katha

See, I'm no dance expert, I only like watching it on TV, heh. But to me Maks and Mark seem to be the two pros who have been really cleaning up their partners' technique this season. Maks seems to give her as much content as she can handle executing cleanly, and IMO that content has visibly increased throughout the weeks. Though the cha cha in week 1 already had plenty. Things like legs, knees, feet etc...these are things Meryl has been criticized for for years on skating boards. That's just not something he can correct in 10 weeks IMO. If it can be corrected at all. I think overall Sharna did a really good job with Charlie, but one of the things that may have done him in is that he didn't seem to be visibly improving. He was really good at ballroom and jazz and contemporary and struggled with latin. That didn't change throughout IMO. That paso in particular really wasn't helped by Sharna giving him content he couldn't handle cleanly and she didn't help him enough in channeling the character of the dance. Whereas with Meryl you see that she struggles more with latin as well, but there's been clear improvement throughout the season. And I don't think it would make much sense for Maks to try to change his way of choreographing. He does it the way he does in rehearsal, he knows it has drawbacks, but it works like that for him. If he tried to be all prepared for it beforehand, the results would probably look strained, awkward and unconvincing because his best ideas come during rehearsal with his partner. As was also already said, the pre-planned also has downsides, examples being Charlie's paso or Danica's "street dance" salsa IMO (where Val probably thought the concept was cool, but didn't seem to take Danica's personality into account at all). One of the things that has helped Meryl this season IMO is that she has gotten choreography that plays to her strengths but also shows a lot of variety. The cha cha was a fun riff on her skating career. The swing had the Minnie and Mickey theme. The foxtrot was romantic. The samba was whimsical and cute. The tango was dark and passionate. The salsa had a fierce and fun party feel. The rumba had the "A Streetcar Named Desire" motif (when everybody had been expecting a more traditional "steamy" routine from them, I thought Maks smartly sidestepped the danger dance couples with good chemistry sometimes fall into here: overcooking it). The Elvis theme was given. The VW nicely incorporated both the country and western theme and the heartbreak theme of their song.

I thought the package plus the jive and scoring afterwards was kind of Maks in a nutshell tbh. For good and bad. I know the packages are edited and I'm sure the temper tantrum was just a snapshot and not something that's going on constantly. IMO the way Meryl keeps going on about him being "giving" and "nurturing" and how at ease she seems with him points more towards her being able to deal so well with the occasional drama llama nonsense because he's really supportive and cool otherwise. But since TPTB are determined to go for the (creepy) "beauty and the beast" narrative, that's the focus. That said, temper tantrums aren't cool and he should try to cut that out and it is super annoying. Then OTOH you also had him trying to get Meryl to admit that she's still hurting. Which is something he's been talking about since the start of the season, that Meryl will just try to tough it out and won't say if something's not working for her, if she's hurt, if she doesn't like something etc. I can see where that can be a problem, and even though it's admirable for Meryl to be all "no complaining ever", it can also be counter-productive and leave her dance partner with no idea if adjustments to choreography, training, pacing, teaching etc. need to be made. Then the jive was total badass and you could see that he was happy with the performance. Hence you had him smooching the judges, hilariously mugging Elvis-style in the skybox etc. Which for me is Maks at his best. He just seems so warm and genuinely enthusiastic and on a good day he brings so much energy into the show. I understand when people are annoyed with his loudness and drama, but for me the way he's such a live wire really adds to the watching experience. And I agree that all approaches to choreographing seem to have drawbacks. IMO you saw with both Sharna and Val that sometimes the pre-planned routine didn't go 100% with the strengths of their celebrity partner, and with Maks you'll have the frustration at the beginning of the process and sometimes perhaps staying too much within the comfort zone? Though the "give them content like a pro" approach really showed its negative sides this season as well IMO. And since Maks is directly creating on Meryl I feel he's fully aware of her performance abilities in particular and really pushes her into different directions each week. Since the technical content of their dances has also been very good, that just makes a really appealing package IMO.

