A Ballroom of Two Halves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's 2021. Some of us having been watching (and commenting on) this show for a really long time (you can tell we have; our blog design has never been updated and plants us firmly in 2008 territory.) And, we long-time watchers, superfans, bloggers, have all been on a (I'm going to say it) journey together, From the early purist days, where an illegal lift caused controversy, to that big hump where we all got very angry about props, themes, and even songs being repeated. Now I feel in recent years most of us have come to a degree of acceptance about the more 'entertainment value' aspects of the show; I wouldn't say any of us got to the point where we fully embrace the random themes but I feel some of us had got to a point where we might recognise a prop lamppost and reminisce fondly, but mockingly, of when we'd seen it before. I don't mean to say that none of us squeal in delight when we see a Foxtrot chock full of content, or a perfectly executed fleckerl, but I do think many of us have come to realise there's a possibility we might have to witness those technical beauties by contestants dressed up as characters from Scooby Doo. But sometimes, just sometimes, there's a show that sends us (by us, I mean Twitter) hurtling back to the days when we were up in arms and where we just wanted the dances to look like the dances they're meant to be, and, my friends, last night's was (well, at least the first half), unfortunately, one of those. Brace yourselves for a rant...

Rhys and Nancy 

I'm not denying that Rhys has rhythm, that he moves with style, nor that he has great potential. But was that dance a cha cha cha? Debatable. Sorry to get all Theseus' Ship on you, but how many cha cha moves can you take out and replace, before the dance is no longer a cha cha? This for me, was far too many. The intro was too long, there was too much random disco-bopping and his technique was really quite a way off. This is all easily solvable, and is no reflection on his capability. Nancy, get it sorted!

Nina and Neil

Oh dear, poor Nina. Not only was she placed in the death slot, but she also faced unnecessarily complicated choreography. Neil - why add Argentine kicks and flicks into a ballroom tango, in week 2? Seems to me like you were making it more about you, than about your partner. Nina really shone in the group number and her samba last week showed promise. But when a celeb does not get the pro they need - the pro that choreographs to show them off, who teaches them the technique they need to execute the dance well, then they have little chance of succeeding. I sent some votes Nina's way last night as I do not believe she deserved to be bottom. But this is to you, Neil, get it sorted!

Adam and Katya

I mean, again, it took ages for them to do so, but I think they actually started off in hold pretty well. I just reached for my phone to tweet as such, and POOF, it all went a wee bit iffy. Or at least skippy. And very gappy. We often celebrate Katya for her creative choreography but at least most of the time, there are decent number of actual dance steps in the dance. This, like the two dances above, was verging on nonsense. Katya* - get it sorted! 

*At this stage I'm going to asterisk. Yeah, it seems like I'm being pretty harsh on the pros here. I really am. And we all suspect they less creative control over their dances than their Hardy/Waite/Bennett predecessors of yore, so a great deal of this might not be anywhere near their fault. But as (or indeed if) you continue reading this piece, you'll see the show gets better, we do see some dance content and - ultimately - It. Can. Be. Done. 

Katie and Gorka

So Katie's costume looked as though it had been pulled from a bargain bin at a fancy dress stall at a run down indoor market of some nondescript English town. The dance wasn't horrendous but it was hardly great. Again, Katie shows, promise, but I didn't see her given much opportunity to show it. For one thing, her shoes looked as though they were far too high for her, which led to the whole dance looking wobbly and heavy. Her feet were messy and, as Craig said, there was no retraction. But again, I'm not blaming Katie. If they had spent more time working on technique instead of faffing about running in and out of doors (and seriously BBC, had no one risk assessed those obvious trip hazards there?), then I'm certain that could  have been far, far better. 

Greg and Karen

As sweet as his story was, and how touching his memories of his sister were, I cannot get on board with Couple's Choice - which it now seems, can be any style at all the couple fancies. I was about to get into a long explanation about why this is, and how I don't blame the individual couples... but I'm tired. I honestly don't have the will...  Does anyone like this aspect of the show? Can we find anyone who thinks Couple's Choice is a positive addition? Tweet us.

John and Johannes

Ah, OK, so we're sorted of getting here. Now, content-wise I was not impressed by this (again, where was the cha cha?) but John is one of the most naturally talented dancers on this year's show and he was so synchonrised with Johannes, it was (despite the lack of actual content) a relatively good dance to watch. And it had joy. John seems like he's the contestant this year who is showing the most self-doubt. he really shouldn't. I could see these two winning this thing. And whilst I'm all for celebs occasionally dancing to the ballroom classics (La Cumparsita coming up, guys) I do love it for a contestant to dance to a song they really love. It really shows in the performance. In this case, it definitely did. 

