Strictly Week 1

Strictly Week 1 either sees dancers explode through and show us all that they have the flair, discipline and control to learn the many dances thrown at them over the coming weeks, and for others to demonstrate glimmers of technique that will grow and take over from the personalities to win through or simply those that aren’t natural dancers and no amount of training will get them there!

We definitely saw many dancers this year explode onto the floor for their first time with exceptional performances.

Latin was the star of the first week.  Gregg, an athlete; who sometimes struggle to let their highly trained bodies and muscles go and allow dance to take over, nailed his first dance with personality and the starting signs of gaining technique.  Others to shine were Danny who certainly fired up the floor with the snap needed in cha-cha – just loosen up the ankles and he’ll go even further.  Louise unsurprisingly pulled off a great jive with personality and flair with good kicks and flicks; it will be interesting to see her in other dances.

Middle of the pack was that very memorable performance from Judge Rinder!  Who knew what lay beneath those robes!?  There is rhythm there and bags of personality, it just all needs taming and reining in and he’ll survive for several more weeks.  Melvin’s loco fell flat unfortunately but he has character to keep him in.

There’s always high expectation on gymnasts even though the skills are very different, however, take away Claudia’s back flips and split leaps and she needs to let go and let the rhythm take control, similarly Anastacia showed some promise but lacked the attack she shows in her own stage performances.

Tameka showed promise with a first Paso carried through with her acting skills but not sure how she will excel in other dances.  Laura failed to deliver other than in personality with very loose legs and control for her cha-cha.

Ballroom didn’t fair too badly either, particularly with the waltzes where you can’t rely on energy and persona to carry it off.  It was nice to give the more senior celebs the waltz in week 1 to ease them in with Ed giving a sure and steady performance but Lesley certainly needed Anton to lead and guide her around the floor.

Daisy showed great promise with her emotional waltz full of control and nice extensions.  Will Young (apart from showing off his strange wardrobe of shorts in his VT), gave a great tango with good character, the steps are all there and if he learns to add more control to every inch of his limbs he’ll go far.

Naga gave a solid performance and shows promise with good lines and extension, there is a glimmer there that she might shine, particularly in ballroom, there’s a reminiscence of Susannah Reid there.  Ore unfortunately lacked the drive and attack needed for tango but might fare better in some of the freer Latin dances.

So we’ve a very mixed bag again this year!  There are those who obviously have the talent and ability to dance and the few who won’t make it.  We prefer though to see those middle of the road dancers get to grips with steps over the coming weeks and start to excel and they are usually the dark horses to keep your eye on.

Predictions after week one?  We’ll keep those under our hats just now until we’ve seen the celebs tackle another dance in the other discipline of ballroom or Latin!

All photo credits BBC1 Strictly Come Dancing/Facebook.