Can I just say that although I enjoyed the Cuban Salsa display in tonights show it was not particularly good Cuban Salsa.

It was more 'Show Cuban Salsa' than normal Cuban Salsa but even so I dance better than that and a quick poll of friends showed that we know a dozen peple who can dance better also.

It was also not at the standard of the ballroom/Latin dancers that are normally on which is a shame.

Cuban Salsa is VERY sexy, loose and smooth. The Salsa tonight was too stiff: the girls just did not have the flexibility in their hips which is part of the sexiness of Cuban salsa and darn difficult to get right.

They did do some Rueda which was in a circle and swapping partners while doing the same moves but it was, again, very basic.

I know a couple of previous ex-UK and World Cuban Salsa Champions and just them dancing on their own would have blown that troupe away and they are based in the UK. Google 'Janet and Rafeal' they are professionally trained dancers and Osbanis Tejada. Osbanis is 'just' a drummer but was born in Cuba like Rafeal and is just a natural like all Cuban men. I have watcheed Rafeal and Osbanis take two good female dancers and do an incredible routine - all improvised.

It will be interesting to see whether they dance Cross-body lead/New York style next week as that is more ballroomy but still smooth and good to watch and fun!(just in case ant XBL'ers are reading ). But it ain't Cuban. They did some Salsa last year on the show and even the professionals were finding it difficult.

For some reason the Beeb do not seem to know who 'the best' are.

If someone from the Beeb is reading please get the guys on I have mentioned above they will blow everyone away.

I would have to agree with you on that. I don't pretend to be an expert in dancing but I have seen a fair bit of salsa shows to feel that I have also seen better. Compared to the normal standard of the pro show dances it was, to me, inferior.

Maybe it was just nerves. The main couple (forgotten thier names sorry) won many competitions I have heard. So they must be very good - it just somehow did not come across on my TV screen tonight.

Love Chris & Jaci, hate the salsa. Sorry! I don't find it inspiring at all. After dancing other dances, i find it far too simple. Hate the rhythm foxtrot for the same reason. I refuse to dance it

OP, that salsa was awful to watch (maybe I should go to bed as it seems I am in a bad mood )
I am not a dancer, but I think I could almost stretch to a performance like they did this evening.
I would score it a 2

Thanks for that post Alfster, it's good to know that there is better Cuban Salsa than that, I really didn't enjoy it.
Maybe it was Chris and Jaci who picked the couples and the beeb were none the wiser.

I thought it was rubbish. There's losts of Salsa danced these days. This was not a good example.
Didn't the little guy in the blue shirt love himself?

Yep, I can dance the salsa pretty proficiently and it's quite popular with absolute beginners because it is one of the simpler dances to learn. I suppose it's only fair though that it is paired up with the VW which has the least number of steps of all the ballroom dances. The main tricky bit is not getting dizzy!

Cuban Groove are Chris & Jaci's troop of Latin/Salsa dancers..they do many shows etc. under that name.

Chris & Jaci teach regularly at my school and are far better than what they did tonight! Their world championship winning routine is outstanding!
Can't say I found the other couples particularly inspiring either, but there you go!

Which is a darn shame really. If the Beeb truely wanted great Cuban Salsa dancers they should have gone for the best and they aren't hard to find. Us Brits will never be as good as Cubans. I have not had a Cuban Salsa lesson for over a year and I am sure Chris and Jaci could teach me plenty but the display was a tad embarrassing and I know Cuban Salsa could have had a better debut than what it had. A real missed opportunity.

they should stick to the strictly pros dancing....i love to see how in awe the celebs seem after seeing their partners dance like that!

Totally with you there! I was well looking forward to the pro dance tonight and it was disappointing...

No, they should find the best people for that dance. they did not find the best so the failed.

The best Cuban dancers could be called professionals as they earn their living teaching and dancingc

My teacher is an awesome salsa dancer and half on my class could have been a better advertisement for salsa than what we saw tonight. I was really hoping it would be good but was sadly disappointed.

i didnt mean that they weren't pro's i meant strictly pros as in the pros in strictly come dancing.

i just like to see how good the strictly pros are when they aren't dancing pro-am

Chris & Jaci who were the lead are the best - they wouldn't be 3 X World Champions if they weren't!

Does anyone remember what they danced to? I think I tuned out halfway through

But what we saw tonight was not the best. They had a chnace to show what (Cuban) Salsa is all about and they failed.

People dancing in the streets of Cuba for fun would beat what we saw tonight.

I really wish it was not the case. I really wish I could say that people will be flocking to Salsas next week but I wouldn't on that display.

If you are the best dance the best: they did not which is a darn shame.

funny posterss demand the best from the dems and lets face it Chris and Jacii are the best but this was a group routine that didnt quite work but it was ok yet when it comes to the competition the majorty on here vote for the best grin or hairy chest

Hardly. There's a big chunk of us who actually vote because we like watching certain people dance. Whilst I like Anton (since I'd be very surprised if your dig was aimed elsewhere) from a view that he's entertaining and a good ballroom dancer, I'm not going to vote for him if he has an awful partner.

Chris and Jacii may technically be the best but dancing was art long before it was a pseudo sport and if you don't like the way something looks then you don't like it, no matter how much people say they're the best. Jacii is technically brilliant I'm sure but I just don't enjoy the way she dances.

I thought they were a group of youngters <12/13 yr olds> from a local dance school or something

Do you mean the one at the front with the large girl?

I thought he wore a pink shirt.

They were the couple who danced last series in front of Will Young and us Will fans were shouting at the TV for them to go away! I thought they were terrible last year and haven't changed my opinion.

I agree. I thought this troupe were rubbish. they didn't even look good. They all wore different style & colour clothes and the women's hair was a mess. That is without talking about their mediocre dancing. SCD's own professionals give such a better show than these 'guests'. What are the BBC doing to our show???

actually Claire I was not digging at Anton I was digging at lot of the posters on HERE who vote for nice smile or Chest -THAT IS HARDLY THE FAULT OF THE DANCER OR CELEB WHO GETS THE VOTE I find it Ironic to find a thread on here about the standard of dancing when if you look at the threads dancing is the minority subject

I wasn't inspried by the Salsa, but I do like Chris and Jaci. Was it me or did her dress break while she was dancing it, as there were bits of dress all over the floor.
Can't wait to see the prfessionals back to it though, as good as Chris and Jaci are

Yes I thought the Cuban Salsa was awful and the lead dancer looked fat!! Sorry but they looked like an amateur dance group. The dresses looked awful and I was so disappointed because usually the group dance is at a very high standard. They performed about as good as the judges last night with their 2 and 8 point scores for the same couple. Absolute farce if you ask me!!