activity was specifically directed at dance.

Arguably he could be in a better position even than the Olympic athletes, other than the gymnasts. Activities such as cycling and long jump as so very specialised that although the participants are super-fit, they are fit and trained in such narrow, limited activities that it seems hard for them to translate their abilities into dance - neither Victoria nor Greg made the sort of progress their physical gifts might have indicated - a number of the team sport people, who have to master a wider range of activity, have done better.

I love your forum name.

Everybody has strengths and weaknesses going into Strictly. That's the point of it! To see how all the different types of competitor - together with their strengths and weaknesses - pan out!

Ore, for example, has experience of live TV. He knew how to find the camera and use it to best effect (very noticeable in movie week and really improved how his dance went down in living rooms rather than the studio).

Greg and Cloudier know how to train and train hard and how not to be precious about being told technique is wrong. Big advantage.

Danny and Louise have had extensive dance experience and training - the most obvious advantage.

Etc etc etc ad infinitum.

Strictly is a reality show. The whole point of it is to create tensions and contrasts on as many levels as possible so that it creates a) enjoyment for as many viewers as possible and b) inspires conversations and discussions between viewers to further engage them.

I fully expect that in years to come, having at least the full complement of limbs and at least one eye will be interpreted as having a distinct and unfair advantage over other contestants.

My little friend here > will, of course, be seen as a duffer, as he only has one eye and NO limbs.

yeah, but he could bite their legs off.

I hope we do.

Now Robert Rinder has left I have no interest in the show. I'll watch it. It has become a habit. But I don't care.

I want someone to say, as he did, that they never realised how enjoyable it was to learn to dance. If Danny or Louise came out with that I'd choke on my chips.

Start chocking

It wasn't week 1. And Ore is definitely not a professionally trained stage school dance ringer as both Danny and Louise are.

I think there's a lot of assumption and inconsistency and unfairness behind the way people categorise contestants in terms of previous experience.

It's very easy to say, as many of their supporters continually did this series, Ed or Greg are beginners and that's a great reason to rate their achievements more highly than, say, Danny or Louise. However there must surely be other beginners in the cast, or at least people whose previous experience is unclear, who don't seem to get the 'beginner' tag largely I think because they took to dancing better than Ed or Greg. It's all part of the phenomenon whereby people decide who they like based on their prejudice and bias and only then assemble the reasons why...carefully highlighting the best reasons to support their favourite whilst playing down the legitimate reasons not to.

They got a point criticizing Danny and Louise tho... top stage school and top italian dancing school... I doubt they finished their curiculum with mediocre dancing skill.

Italia Conti isn't an Italian school. Italia Conti herself was born in Westminster and that was over a century ago.

Its very sound italian tho haha

Not according to most people on here, it should cater for them and them alone!

As much research as all the other things you post then ?

Not necessarily.

The idea seems to be that Ed's not very good dancing is clearly more of an achievement given his absolute lack of previous experience than Danny's much, much better dancing off the back of a performing arts education and stage career. I contend that it's not clear at all, that it's a matter of judgment subject to all the usual bias and assumptions about the exact nature of previous experience.

I'm 20 years older and 25cm shorter than Greg with a very dodgy back and no real background in any type of sport. I did the long jump at school a few times in games lessons but with no kind of coaching. Obviously he's a much much better long jumper than I am but how close to his best of 8.51m would I have to jump for it to be more of an achievement? It comes down to judgement and human judgement is very fallible.

And Claudia of course has no experience performing in front of an audience even though her profession means she has been groomed since childhood to perform before them and in fact did perform before the largest audience in the world. Because a lot of people watch gymnastics and even more the Olympics.

And apparently being trained from childhood in gymnastics which involves balance, timing, performing to music, control and concentration isn't a bigger advantage than being at a performing arts school, in a girl band or the odd musical...

Well, Danny and Louise both have stage school training, which involves all the things you list Claudia as having trained in but they you know, actually dance and did a hell of a lot of it.

Being in a girl band or in musicals will just consolidate the previous training with invaluable performance experience...