Flavia Cacace's blog by Flavia_Cacace

Hello again! Firstly did you all enjoy mine and Russell’s salsa?? All I’ll say is that I think the slow motion clip from Len’s lens says it all and shows just how much enjoyment Russell is getting from this show. I can’t help thinking how many more wrinkles are appearing on my face from the continuous smiling. Possibly not the most technical of routines, but we are certainly enjoying the performance side, and if I remember correctly, some of mine and Vincent’s top coaches always used to say to us that performance always beats technique! So there you go. I’m very proud of Russell, having to go from learning a new dance and routine in 3 weeks to 4 days is really quite something.

This week is proving to be quite a tough one. We had pro and celeb rehearsals on Sunday and again pro rehearsals on Monday morning. So that just left us the task of tackling our first ballroom dance, the foxtrot, in a few days. Russell was initially a little concerned about the ballroom, because he believed that he had a more natural feel for the Latin rhythm. But he's actually loving the ballroom now too, which might be something to do with my teaching (LOL - just kidding). In actual fact he really loves it, and it's Broadway week and we have a fab song, so I'm sure that has something to do with it too. It's going to be a really busy Saturday for me. All the professional dancers are performing two great numbers and Vin and I will be dancing to the music act too, plus our Broadway foxtrot. Busy, busy.

We have though been out of the training studio for a short while this week and doing something very exciting for us both, which doesn't involve quick sand (if you read my blog last week you'll know what I'm talking about)! I can’t say too much, so you will have to wait until Saturday to find out what that is. A little clue is that Russell and I have been rehearsing in sport centers this week in London due to group number rehearsals. To be honest we both miss the atmosphere and feel of our memorial hall in Snowdonia, so hence our little trip. It was great fun and will hopefully help with our performance on Saturday.

I seem to be eating more than ever this week, I'm going with the flow and letting my stomach guide me. I deprive myself of nothing during Strictly as treats keeps me going and I need all the energy I can get. I also make sure I have my Maxitone shakes and bars to snack on when I need them. As always I’ve been looked after well, check Jimi’s website for all sorts of interesting things as well recipes of some delights he’s been feeding me.

I'm loving the costumes so far this year, in fact I can't quite believe I have four costume changes over the weekend. So I guess my costume fitting tomorrow (Friday) will be quite lengthy! The costume team work so hard, almost as hard as us professional dancers (LOL), that goes without saying. I guess I had better head off and try and get some rest now. As it's such a busy week, I'll probably be rehearsing in my sleep! Sometimes I wish there were more hours in the day to practice. I truly hope you all enjoy and appreciate our routine on Saturday, considering Russell has had a slight knee injury he's getting on brilliantly, nothing seems to stop him. Enjoy the show and thank you so much for your kind words and support. We'd like to stay in as long as you'd all like to be entertained by us. FC xxx