kitcloudkicker

They practice inside of Radio City Music Hall, so I'm guessing early morning and between shows. He said in an interview that they are just extremely focused during the time they have, unlike when they are at the LA studios where the dancers tend to dick around a lot. I'd argue that the goofing off time might actually help their chemistry, but judging by the dances they've done so far, on the dance part they don't seem to be hurting from lack of practice. (With all props to Henry too.) How he doesn't just collapse I have no idea. I would be stress-crying all the time.

Pretty par for the course for Erin though, she makes comments like that to most of the really fit celebrities. And dancers. Off the top of my head she makes those comments to Peta all the time, and did with Amy when she was on.

Now I want this to happen, except I want Daphne, suddenly realizing that she's the last one in the way of "the way it should have been" to become increasingly paranoid that she's next. The show can suddenly jump genres, into a psychological thriller a la The Glass House.

Oh man, so many livers for Deacon to choose from.

Oh god, there does not need to be another baby named Bella in the world, not even a fake one.

Haha, I had heard Mark's accent go in and out before, but hearing him speak for that long made it clear how frequently it actually happens and it's kind of adorable. Though I bet having Darvina around from his childhood throws him "off wack" and muddles his accent even more. Also liked his commentary, as well as the stories about Willow and her snacks and Shawn and her chest pounding.

Mark's fire vs ice was a lovely, creative concept, but all I could think was this

Was he demanding them as "Redfoo, of Famous Band LMFAO" or as "Don't you know who my dad is, son of Berry Gordy, founder of Motown"? Because I could see him being a lil' entitled for his whole life, outside of any self-fame status.

I read an article that stated he won't be doing the jive or the quickstep. (Wait, found it, it's this one) I don't mind this, but I'm sure it will open up accusations of "fairness" for others.

Oh totally. Maybe a overstatement of my own. (But how long does it take for a pro dancer to learn a minute of choreo? I'm not a dancer, but I bet it's not days.) I like Henry. I really want him to get another partner, and he's definitely pulling extra duties with this. I hope it gets him some bonus points and hopefully some extra pay? I just think it's a little much to say he's doing "all the work", especially since he's not choreographing or teaching. In terms of credit, the show hasn't officially given him kudos but both Nastia and Derek have publicly thanked him, and it's not like anyone's trying to keep his involvement a secret.

If one day out of seven is "all the work" then damn, I work too hard.

According to Henry's instagram, he worked with Nastia Saturday and Sunday of last week, and only Sunday of this week. It's Derek's choreo, and Derek is training Nastia in it in New York, Henry steps at the point where she's learned it, and both Henry and Nastia seem to be in very constant communication with Derek over the details of the dance - he posted a screenshot of the detailed communication they're having. It seems clear to me that it's Derek's work, though it wouldn't be possible without the assist, especially since Henry seems to be acting as an understudy in a very traditional sense - if something goes wrong with Derek's flight he is also primed to go.

Henry (Byalikov, from the troupe) has been tapped as Derek's understudy, more or less, this season, and has been practicing with Nastia when he can't. They video it and send it back to Derek for critiques. I actually find it kind of fascinating how they've been making it work. (But also, would totally get an argument that it hasn't been fair to Henry, since he's seemed stuck in that, first choice understudy, not a pro, position for a while. And actually, peaking at the instagrams of Nastia and Henry has made me curious to see them have to dance together.) Nastia's boyfriend is a former college/minor league hockey player who has started some sort of sports startup. I don't know if he's rich, if he is it seems like it'd have to be family money, as his startup seems to still be in the small potatoes, eating ramen noodles and getting it off the ground stage.

Bruno to Chris: "You were more erect this week" Tom: "So you watched The Bachelor too?"

Agreed on this - so, so lovely, but not all the way there on the performance level. But then, it's week 2 and she's an athlete and not an actor, and I'd love to see this be her arc on the show, her building up her performance & acting ability. Since she's got the great foundations for the technical stuff, and I see her getting the acting part down to be an interesting challenge for her. If I remember from her gymnast days, she tends to go into a bit of a game face, and I can see her being able to let down the walls and emote more in a dance being what they key into as her journey. (Speaking of, there's a fun behind the scenes of the making of the video for this song, and NappyTabs talk about the difficulty/importance of getting those emotional details to really sell the story at around the 4:40 mark.) Riker with his hair back made me want to punch him 100% less. You go, Riker, with your hair like a grownup. Rumer was still really good this week, but not as standout as last week. (Understandable, every week can't be amazing.) And love, love that Patti chose In Da Club as her jam. (I really really hope she chose it herself.) There seems to be a few at the top and everyone else clustered around the middle for me, no one seems really horrifyingly bad this year. Redfoo wasn't the worst ever first week contestant, but I'm not necessarily surprised he got lost in shuffle (haha, shuffle) in the "mediocre middle."

