Yes, I have heard Len Goodman criticize the pros for incorporating lifts but as I stated I am fairly new, less than a year and I participate mostly in showcases rather than competitions at this point. My instructor is much younger and very athletic and doesn't seem to have a problem physically with doing lifts and I am rather petite at 5'2" and about 115 lbs. In our last showcase we did "a trick" in a swing dance where he slid me under and between his legs facing me left than twirled me facing right before retrieving me back upright. It looked very stylish on video review and I hope to be open to additional lifts. I have seen video of a swing move where the female partner is lifted upward and encircles her partner around the waist as he circles with her. I like the showmanship of that lift however, I am hesitant to ask him directly if we could try it because it is somewhat provocative or suggestive in the minds of others.

Lifts definitely get attention. On that other dance show (So You Think You Can Dance), the contestants are young professional dancers, most with years of training. When they dance beautifully, better than almost everybody else in the world, the audience hardly seems to notice. But when they do tricks that your 12-year-old who is a gymnastics student can do, the audience goes wild.

When you dance for yourself, you're dancing. But when you dance for an audience it's a performance.