Ali Bastian Archives - Learn To Dance

The moment of truth!

learndance — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:15:00 +0000

So it’s all down to how the studio audience voted, who’s going out first…(I’ve predicted it to be between Austin & Rachel)

Chris & Ola – unsurprising to be honest as the Foxtrot didn’t really allow Chris’ personality to come across.

Gethin & Flavia – lacking chemistry so again unsurprising.

Ricky & Natalie

Austin & Erin – shame as I really enjoyed their Paso

…

So it’s between Ali & Rachel for the title…could it be Ali’s retribution for not making it to the final?

Yes it is.

That’s it then, 2009 finishes with Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna being crowned the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Champions.

…

I’ll be attending (or hosting) a variety of Strictly events throughout the year so I’ll blog about anything interesting, and I may well blog about So You Think You Can Dance too so watch this space!

How did you vote, and do you agree with the result?

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna – Viennese Waltz

learndance — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:27:00 +0000

A perfect 40 in Blackpool, let’s see if they can recreate that magical dance tonight.

Ali’s elegance always suits the mainly slow Ballroom dances.

A little shaky at times but otherwise faultless and I think this could be the first perfect score of the night.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna – American Smooth

learndance — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:40:00 +0000

A dance that should suit Ali better, although they have chosen quite a fast number.

Not sure about Ali having both hands above her head during her spins, looks a little untidy.

It looks like they’ve decided to quash any ‘are they or aren’t they’ rumours with those kisses at the end.

A very good performance, not quite perfect for me but i think they may get full marks from the judges.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna – Argentine Tango

learndance — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:13:00 +0000

Can Ali pull off the unexpected and actually give us a down and dirty performance?

Incidentally this song they’re dancing to is the same one that a couple I choreographed for used in their Christmas party last night, and won!

Hints of passion there, but i’d still like to see a bit more intensity, and it just seems to be lacking a little sharpness.

I’m just not feeling this routine, the most passionate part came in the ending look between them.

Should easily get 8’s though.

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Leaderboard

learndance — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:33:00 +0000

Final leaderboard is as follows:

1 95 points – Ricky Whittle & Natalie Lowe
2 86 points – Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna
3 80 points – Chris Hollins & Ola Jordan
4 59 points – Laila Rouass & Anton Du Beke

I predicted to Emma last night that it would be a Laila and Ricky dance-off, but I’m going to change that to Ali & Laila as both have really underperformed tonight for my liking, and I think Chris and Ricky will have more (mostly female!) support.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna – Samba

learndance — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:17:00 +0000

The bogey dance so far for most competitors, and I don’t think the Samba will prove to be her dance tonight either.

Still looks too ‘nice’ and on a couple of moves Ali doesn’t appear to finish before she’s on to the next step and really needs to dance from the floor.

I don’t think the choice of music helped, I do think Samba really needs to have a bouncy feel to it to really bring out the performance.

An ok performance but should get 8’s.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna – Tango

learndance — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:38:00 +0000

Another dance where Ali won’t be able to ‘float’ round the floor so will be interesting to see how she copes with the passion and aggression required in this dance.

Slight slip in the spins at the start and they appear to be incorporating rising into the dance at points.

Ali is looking quite unsteady at times.

An ok performance but I wasn’t too impressed so far, will have to say 8.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna – Charlston

learndance — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:20:00 +0000

Yet another injury has hit the current series of Strictly, one really has to start wondering if this series really is cursed!

So far Ali appears to be coping with her injured ankle well.

Another energetic performance although the exit from the first lift looked a little messy.

Preferred this performance to Chris’ so I’ll give it a 9.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna – Foxtrot

learndance — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:45:00 +0000

Away from the sexy requirements of the Latin Ali should perform a great Foxtrot tonight.

Like the Viennese the other week, Ali looks a little shaky at times but overall another almost faultless performance (a little hard to tell whether she was correctly releasing the toe when moving backward – good old Strictly camera angles!)

Personally I’d give this a 9.

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Missed Saturday night's show – catch up on the clips here

learndance — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:11:00 +0000

Haven’t got time to watch the full show on iplayer? Then see the short clips below:

Natalie Cassidy:

Ricky Groves:

Laila Rouass:

Phil Tufnell:

Ricky Whittle:

Ali Bastian:

Chris Hollins:

The Result:

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