Champions of Dance
Two exciting events happened this week “Dancing With The Stars” crowned a new champion and Charles and Alexis competed at the Blackpool Dance Festival in England. In a roundabout way these events are connected, I’ll explain.
It was good to see Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas win the Finals of “Dancing With the Stars”. I thought this couple was most deserving of the championship. Kristi and Mark, from week one of the dance contest, looked poised and prepared each week to knock out the competition.
They had a few hurdles to overcome, small ones, but still they had to be on their game to win in the end. Kristi and Mark looked great from week one and sometimes when you come out so strong, it is difficult to maintain momentum and be the crowd favorite for 10 consecutive weeks. With several of the couples improving each week and gaining momentum, it was a challenge to see if they could stay ahead of the pack.
Also, people asked me in the beginning, “Do you think it’s fair that Kristi Yamaguchi, who was an Olympic ice skating champion, should be in this competition?” (This could weigh in the minds of voters.) Well, my basic answer is yes. Two reasons: 1. I was always told by my coaches that you have to beat whoever shows up for the competition. Don’t worry about this or that, just dance. 2. Many of the Stars have had some type of dance experience, but I don’t feel many have had much experience in ballroom dancing. The lines and connections are different and they still have to learn new choreography.
The final decision is left up to the audience who can often be unpredictable. If they don’t like your attitude, your costuming or reaction to the judges, they may not vote for the best dance couple. But in the end, Kristi and Mark won out. Congrats to them!
Now we move on to Blackpool, England. Two of the current professional dancers on DWTS competed at Blackpool in the Amateur Under 21 division and won. That was Mark Ballas and fellow dancer, Derek Hough. This is a prestigious event which starts with around 250 couples, in one division alone, and most go through several rounds of elimination. This year our very own Charles and Alexis competed at this amazing event. They went out and danced their little hearts out. They did a fantastic job among all this international dancers from Russia, Italy, England, Denmark and more. They didn’t win this time out, but perhaps they will in the future.
Later, Charles said to me, “If I win at Blackpool can I be on Dancing With the Stars?” I said, “Probably yes, look at Mark and Derek and some of the other professional dancers”. It’s a good goal to shoot for!
cheers,
Mark Mendez
It was good to see Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas win the Finals of “Dancing With the Stars”. I thought this couple was most deserving of the championship. Kristi and Mark, from week one of the dance contest, looked poised and prepared each week to knock out the competition.
They had a few hurdles to overcome, small ones, but still they had to be on their game to win in the end. Kristi and Mark looked great from week one and sometimes when you come out so strong, it is difficult to maintain momentum and be the crowd favorite for 10 consecutive weeks. With several of the couples improving each week and gaining momentum, it was a challenge to see if they could stay ahead of the pack.
Also, people asked me in the beginning, “Do you think it’s fair that Kristi Yamaguchi, who was an Olympic ice skating champion, should be in this competition?” (This could weigh in the minds of voters.) Well, my basic answer is yes. Two reasons: 1. I was always told by my coaches that you have to beat whoever shows up for the competition. Don’t worry about this or that, just dance. 2. Many of the Stars have had some type of dance experience, but I don’t feel many have had much experience in ballroom dancing. The lines and connections are different and they still have to learn new choreography.
The final decision is left up to the audience who can often be unpredictable. If they don’t like your attitude, your costuming or reaction to the judges, they may not vote for the best dance couple. But in the end, Kristi and Mark won out. Congrats to them!
Now we move on to Blackpool, England. Two of the current professional dancers on DWTS competed at Blackpool in the Amateur Under 21 division and won. That was Mark Ballas and fellow dancer, Derek Hough. This is a prestigious event which starts with around 250 couples, in one division alone, and most go through several rounds of elimination. This year our very own Charles and Alexis competed at this amazing event. They went out and danced their little hearts out. They did a fantastic job among all this international dancers from Russia, Italy, England, Denmark and more. They didn’t win this time out, but perhaps they will in the future.
Later, Charles said to me, “If I win at Blackpool can I be on Dancing With the Stars?” I said, “Probably yes, look at Mark and Derek and some of the other professional dancers”. It’s a good goal to shoot for!
cheers,
Mark Mendez
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10:11 AM
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