have just read that article..

Oh noo..
I suppose she may feel different though once shes had a break (thinking positive as would love to see more of the lovely ian )
(she looked really pretty on that pic)
I hope Matthew , Ian, Erin, Lillia, Darren, Camilla (& im slightly warming to James ish, but not Ola) stay not too fussed about the others..
We can only hope for our faves i suppose though, who knows whats going to happen :S
I did like Brian and kristina, but i would rather see them go then one of my faves..

The best professionals IMO in terms of their personal dancing ability are Vincent, Brian and Kristina, with an honourable mention to Lilia and Ola.

As far as choreography for their partners - Darren and Lilia are two of the 'older' professionals who have been able to take something raw and not particularly good and work routines that are both interesting and to their strengths. We haven't seen everything Kristina is capable of yet but she showed a lot of promise with John. Most professionals would've buckled in week one, but she created something interesting every week, even if for dubious reasons. Vincent is the person whose choreography I most admire. Almost without fail he creates choreography that is interesting and original, and often takes the emotion of each dance to the extreme in a good way. His rumba with Rachel was incredibly sensual, his waltzes and foxtrots are usually soft as soft can be, his cha cha chas particularly cheeky, etc. I also love that he pushes his partners so much, even if sometimes it doesn't work out as planned.

Worst? I know she's made a winner, but Camilla's choreography always leaves me cold and her own dancing is often the weak point of the routine. I'd also say Erin is one of the worst professionals. She can't choreograph OR dance Latin, and there were a couple this year where I actually thought she was worse than Austin (who wasn't stellar to begin with). Anton, same as with Erin.

I can't warm to Brendan or James but I don't know if that's to do with their talent or personality.

Looking at this thread, I'm becoming more and more certain that Ian Waite is overlooked. Not only can he pull off good latin AND ballroom routines, his cheoreography is always tailored well to the ability's of his partner, and he is a very likeable person who get's on well with whoever he is partnered with. He's also a blooming good dancer.

Although guilty of forgetting that Ian exists, I'd like to take advantage of your post and add him to my "best" list

.

As much as i agree with you,
I prefer Matthew

But would love to see both of them back this year (how weird does it seem to say that "this year".. how strange )
But he is on my 'list':
1) Matthew Cutler
2) Erin Boag
3) Ian Waite
4) Camilla Dallerup/Lillia Kopylova/Darren Bennet
5) Karen Hardy, Kristina Rhianoff, Brian Fortuna (and perhaps James Jordan)

I had a funny feeling you would. The shinyness of Matthew Cutler does not go unnoticed on my part, but I'm afraid his chest just can't compete with the Waite's.

I do think Ian tends to get overlooked - but there was a thread which ranked the pro's in order of popularity and, interestingly, but not surprisingly, Ian was way up there. He is not many folk's top pro, but a lot of people put him in their top few as I remember. He's a very good dancer and teacher I agree.

I really like Ian, though I didn't mention him. I actually like all the pros' personalities, but as a bonus, I like the way Ian choreographs his routines and teaches too. I'd be sorry to see him go if he did, but I'm pretty sure his role is safe - not least because of how tall he is!

Looking at the heights someone posted earlier in this thread
I was quite shocked.
Ian 6`3"
Matt 6`2"
Brendan 6`1"

Didnt realise Matt C was so tall or that Brendan was only an inch shorter than Matt and Matt an inch shorter than Ian

My five favourites would have to be Lilia, Vincent, Matthew, Brian and Kristina.

Overall i do think Lilia is the best chorographer and teacher. Although ive never been a big fan of any of her celeb partners i really do think shes the one pro whos managed to come out with routines that suit every one of her partners and shows them off in the best way possible. She managed to get to the final twice and both times it was with people that started off really badly so i think shes the one pro that really can make anyone dance!

Matthew and Vincent are fantastic too and looking at how well Matts managed to do three series in a row just shows what a fantastic teacher he is. I loved all his routines he did with Alesha last year.
Vincent i think pushes his partner the most as more then anyone he really does go for some difficult choreography but i love that about him. He loves to take risks and they normally do work IMO.

And i just love Kristina and Brian. I hope they both get great celeb partners next year as i'd love to see them do well.

How did you guess?
Nooo.. Matthews Chest Is ALOT Nicer then waites im afraid to say

He's also got a really good 'televisual' personality, by which I mean he is appeals to a wide spectrum of viewers, has a defined personality but not too strong to put people off. I personally don't think he's that strong a choreographer (witness that car crash of a samba for Jodie or ideed Penny last year) but what he does really well is develop a surrounding storyline or gimmick to grab people's interest - the 'surprise' kiss at the end of the rumba for eg. The best example was the very ordinary waltz (in pure dance terms) which so many people loved because of the Pride and Prejudice malarky tacked on to it. Genius!

A sensible thing to do will be to stop inviting exhibition dancers to the semifinal result show as we wouldn't have ended up with Lisa's showdance otherwise...


A part of me can't help wondering if some of the pros are pre-empting being axed by hinting at leaving. The show and the tour combined pays quite well for those who do both and I'd be surprised to learn so many of them genuinely want to walk away from it.


This is my number 1 wish for series 7 - I'd grudgingly keep the dance off and 16 couples as long as Brian and Kristina are back with partners I like!

my favourites are erin and lilia.
i think erin's ballroom is beautiful and she is easily the best ballroom teacher and choreographer. well i think so anyway, even if i am slightly biased. she also gets the best out of whoever she is partnered with (apart from colin's showdance but everyone makes mistakes).
lilia and darren seem like lovely people and seem to choreograph alot of the group performances. i also think she is probably the best female latin pro, and has great chemistry with whoever she is partnered with.
it's pretty obvious anton's the worst latin dancer, but ballroom's his forte and he doesn't ever seem to dance latin outside of strictly.
i think brendan's is an all-rounder with his dancing ability but like james, isn't as patient as he should be when they get duffers. and i don't think that's good teaching.
another all-rounder is camilla, i wouldn't know whether she's a ballroom or latin specialist.