Recently, the 23rd season of Britain’s hit dance competition show Strictly Come Dancing drew to a close. Notably, Chinese dancer Carlos Gu paired up with former England women’s national football team midfielder Karen Carney. Together, they claimed the season’s championship title.
According to thepaper.cn, Since the start of this season, Carlos Gu and Karen Carney have racked up high scores consistently. In fact, they even topped the leaderboard at the semi-finals. Then, the grand final took place on December 20. First, they performed in the “favourite dance reprise” round. They chose an Argentine Tango inspired by the TV series Peaky Blinders. For this performance, the dance was set to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ song Red Right Hand. As a result, the judges gave them a perfect score of 40.
Next, the freestyle dance segment began. During this segment, the duo danced to the band Texas’Inner Smile. They electrified the audience with their performance, and thus secured 37 points for this round. Finally, to wrap up their performance, they closed their set in the “showdance” round–their chosen favourite category. They performed a dynamic football-themed Jive, with Blondie’s One Way Or Another as the background music. Consequently, they earned another perfect score of 40.
Carlos Gu is 32 years old. He graduated from the Department of Ballroom Dance at Tianjin University of Sport. He specializes in Latin Dance. In 2019 specifically, he partnered with Sun Chenhong. They won the championship at the National Latin Dance Finals (Group A), which the Chinese Dancesport Federation organized.
That same year, Carlos Gu and Sun Chenhong achieved another notable success: they advanced to the semi-finals of the Amateur Latin category at the UK International Open. This made them the first Chinese pair to reach this stage in the prestigious event. Moving forward to 2022, they achieved another milestone. They reached the semi-finals of the Amateur Latin category at the Blackpool Dance Festival, and in doing so, set a new best record for Chinese competitors in this division.
As a professional dancer, Carlos Gu is keen to appear on screen. His goal is to boost the public’s interest in ballroom dancing. For instance, in 2020, he and Sun Chenhong took part in Dance Smash. This popular dance variety show airs on China’s Hunan TV.
Apart from regular competitions in the UK, Carlos Gu has regularly participated in ballroom dance competitions there for years. In 2022, he officially joined the cast of Strictly Come Dancing. This made him the second Chinese dancer on the show; Nancy Xu was the first.
Carlos Gu stated in an interview: “Different professionals choreograph group dances and opening numbers. In fact, I have learned a wide range of dance styles. Apart from Latin Dance, I have studied Jazz, Argentine Tango, Broadway-style dance, Indian dance, and commercial dance. Furthermore, every choreographer is highly renowned. Their works are absolutely outstanding.”
Written by Yi Shen.
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