Strictly Come Dancing reveal 2013 Professional Dancers
Strictly Come Dancing has announced the 15 professional dancers who are to partner the celebrities in this year’s BBC One dancing contest.
There will be eight female celebrities and seven male celebrities taking to the floor this series in the biggest line up ever, to try and become Strictly Come Dancing champion 2013.
The new professional dancers joining Strictly Come Dancing 2013 have been confirmed, with Anya Garnis the final new dancer to join the series. With four brand new dancers, and the return of Iveta Lukosiute who joined the 2012 series when Aliona Vilani was injured, it takes the professional dancers to 15 this year, to partner 15 celebrities. – BBC
New to the show are Anya Garnis a Russian-born Latin dancer who has been performing since the age of 10. The 32-year-old has appeared on So You Think You Can Dance in the USA and is the partner of fellow Strictly dancer Pasha Kovalev.
Janette Manrara is a 29-year-old from America. She has been performing since the age of 12. She has been seen as a lead dancer on the live version of Glee and starred on the American version of So You Think You Can Dance?
Aljaz Skorjanec is one of the two new male dancers for the show. 23-year-old Aljaz was born in Slovenia and has been dancing since the age of 5. He’s starred on Slovenia’s version of Strictly – Dancing With The Stars.
Iveta Lukosiute returns to the show after being drafted in for the 2012 series following another pro dancer had to pull out after suffering an injury. The 33-year-old has appeared on numerous American television dance shows including So You Think You Can Dance?
And British Kevin Clifton joins the show as the second new male dancer. The 29-year-old is a former youth world number one. He has starred in musicals such as Dirty Dancing in the West End. His parents were world champions Keith and Judy Clifton.
The existing dancers returning are Brendan Cole, Anton du Beke, James Jordan, Robin Windsor, Artem Chigvintsev, Pasha Kovalev, Ola Jordan, Kristina Rhianoff, Natalie Lowe and Karen Hauer.
Read More: Barbara Windsor declined Strictly 2013 series
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One this Autumn.
The BBC should be wary of introducing so many new dancers in one fell swoop.
Viewers enjoy the familiarity of the existing faces – change them at your peril!
Certainly, I would have kept Aliona Vilani whilst I did not personally take to either Iveta or Karen last season and wouldn’t have invited them back this year.
Also, with a total of 15 couples this year it sounds as though producers are determined to stretch the series out to breaking point – a longer series could be a turn off for some viewers.
There’s an old saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Strictly producers seem destined to learn that lesson the hard way!