It Takes Two - Wednesday 27th October

Coming up on tonight's show: Kara & Artem; Len Goodman's Dance Clinic; Ian Waite with the midweek report; Matt & Aliona

Kara & Artem,

They loved the dance, though Kara felt at the start of the week that the music was slow and boring.  She's scared by the fact that even with letting go it wasn't enough, so where can she go from here?

Kara isn't naturally very competitive but Artem (as any professional dancer would be) is very competitive (just ask any of my friends!!!)

I think they could perform a very good Paso Doble this weekend.

Karen Hardy on Paso Doble

Karen makes a slight error I think in saying that the Paso originated in Spain, although the music is Spanish the dance itself originated in France.

However the rest of her VT and tips are great.

Ian Waite and the midweek report.

Paso Doble

Jimi & Flava: Should be no hip action in Paso.  Needs to bring some shaping into his arm movements, curving the arms round above his head.

Gavin & Katya: Poor cape usage, looks like a dishcloth.  However could be a great dance for him.

Ann & Anton: All the steps are correct...though she looks like she's treading through mud.

Jive

Pamela & James: Looks like she's done some dancing previously, an inner sense of posture and finishes her hand movements.

Patsy & Robin: Similar character as the Charleston so should be good for Patsy.

Viennese Waltz

Felicity & Vincent: Their beginning is all about Felicity's acting skills.

Scott & Natalie: Brilliant, free-flowing movement.  However needs to keep himself upright rather than tilting his head towards Natalie.

Argentine Tango

Tina & Jared: Need to be closer in the top half of their hold.

Len's Dance Clinic

Where should I start learning to dance?  Latin - Salsa, as you can then move onto Rumba and Cha Cha Cha easily; Ballroom - Waltz.

Why do you keep knees flexed in Tango?  The Tango is characterised by the stalking of prey. I also think that it allowed the Gaucho to get closer to his Lady of the Night.

How can I make my dancing more flamboyant? Upper body - the lower body deals with the rhythm, the upper body is the affectation of the music.

 Matt & Aliona,

Over the moon to have upped their score from 31 in the first 3 weeks.  Previously Aliona felt Matt was not expressing the dances as well as he could, up until the Charleston and that's why they got such high scores.

We'll be seeing Argentine Tango from them on Saturday night.

Richard Dunwoody & Lilia Kopylova - Waltz

What was that face for Bruno?  Don't agree with Alesha's marks?  Wouldn't be surprised if that's not discussed in the papers this week.

...

Predicted 5-6, but didn't know that existing injuries prevented him having a proper frame, will be interesting to see if the judges take that into account.

Must, must, must go forward on a heel on the first step Richard, haven't seen one yet and I guarantee that Len will pick up on that.

Shame about the frame as it's difficult to judge when the shoulder line ruins the look.  With all those toe leads I think it'll be 5's.

Craig Kelly & Flavia Cacace - Tango

Always good to insult the judges before they give their marks James!  Doesn't look like it affected Len's mark though.

...

So I predicted a 6 for these guys earlier, let's see what happens.  I hope he's worked on his upper line.

So a slight Paso opening  followed by a bit of stomping, needs to be a little bit softer in the feet and unfortunately the top line is a little hunched over Flavia.

I would say a 5-6.

Good question

After receiving the following comment on one of my previous posts, I felt it deserved a post of its own:

Hi Antony. One question after Saturday. Why did Len criticise Chris Hollins' hand movement for the New York in the rumba?

He said that for men, spreading the fingers and pointing the middle one down is "not a good look" and that they should keep the outer 3 digits bandaged together.

But that is how you teach and obviously Ola as well, since she took the blame for this on the show, so I'd be interested in your reaction ...

Thanks, Maggie



Personally I learnt the middle finger down, I teach guys to hold the middle two down – I don’t like the look of the three fingers together.

The Walter Laird technique book shows the middle finger down in the pictures, but there is no guidance other than that.

I would say that Chris' hands were really good myself, and like with most judging it really does come down to personal preference once you get past technique.

However if you watch any of the male professionals from Saturday night they all have one or two fingers down (not at right angles but say around 20 degrees) so I think Len is wrong to criticise this - especially as it's effectively criticising Ola as Chris' teacher.

The result

So Bruno and Len vote Rav and that sends Martina home (with Martina being two-love up at that point courtesy of Craig and Alisha).

Think both couples were unfortunate to be in the bottom two and thought Martina had more promise than Rav, but that's life I suppose.

Wish I could lip-read what Matt and Martina are saying to each other during their last dance!

Oh well, here's to next week and the remaining 8 celebrities.

Although I'll mention now that this blog won't be running live next Friday night due to our practice session on 25th September, but i'll blog per dance after we finish.

Hope people have found this interesting to read and i'll try and update during the week if anything interesting catches my eye!

By the way, if you want to apply for the ballot to get tickets for a special Strictly recording at Blackpool Tower on Saturday 7th November then please visit http://shows.external.bbc.co.uk/help/shows/Strictlycomedancing to apply before Sunday 27th September 10pm.  Only one application per household though!