Inspired by this thread on a DWTS forum, I thought I'd start a thread outside the usual appreciation ones where people can talk about the pro dancers on Strictly.

For e.g. who do you think is the best/worst pro dancer on the show? Some people prefer to use competition results and rankings, others argue that rankings and competitions are subjective, and people's dance abilities decline when they step off the competition treadmill anyway.

The best pro dancers aren't neccessarily the best teachers, especially of beginners. Who stands out as a teacher?

Finally, Strictly Come Dancing is primarily an entertainment progamme, and the best dancer/teacher in the universe may not be particularly entertaining...

My favourite pro is Karen Hardy as she always does the best routines for her partnersie both the first rounds with Bill and Mark were differant but were great in the same way

Worst at Latin HAS to be Anton, no doubt about it. Erin at least tries to make her dancing look credible.

Worst at ballroom, I'd maybe be inclined to say James and Ola.

Such a tricky question! I've seen people do it in a few ways, even when people do it based purely on considerable dance experience, they can differ significantly in how they rank the dancers. And when you look at Strictly pros you then also have how well they teach, how well they cope with dances that aren't their speciality etc.

Not that I have a ranking as such, but I think my impression of the pros is based partly on how much I enjoy their pro dances, partly on how much I enjoy what they do in Strictly- teaching, choreography, general relationship with their partner, and also what I'm aware of their dance achievements outside Strictly.

i love flavia the most but i'm very biased!
She was really encouraging and supportive to Jimmy even though she probably knew he wouldn't get very far, and it must have been really heartbreaking for to have to pull out in her first series.
I loved her with Matt because you could see the competition meant so much to her, she said herself that getting into the final would be the best thing ever. she was really patient and understanding but at the same pushed him to do the very best possible and performed some amazing routines.

i loved camilla last series particulary, he came out of his shell so much and she seemed to give him so much confidence. loved her choreography too- very romantic, especially the vienesse waltz, definatly a dance that will be remembered particulary as it was a big milestone for gethin.

i think Vincent is a really good teacher too. love his chreography, always pushing the celeb to the best they possibly can do... although Stephanie went out first, her routine was brilliant and he def gave the best chance possible. i really hope he gets a good celeb this year, would love to see him get to the final.

and matthew cutler too!... loved his waltzes with alesha!

i think they're all fantastic to be honest

Agree on both!

Darren and Lilia are my favourites as far as choreography goes as they've always choreographed to suit the celebrity they dance with so well. They seem able to bring out the best in whoever they dance with.

Lilia is such a clever chick, she stands out for me in every series I've seen her in how she marks out routines for her celeb and with Darren and Aled especially, she had such a rapport.

When Lilia dances it's never about her, but in who she's showcasing.

Love Karen's way of bringing fun to dances and her daring. When I first heard about her using Eleanor Rigby for a tango I thought naaah!

I'm always on the edge of my seat to see what Lilia and Karen will do. The only other pro for me who at least tries originality (Brendan can be but can be too influenced by his relationship with who he dances with in a negative way) is Camilla...her tango with James in series3 is STILL the standout routine I'd pick if I could only have one from SCD.

My favourites are Darren and Lilia -for most of the reasons that Nancy has already stated.

I think that sometimes people may think that they always get good partners - but I think it is more a case of clever choreography and excellent teaching -Darren with Letitia is a good example of this. Realted to the other females last series, she wasnt seen as a likely contender and thus her confidence wavered -but with Darren she made it to the final four!

I like most of the pros really. Didnt used to be keen on James and Ola but like them much more now! Especially Ola who seems really sweet.

Yes I think Ola really blossomed with Kenny funnily.

Darren and Lilia just come across as really really nice people to work with/for and the results speak for themselves....Lilia can almost be classed as genius in her ability to get the best out of unlikely people. It's impossible to see Darren G going on the same 'journey' with anyone else.

I love watching Anton and Erin dancing but don't get quite the same vibe from them with a celeb; weirdly (just me) I enjoyed Erin far more with Peter than I did with Colin.

Brendan's great to watch but he can't be classed as the most patient teacher in the world.

I really got to like Ola and James a lot in the last series. I'd really like to see James get a bit further this year- past week four at least!

Even though I do not like D&L, I think they do pretty good routines, Camilla and Karen's are always a bit quirky, and I think Brendan does pretty good ones too..loved the angry!VW with Kelly.

I didn't like the angry VW! Routines like that are always love it/hate it though.

My favourites for choreography are D&L, Matt, James, and V&F when they're not over complicating things.

I think it's cos it's something different isn't it...something against the norm!

I do find V&F really over complicate their routines and then it ends up going to pot.

I suppose if you're asking who is the best teacher, the criteria would have to be who gets the most out of the least promising? Assuming that, I'd have to say that Camilla, Lillia and Darren stand out for me for their transformations of James M, Darren G and Letitia Dean from stumbling also-rans to good confident dancers

Think Matthew Cutler is great - good teacher, creates good routines and as a dancer head and shoulders above most of the other pros. But then I am a bit biased.

Of the others I really rate Lilia as a fantastic dancer and teacher, she tailors her routines to her partner, as does Darren. Don't think Camilla is all that great as either a dancer or a teacher, a lot of the time I think she makes her routines all about her, one of the main reasons I loathe Karen, although I can recognise that she's a skilled dancer. Vincent and Flavia aren't bad, but they overcomplicate things a lot.

Aren't ALOT of the dances are about showing off the women so I suppose many routines regardless of who does them etc are designed with that in mind.

I often prefer D&L's ballroom to their latin.

For performance (in the pro dances), I think my favourite male is Matt, and my favourite female is Lilia. Least favourites are Anton and Erin.

I know what you mean and I think the female pros do have a tricky job choreographing for the men without making the routine mainly about showing themselves off... sometimes with Camilla though I feel as though when she has a celeb who is weak at latin (which the majority of the male celebs are), her strategy is to over-dance her part to draw attention away from it.

It is a fine line though, one of the reasons I don't especially enjoy Erin's latin Strictly routines is I feel as though she doesn't really sell the dance. So there definitely is a sense for me that part of the success of a male celeb/female pro routine is the female pro giving the routine a bit of sparkle. I guess for me I prefer the way some of the other female pros do that to Camilla's style.

Looking at Camilla's 'file' She's had David Dickinson, which was like dancing round a dustbin Roger Black, nice but no self-belief and terrible at latin James Martin, good ballroom but poor latin with one or two notable exceptions - One being the tango that I agreed with Craig was a 'brave routine' Ray Fearon, who should have gone further but struck me as being a bit of a cold fish and finally Gethin... Not brilliant at latin but as near to it as Camilla had seen, but very very good in the ballroom and some of the credit for that at least must be owed to her

I think it depends on how big a personality the professional has, in cases such as Camilla and Karen, their personalities over shine ones such as Ola, and I suppose even Lilia sometimes.

I'm obviously not going to slate Camilla, but I know what you mean. I sometimes felt Karen over-danced to compensate for her partner, but then I suppose you do what you have to do to win/do well!

Definitely!

Most of the existing pros have had success of some sort by now, so it's probably more a case of different things appealing to different people, than of one style being better than another.

I suppose in a way SCD gives them a chance to out-dance their partners if needed, doubt that happens in competitions which they were originally used to.

Me too.

I love all the pro's on strictly but Darren and Lilia are my favorite - I don't know what it is about them they just stand out to me.

They are both great teachers, have patience for their partners, and go far in the competition because of that.