As I’ve already shared in an earlier post, season 34 of Dancing With the Stars has started off on an exceptionally high level. Although many of the celebrities are not necessarily household names, they bring a fresh dimension to the show and have surprised us with the quality of their dancing in just the first three weeks. But this show goes beyond just the dancing performances. One past winner, Charli D’Amelio, has described better than I’ve heard before how dance changes lives.
The Official Dancing With the Stars Podcast, hosted by last year’s winner Joey Graziadei, has been terrific so far. He’s an awesome host with the ability to connect with his guests in a heartfelt way that brings out unexpected depth. He also knows how to ask great questions.
We were especially impressed by the interview with Charli D’Amelio. She shared what dance has meant to her and how it has changed her life. Not just the experience of being on the show, but how dance itself fulfills us and provides a way to break through personal barriers in a powerful way. I was surprised by some of what she shared, because those aspects of her personality, like her shyness, were not obvious during her season. In the interview, we got an inside look at how dance allowed her to rise above fears, insecurities and shyness. It was moving and expressive, and stood out as one of the best podcasts I’ve seen.
Charli D’Amelio was the winner of the 2022 series. She’s one of the most followed creators on TikTok, with over 155 million followers. Even during her season, before winning, she was one of the most followed influencers. But she admitted in the interview that she didn’t do nearly enough social media during her season, as she was so focused on the dancing she felt it would take too much time away. As we have learned from surprise eliminations, the show is a popularity contest. Social media plays a huge role in keeping people on even if they aren’t the best dancers.
Now, I have to say that Charli was a tiny bit less candid than she could have been about her ability to pick up the Samba in just one day, because in actual fact she has spent years working with Mark Ballas. So, it’s not like someone who has spent only one season on the show and then having to learn Samba in one day for the opening number. Joey seemed annoyed that she had learned the dance to such a high level in such a short time. Even if she had never done Samba before, the overall skill she had developed from that much dance training makes it much easier than Joey would have required. But nevertheless, the interview was great.
Charli talked about how she was open to learning the proper technique for the different dances. This is so refreshing, because as a teacher I’ve had people come into classes with the attitude that they just wanted to learn the steps, as in “don’t bother me with the technique.” Technique forms the foundation that can make steps look the way we want them to look. Without that, you just stomp around like an elephant in a rose garden—painful to watch. Things like the proper dance frame (how we hold up our arms without lifting our shoulders), can make a huge difference not only to the look of the dance, but to how our partner feels and how movement becomes effortless.
What really touched my heart was when Charli discussed the process of learning ballroom dancing, and how it differs from other forms of dance. She had to unlearn things, something I find with my students who have dance background. One of my students is phenomenal at ballet, but so much of what she needs to do in ballroom would be considered terrible technique in the ballet world! So what Charli says is so true!
She also talked about how, in ballroom dancing, couples are in it as a team. They have to work together, both independent yet relying on each other the whole time in order to move together effectively. A little too much independence and the dance breaks. A little too much relying on your partner and the dance breaks. It’s a continuous process of understanding each other’s needs, the balance of the couple, your own balance, and how movement of the body impacts all those things.
I loved how Charli explained the way dancing makes her feel. How, as a performer, she had to learn to express her energy outwards instead of keeping it inside herself. This is something I’m continually working to bring out of my students, because it’s so common for humans to do technical things with the energy held inside the body. As she put it, “You gotta be uncomfortable to be comfortable and look good.”
“You gotta be uncomfortable to be comfortable and look good.” —Charli D’Amelio
What came through the most was a message about how dance changes lives. Charli shared how she is actually a very shy person. Doing the show was challenging for her because she had to get past that to express herself. She explained that at one point on the show she was just trying not to throw up because of the mental tension that performing had created. My favorite quote was when she says, “And like my little dancer heart, it’s just, I’m a very scared dancer and I always quit when I get nervous and I’ve hated that I do that because I always come back ’cause I love it and it’s in my soul.” It’s such a beautiful statement expressing how dance impacts people.
If you’re at all interested in how dance changes lives, make a point of watching this terrific podcast.
Watch the podcast on YouTube:
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