JIVE
History
There are a lot of different stories about the origins of the jive, but one thing that seems fairly certain, is that the American GIs brought the dance to Europe during the Second World War, and it quickly became labelled a 'corrupting influence' on the youth. Elements of the jitterbug and lindy hop had helped to develop the jive into the dance we know today
The dance
The jive should be a bright, fast dance, with lots of precise, sharp footwork. Expect to see lots of flicks (from the knee) and kicks (from the hips), with plenty of twists, turns and twirls, and bags and bags of energy. Definitely not one for the faint hearted!
The judges in Strictly Come Dancing will be looking for dancers to be up on the balls of their feet, with precise footwork, as well good use of the arms with lines extended right through to the end of the fingers and no flailing or flapping limbs!
The best of Strictly
One jive has stood out in Strictly history and has set the benchmark against which all subsequent jives will be measured - and that was from Jill & Darren in series 2. When they danced their routine in only week three, they scored 35 points, but when they danced in the series final on the beautiful Blackpool ballroom floor, they were the first couple in Strictly history to be awarded the perfect four 10s from the judges.
In series 8, we saw the best male celebrity jive come from Scott & Natalie, who scored three 10s and a total of 39 points for their routine danced to "Hit The Road Jack", with Craig being booed by the audience for awarding a 9. Chelsee & Pasha also scored 39 for their Shrek themed routine on "Movie Week" in series 9, with Bruno saying it was Chelsee's fast track to the semi-final and Alesha telling Chelsee she'd found her dance.
The worst of Strictly
Essential skills for the jive, is a sense of rhythm and timing, along with fast, clean footwork, so if you don't have that, you won't be able to jive. Unfortunately, neither Chris & Hanna in series 1 or Fiona & Brendan in series 3 managed to master even the basics of the routine. Both were flat-footed and scored only 17 and 16 respectively.
Scores for all Jive performances:
| Judges scores | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Couple | Song | Week | Craig | Arlene/ Alesha* | Len | Bruno | Total |
| Jill & Darren | I'm Still Standing | Series 2, Final | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 |
| Kelly & Brian | Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree | Series 6, Christmas | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 39 |
| Scott & Natalie | Hit The Road Jack | Series 8, Week 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 |
| Chelsee & Pasha | I'm A Believer | Series 9, Week 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 |
| Chelsee & Pasha | I'm A Believer | Series 9, Final | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 |
| Mark & Karen | I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day | Series 5, Christmas | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 38 |
| Gethin & Camilla | Knock On Wood | Series 5, Week 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 37 |
| Charlie & Vincent | Santa Claus Is Coming To Town | Series 9, Christmas | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 37 |
| Jill & Darren | Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree | Series 2, Christmas | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| Louisa & Vincent | Rockin' Robin | Series 4, Christmas | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| Louisa & Vincent | Smiley People | Series 4, Week 3 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 36 |
| Alesha & Matthew | Shake Your Tail Feather | Series 5, Week 3 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| Kelly & Brendan | Johnny B Goode | Series 5, Week 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 |
| Jill & Darren | I'm Still Standing | Series 2, Week 3 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 35 |
| Alesha & Matthew | We Love To Boogie | Series 5, Final | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 35 |
| Ricky & Natalie | Rip It Up | Series 7, Week 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 35 |
| Matt & Aliona | Soul Bossa Nova | Series 8, Week 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 35 |
| Austin & Erin | You Can't Stop The Beat | Series 6, Week 3 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 34 |
| Kara & Artem | Runaround Sue | Series 8, Week 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 34 |
| Holly & Artem | Runaway Baby | Series 9, Week 6 | 8 | 8 | 9** | 9 | 34 |
| Jason & Kristina | Wake Me Up Before You Go Go | Series 9, Week 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 34 |
| Emma & Darren | Edge Of Heaven | Series 4, Week 3 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 33 |
| Tom & Camilla | Black & Gold | Series 6, Week 3 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 33 |
| Lisa & Brendan | Crocodile Rock | Series 6, Week 12 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 33 |
| Tom & Camilla | Waterloo | Series 6, Week 13 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 33 |
| Jade & Ian | Flip, Flop and Fly | Series 7, Week 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 33 |
| Harry & Aliona | Greased Lightnin' | Series 9, Week 3 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 33 |
| Aled & Lilia | Crazy Little Thing Called Love | Series 2, Week 3 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 |
| Rachel & Vincent | Sweet Soul Music | Series 6, Week 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 32 |
| Gabby & James | Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) | Series 5, Week 3 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 31 |
