VG - the judges gave Ashley the salsa to dance again and she certainly didn't get 40 first time around. 3rd week and scored 32. Craig's 10 paddle only appeared a couple of weeks ago and Ashley got 3 on Saturday.
I hope the new producer will change a few things - lighting and camera work that stop us seeing the whole dancer so we can judge feet and frame too. Bruno's marking has been silly a lot of the time and far too high so he needs sorting or replacing.
All over till next September and plenty of gardening stuff to keep us busy till then, once the festivities are over.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Here’s the perspective of a casual observer with zero dancing knowledge.
I enjoy the skill and artistry of the dancers but I also like the entertainment value of the lights, the costumes, the music, the camera angles. I can see why keen dancers get annoyed with the frippery surrounding their art form but I just like to savour the whole experience.
But not all pleases me. I might know next to nothing about dancing but I know about words and ‘musicality’ and ‘armology’ drive me to distraction. I love Bruno’s exuberance (I still chuckle about the comment he made to a past contestant ‘You dance like a murderer’) and Craig’s waspish observations are so often spot on, or so I believe not knowing enough to challenge them. By contrast I find the two women judges deadly dull. I would not be disappointed if either of them left. Don’t really care for either of the presenters. I dislike the way the taller of the two women says ‘copple’ instead of couple and get irritated by the rising end of sentence inflexions of the other one.
I too would be very interested to learn of the demographic make up of the voters. My guess, on the basis of no more than hunch, is that female voters significantly outnumber male ones. I guess the age groups most likely to vote are teenagers and the over 65s but I could be well out with that. I was also disturbed to read that Stacey might have won because xenophobic voters wanted Kevin to succeed as he was the only British professional dancer left in the show. Do Brexiteers vote more than Remainers? It wouldn’t surprise me.
Picidae - sorry, but musicality is a proper word and an essential component to being a good dancer. As a bare minimum, you have to have enough of it to hear the beat to dance in time. At its best, you feel the music and interpret it. It's posible to do a technically perfect dance that leaves the audience cold because the dancer is performing without musicality.
Armography is a new word but very aptly describes what the arms do - you can dance an irish jig with your arms stuck to your sides (Lord of the Dance stylee) but all the dances I've ever seen on Strictly have positions and movements for the arms which are essential as well as an enhancement.
I like Craig's judging too. He seems to be the most consistent and impartial with no favourites. Darcey isn't always objective and Shirley often seems to be all over the place. She's at her best when she sticks to strict ballroom analysis, criticism and tips but doesn't always do it.
Not really bothered about who the voters are. I only care about who wins when it seems that a better dancer has not and, up until the last 3 or 4 weeks, the GBP were getting that right. I expect we'll never know about voting figures but it should be possible to get an analysis of audience figures for the Broadcasters Audience Research Board - https://www.barb.co.uk/ - once they've got the results in for this weekend.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Picidae, I would agree with Obelixx, we all watch for differing reasons, many of us had dance training and know that you do not learn to dance in a week. The professionals are astute they put in just enough correct steps to please the judges and it works after all it is just 90 seconds we often did three dances in a row 10 or 15 minutes. Armography is what we called correct posture, dancing round the room on your own no partner with the instructor shouting you look like a set of scales, out of balance, your wrist looks weak and floppy, fingers for goodness sake, I nearly gave it up. It was driven into you until the stance or posture was automatic, what ever you do practice makes perfect and we got plenty of practice. Watching some one make a hash of a dance as Joe did a couple of weeks ago curls you up where as non dancers just saw a cute face and flashing lights. I am disappointed in what it has become over the last few years, I do not watch the Christmas show because they bring back those who made the audience laugh that to me is cruel, I suppose the so called stars want the money. Frank.
Hello , what a lot of comments As a none dancer I watch and treat it as TV entertainment , watched it last night I thought Fay was the best dancer but liked Stacey’s attitude Ashley was also very good , Joe as a none dancer certainly did better than what I could Personally not bothered about vote numbers and can understand the BBC not publishing them I thought this series very good and will record the Christmas 🎄 special as will be away Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everybody 🥂
We'll record the Xmas special too - that way we can FF the crud and just watch the dancing and Craig's comments.
I agree you can't learn to dance all the ballroom styles in one week but that is not what is being asked for here. The contestants on SCD get one on one tuition with an international level professional and have to learn a routine that will last just 90 seconds. They get 3 weeks at the beginning in which, I assume, they get instruction on counting the beats, using heels and toes, carrying their arms. Surely it's more surprising that usually so many do so badly at the start?
Ordinary folk like us get 30 one hour group sessions in a season in which to learn new steps with our own partner in all 10 dances so 30+ hours a week should be enough to master a single dance, even with the complexities of having to perform on a set. By the time they get to having to master 2 dances they should have achieved some understanding of rhythm, posture and step structures that make it easier to learn new routines.
