Dancing with the Stars Season 15 Stats Class – Week 4’s Challenge

Since this post would be moot point come the Results show tonight I figured I would help give an idea of various dances and what not that are available from throughout the seasons:

Looking at the above breakdown there are eight dances that had minimal exposure throughout the series, but do I define “seldom used dances”? Well they are those dances that we have only seen once in a small handful of seasons. When looking at the number counts there are eight dances that were danced less than 25 times… actually the most from this group would be 11. Here are those dances and when they were featured:
Season 7 Week 5
Hustle, Jitterbug and West Coast Swing

Season 8 Week 4
Lindy Hop

Season 9 Week 4
Bolero, Charleston, Lambada and Two-Step

So now let’s look at how the dances scores were averaged and compared to one another:

Let us also look at the dances that are not in the Top Ten highest scoring dances and see where all the other dances lie:


Those dances highlighted in “yellow” are those that not only have had minimal exposure on the show, but also scored rather low in the grand scheme of things. Those dances that are highlighted in “pink” are those that have had some exposure on the show but still scored low. If anything… if I was helping produce the show I would probably use the above dances (and maybe include other dances that have had minimal exposure on the show like the Charleston, Jitterbug, Lambada, and Hustle) as the pool of dances to be used for the upcoming week.

Looking through all the dances that have been featured on the show and have had some exposure I realized some interesting things. There were several dances that were introduced into the show in the midway point of the series and have been staples ever since (Argentine Tango, Viennese Waltz), while there were other dances that were “taking a break” as it were but then have been staples since them (Salsa, Tango, Waltz).

The Mambo was only featured for a handful of seasons in the middle of the series: Seasons 3 thru 7.

So knowing all this… which dances did I pull the below preferences from? Well the easiest would be the following: Bolero, Lindy Hop, Two-Step and West Coast Swing. These four dances not only got the least amount of exposure on the show but also had average low scores during their short run on the series.

The Mambo has been on the show for only five seasons and was scored low frequently so I would toss that dance into the mix.

Finally what about the other four? Aka the Charleston, Hustle, Jitterbug, and Lambada? It is hard to say since they ranked high on the scoring table. I tended to shy away from these dances in my quick analysis below, but feel free to include these in your comments if you feel inclined that you’d like to see a particular celebrity dance these dances.

So my final pool would be from Bolero, Lindy Hop, Two-Step, West Coast Swing and Mambo.

But before we start figuring out what dances would provide a challenge to each of the dancers… let’s look at who has already attempted any of the above dances?

So in regards to dances: Shawn, Melissa and Gilles all have a little bit of an edge by having done the Lindy Hop in their original season, but the Lindy Hop had an average score that is in the higher half. Personally, if I were to choose dances that I would like to see next week they would include the Bolero, West Coast Swing and Lindy Hop.

So knowing the above… what dances could possibly challenge the individual dancers? (Warning very long post to follow)

KELLY MONACO


Kelly was very much a late bloomer in her season. Not really getting the high scores until much later in the short season in the summer. That being said, her weaker dances seem to be all over the place… so honestly what is there to see? Let’s go with something fun like the Lindy Hop, Mambo, or even West Coast Swing.

DREW LACHEY


From his original season, Drew Lachey’s weakest dance by scores were the Cha-Cha in Week 1 (which he just did last night) and the Foxtrot in Week 7 which he completed as his first dance in the All-Star Season. Just looking at the overall outlook of his dances in general he tends to falter more in the upbeat / higher speed dances. So the dances to really challenge Drew Lachey would probably be the Lindy Hop or Mambo.

EMMITT SMITH


When looking at all of his scores, Emmitt has had the most trouble with the Tango. A dance that is very serious, as a very specific set of rules and structure to it. Looking at the grand scheme of things, Emmitt tends to have trouble in dances that he isn’t able to “charm” his way through. That being said I would want to see Emmitt try his hand on the Bolero or maybe the West Coast Swing, maybe even the Two Step.

APOLO ANTON OHNO


So the two dances that Apolo had the most trouble in his season was the Cha-Cha and the Jive. He has already done the Cha-Cha in week one so the obvious suggestion would be the Jive, but let’s take it a step further and see how he fares in either the Lindy Hop or the Mambo.

HELIO CASTRONEVES


Helio is also one of those dancers whose weaker dances are all over the spectrum. The lowest scoring dances include the Foxtrot and the Rumba. So if anything why not toss him the Bolero or the West Coast Swing… something smooth and silky to see if he could shine without resorting to his brilliant smile.

SABRINA BRYAN


Considering that Sabrina was only around for a handful of weeks in her season, the weakest dances tend to stem from the ballroom dances (Foxtrot, Quickstep). Since she has already done the Quickstep… and there is a long list of ballroom dances that she has yet to do (Tango, Argentine Tango, Waltz, Viennese Waltz) I would love to see her in the West Coast Swing where she cannot be hard hitting by any stretch of the imagination. If it must be a latin dance, then look at the Bolero. Another possibility would be the Two-Step

SHAWN JOHNSON


For a young lady with a lot of energy she had an awful amount of trouble reigning that in for the Lindy Hop, Salsa and Jive… which I thought she did well in the Jive. So what would be interesting to see her dance? How about the Mambo, or perhaps the Two Step?.

GILLES MARINI


Ah yes… TPTB little golden boy that could do no wrong *snores* anyway, he had trouble with the fun and flirty dances in the Cha-Cha and the Jive, which although he was scored well, I didn’t necessarily agree with… very easily I want to see him in the Mambo or Lindy Hop in this case. It has been mentioned in the comments that seeing Gilles do the Two-Step would be a riot… and I would be inclined to agree.

MELISSA RYCROFT


Melissa’s weakest dance during her original season was the Jive which didn’t really count because she was injured that week… the Waltz was the next weakest dance… it is a very smooth and slow kind of dance… the Paso Doble is also very defined and a very grounded dance so personally I would love to see Melissa attempt the Bolero or the West Coast Swing both of which are very grounded dances and incredibly smooth.

BRISTOL PALIN


In comparison to other dancers Bristol is just plain weak… so lets just compare with the dances she did within her season… and there is not real weak point for her. Sure her lowest scoring dances include the Rumba, Cha-Cha and Jive and she did the Cha-Cha as her first dance of the season. So there is much that could easily challenge her: Bolero, West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Mambo… just to name a few.

KIRSTIE ALLEY


Essentially any really fast paced dances or those with a crazy amount of control would challenge Kirstie so right off the bat I would see a Bolero (but she would kill anyway with ante-ing up the sex), Lindy Hop (but it might be far too fast paced… while Mambo and West Coast Swing would be more middle of the road for her.