And Dance!
Every year Strictly Come Dancing plays host to over 100 songs throughout the duration of the series. The song choice often will make or break a dance, so it is vital that you choose wisely. A good track provides the opportunity for an introduction, a flowing middle and a successful ending. It will provide the professional dancers with elements to highlight, and piece their routine around thus creating a routine that will captivate and engage any audience.
Over the years there have been some unusual choices with regards to music, however it have been proven that unusual doesn't have to mean unsuccessful.
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Tom and Camilla - Black and Gold Jive - Series 6 - Score 33
In terms of its use in Jive, compared with other tracks, Black and Gold is to me an unusual choice, with regard to the energy it would provide to the dance. Its slower and tends to stay on one predominant level throughout, therefore the elements within in that you may expect common to Jive tracks, aren't as obvious at first watch. The basic beat is not clear, and the almost electronic sense to the piece makes it an unlikely candidate for a jive. However, the modern twist to the music is reflected in the dance itself, and allows the audience to connect with the music on a different level as at the time it would have been a piece that most likely they would have been familiar with.
As the highlights in the music may not be as clear, take for example the Jive Camilla produced with Gethin ... that dance had clear aspects of the music in which you could say right, to this bit I want to do this, as the music is almost dictating where sequences should be placed. This song however, as I previously said does not give that direction as obviously.
This is however a prime example of Camilla's skill as a choreographer. She has taken a piece of music that directly puts the focus on Tom. By using a slower, less flashy number, she is drawing the attention of the audience toward the dancing rather than letting it be overshadowed by a loud, overly energetic piece of music. This therefore indicates that she has confidence not only in her own abilities, but in those of her partner as she is exposing him to quite an extent. The energy is all created by the partnership, Tom having to really work and act his way through the dance, creating a connection with the audience. As the music is slower it allows more time for the judges to focus on the routine itself, meaning that what he does has to be crisp, precise and accurate, otherwise the judges will pick up on it. Again, a risky move by Camilla, but it indicates to us the confidence she has in her partners skill within this dance.
The music has the same basic repetitive beat through out, there are no distinct tempo changes, this is reflected in the style of choreography Camilla has chosen to use. By repeating a lot of the elements throughout the routine she is again highlighting that Tom is capable of pulling off the moves, thus exposing his ability. By adding in crowd pleasing features and lots of recognisable jive steps allows the audience to easily identify what they are watching, yet get a different take on the proceedings through the choice of a much more modern piece.
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Lynda and Darren - Devil Woman Paso Doble - Series 7 - Score 25
This piece to me is an uncommon choice for a Paso, considering Darren's usual preference toward the more traditional pieces, (the other exception being with Letitia Dean, in which they danced to Live and let die.)
Devil woman, to me is not an obvious choice, as it doesnt seem to have the fire and passion within the music, that you would expect when dancing the Paso Doble. The song itself could almost (and I do mean almost) pass as a Cha Cha Cha. In this particular case, Darren has worked towards developing a performance, based upon Lyndas personality. The music ( actually suggested by Lilia) seems to work well with Lynda as a person, therefore leaving Darren to create a piece that looks authentic as a Paso Doble, yet still will allow Lynda to perform and feel comfortable in doing so. By crafting almost comical elements, that will appeal to the audience, such as the 'bum grab' highlights Lyndas fun, daring personality. However this isn't to say that what Darren produced was not typical to the dance itself, the elements of Paso Doble he used were fairly simple, however, the opted to working out of hold, with syncopated movements, a skill that would take a long time to perfect with regards to timing. By doing this he was able to show to the audience, and basically say, look this is what she is capable of doing. Adding in steps such as the chasse cape, and coupe du pique broke up the side by side sequences and created a real sense of realism to the dance.
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Ali and Brian - Change Samba - Series 7 - Score 44 ( 5 Judges)
This dance, is again a clear example of the professional playing directly to their partners strengths. With no disrespect it was apparent that Ali's Latin was not her strong point, therefore by choosing slower music Brian crafted a routine that would present Ali's good points rather than emphasise the not so developed areas of her Latin abilities.
The one - a- two beat, ( one - covers a whole beat, a - covers quarter of a beat, two - covers three quarters of a beat) can be heard through the melody of the music, making it easier to find an maintain the timing throughout the routine. Most samba tracks will provide a complex rhythmical mix of timings, however this song presents its rhythms in a more simplistic fashion, making it easier to follow.
Talking about playing to her strengths, the slower track is allowing Ali to finish her lines and create dynamic shapes with her upper half. Brian would have recognised the fact that slower music will add more focus to the completion of steps as they are more exposed and naturally are given longer time, by the music itself. This is in no way an escape from the complexity of the dance however, by allowing more time for figures to be completed requires control, as things need to be finished and held with concordance to the beat of the music.
The choices of choreography that Brian put into the routine are by no means simple, he has used a variety of different classical samba steps to really create the atmosphere and energy within the routine that would not have been provided by the slower piece of music.
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Links to the mentioned routines -
Tom and Camilla - www.youtube.com/watch#!videos=zzN9plzALdmM&v=JsbmURymMWo
Lynda and Darren - www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjsm-VX150o
Ali and Brian - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftpnz1D-_X0
