But wasn't that also part of his job as it was a piece recorded for ITT, however yes I am suprised that if he cant do the AT he has not taken lesson as I am sure he could have squeezed one or two in somewhere

When they advertised in the US for SCD dancers they specified "10 Dance professionals"

While all the pros can do reasonable salsas and ATs, there is the world of difference between being professional standard and competent.

JJ

I assume they weren't hired at 2 hours notice.

Artem was hired over the summer, for example, and has been in the country throughout the year.

He's also just tweeted:

That's OK Artem, I think our expectations have been managed sufficiently.


Exactly.

In fact, I'd love Claudia to ask one of the pros that question.

Dont forget - the pros dont know they will get contracted for the new season until July/August. Besides - who would give them lessons?? The salsa teachers down in your local community centre are hardly up to pro standard.

JJ

July at latest - for example, with Artem there was all that fuss in early August about his visa, so he absolutely knew about it, well before that date.

I simply don't believe he couldn't find a couple of hours to take a few classes.


Kele and Ralf spring to mind - ie. the ones who give choreo advice to everyone else?

Failing that, I could name a dozen AT teachers in London alone off the top of my head who can give excellent show tango advice.


True, but then none of the professionals are up to pro salsa dancer standard either. Which is why they employ - surprise surprise - Chris and Jacqui to teach them.

There are loads of teachers around - that excuse simply won't wash.

Kristina is a expert in salsa , she won at championship level in south America . She also taught salsa when she was living in LA.x

Davidjames, I agree with you in principle, but as she fair says, all the other stuff is also part of his job. Also artem was part of so you think you can dance so he has had the previous experience of having to master a new dance in a short period of time, which has to mean something.
I think what it is hard for them is that usually they are the pros at it and suddenly they feel at similar level as the celebrity and that has to be difficult. A lot of insecurities will arise from it.

I think some people on this thread need to chill out a bit. We've only seen a small part of the AT footage with Kara and Artem, we have no idea what the finished article will be. Plus, we have no idea what training Artem has had before for the argentine tango. Let's not make assumptions. I thought the tweet he wrote was a nice tweet. He's just being honest about finding it hard, but there is no doubt from the interviews I've seen and Kara's performances that Artem is a hard worker and wants to excel in each dance with his talented partner.

Coming from someone called "DanceCrazy", that means... err...


Well we know that what we've seen is rubbish.

Sure, the rest might be genius.

But then Ann might actually do a dance.

I think the odds are not good.


Yes we do. None.

I think you take it too seriously. And we don't really knowI how much training he actually is had. We assume that he has none because that what he is said, but some professionals -not necessarily dance- consider none any training that is bellow certain amounts of hours and say that they haven't received any training because it does not properly qualify for it.
While the bits weren't great, to say that they were rubbish is actually being not objective.

I dont think DJ is taking anything to seriously. Artem has said he hasn't had any training so it must be safe to assume that he was telling the truth.I saw a pretty dance but AT it was not.

The AT is DavidJames thing. He knows it, he loves it and he takes it very seriously - just the same as any one who sees their real life passion being downplayed on the tele.

Honestly, if DavidJames says it is rubbish then I would take his word for it over that of Len or Craig. He is objective about the dance not the couple attempting it.

Tbh I haven't got the impression so far this year that the pro's are taking the dances they already know that seriously, so expecting them to bother that much about learning a style that they'll only perform once or twice on Strictly is always going to be an unfulfilled dream I'm afraid...

After all, It's much less effort to just grab a handful of props instead and prat around for 1.5mins knowing that you're guaranteed a standing ovation just for turning up.

At is also my favourite dance. But being objective is precisely considering every single aspect of it considering the circumstances.
He does not need to say is good, he can say it's not AT. To say it's rubbish is saying it holds no value, it's like me saying your 5 year old drawing is rubbish. According to art critics it will be (though you never know, the critics of the day with some of the great master have mostly gotten it wrong). But it holds value to you because it's your daughter painting, more importantly compared to other 5 year olds is really masterful.
that is like me saying that any paso doble is not proper Paso doble because that is not what is danced in spain. That would be just plain silly. Stricly is competition that gets inspired from those dances, when the pros are pros at those dances then you can compare them to the proper thing, but the rest... Well they are all attempting it and as such is how it should be valued.
And, for the record, I wished they had waited until semifinals for the At, when they are more proficient and can do it better.

I think of the people from Brazil who complain bitterly that the samba is not really a samba when they see ballroom samba. If a couple did an authentic Brazilian samba on SCD wouldn't they then be slated by those who are ballroom samba experts? It is all objective and subjective with the arts.

Because it is difficult to be objective, but not impossible, one should never qualify something very harshly.
The bold part was my point exactly before, although you have said it much better of course. I think what at the end we do is an academical discussion of how to judge a dance on stricly, if by the standards that are done on specific dance competitions or as non professionals attempting to do it for entertainment purposes,

I am a bit surprised that there is so little AT experience on Strictly. Both teachers at the school that I attend dance competitive ballroom, but both have also learnt to dance AT. (Mind you both of them have worked with Ralf and Kele.)

Well said. A lot of people here seem to bitch for the sake of it. It's like if there was nothing to bitch about, they'd bitch about the fact there wasn't anything to bitch about

Unfortunately, very good points...

Well said! That sums it up perfectly.

Sadly, I think your post is all too true.

Its part of their job on SCD.

In any other job, they would be expected to retrain up to a level that they were capable of teaching a celebrity up to the celebrity's limit - without assistance.