Brendan saw how quickly Matt picked it up, so had no reason to think he couldn't do the same. In the event he was brilliant.
Brendan, instead of all the parties and clebrity chasing, why not learn the AT??
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Originally Posted by welwynrose:
“I would be interested to know how many of the pros who have been in the competition for the last 3 years also have not taken a single AT lesson”
“I would be interested to know how many of the pros who have been in the competition for the last 3 years also have not taken a single AT lesson”
Agreed! Taking lessons in AT and performing it with the same amount of confidence as a professional in ballroom or latin when you've never performed it before and are feeling well outside your comfort zone would be tough for all the pros. We all know Brendan is a perfectionist and I think he did an excellent job
Originally Posted by welwynrose:
“he could take as many lessons as you wanted him to be partnered with the best dancer in the competition & still not win if that partner is not popular with the GBP as this year has proved - it doesn't matter how well or how badly you dance you can still win as long as your partner wins over the voters”
“he could take as many lessons as you wanted him to be partnered with the best dancer in the competition & still not win if that partner is not popular with the GBP as this year has proved - it doesn't matter how well or how badly you dance you can still win as long as your partner wins over the voters”
But I thought he wanted to win? I mean, God knows he whinges enough about it.
Is he not a professional dancer any more then?
Originally Posted by Buzzy Bee:
“Agreed! Taking lessons in AT and performing it with the same amount of confidence as a professional in ballroom or latin when you've never performed it before and are feeling well outside your comfort zone would be tough for all the pros.”
“Agreed! Taking lessons in AT and performing it with the same amount of confidence as a professional in ballroom or latin when you've never performed it before and are feeling well outside your comfort zone would be tough for all the pros.”
So, you think taking no lessons is the same as taking (say) 100 lessons then?
Why bother learning anything, then?
Originally Posted by Buzzy Bee:
“We all know Brendan is a perfectionist”
“We all know Brendan is a perfectionist”
Except when it comes to, say, learning stuff.
Unless you define "perfectionist" as "leave it till the last minute then cram like crazy then make it up as you go."?
Originally Posted by Buzzy Bee:
“and I think he did an excellent job”
“and I think he did an excellent job
”
No he didn't, it was rubbish. Almost no tango content, a Godawful ending, and a pretty miserable start. The only good thing about it was the Bajofondo music.
Originally Posted by DavidJames:
“But I thought he wanted to win? I mean, God knows he whinges enough about it.
Is he not a professional dancer any more then?”
“But I thought he wanted to win? I mean, God knows he whinges enough about it.
Is he not a professional dancer any more then?”
of course he wants to win but wanting to win & actually winning this prgramme is two different things - it seems not to matter how well someone dances on SCD if they do not have the public support they will not win no matter how proficiant they are at all the dances - Tom & Camilla won but how much content did their AT have? Brendan never having done the AT did not stop them winning SCD various other factors did - R&V seem to have done a very good AT but they didn't win either
I enjoyed Brendan's and Lisa's AT the most although Vincent's was no doubt technically better. In addition, it had more AT content than Tom's and Camilla's. Both of these dances were anyway choreographed by AT experts so the responsibility of their content does not lie with either Brendan or Camilla.
I very much doubt whether Brendan went on about it more than the other novice couple. He mentioned it once on ITT as a joke. Arlene brought up his obvious nerves during the show, he didn't.
The VT footage is compiled out of many hours of filming. The producers then choose a story-line to add interest and select the footage to fit. They chose this aspect for Brendan. It was interesting to see their relationship had developed - Lisa took over the role of providing encouragement and calming nerves. It showed just how far they had come.
I very much doubt whether Brendan went on about it more than the other novice couple. He mentioned it once on ITT as a joke. Arlene brought up his obvious nerves during the show, he didn't.
The VT footage is compiled out of many hours of filming. The producers then choose a story-line to add interest and select the footage to fit. They chose this aspect for Brendan. It was interesting to see their relationship had developed - Lisa took over the role of providing encouragement and calming nerves. It showed just how far they had come.
