Alesha Dixon Archives - Learn To Dance

Holly Valence & Artem Chigvintsev – Cha Cha Cha

learndance — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 17:03:00 +0000

As Holly says in her intro, she’s dancing with last year’s winner so there’s definitely a lot of pressure there. Holly’s not looking too bad in training so let’s see how the performance goes.

I’d like to see a bit more hip action and a little less posing, Holly also needs to keep her eyes up and stop looking at the floor.

It kind of feels a little lacklustre at times and Holly needs to keep her posture upright. I can’t say the performance was too bad, but neither did it excite me – there didn’t seem to be a lot of variety in the routine.

For me I’m going to say a 6 but she does have potential.

Len “It’s not the best first dance I’ve ever seen, but I’ll tell you what, it was close”

Craig: 6 “Sharper arm placement…flexed knees throughout…lacked hip action”
Len: 7 “Could have been crisper…leg’s need to straighten more”
Alesha: 8 “You are a very good dancer…technique is already at a very high standard”
Bruno: 7 “Flowingly sensuous…needs more bite…go for it because you’ve got it”

Total 28

As usual I seem to side more with Craig than the other judges, but then students always call me ‘bad cop’ so I suppose they must be right.

Holly can definitely improve from here but too early for 8’s I would say Alesha.

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It Takes Two – Monday 25th October

learndance — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:32:00 +0000

On tonight’s episode: Peter & Erin; Alisha Dixon; Ann & Anton; Felicity & Vincent.

The show starts with Ola Jordan taking a video camera round behind the scenes and chatting the the dancers and celebs. We see James jokingly telling Ola about what it’s like to still be in the competition. Len and James share a kiss (so that Len can see if it ‘prickles’ when you kiss a man with a beard).

Then we’re treated to another brief recap of some of the highlights from Saturday before it’s time to talk to Peter & Erin.

Peter feels like he let himself down, but also that Charleston wasn’t really his dance. Erin points out that Charleston was around week 11 last year, not week 4, and considering there’s acting as well as dancing involved that does make it much more difficult.

Peter’s highlights do unfortunately include his Salsa, but there’s a nice outfit of Erin’s in the training vid

Next up a VT showing all the animal references the judges made on Saturday, leading up to Alisha being on the show.

I understand that she can relate directly to the celebs, having been through it herself, but she’s still just not a viable judge for me. However Emma and I both agree that she is improving…though I do wonder how much of her comments are scripted???

It is revealed that Patsy will be doing the Jive next week, given how soon she ran out of puff with the Charleston she does need to work on her stamina.

Our next couple are Ann & Anton,

Ann reveals she is afraid of heights but actually enjoyed the wire work by the time she was landing. Anton reveals that he originally suggested the idea as a joke! Their next dance will be the Paso Doble, I’m seeing shades of John Sargeant already…

Now onto Felicity & Vincent,

Apparently the kiss was Vincent’s idea (surprise, surprise) and they weren’t sure if it was going to be allowed.

A VT on Vincent’s Magic Eyebrow (lots of twitching at camera).

Felicity & Vincent will have Viennese Waltz at the weekend, choreography-wise it will be a lot simpler but the constant rotation at speed makes it such a hard dance.

That’s our lot for today.

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Strictly Come Dancing launch show

learndance — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:19:00 +0000

Strictly’s back, we’re back, everyone’s back…well except for a few of our favourite professionals.

What do I think of this year’s lineup? Quite a good lineup even if the average age is apparently now 45. There’s a few people (as usual) that I have no idea who they are but there does appear to be more potential here.

So first partnerships are Scott Maslen and Natalie Lowe and Scott doesn’t appear to know where to put his lips. Matt Baker is up next and is paired with Aliona Vilani (something she doesn’t look entirely ecstatic about surprisingly). Finally Peter Shilton (I’m predicting Kristina Rihanoff), but no he get’s Erin Boag.

The transfer to ‘the tower’ seems a little bit awkward and far too staged but hey, this is Strictly after all.