| Christine & Matthew | Jailhouse Rock | Series 6, Week 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31 |
| Patsy & Robin | Monster Mash | Series 8, Week 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31 |
| Alex & James | River Deep, Mountain High | Series 9, Week 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31 |
| Darren & Lilia | Everybody Needs Somebody | Series 3, Week 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 |
| Colin & Erin | Footloose | Series 3, Week 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 |
| Letitia & Darren | Dead Ringer For Love | Series 5, Week 10 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 |
| Matt & Flavia | Shake, Rattle & Roll | Series 5, Week 3 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 |
| Jodie & Ian | Great Balls Of Fire | Series 6, Week 10 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 |
| Zoe & James | Tainted Love | Series 7, Week 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 30 |
| Natalie & Vincent | Good Golly, Miss Molly | Series 7, Week 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 30 |
| Lesley & Anton | My Baby Just Cares For Me | Series 1, Week 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 29 |
| Zoe & Ian | Part Time Lover | Series 3, Week 3 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 29 |
| Ali & Brian | Tutti Frutti | Series 7, Week 5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 29 |
| Michelle & Brendan | The Time Warp | Series 8, Week 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 29 |
| Matt & Lilia | I Feel Good | Series 4, Week 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 28 |
| Patsy & Anton | Two Hearts | Series 3, Week 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 27 |
| Mark & Karen | Blue Suede Shoes | Series 4, Week 10 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 27 |
| Carol & Matthew | Hanky Panky | Series 4, Week 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| John & Nicole | Reet Petite | Series 5, Week 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Pamela & James | Devil Gate Drive | Series 8, Week 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Anita & Robin | You Can't Stop The Beat | Series 9, Week 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 |
| Robbie & Ola | Love Man | Series 9, Week 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 27 |
| Natasha & Brendan | Jump, Jive And Wail | Series 1, Week 3 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 26 |
| Martin & Erin | All I Want For Christmas Is You | Series 2, Christmas | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
| Roger & Camilla | Teenage Wedding | Series 2, Week 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 25 |
| Denise & Ian | Some Girls | Series 2, Week 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 25 |
| Will & Hanna | Man I Feel Like A Woman | Series 3, Week 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 25 |
| Penny & Ian | Don't Stop Me Now | Series 5, Week 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 25 |
| Dominic & Lilia | Candyman | Series 5, Week 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 25 |
| Ricky & Erin | Boy From New York City | Series 7, Week 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 25 |
| Verona & Paul | Proud Mary | Series 1, Week 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 24 |
| Russell & Flavia | Reach | Series 9, Week 8 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 24 |
| Evander & Karen | Merry Christmas Everyone | Series 3, Christmas | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 22 |
| Dennis & Izabella | Jail House Rock | Series 3, Week 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 22 |
| Claire & Brendan | Nutbush City Limits | Series 4, Week 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 22 |
| Laila & Anton | Modern Love | Series 7, Week 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 22 |
| Chris & Ola | Roll Over Beethoven | Series 7, Week 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 22 |
| Gavin & Katya | Hey Ya! | Series 8, Week 9 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 22 |
| Martin & Erin | Great Balls Of Fire | Series 1, Week 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 21 |
| Julian & Erin | Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go | Series 2, Week 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Joe & Kristina | Rock This Town | Series 7, Week 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 21 |
| James & Camilla | Why Do Fools Fall In Love | Series 3, Week 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 20 |
| Craig & Flavia | It Takes Two | Series 7, Week 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 20 |
| Audley & Natalie | Little Shop of Horrors | Series 9, Week 5 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 20 |
| Chris & Hanna | Do You Love Me? | Series 1, Week 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 19 |
| Gloria & Darren | Build Me Up Buttercup | Series 3, Week 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 19 |
| Georgina & James | Burning Love | Series 4, Week 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
| Jan & Anton | Do You Wanna Dance? | Series 4, Week 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 18 |
| Gary & Karen | Lipstick, Powder and Paint | Series 6, Week 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 18 |
| Chris & Hanna | Do You Love Me? | Series 1, Final | 3 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 17 |
| Fiona & Brendan | Hit The Road Jack | Series 3, Week 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 16 |
*Arlene Phillips judged series one to six, while Alesha Dixon judged series 7 onwards.
**Len Goodman did not judge Series 9 Week 6 and actress Jennifer Grey took his place.