Originally Posted by Liz G-S:
“I enjoyed Brendan's and Lisa's AT the most although Vincent's was no doubt technically better. In addition, it had more AT content than Tom's and Camilla's.”
“I enjoyed Brendan's and Lisa's AT the most although Vincent's was no doubt technically better. In addition, it had more AT content than Tom's and Camilla's.”
Mmmm, about the same really, I think.
Originally Posted by Liz G-S:
“Both of these dances were anyway choreographed by AT experts so the responsibility of their content does not lie with either Brendan or Camilla.”
“Both of these dances were anyway choreographed by AT experts so the responsibility of their content does not lie with either Brendan or Camilla.”
No, the experts (Kele and Ralph) were not there to design the entire routine, they were there to provide technical assistance. Brendan choreographed the routine.
Originally Posted by Liz G-S:
“I very much doubt whether Brendan went on about it more than the other novice couple. He mentioned it once on ITT as a joke.”
“I very much doubt whether Brendan went on about it more than the other novice couple. He mentioned it once on ITT as a joke.”
I saw him say it several times personally - he kept on about how he'd never even seen the embrace, for example. It didn't seem "joke-y" to me, perhaps I've no sense of humour.
Originally Posted by welwynrose:
“of course he wants to win but wanting to win & actually winning this prgramme is two different things”
“of course he wants to win but wanting to win & actually winning this prgramme is two different things”
It seems to me that the job of the professional dancer is primarily to know how to dance, and to teach the celeb (and the job of the celeb is to learn to dance and to pull in the voters). Maybe I'm just crazy there.
Originally Posted by welwynrose:
“Tom & Camilla won but how much content did their AT have? Brendan never having done the AT did not stop them winning SCD various other factors did - R&V seem to have done a very good AT but they didn't win either”
“Tom & Camilla won but how much content did their AT have? Brendan never having done the AT did not stop them winning SCD various other factors did - R&V seem to have done a very good AT but they didn't win either”
No, but a really good AT might have helped Lisa and Brendan's popularity.
And, once again, we keep on hearing how insanely competitive Brendan is. Well, except when it comes to actually working at learning a new skill, of course.
Originally Posted by DavidJames:
“It seems to me that the job of the professional dancer is primarily to know how to dance, and to teach the celeb (and the job of the celeb is to learn to dance and to pull in the voters). Maybe I'm just crazy there.
No, but a really good AT might have helped Lisa and Brendan's popularity.
And, once again, we keep on hearing how insanely competitive Brendan is. Well, except when it comes to actually working at learning a new skill, of course.”
“It seems to me that the job of the professional dancer is primarily to know how to dance, and to teach the celeb (and the job of the celeb is to learn to dance and to pull in the voters). Maybe I'm just crazy there.
No, but a really good AT might have helped Lisa and Brendan's popularity.
And, once again, we keep on hearing how insanely competitive Brendan is. Well, except when it comes to actually working at learning a new skill, of course.”
come on - even as a L&B fan I'm perfectly aware that with Lisa being in the bottom two 3 times she was not popular with the voters & a lot of people DID like their AT
Originally Posted by DavidJames:
“Mmmm, about the same really, I think.
No, the experts (Kele and Ralph) were not there to design the entire routine, they were there to provide technical assistance. Brendan choreographed the routine.
I saw him say it several times personally - he kept on about how he'd never even seen the embrace, for example. It didn't seem "joke-y" to me, perhaps I've no sense of humour.”
“Mmmm, about the same really, I think.
No, the experts (Kele and Ralph) were not there to design the entire routine, they were there to provide technical assistance. Brendan choreographed the routine.
I saw him say it several times personally - he kept on about how he'd never even seen the embrace, for example. It didn't seem "joke-y" to me, perhaps I've no sense of humour.”
