You are musical director for one week......

TANGOLERO wrote:Whilst not strictly a tango B4p, have you heard this? It's actually Colombian done by Julio, but I think it would make a great tango piece.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkkzBYHUq3Q
Here's the original version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmb80HXWsFQ

Love both of those Tango. I think they'd also suit a Samba beat. I've decided, I'm going to put learning to Samba on my bucket list

TANGOLERO wrote:"When you wish upon a star" might make into a decent foxtrot?

Yup, that's a good song for foxtrot. But I suspect no one picked this because the slow(er) tempo meant the it's very advanced for beginniners to do an elegant foxtrot. Rachel Steven did a slow(ish) foxtrot, which was technically very competent, but due to its slowness it was probably more forgettable than, say, Tom's faster tempoed foxtrot with out of hold 'pizzaz' at the end of the dance, though Tom's foxtrot was obviously technically inferior to Rachel's...

edit to add: I just rewatched Rachel's foxtrot, it wasn't as slow as I thought it was. She danced it beautifully though (and the tempo wasn't far from Tom Chamber's foxtrot. I think I am getting old and my memory is failing me...)

The slowest foxtrot on SCD done really well was choreographed by (again!) Vincent, with Dani: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CDNwLKrMYc

I must repeat again: I miss Vincent.

edit to add even more: TangoL, SCD had this song made into 3/4 beat for Tim and Natalie's waltz only a couple of weeks ago!

cellar-door wrote:Peter Green - Need Your Love So Bad (Viennese Waltz)https://youtu.be/RtmW2ek7WkQ

Such a talented guy, it was a shame he was wrecked by drugs. I think he could have given Clapton a run for his money if he hadn't got clobbered. He did a few concerts a couple of years ago I think.

What about this for a Rhumba?

Fleetwood Mac - Man of the World
https://youtu.be/OJWOtL-PZiE

I'm never quite sure of the tempo for foxtrots so I'm not sure what I'd pick for those

B4p wrote:What about this for a Rhumba?

Fleetwood Mac - Man of the World
https://youtu.be/OJWOtL-PZiE

I'm never quite sure of the tempo for foxtrots so I'm not sure what I'd pick for those

Tempo wise it's quite pace-y for rumba. But it might work for a celeb dancer because it's slightly faster than what a rumba is normally danced to professionally, because faster tempo meant pros can hide more of celebs' lack of flow which was a typical challenge for them trying to blag this dance in four or five days of training.

I love these songs not sure of dances.Help!

Fields Of Barley by Sting

Baby Come Back by UB40

5,6,7,8 by Steps please don,t scream

Hero by Enrique

Ben by Michael Jackson

Nothing Compares to You by Sinead O'Connor

Private Dancer by Tina Turner

Love music from Lord Of The Rings for some have to go and play it!

Sail Away by that weird singer Enya?

I'm way out of touch with modern pop music. Spent a lifetime collecting mental favourites but modern mainstream disappeared from my radar way back. Two that made the charts ( the last twenty years is modern to me) that I actually love the beats to are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSLSwwkLRW0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv0PAchVGCw

And this....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTXKbQIRQv4

How can you not dance to these?  

Loved all of those Tango.

Been re-playing Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltry in the car yesterday and thought these two might make Jives. The second track is slightly slower but then I thought the more mature contestants would probably do better with a track that's not so frenetic.

Going Back Home
https://youtu.be/LeoKCJNI-k4

I Keep It To Myself
https://youtu.be/GwLeTPVuD3c

B4p wrote:Loved all of those Tango.

Been re-playing Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltry in the car yesterday and thought these two might make Jives. The second track is slightly slower but then I thought the more mature contestants would probably do better with a track that's not so frenetic.

Going Back Home
https://youtu.be/LeoKCJNI-k4

I Keep It To Myself
https://youtu.be/GwLeTPVuD3c

They uptempo Jake's Elvis number for the jive, so these two songs would undergo the same treatment for a more energised jive. But great beats for jive I agree.

It makes me respect the hard work the band put in. To get these tunes down to 90 seconds and still keep the essence of them can't be easy. Preparing something for the celebs to practise with on a Monday morning, whilst playing the current weeks tunes on the Saturday before must be hard. It's easy to forget that the band are live. I suppose it makes it easier for a live band to change the tempo of some of the tunes if CD tracks aren't used.

Don't know why this came into my head but I had to look it up when it did. One of those Disney type easy-goers that might make a nice foxtrot.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grf5LIFJ0xI

TANGOLERO wrote:Don't know why this came into my head but I had to look it up when it did. One of those Disney type easy-goers that might make a nice foxtrot.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8FL0MD0P3g

Yes, appropriate song choice for a foxtrot!

Mr Sinatra, Billy May's orchestra....what more do you need...?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQaUyBBL_M8

I know this may seem a radical idea to the powers-that-be, but what about asking the band for some suggestions? After all they've been adapting all types of tunes for at least 10 years and would be able to say pretty quickly what tunes would work best for ballroom and latin

B4P I fear thats far to straight forward a suggestion for the producers of SCD
I mean fancy asking a group of musicians who play music week in week out from series to series!
I fear the producers just pluck out a tune from diddly squat music box and tap themselves on the back for such a brilliant choice.

B4p wrote:I know this may seem a radical idea to the powers-that-be, but what about asking the band for some suggestions? After all they've been adapting all types of tunes for at least 10 years and would be able to say pretty quickly what tunes would work best for ballroom and latin

Great idea - but as Sax says - never going to happen (mainly because it's too sensible!).