Now to meet the new professionals Robin Windsor, Artem Chigvintsev and Jared Murillo. First impressions are Artem and Robin have good promise, though Robin looked a little shaky, however Jared looks completely out of his depth in the first dance and will certainly have to step it up if he wants to prove the producers were right to drop the established professionals.

Now our first female celeb partnerships are Michelle Williams and Brendan Cole – a very promising partnership on paper, Pamela Stephenson gets James Jordan, watching Jared in the lineup further supports my theory that he’s not at home up there but I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t pair him with Tina O’Brien…not a bad guess it turns out!

So some VT showing the celebs trying their first group dance and a few potentials but not really enough shown of each celeb for me to comment on.

Our next round of partnerships; Paul Daniels and Ola Jordan; Patsy Kensit gets Robin Windsor; and Goldie is paired with Kristina Rihanoff.

Let’s see how Jared performs in the next group dance…complete with a flying Vincent and Flavia and a leaping Brendan Cole. Someone’s definitely been working with these guys to make it more of a show than a ballroom demo and I must admit it’s not a bad choice in this instance. Didn’t get to see much of Jared but he is starting to look more at home.

So we’re over halfway through our celeb partnerships, who’s next?

Kara Tointon proves she’s starting as a beginner when she thinks her Salsa with Mark Ramprakash is actually a Samba, so Artem has his work cut out for him! Jimi Mistry has Flavia Cacace and Gavin Henson is left with Katya Virshilas – not a bad girl to be left with.

For once I agree with Alesha…you can’t predict how all the partnerships are going to work until we see them actually dancing.

Our first look at the ‘Strictly Show Dancers’ and I’m hoping to see a reason why they’re on the show. A good performance but I’m struggling to see what the point is when the preceding pro dance was more of a show dance. Don’t get me wrong, I like Ian and Darren but they’ll need to step it up!

Our final two pairings are Felicity Kendal (a personal boyhood fave!) with Vincent Simone and Anne Widdecombe is ready to get her claws into Anton Du Beke (a no brainer based on his past partners).

I really can’t call this one just yet; it’d be nice to see how their training is coming along. After seeing the group dance, Gavin and Peter have a mountain to climb, but Anne should have public support. Felicity is looking promising as is Pamela. Jimi will be interesting but Matt and Scott show a bit of promise. Out of all that I’ve seen so far I’m tipping Matt, Pamela and Felicity to do well.

What did you guys think of the opening show?

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Strictly Professionals for 2010 announced

learndance — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:45:00 +0000

So returning to compete with celebrities this year are:

Anton du Beke, Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Vincent Simone, Ola Jordan, Flavia Cacace, Erin Boag, Kristina Rihanoff, Natalie Lowe, Aliona Vilani, Katya Virshilas

Added to this are three new professional dancers (3 girls were added last year so 3 guys are added this year):

Images courtesy of BBC Strictly mini-site

ARTEM CHIGVINTSEV, a Latin Champion who is a graduate of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ in the US and has unique experience of very different dancing genres in addition to his ballroom champion-level skill.
JARED MURILLO, who at 21, was a US open Swing Youth champion. Trained in America, Jared was a principal dancer in the movies ‘High School Musical’ 1 & 2.
ROBIN WINDSOR has completed five world tours of the worldwide ballroom dancing phenomenon ‘Burn the Floor’, in which he has starred and choreographed routines.

The BBC have reduced the number of celebrities from 16 to 14 this year (I think a good move as last year did feel like there was just too many). This has meant however that 5 of the existing professionals are now not going to compete this year – Darren & Lilia, Ian Waite, Matthew Cutler and Brian Fortuna. They have been offered the opportunity to form a ‘dance supergroup’, along with some other as yet unnamed professionals, that will come on each week and perform a dance spectacle for the audience.

At present Brian has confirmed that he will not take part, and will concentrate on the West End production of Burn The Floor with Ali Bastian, and it is rumoured that Darren & Lilia have also declined – they may also wish to concentrate on their Latin Fever tour. Ian and Matthew have yet to respond, neither have a show on the side as they are both on the Professionals Tour, so may both agree to take part this year.