Agreed. It wasn't my favorite but I think that was largely a fault of that mix of the song - it was frenetic and forcing a lot of that staccato feel to the dance. I could see that mix being used in an interesting hip hop number, but it didn't quite work for me for that foxtrot. I also kind of hated the camera effect in the beginning that had them in black and white but with a weird blue cast to the background. I never really like the first week dances, they tend to highlight the stereotyped "thing" about each cast member with the force of multiple exclamation points. Derek and Nastia practice in New York!!!!!!! Charlotte has boobs!!!!!!! Redfoo the LMFAO guy!!!!!! Robert is obnoxiously rich, LOL!!!1!!!!!1!!!!! HAHA THIGHMASTER. Later on when you see who settles in and who doesn't is when the fun usually starts for me.

I like her a lot. The only thing with her is I think there's a chance her intensity/perfectionism could end up being a double edged sword if she lets it get to her head. I hope not, because she's got beautiful lines and really great potential, and really great match with Val.

I guess I have trouble seeing that as a calculated plan to "lie" about his plans though - from my perspective he's seemed pretty open about being bummed about missing out on the season and actively trying to find ways to be involved "in some way." And until they could deliver him a contestant that wanted to work in New York around his schedule him actually coming back seemed pretty unlikely, so it doesn't really bother me that the announcement went down that way. On the other hand, I could buy criticisms that coming back for this season is kind of selfish, if it turns out he's not able to commit enough to his partner. And I do like Henry, so it's a bummer if he ends up picking up a lot of slack when he could be the actual partner, I wouldn't have minded seeing that pairing. However, it is my gut that doing the New York show and being exposed to new choreography and a new environment is going to freshen up his creativity on the choreography end. Because I do see the creative rut he seemed to be in with Bethany, and he seems like a guy who thrives creatively on having new inputs to chew through. But while he seems to have inhuman levels of energy, I am wondering if he'll have the time, energy, and brainspace to actually make use of that.

Location: Los Angeles. Scene: Derek's Manager's Office. Derek's Manager: "Look, this Spring Spectacular offer is a really good career move for you. Harvey Weinstein is a powerful guy in Hollywood, working his show is smart. They are going to be promoting the bajeezus out of this thing. It gets you in front of a new audience, you get to sing, dance, and act, and will get you more inroads to any other Broadway work you might like to do. But I can see how this might be a hard decision for you, it's on the opposite side of the country. Dancing With the Stars clearly means something to you, and this is a milestone season. You seem to really enjoy doing the show, and you seem to really like and care about the people that put it together. It seems unlikely, but maybe there's a way we can work something out. Until we do you'll probably have to say you can't compete." Derek: "Ugh, whatever. I don't care about any of that. (leans forward maniacally) Will that piss off the most people on the internet? That is how I base all my career decisions."

A Noah and Sharna rehearsal, looks like they have cha cha. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPgt61j7rnM The DWTS official account has started posting more rehearsal videos.

Looks like they did a "live to tape" with Derek and Nastia. Not quite a livestream - but then, no wasting time on twitter nonsense either. Wonder if they might do this with other traveling couples? (Or, everyone might become more LA based once the season starts, I suppose.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOcYOMPie14&t=357

Derek is the only one to get a new thread though, everyone else's rolled over from their old threads. Likely because of his late announcement. Not that it matters either way to me. But speaking of late pro announcements, looks like Keo needs a new S20 thread too. Or his S19 thread rolled over. Whicheva.

I'm guessing troupe chat goes here, since I can't find a troupe thread? Henry's been in the studios with Amy Purdy rehearsing for some benefit thing. They look good together. I'd love to see him get another chance with a celeb partner. (I'd personally pick him over Artem, but that's just me.)

Some unsubtle symmetry there, yeah? I actually find myself interested in those two couples, and likely they've already got tickets to the finale, but I'm really hoping one or two of the celeb guys pull through as a great dancer and/or entertainer so it's not just the Derek vs. Val show all season. (And saying that as a fan of both.) I'm really hoping for Noah/Sharna. (And they look promising in photos.) Or maybe Redfoo can be unexpected and fun. I'm hoping for Michael Sam too, but just judging from his official cast portrait, he seems like he might end up being on the awkward end of the football player dancer spectrum.

So far he doesn't bother me personality wise, that's why the "Great job! Really great work here, you're nailing it...but something about your face..." keeps making me laugh. ;) (I also just love Will Ferrell's delivery in that scene, "All I can do is take that in, and do my best version of whatever I think that might be.") Allison seems super sweet, but yes, very nonstop chatty. It's interesting, the not wanting to reveal the dances early - I wonder if the producers considered that as that much of a problem. Seems like they could drill them in fundamentals?