What I have really enjoyed this series is the way the contestants have embraced the work ethic and the opportunity to learn from the best. It's been a joy to have no duffers and no moaners and have non musical contestants work so hard and do so well this year.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Picidae, Tess Daly says "copple" because she's a northern lass (from Stockport originally). She also uses the short northern "a". And yes, "musicality", as Obelixx has said, is a perfectly good word meaning sensitivity to the music. Not so sure about "armography" though - a bit new-fangled perhaps...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
I first heard "armography" used by Caig and it is perfect for salsa where all the different steps are distinguished by arm movements and twining round each other rather than by the feet. It got into Websters in 2013. Craig is a choreographer, amongst other things, and I expect he just needed an umbrella word for moves not defined by classical ballet.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Posts
I hope the new producer will change a few things - lighting and camera work that stop us seeing the whole dancer so we can judge feet and frame too. Bruno's marking has been silly a lot of the time and far too high so he needs sorting or replacing.
All over till next September and plenty of gardening stuff to keep us busy till then, once the festivities are over.
I enjoy the skill and artistry of the dancers but I also like the entertainment value of the lights, the costumes, the music, the camera angles. I can see why keen dancers get annoyed with the frippery surrounding their art form but I just like to savour the whole experience.
But not all pleases me. I might know next to nothing about dancing but I know about words and ‘musicality’ and ‘armology’ drive me to distraction. I love Bruno’s exuberance (I still chuckle about the comment he made to a past contestant ‘You dance like a murderer’) and Craig’s waspish observations are so often spot on, or so I believe not knowing enough to challenge them. By contrast I find the two women judges deadly dull. I would not be disappointed if either of them left. Don’t really care for either of the presenters. I dislike the way the taller of the two women says ‘copple’ instead of couple and get irritated by the rising end of sentence inflexions of the other one.
I too would be very interested to learn of the demographic make up of the voters. My guess, on the basis of no more than hunch, is that female voters significantly outnumber male ones. I guess the age groups most likely to vote are teenagers and the over 65s but I could be well out with that. I was also disturbed to read that Stacey might have won because xenophobic voters wanted Kevin to succeed as he was the only British professional dancer left in the show. Do Brexiteers vote more than Remainers? It wouldn’t surprise me.
Armography is a new word but very aptly describes what the arms do - you can dance an irish jig with your arms stuck to your sides (Lord of the Dance stylee) but all the dances I've ever seen on Strictly have positions and movements for the arms which are essential as well as an enhancement.
I like Craig's judging too. He seems to be the most consistent and impartial with no favourites. Darcey isn't always objective and Shirley often seems to be all over the place. She's at her best when she sticks to strict ballroom analysis, criticism and tips but doesn't always do it.
Not really bothered about who the voters are. I only care about who wins when it seems that a better dancer has not and, up until the last 3 or 4 weeks, the GBP were getting that right. I expect we'll never know about voting figures but it should be possible to get an analysis of audience figures for the Broadcasters Audience Research Board - https://www.barb.co.uk/ - once they've got the results in for this weekend.
It was driven into you until the stance or posture was automatic, what ever you do practice makes perfect and we got plenty of practice.
Watching some one make a hash of a dance as Joe did a couple of weeks ago curls you up where as non dancers just saw a cute face and flashing lights.
I am disappointed in what it has become over the last few years, I do not watch the Christmas show because they bring back those who made the audience laugh that to me is cruel, I suppose the so called stars want the money.
Frank.
As a none dancer I watch and treat it as TV entertainment , watched it last night
I thought Fay was the best dancer but liked Stacey’s attitude
Ashley was also very good , Joe as a none dancer certainly did better than what I could
Personally not bothered about vote numbers and can understand the BBC not publishing them
I thought this series very good and will record the Christmas 🎄 special as will be away
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everybody 🥂
I agree you can't learn to dance all the ballroom styles in one week but that is not what is being asked for here. The contestants on SCD get one on one tuition with an international level professional and have to learn a routine that will last just 90 seconds. They get 3 weeks at the beginning in which, I assume, they get instruction on counting the beats, using heels and toes, carrying their arms. Surely it's more surprising that usually so many do so badly at the start?
Ordinary folk like us get 30 one hour group sessions in a season in which to learn new steps with our own partner in all 10 dances so 30+ hours a week should be enough to master a single dance, even with the complexities of having to perform on a set. By the time they get to having to master 2 dances they should have achieved some understanding of rhythm, posture and step structures that make it easier to learn new routines.
What I have really enjoyed this series is the way the contestants have embraced the work ethic and the opportunity to learn from the best. It's been a joy to have no duffers and no moaners and have non musical contestants work so hard and do so well this year.