And that is the whole point in a nutshell!

Oh dear, Craig and his made up dance expressions. There is no 'Figure of 8' in salsa. The count is 7, as in 1-2-3 4 (pause) 5-6-7.

And, too be honest, rarely do any of those pros get it right.

I hate to see him dance it. I might cry.

Can we have more like this please? I live in hope.

My thoughts exactly!

Someone once described the hip movement something like opening your bowels.

I liked it

it was dramatic and the music a pleasant surprise

it may not be technical enough to satisfy AT purists but it was memorable enough to gain votes imo

Sweat optional or mandatory? Personally I like my salsa dark and sweaty but maybe that's just me!

That was probably me. In Cuba they say baile con culo abierto. Dance with your arse open. Which means relax your sphincter (not your core though)

i expect he meant as in hip movement.

and the count is eight including the pause

a seven count sounds like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLsqZfZ0ijg

He seems to be described as a Salsa World Championship finalist? According to Wiki, he was a gymnast who took up dancing aged 16 and 2 years later was in the World Salsa finals (Cabaret division?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n84DufYUWb0

I thought the figure of eight refers to the hip movement too - not the count of the dance.

I am no dancer though. I just always assumed that was that he was talking about.

EDIT: It's not something Craig just made up though - it does exist.... doesn't it?

knew his credentials but must admit have been disappointed with his salsa choreography let alone his AT stuff

I really enjoyed it. It was pure character - no vaulting over motorbikes or anything.

You say that but people are posting comments like 'he just stood there and did nothing', 'Jo did all the work' and the worst I've seen so far was a comment about boxes being ticked - these are just a few examples.

The judges MARKED the dance.

The AT was NOT choreographed by Joanne.

The anger should be directed at the relevant persons but it seems some people want to scapegoat the celeb dancer instead.

The thing with salsa is it doesn't have a governing body like ballroom has IBTA and ISTD is it. So there are lots of world championbships and consequently a lot of world champions reigning at any point in time. I even know/danced with some of them!

Yes and no. I know what Craig is getting at, but in 20 years salsa dancing I never heard it called figure of eight. And in using that term he is completely misdirecting or misunderstanding how the hip action is created in salsa.

You don't undulate your hips in a figure of eight shape to get the hip action. You could but that's not what is done. The hip movement is more of a rocking action which resutls from using the basic step and pushing out of the floor with the bal of the foot and the heels just "kissing the floor" . In this I believe tha action is the same or very simialr to other Internationl 10 Latin dances ( Rumba and Cha Cha).

You can add a sort of forward and backwards rocking (templeke) or a figure of eight or even a rumba like hip pop but all of those would be on top of the basic action to add a touch of spice to the salsa.

If the Judges wants Claudia out they would not give her the same marks than Louise. If they want to be able to save Ore in the dance off, they only need to overmark one dance (the QS) not two.

I think with scoring, the judges don't like giving mixed messages; giving Ore a 8 or 9 after the 10's in the QS would look bad for him. They want to end the season with a good message for all those deserving dancers. It was a great year and it's a shame they can't all get into the final.

Exactly. I can't understand why some people here are determined to make out that if you criticise a dance then you must hate the dancer. I don't hate Ore, he seems a very pleasant man. But his quickstep left me cold and his AT was poor at best imo and yet praise was heaped on him by the judges and he was top of the leaderboard. Forgive my cynicism if that make me wonder if the judges have an agenda here. Heaven forbid!!

Yes Claudia was my favourite - because I believed her to be the best dancer of the 4 of them. That does not mean I hate the others. I don't and I wish them well for the final but I don't know if I can be bothered watching it.

Shock horror I don't hate the Cliftons either

I LOVED it, whatever it was. I thought it was intense, striking and dramatic. I also think that Ore danced it with care and passion.

Ok, I see what you mean... I think.

To a non-dancer, I have little idea of the correct technical terminology for actual moves or steps in dance but when Craig used the term "figure of eight", I grasped his meaning right away because to me that's more or less how it looks. A lot of these movements are performed too quickly and smoothly for me to actually see the technique itself but I certainly took some meaning from his use of the term "figure of eight", and understood it to be about the hip movement which is why I was a bit taken aback by the suggestion that it related to the count of the dance.

Thanks for explaining that for me. It means little as I have never tried to learn to dance but I appreciate it.

Its much easier to demonstrate than explain. But you may be able to demonstrate what I mean to yourself.

If you stand up in front of a mirror and stand with your feet about a foot apart facing the mirror. Now move your weight from your right left to your left leg. So in effect step from foot to foot. Chances are your hips won't rock because your leg is likely to be straight or locked.

Now do it again but step from just the ball of your right foot to the ball of your left. Now as the ball of your left leg touches the floor soften (relax and allow to bend) your left knee and allow your hip (also relaxed) to sink down. As you do that, allow the heel to touch the floor. As soon as it does switch your weight to the right foot, ball first, soften the knee and let your weight sink into it. Then back to the left and so on.

After a bit of practice (and getting more relaxed) you will see that the effect of that cause the hips to go down as you sink into the standing leg and the other hip appears to rise. This creates a rocking.

Once you have that sorted start to push the ball of your foot into the floor quite firmly, as if there is a bug you want to squash. Use that force to push yourself out of the floor again. This will accentuate the rocking and make your step look very grounded.

If you practice you can be a salsa dancer by tea time. It really is that easy. It just takes a little practice.

Yes, but what has that got to do with AT? I said he knew nothing about AT, and he doesn't.

That clip of him dancing salsa is hilariously bad. He's awful. She's a lot better but the choreography is pants! Even the commentator is not exactly impressed.

There are hundreds of salsa comps around the world. The title means zilch!

The judges have marked down plenty of couples for things missing from the AT choreography this year. A specific example would be Craig telling Claudia and AJ that they were missing the male lead and female response, something that was somewhat present in Claudia's routine and utterly absent from Ore's.

He led - in the sense of a wall leading when you lean on it.

But the movement side was essentially do as little as possible . It was going through the motions - while maximising his partner, and doing as little as possible. Throw in a 10 second walk to show some motion, then pose and throw in a couple of seconds worth of steps after eachfollowing pose, or trick by Joanne. Strike a Pose by Madonna would have been better music , but she moves far more.

The judges seem to have fallen into the trap many politicians fall into - you can't argue a guy moves brilliantly when there's now a youtube showing a static performance , with repeated tricks, and a clock ticking down underneath- so anyone can count just how much time is spent moving , and how much doing nothing much.

"Whatever it was" from the male dancer's point of view was NOT an AT!


Agreed. I have no issue with Ore being in the final. But what I do have an issue with is the judges marking such a non event AT from the celeb male dancer with 10.

Are any of them? Not according to the experts on this board anyway. So I refuse to beat Ore with that stick.

And the dance was great, whatever it was.