Have we ever had the "Bolero" theme on SCD? Weirdly dreaming about that piece ofmusic last night and "Barnam"??

This would be very nice in there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akbfXUA08OY

Very nive Mr T however sadly I feel its not in diddly squat music box choices of the musical-murder SCD producers.

While I totally agree that musical choices that don't offer the correct feeling and rhythm are awful, I am not against real contemporary music. If these dances are to last, I don't think that doing them as a period piece is the right idea. Artem chose that very modern song for his Charleston with Holly......They made it look like something you could do now in a club. I would love to see ALL the dances being done NOW by people of all ages in their own way. There are a wonderful fusions of Street and Latin. Yes, there are groups who do Baroque music on the original instruments to produce the sound that Bach and Handel would know. There are also the full symphony orchestra versions...... There is room for both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_XjVW6-Fkk

I know HL we have to move with the times re music choices,dance styles and the fashoon too. I just love the yesterday music/dance/clothes choices. Do you think the Halloween theme hinders the fashion/music choices Hatlady? Over the entire SCD series do you have a stand out dress/suit from a male/female contestant? And why? Im curious and love to gear your reviews

Really difficult question sax, there are some that I like because they full fill the brief....others are just good. I often like the palazzo pants (Camilla's show dance with Tom) and the shorts Kimberly wore for her Charleston and Sophie Ellis Bexter's Charleston outfit. Liked Artem and Holly's jive costumes, both in pinstripe suits, very cool. I like them because the celeb women can think DANCE rather than "Are my knickers showing?" On the whole, don't much like the very pro ladies Latin dresses (by very, I mean they are what you see in competitions) While I understand why people like the wonderful long swishy ballroom dresses....they don't interest me much. Halloween? I like Halloween because instead of the pick and mix madness we get the rest of the time, THERE IS ONE THEME. Louis and Flavia their Tango, Patrick and Anya, a wonderful concept with the change perfectly executed By Patrick.

Thanks HL! Spent a happy half hour watching Patrick and Anya and Louis and F.lavia also the shiwdance of Camilla and Tom. II recall Camilla's calazzo pants,I loved them! Had to look up the shorts but yes a show stealer outfit.Reminds me when did we last have shorts? I guess Im a sucker for the floaty dresses as I used to babysit and watch Come Dancing as usually the only programne to watch. From a fashion point of view Im hopeless re whats right,what colour/hem/neckline suits who! I was a tomboy and lived in.jeans aka 13-17 teen years even then buying a dress/skirt a hell trip for me.
Id love to see a post from.you say past favourites and why? It does help me "see" beyond the usual visual and understand fashion concepts a little more so a big Thank You from me

I do agree with you HL that modern music is absolutely fine in the right context and I too really enjoyed that Charleston that A rtem and Holly did - it is one of those SCD routines that have always stuck in my mind - it wasn't the most brilliant dance as it seemed to challenge her a lot and I think if I remember rightly she was approaching her 'limit' in the contest at that time - but the concept and music were brilliant. Likewise I love the Paolo Nutini track that I put up on here for a suitable Charleston.

I think there are certain dances that lend themselves to more contemporary music - such as the waltz and the quickstep and those that can have any theme as long as the rhythm is right. However - I think there are other dances - most notably the Tango, Paso Doble, Argentine Tango and most of the latin dances that just work a lot better to the traditional music that was designed for those sort of dances - that isn't to say that there isn't a lot of modern Tango stuff or other modern tracks that lend themselves to these dances - the producers just don't seem to have the imagination to find the right ones!!! It always astounds me as to how much brilliant latin music is out there, ranging from traditional latin american rhythms and cuban, to more commercial well known tracks, mambo, acid jazz and New York traditional and modern style - yet very little of it makes its way onto SCD even though strangely a lot of it is quite well known?

On Hallowe'en costumes - I really liked the green dress that Kristina wore a couple of years ago to do the 'Bewitched' dance with Jason Donovan - do you remember this Sax and HL? Not particularly 'spooky' but another one I remember along with the routine..................

hatlady28 wrote:While I totally agree that musical choices that don't offer the correct feeling and rhythm are awful, I am not against real contemporary music.  If these dances are to last, I don't think that doing them as a period piece is the right idea.  Artem chose that very modern song for his Charleston with Holly......They made it look like something you could do now in a club.  I would love to see ALL the dances being done NOW by people of all ages in their own way.  There are a wonderful fusions of Street and Latin.  Yes, there are groups who do Baroque music on the original instruments to produce the sound that Bach and Handel would know.  There are also the full symphony orchestra versions...... There is room for both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_XjVW6-Fkk

I agree Hatlady. I think there are some very apt contemporary tunes out there - I have never thought that waltzes should only be done to Strauss for example. But, they really do need to have the right tempo and feel of the dance. So a waltz needs 3/4 time and be a bit lilting and swirling. A jive needs to feel a bit rock n roll - not fifties rock n roll specifically, just rock n roll. It's all about the attitude. A samba needs to be bouncy and about partying in the streets. A foxtrot has to have the right period feel - and there are a lot of contemporary artists out there who have this feel at the moment. A paso has to have the right tempo as well as the right mood; ditto the tango. "Defying Gravity" has most definitely NOT got the right tempo nor the right mood. Mind you, nobody in their right minds would dance anything to that song - it's not really a dancing song....

As you say, there is room for both. But the most important thing is that the music adds to the dance rather then subtracts so much you watch it with the sound muted or you tune out altogether (as I did for several of tonight's Halloween performances...)