I think with Maks it's like...he's permanently living in Hyperbole Land anyway lol (both because he's naturally extroverted and emotional and because he knows how to use this to get a rise out of people), he knows how to spin things PR-wise, and he's prone to just say the stuff that's on his mind. Most of the time it's probably a mixture of all of these things. So I would agree that it's most likely not one or the other extreme when it comes to motivation and what's really going on with him. He's not being cynical and peddling all of this only to get the MBT (again, IMO you don't do a rumba like that in week 8 if winning that ugly trophy is the only thing on your mind), but the shippers planning weddings and picking names for their children are also going a tiny bit overboard, heh. (-; Also, that icenetwork article is something that people in the skating community and people who are invested in DWTS anyway notice, not something that has all that much reach and effect beyond that iMO. And he's always been very affectionate with partners he liked. He's been demonstrative with partners he didn't like because he probably sees it as some sort of loyalty/solidarity thing as well. I think the only two instances where I would definitely say "showmance" were Willa Ford and Erin, and as I understand it there was something going on for real in both cases, so it's not like that was only manipulative posturing and lying either. He also really liked Kirstie and Mel B, but for me that was just Maks expressing affection, I didn't read anything beyond that into their interactions. YMMV and all that jazz. Coming to this as a D/W fan, I think the more surprising element in all this is Meryl tbh. The way she's at ease with him and opened up on the show is just great to watch IMO. And I don't think that's something you can fake, because it's not just the dances and the edited packages. It's in all their interviews, in their interactions throughout the show etc. And her body language: You could see they got along in the first show already, but also that she wasn't used to his demonstrative nature and handsiness, then from week to week she started reciprocating more and more. I think that part is totally sincere on both sides: They really like and respect each other and love dancing together. And that is the part that feels really organic to me and likely what the parts of the audience who like them also respond to. You see a clear development of two people getting along, getting to know each other better and developing a bond and trust on the show. They're clearly in a different place now than they were at the beginning of the season. Whether that relationship is romantic, platonic, whatever, isn't the most important aspect for why this is working IMO (okay, the shippers are in a frenzy, but shippers are always in a frenzy...D/W shippers are also insisting that Meryl and Charlie are each other's one true love and Tanith is the devil incarnate. Also the V/M secret baby blog. Parts of the internet are just scary...). I do think having the contrast with James/Peta and the show going on and on about their special connection and chemistry that IMO never shows up in their dances and doesn't translate that much into their other interactions and also doesn't show the growth you see with Meryl and Maks makes that even more obvious. I think that's the main appeal for people who are buying what they are selling: Really great dancing by people who obviously love dancing together and who have formed a strong bond. The showmance aspect isn't the strongest factor in this IMO.

Of course most of the stuff on DWTS is to some degree staged, edited, manipulated and faked. That's the nature of reality shows. Maks is a reality show performer. His assigned role is the foreign, tempestuous bad boy to Derek's All-American good guy. They're both reasonably convincing in these roles, so they've remained with the show for a long time. They've both also managed to some degree to walk the fine line between playing into these notions and going beyond that to show more complexity. So then you have people being all "Maks is totally misunderstood!", "Derek is much edgier than people give him credit for!". That's how you build a fanbase, heh. Since they're also really good at their "main jobs", dancing, it all works out. I personally find it entertaining.

For me Maks' partnership with Meryl most strongly reminds me of the one with Mel B. It's clear that he loves dancing with and choreographing for Meryl, just like he did with Mel. And I enjoy it so much, and I think many other people respond to that as well going by the online response, because their focus seems to be on dancing together and creating dances they enjoy. Taking a risk like that with the rumba in week 8 (going by the package and the interviews afterwards, Maks knew there was the possibility that they would get dinged for it) also doesn't scream "only in it for the MBT" IMO. Neither does his response to ALM. He could have returned her flirting like James did and hoped that it would get them milder scoring from her. I do think he wants to win, who doesn't? He also probably knows that he won't at this point, seeing the way the judges are falling all over themselves for Amy and Derek. It's believable to me that he can still enjoy it because he gets to do more dances with Meryl. I hope they make it to the finals because I want to see more dances from them. Do I believe that the way he talks about Meryl involves hyperbole and PR spin? Of course it does, it's a popularity contest, everyone tries to sell something. IMO he isn't any worse about this than the other pros, he just gets more attention because...well, he's Maks, people give him lots of attention for some reason. (-; And it was always going to be about Maks to some degree in his partnership with Meryl, that was just inevitable IMO. He's an extrovert and an attention hog, she's not. But I think the producers took a gamble with the pairing that ultimately paid off: Meryl is reserved and PR-trained to the high heavens. There was a real risk that she would come across as boring, cold and aloof. Which doesn't help when you're trying to win a popularity contest, particularly when you're a female ringer and people usually have all the knives out for them anyway. Yeah, some of that commentary is still floating around, but this has mostly been avoided because of the way they interact with each other and the rapport they have. She's going along with his OTT shenanigans to some degree, he's being pretty lowkey (for his standars LOL). I think it's fun to watch. IMO Maks is also doing his absolute best to engage her in interviews (she does have a tendency to just nod along and let her partner dominate the proceedings IMO, she does that with Charlie to some degree as well) and he's been highlighting her and her abilities in the dances he's created on her. Short of a personality transplant, I don't know what else he could do in that regard LOL.