If he choreographed it himself, I am extremely impressed, it was brilliant, even how they walked down the stairs was choreographed. He did say though that this was the first dance apart from 1/2 Salsa that he had not choreographed. However, it explains why it had a completely different choreography to Camilla's.
I think Brendan is probably the most naturally gifted pro dancer. He hasn't danced professionally since four years but is still the most exciting to watch. Len has said the same this year and Arlene too. I have never before heard a pro dancer receive such universal praise for teaching and choreography as Brendan did, and this was throughout the series. It seems he did an exceptional job with Lisa.
Originally Posted by Liz G-S:
“If he choreographed it himself, I am extremely impressed,”
“If he choreographed it himself, I am extremely impressed,”
Boy, you're easy to impress then. Maybe you should be a judge.
Originally Posted by Liz G-S:
“I think Brendan is probably the most naturally gifted pro dancer.”
“I think Brendan is probably the most naturally gifted pro dancer.”
Well, apart from the fact that he clearly can't do two of the dances, so 1/6 of the time he looks like a numpty...
Originally Posted by DavidJames:
“Boy, you're easy to impress then. Maybe you should be a judge.
Well, apart from the fact that he clearly can't do two of the dances, so 1/6 of the time he looks like a numpty...”
“Boy, you're easy to impress then. Maybe you should be a judge.
Well, apart from the fact that he clearly can't do two of the dances, so 1/6 of the time he looks like a numpty...”
for the excessive money the judges earn, I would do it in a shot. And the two dances you are talking about, Brendan can do them as well as anyone else who has had to learn them for the show.
Originally Posted by Liz G-S:
“for the excessive money the judges earn, I would do it in a shot. And the two dances you are talking about, Brendan can do them as well as anyone else who has had to learn them for the show.”
“for the excessive money the judges earn, I would do it in a shot. And the two dances you are talking about, Brendan can do them as well as anyone else who has had to learn them for the show.”
No, in fact. Camilla, Matthew Cutler, and of course Flavia have done much better.
In fact, Brendan's AT was the worst we've seen on SCD.
Huh - how strange, the person who's done nothing to learn the dance over the past 3 years put in the worst performance.
Who'd have thought it?
Originally Posted by DavidJames:
“No, in fact. Camilla, Matthew Cutler, and of course Flavia have done much better.
In fact, Brendan's AT was the worst we've seen on SCD.
Huh - how strange, the person who's done nothing to learn the dance over the past 3 years put in the worst performance.
Who'd have thought it?”
“No, in fact. Camilla, Matthew Cutler, and of course Flavia have done much better.
In fact, Brendan's AT was the worst we've seen on SCD.
Huh - how strange, the person who's done nothing to learn the dance over the past 3 years put in the worst performance.
Who'd have thought it?”
it was worse than Camilla's this year
- as an expert I'll take your word for it but as a watcher of SCD I know what one I preferred
Originally Posted by welwynrose:
“it was worse than Camilla's this year”
“it was worse than Camilla's this year
”
Well, admittedly The Mad One's AT was quite zany, but if you ignored the "acting" bit at the start and end, the dancing in the middle was not too bad.
From here:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQuGc1yY8o
[LIST][*]Started off with some walks and a sidestep, with varying timing - nice, albeit out of hold.[*]Into hold, straight to a sacada - again, OK albeit Camilla's leg looked a bit wild swinging round[*]A walk to a cross, then a mirror lunge - very standard, if a bit hesitant[*]Another walk into an ocho, with more Camilla Crazy Leg Action - but again, normal AT[*]A kind of throwout then pull into a lift - a bit naff, but again that's Camilla[*]Some lovely rotating walking - around 0:35-0:40 in that clip - which I loved, albeit R&V did the same thing twice as well.[*]Another lift - rotating around, into another mirror lunge (which was much nicer than the first one)[*]Tom felt Camilla's leg up, then, yes, into another wild leg motion[*]A half-hearted volcada, into ochos, then into a quite nice giro / sacada pattern - around 1:05-1:08. Again, R&V did this, but much much better[*]A couple of boleos, leading into another rotating lift (which I quite liked)[/LIST]
So yes, there was some AT content, although it wasn't well-performed and it was a bit repetitive.
