We’re now 8 weeks into season 34 of Dancing With the Stars, and it continues to be one of the most spectacular seasons ever. For us, we are enjoying the tremendous progress of the dancers who had no dance experience just a few weeks ago, and are already experiencing staggering levels of performance.
Let’s recap the past week’s show, then I’ll get into the main subject of this post, which is how this show encapsulates the whole experience people go through from the moment when they step into a dance studio for the first time.
It’s a process I’ve experienced myself from my humble start so many years ago, and one that I continue to enjoy with every student who walks through the doors of our studio. I’ll never forget my first dance competition, where I froze halfway through a dance and couldn’t get started again. Three years later, through lots of hard work and 21 hours of weekly practice, we became the top Latin couple in the 30+ age category in BC and not long after that, one of the top couples in Canada.
In dance, the journey never stops. Retiring from competition doesn’t mean retiring from dance. Most of the top professionals continue to develop skills and grow as dancers, even as we all age and move on to different roles.
Dancing With the Stars Season 34 has been outstanding
Right from the start, the level of dancing in Season 34 of DWTS was already exceptional. It looked more like week 7 or 8 that first week. Robert Irwin’s Jive was the very first dance and already showed skill that you normally wouldn’t find in Latin competitors until they’ve spent many months or even years in training.
Dylan Efron, partnered with pro Daniella Karagach, has no dance background yet has shown remarkable skill and commitment to this journey of learning to dance. Unfortunately, he has been a bit uneven, but he’s still a strong contender. The latest dance was somewhat flat-footed in places. His base in the Jive was too wide, and he missed some connections. He really excels in the slower dances. But we love watching his performances.
Alexis Earle, partnered with pro Val Chmerkovskiy, is one of the highlights of the season. She puts so much fire into her performances. They are always exceptional. Her Paso Doble was the best dance of the night in our opinion.
Whitney Leavitt, partnered with ballroom royalty Mark Ballas, is an experienced dancer. As a result, a lot is expected of her. We were somewhat disappointed with her Paso Doble. Don’t misunderstand: it was an exceptional dance. But given her background it lacked some of the refinements we would have liked to see.
Elaine Hendrix, who is partnered with pro Alan Bersten, was injured the previous week and had less time than the other contestants to prepare for her Viennese Waltz. Yet she performed with great polish. She has beautiful arms. Although she commits 110% to every performance, we would like to see a bit more shaping because we think she is capable.
Jordan Chiles, partnered with pro Ezra Sosa, is a gymnast. Her performance was hugely entertaining but as a Jazz it didn’t require any of the elements that make ballroom dances so challenging. In fact, much of her dance did not even include any connection with her partner.
Robert Irwin, partnered with pro Whitney Carson, put on a spectacular Paso Doble with 100% commitment. Yet we felt it had a few shortcomings and that Robert in general has been a bit uneven. From one of the best starting dances in DWTS history, he has shown great ability in all his dances, but has not really progressed as much as we would like to see.
A process of growth
Andy Richter, who is partnered with pro Emma Slater, lacks ability but is hugely likable. While we love his charming personality, it’s not hard to recognize that when it comes to dance skills, he’s the least capable of the entire cast. At the same time, we believe that Andy encapsulates everything that Dancing With the Stars is all about: someone very ordinary in capability going through the process of learning how to dance and perform as a dancer.
What has been the most exciting for us every season of this show has been the progress of those celebrities, like Andy, who are just like the average students we get in our studio. They have no dance background, yet they are excited to be there and wanting to learn. They put their heart and soul into the process.
This was expressed in a beautiful way by Maksim Chmerkovskiy in the latest episode of the Penthouse with Peta podcast.
Maks explained, “I had a smile watching him the whole time because I have zero expectations. I have no expectations. I’m not looking for the steps. So I give him the benefit of a doubt also because that’s our business as dance teachers. This is my clientele. That’s who’s coming.”
Chmerkovskiy continues by explaining that people come into a dance studio with a need to fill some void in their lives. Maybe they just got divorced, lost someone close, changed their lifestyle or restructured something in their life so that they now want to learn how to dance.
Maks says, “Hopefully, if we’re good at our job, we get them to transition to something like this, where they partake in showcases and dress up and have these outfits and they do different themes. Andy is literally one of the reasons why our business has been booming over the past decades. People are dancing and they love that stuff. So for me, it’s amazing to see.”
Describing what he looks for when he watches Andy, Maks explains, “I just want some fingers. And he showed that. I want some little vibes in his steps. I didn’t want him to just kind of shovel his feet around the floor. And he did that little hoppity hop. He’s in his bare feet, no socks. It was so cute. He was so cute. I really enjoyed this performance.”
Dance truly is a journey, and Andy Richter represents the journey that ordinary people go through as they take on the challenge of learning to dance. We love that! Even though I wouldn’t want to see Andy necessarily win the season, I hope he goes at least to the semi-finals because he really does reflect the way the journey is the reward in the world of dance.
You can watch the podcast in its entirety below:
If you’re interested in starting the journey of becoming a dancer, we would love to see you in class. Just check out the schedule and join in one of our classes.
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