So, the BBC tinker with the formula again and only time will tell whether they have more luck than last year. Amid rumours last week that Alesha was due to quite as judge (yay!) the Daily Star and Sun have stated that she is due to re-sign for another year (boo!).

Have any of your favourites been ditched this year, or are you looking forward to some new blood?

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Strictly Posh Dancing?

learndance — Sat, 22 May 2010 21:13:00 +0000

So a new series of Strictly Come Dancing is fast approaching and talk turns to who could be taking part this year. Last year’s show was a bit of a letdown for some in terms of the celebrities selected and the BBC want to make amends this year.

According to The Sun Strictly are lining up a number of high profile celebrities for this year’s competition, top targets include Victoria Beckham, Amy Winehouse, Chelsea Clinton (ex-US president Bill’s daughter) and [controversially if Chelsea signs up too] Monica Lewinsky [Bill’s former ‘secretary with benefits’].

Other targets are said to include Kimberley Walsh (Girls Aloud) and Patsy Kensit (Lethal Weapon 2 and currently Holby City).

It’s not all glitz and glamour though as they’re also purportedly considering former Cheeky Girl fancier, oh and ex-Lib Dem MP, Lembit Opik!

There are also going to be more planned recordings from Blackpool Tower (though not a complete move – something Ian Waite agrees isn’t feasible in an interview with Digital Spy).

Talk is also abound of changes in the professional lineup, with the new producer having flown out to the States to audition potential new pro’s…why they couldn’t start with more homegrown talent is beyond me (hint BBC if you’re listening…give me a call!!!)

Alesha Dixon is currently continuing as a judge (though no offense Alesha but I hope they drop you for someone with even a little bit more knowledge). Surely a departing female professional could’ve been a viable option.

Regardless of the changes, or non-, i’ll still be avidly watching and giving my own views on the performances.

Who knows, one day I might even be on the show – even if it’s in the dark recesses of the public audience!

How would you change this year’s Strictly, and who would you like to see on the show?

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The result

learndance — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:09:00 +0000

Such a tough one to call, and you could tell that Alesha was finding it difficult.

Out of the two of them, and based on all their performances over the series I do believe the right couple have been sent home.

I don’t vote myself (as I do want to be impartial!) but I hope the audience start voting based on the quality of the dancing. Whilst both these couples under-performed this week Craig is not, unfortunately for him, a good enough dancer to have made it to Blackpool. Though credit where it’s due – there was significant improvement this week.

How do you feel about the result?

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Arlene returns to judge Strictly!

learndance — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:38:00 +0000

Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips is to return to the show’s judging panel, but only for the tour.

,,,taken from BBC News online the article continues…

Promoters say Phillips was hired before she was replaced on the main show and it was not a reaction to viewer anger at the decision.

More than 4,000 people complained after the 66-year-old was dropped and the BBC was forced to defend claims of ageism.

Phillips’ replacement, Alesha Dixon, will not take part in the tour. She is said to have other work commitments.

‘Winning formula’

Stage Entertainment and Phil McIntyre Entertainment co-produce the tour. A spokesman said: “We recognised that we had a winning formula with audiences, so at the end of the 2009 dates we asked Arlene to join next year’s tour.”

Phillips will rejoin Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood on the judging panel for the 33 shows.

The arena tour, which features past and present celebrities and professionals from the show, will start in Manchester on 15 January.

It ends in Newcastle on 21 February. The tour will also take in Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham, Sheffield, London, Glasgow and Belfast.

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Richard Dunwoody & Lilia Kopylova – Waltz

learndance — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:27:00 +0000

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.

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Round-up and group mambo

learndance — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:54:00 +0000

So my scores varied a little from the judges but I think the leaderboard so far is a fair reflection.

Alesha performed well for her first time judging, though I was sceptical about her comments at first.

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Who’s good and who’s not…

Phil’s making a few mistakes and getting caught up but seems to be enjoying himself
Ricky can’t quite seem to keep up with the footwork at points.

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WOW, that flip over the head didn’t half give me a scare – thought she’d been dropped!

…

So, i’ve tried my best – now to see if anyone was actually reading – please feel free to leave comments about any of these entries and let me know if you’d like me to continue with this blog?!

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