Originally Posted by DavidJames:
“No, in fact. Camilla, Matthew Cutler, and of course Flavia have done much better.
In fact, Brendan's AT was the worst we've seen on SCD.
Huh - how strange, the person who's done nothing to learn the dance over the past 3 years put in the worst performance.
Who'd have thought it?”
“No, in fact. Camilla, Matthew Cutler, and of course Flavia have done much better.
In fact, Brendan's AT was the worst we've seen on SCD.
Huh - how strange, the person who's done nothing to learn the dance over the past 3 years put in the worst performance.
Who'd have thought it?”
I think we will have to agree to differ, I enjoyed it the most out of the three and also did not find Brendan's performance any worse than the others you have mentioned.
He'll have to put that on hold for a bit.
I reckon he'll be too busy on the massage table for a few weeks.
Got to recover from all that lifting.
I reckon he'll be too busy on the massage table for a few weeks.
Got to recover from all that lifting.
Originally Posted by ESPIONdansant:
“He'll have to put that on hold for a bit.
I reckon he'll be too busy on the massage table for a few weeks.
Got to recover from all that lifting.”
“He'll have to put that on hold for a bit.
I reckon he'll be too busy on the massage table for a few weeks.
Got to recover from all that lifting.”
lmao
Mind you, in addition to the physio he's going to need therapy for the trauma.
Also earplugs to block out all the tittering.
How do you live that down?
Also earplugs to block out all the tittering.
How do you live that down?
Originally Posted by tutti_frutti_79:
“As stated in the title, why doesn't Brendan have a break from all the silly tv shows he does and take some time to learn the AT??
He knew it would be in the semi finals, as it has been for a few years.
So instead of complaining and trying to manipulate the public into feeling sorry for you, just shut up and learn the dance!!
”
“As stated in the title, why doesn't Brendan have a break from all the silly tv shows he does and take some time to learn the AT??
He knew it would be in the semi finals, as it has been for a few years.
So instead of complaining and trying to manipulate the public into feeling sorry for you, just shut up and learn the dance!!
”
His AT was absolutely fantastic, what are you talking about?? It got rave reviews from the judges, and was superb to watch.
In response to:
and to:
OK, for completeness sake, here's an analysis of Brendan's AT:
[LIST][*]Starts promisingly, good outfits, good electro tango music.[*]Then at 0:03 - Brendan puts his hands on his hips and turns round dramatically... Lisa also does this. God knows why. It's Passion, apparently.[*]Eventually they get into hold, and Brendan kind of hooks Lisa into a lunge-wrap[*]She comes out of this, and does the wussiest back lunge on the planet - Brendan fails to mirror this[*]Walk down the steps, get into hold[*]A sacada - Tango content at last! - but as if to make up for that, they immediately separate out[*]Get into hold, then spins into a lunge-dip.[*]0:33 - a gancho! More content! And a sacada! Monsieur, wiz zese moves you are spoiling us.[*]Actually, from there until about 0:48 is OK, a nice rotating sacada / arana sequence there.[*]And then, of course, another lift. [*]Into hold - walking, ocho into a sacada, a turn, then a (ungainly) gancho sequence[*]Then, oh God, another spin, and he grabs her "passionately" - by the HIPS![*]Lunge again, into a Volcada - again, hesitantly done (although it looks like Brendan led it OK)[*]Linear giro (grapevine) in no hold at all, with a spin, repeated, [*]Brendan does a couple more spins (was he bored?) whilst Lisa stands there like a lemon.[*]Lift - which, actually was OK - into a giro, into a few back ochos, Brendan doing the Wild Leg Action patented by Camilla for some reason[*]Mirror hold into a rotating lift, Lisa wraps her legs around him, and he finishes in what must be the world's most ungainly pose[/LIST]
So, there were some nice bits - the bits around 0:33 - 0:48, and a couple of other flashes.