AJ and Kai

Ooooh, nice one. AJ's jive last week was fab, and this was... also fab. I knew it. I knew she would be a ballroom girl too and I'm delighted that that's the case. I googled to see if she has had previous dance experience and it really appears not. Like John, she just seems to have a natural talent for dance and I adore it when an untrained celeb discovers that for themselves. High, high hopes for these two. I really have my fingers crossed that Kai trains and pushes her, choreographs routines sensibly and they continue to wow us.

Judi and Graziano

I actually thought I saw some fair technique from Judi in parts of this, but the way the judges spoke of it made it seem like it was terrible. It had far more dance content than a lot of last night's efforts, but what it did best was really capture the spirit of the samba, in a way we don't always see on Strictly these days. I could have done without the launderette (I'm on one today, just let me go with it) but all in all, I enjoyed this one. 

Robert and Dianne

Now Robert should have been bottom last week. He nearly fell over - did they miss  that?! So. I was not expecting this to be any good. But in a total shocker, it was... quite good. A little bouncy and soft in the knee for me but, much like Judi's samba above, it captured the spirit of the dance. But - he did have an advantage. La Cumparsita. La Cumparsita is to tango what Espana Cani is to Paso Doble; it is the quintessential tango piece and, even a parody of a tango would look like a tango to this. So, I remain open-minded about this pair and still think they could go one way or another. Or, can they? Anyone who's studied Strictly knows that many a favourite contestant starts of pretty wobbly and has a j-j-journey. Conspiracy here, but does Robert know that...? *looks to camera a la Miranda Hart* 

Rose and Giovanni

Salsa. Are you expecting me to scream at you IT'S NOT SALSA? Please don't be disappointed but I actually thought it had a fair bit of salsa to it (are you shocked?) And whilst a song just saying 'Salsa' in it, does not make it Salsa, it's certainly not the worst choice we've had on Strictly. At least it had the right sort of mood. The transitions in and out of lifts could have been smoother (but who cares about the lifts, really?) - her actual salsa dancing was pretty decent. Nice, but understated body action, good timing and just...having a fun time with it. Hurrah. Nice dress too.

Sara and Aljaz

Has anyone jumped from bottom week one, to top week two before? That was a meteoric climb, Sara and actually really well deserved. Let's not buy in to the narrative that Sara was bad last week. She wasn't. She was self-conscious and tentative but it wasn't Robert-Webb-Levels-Of-WTF. But still, this foxtrot was a huge improvement and Aljaz's simple, let's-just-get-into-the-dance choreography was the tonic we all needed after a show of more intro than dance steps. Sara's next challenge is to bring it in the same way in a latin dance. I'm betting all in on the paso.

Dan and Nadiya

I'm not sure why Dan's costume was half Starfleet Commander/half flamboyant Roman Centurion. But never mind. He unfortunately fell into the trap of thinking that the Paso Doble involves striding over to one spot, striking a pose, and striding over to the other. His movements were not joined up into any kind of coherent dance and I'm glad the judges picked up on that. We haven't had a drag quite like that since John Sargeant gave the dancefloor a quick polish with Kristina Rihanoff's left thigh. His quickstep showed real potential though, and I'm confident he'll take on board the comments and do his best to improve. 

Ugo and Oti

Is there nothing this lady can't do? Ugo seemed the most wooden and out of his comfort zone in the group dance but week two, and he does this? Oti's track record at teaching speaks for itself and - whilst this was by no means perfect - if he continues to improve at this rate, they could get further in this competition than any of us ever expected. I liked that this had content, I liked the music and I liked the whole sunshiney vibe. This is what happens when you have a pro that focuses on the right things. 

Tilly and Nikita

It's a CHARLESTON. AND IT'S THE LAST DANCE. AND WE'RE SO DESPERATE TO LOVE SOMETHING. IT WAS AMAZING, right? Was it amazing? I mean, it was good. But these young 'uns with a dance where the technique doesn't quite matter as much, they just tend to do well. I actually thought she could have done with a degree or two more swivel, but I guess, yeah, apart from that it was all there. High energy, entertaining, and she had clearly worked very hard indeed. Lots of potential here too.