Strictly Week Four - Surprises

The theme this week in the video postcards, from the pro dancers, the celebrities and the judges was the importance of repetition, the buzz word being, ‘Repeat, Repeat, Repeat’ – also known in our classes as, ‘Again, please.’

A very experienced dancer told me many years ago that a good rule of thumb for repetition was to repeat it at least 5 times consecutively, and I think that does still hold true for learning new figures. It was also interesting to hear about the rehearsal routines with 'Michelle’s Marvellous Monday', where she is excited to learn a new dance, followed by 'Troublesome Tuesday' where everything goes wrong as the technique is drummed in, and 'Wonderful Wednesday' as the storyline and emotion is developed, finishing with 'Thorough Thursday’s' repeat repeat, repeat as many times as possible ready for the studio rehearsals on Friday. Not dissimilar to my guide for couples learning special routines, get the steps and the pattern into your muscle memory, work on the technique to make it look good, connect emotionally with the music and each other whilst remembering the flow out to your audience and then practice, practice, practice. As well as, if possible, do a dress rehearsal with a few trusted friends, or come to a class and dance in front of other people making sure that you are wearing similar shoes and length of clothing as you will for the real performance.

Anyway, this week was a-maz-ing. Everyone has improved and obviously worked very hard, taking the judges’ comments to heart and pushing forward. There were three very notable dances well deserving of top marks; Anton and Emma’s touching Viennese Walz which looked breathtakingly elegant – the acting performance element adding real emotional tug. Kelvin and Oti’s Rumba; wow this man is to watch. He pushed all of the judges’ temperatures up with a machismo charged Rumba like nothing we’ve seen before at this stage of the competition. Some gents feel the Rumba is too difficult because it has to show their emotion and makes them feel too effeminate; Kelvin certainly showed he was in touch with his female side but in a way that was powerful and mesmerising – hopefully an eye opener to future male celebs as well as male dancers everywhere! And then Karim and Amy’s Tango brought the show to a rousing end with what Motsi described as "The best dance of the evening…" exuding power and passion together with good technique. Karim kept flat throughout – no rise and fall in the Tango – a serious face, which for him was no doubt difficult as he has a bright nature, but he really took on the character and told an awesome story. A well-deserved 10 from me.

Best costumes of the night, for me, were for David and Nadia’s Quickstep; Nadia looked stunning in the gold outfit and was perfectly matched with David looking so smart in the black suit with gold trim which supported what was for me one of the most improved performances of the night. This week we saw David really arriving on the scene with an inspired routine to ‘From now on’ from 'The Greatest Showman'. Actually, it was a good night for Quicksteps as Mike also gave us an outstanding, fast and furious routine putting him back up the leader board.

A real feel good week, well done everyone.