But generally, no, it was a bit rubbish. Brendan looked like he was dancing Rumba or something most of the time, and that end pose... ewwww....
Originally Posted by Liz G-S:
“I think we will have to agree to differ, I enjoyed it the most out of the three and also did not find Brendan's performance any worse than the others you have mentioned.”
“I think we will have to agree to differ, I enjoyed it the most out of the three and also did not find Brendan's performance any worse than the others you have mentioned.”
and to:
Originally Posted by puddytat:
“His AT was absolutely fantastic, what are you talking about?? It got rave reviews from the judges, and was superb to watch.”
“His AT was absolutely fantastic, what are you talking about?? It got rave reviews from the judges, and was superb to watch.”
OK, for completeness sake, here's an analysis of Brendan's AT:
[LIST][*]Starts promisingly, good outfits, good electro tango music.[*]Then at 0:03 - Brendan puts his hands on his hips and turns round dramatically... Lisa also does this. God knows why. It's Passion, apparently.[*]Eventually they get into hold, and Brendan kind of hooks Lisa into a lunge-wrap[*]She comes out of this, and does the wussiest back lunge on the planet - Brendan fails to mirror this[*]Walk down the steps, get into hold[*]A sacada - Tango content at last! - but as if to make up for that, they immediately separate out[*]Get into hold, then spins into a lunge-dip.[*]0:33 - a gancho! More content! And a sacada! Monsieur, wiz zese moves you are spoiling us.[*]Actually, from there until about 0:48 is OK, a nice rotating sacada / arana sequence there.[*]And then, of course, another lift. [*]Into hold - walking, ocho into a sacada, a turn, then a (ungainly) gancho sequence[*]Then, oh God, another spin, and he grabs her "passionately" - by the HIPS![*]Lunge again, into a Volcada - again, hesitantly done (although it looks like Brendan led it OK)[*]Linear giro (grapevine) in no hold at all, with a spin, repeated, [*]Brendan does a couple more spins (was he bored?) whilst Lisa stands there like a lemon.[*]Lift - which, actually was OK - into a giro, into a few back ochos, Brendan doing the Wild Leg Action patented by Camilla for some reason[*]Mirror hold into a rotating lift, Lisa wraps her legs around him, and he finishes in what must be the world's most ungainly pose[/LIST]
So, there were some nice bits - the bits around 0:33 - 0:48, and a couple of other flashes.
But generally, no, it was a bit rubbish. Brendan looked like he was dancing Rumba or something most of the time, and that end pose... ewwww....
Regardless of your second by second analysis DavidJames, I still thought it was fantastic including the turns at 0:03 seconds - and it was very passionate too, even how they walked down the stairs. And a lot of people felt the same, it also got good reviews on a dance teachers' forum. I prefered it to Tom and Camilla's and to Vincent's although the latter was clearly a master class in AT. Dance, as with all art, is a matter of personal taste. In general, I happened to find Lisa and Brendan's performances the most exciting and moving to watch.
Originally Posted by Liz G-S:
“ it also got good reviews on a dance teachers' forum..”
“ it also got good reviews on a dance teachers' forum..”
Interesting - which one?
If you mean dance-forums, I don't believe the reviews were good...
Originally Posted by Vivacious Lady:
“I actually can't believe that he's never danced it before. It's a bit weird that as an experienced dancer he's never been curious enough to learn it. Same for those professionals (e.g. James) who said they've never danced the salsa.”
“I actually can't believe that he's never danced it before. It's a bit weird that as an experienced dancer he's never been curious enough to learn it. Same for those professionals (e.g. James) who said they've never danced the salsa.”
Because both are naff dances and I would imagine that proper ballroom dancers think it's beneath them.
The AT is boring done by anyone and basically involves wrapping your legs round each other like a ladette on an 18-30s holiday in Ibiza
The salsa is like a dad at a wedding.
Precious little skill or steps involved in either. :yawn:
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