Ultimate Strictly

PASO DOBLE

History

The Paso doble is a dramatic interpretation in dance of the matador facing a bull in the traditional bullring, and originated in southern Spain. Paso doble translates as 'two step', and developed from the march at the start of a bullfight. The Paso doble is the dance in which the story telling element is crucial to its success.

The dance

The man plays the role of the matador, while the woman will need to play not only the cape, but also the bull, and sometimes a flamenco dancer. Above all, the Paso doble should be dramatic and intense - the dancers must commit to the attitude of the dance.

The dance should include strong, dramatic walks, with apels (a strong stamp of the foot), with elements of flamenco in the footwork. Because of the dramatic nature of the Paso doble, postures and lines are extremely important, so expect to see strong arms and hands, as well as very masculine toreodors.

Both the men and woman will have bold costumes, with men often wearing a bolero jacket like the matadors in the bullring. Unusually for latin dances, the woman's dress will sometimes be a full length dress, but with a wide flowing skirt to allow them to mimic the look of the cape, and will almost always be a strong, bold colour such as deep blood red, black, electric purple or a striking plain white.

The judges in Strictly Come Dancing will be looking for attitude - intense, strong, aggressive, whilst always maintaining the story of the bullfight.

The best of Strictly

According to the judges, the celebrity who has come the closest to perfection in the Paso Doble was Austin, when in series six, he and Erin scored three 10's and a total of 38 points for their routine to 'Espana Cani'. Coincidentally, Jill & Darren from series two performed to the same classic paso song, receiving three 9's plus a 10 from Arlene, who has often cited it as one of the best paso dobles she's seen on Strictly.

Although receiving no 10's, Darren & Lilia performed their paso in the final of series 3 as it was by far Darren's best latin dance, with strong flamenco elements, and their efforts received a total of 36 points, and we saw another strong performance to 'Espana Cani' in series seven from Ricky & Natalie who scored 35 points for their routine, despite it being only their third dance of the competition.

The worst of Strictly

There have been some terrible Paso doble routines in Strictly history, probably the most often mentioned, is Chris & Hanna from series one, where at one point Chris runs around the ballroom with arms aloft hold the cape over his head. Unsurprisingly, they received only 15 points.

Probably the most disappointing dance also came in series 1 from Verona & Paul. Due to work and personal commitments, Verona's training hours were limited during the week they danced the paso, and Paul made up for it by taking control of the dance himself, with a bare upper torso the cape wound around his waist to start, he gave a fantastic demonstration of paso cape work and dancing while leaving Verona stood on the side of the dancefloor clapping in time to the music. The judges commented and awared them only 24 points, while the audience noticed and voted them out of the competition that week.

Scores for all Paso Doble performances:

*Arlene Phillips judged series one to six, while Alesha Dixon judged series 7 onwards.