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Dancing With The Stars: Episode 11/7/11

Instant Dance Week is here, the competition gets tougher as we are down to 5 couples, and J.R. MARTINEZ lands a perfect score the entire night with dance partner, KARINA SMIRNOFF.

ROB KARDASIAN and CHERYL BURKE performed the Quickstep, which is extremely challenging, as it is a fast dance.  ROB had a rough start, but by the end he finished.  ROB’S personality and hard work landed him a high score of 27.  Go ROB!  

The Quickstep is a great cardio workout.  The movement is rigorous which provides lots of calories to be burned.  Every Dancer must hold a strong core (the center of our body) especially when they move fast.  To achieve a fabulous Quickstep like ROB, warm your body up with 50-75 crunches then putting your dancing shoes on to hit the ballroom dance floor.

HOPE SOLO and MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY finally got it together last night and in my opinion they performed their best dance yet in this competition.  It is about time.  I think MAKSIM’S attitude adjustment helped HOPE a lot to focus more on having fun with her dancing then beating herself up.  Way to go MAKSIM with the positive attitude.  Amen to attitude adjustments and checking the ego at the door! 

If you can walk, you can dance.  In the beginning of this competition, HOPE never had the confidence that she could learn to dance like the pros.  In my opinion, her confidence lacked big time.  In Ballroom dance, you need a partner who can help you stay confident and positive.  Everyone CAN dance…you just need the right voice in your head telling you that you CAN.  Anything is possible.  MAKSIM finally was a true partner last night.  KUDOS!  If you fear dance, surround yourself with positive people and teachers who will tell you that you CAN dance.

  

RICKI LAKE and DEREK HOUGH danced the Waltz last night and it was unbelievable. I always get chills watching them dance.  RICKI looked like a natural performing the Waltz.  DEREK has wonderful choreography and he is a great teacher.  The judges commented on RICKI’S shoulders and I agree that at times she is a bit stiff in her upper body.  It doesn’t bother me too much, because I am too wrapped up in her love for dance as she moves.  It is such a pleasure to watch a dancer who screams passion…that is Miss RICKI LAKE!  You deserve 10s in my book.  Go girl!

Some people prefer watching a dancer with flawless technique with not so much in the personality department.  For me, I would rather watch a dancer whose technique is not perfect, but they steal the stage with their personality.  Ok… so RICKI needs to work on her upper body a bit by relaxing her shoulders, but her incredible grace and poise on the dance floor sets the Ballroom BIG TIME for me!  Don’t you agree?!  Every week, she screams passion and to me she deserves to win this competition.  For a relaxed upper body, try rolling your shoulders front and back a bunch of times.  This will also stretch the muscles in order to be better utilized during a dance class.  Breathing and relaxing will always help too.

NANCY GRACE and TRISTAN MACMANUS performed the Tango this week.  I strongly feel that this is NANCY’S last week on Dancing With The Stars.  This competition is getting tougher and tougher.  NANCY is not consistent in her dancing at all.  She is stiff and the transitions in choreography do not suit her well.  I am not a fan.  Bye bye NANCY!

When you are in a competition, you must be consistent in your training. Train hard or go home.  When I watch NANCY on the show, I know she wants it, but she is lazy to me.  She does not have the drive to succeed.  Sorry to be so blunt and harsh…that is how I feel.  When you dedicate yourself to something, you must be in it to win it.  Every second counts and there is no room for whining or excuses.  Like NIKE says, “Just do it.”  Like I say, “It is not that deep…you CAN do it.”

J.R. MARTINEZ and KARINA SMIRNOFF’S Waltz got a standing ovation and a perfect score last night.  J.R. is a goof ball in rehearsals, which frustrates KARINA a bit.  No matter how J.R. acts, he pulls through to nail his routine.  If I were KARINA, I would not complain one bit.  J.R. definitely has what it takes to stay in this competition. 

The Waltz is a beautiful dance to perform.  It feels great on the body.  It is a romantic dance that is comprised of soft, round, flowing movements.  This dance always makes me smile. Dancers should move their shoulders smoothly, parallel with the floor instead of up and down. Dancers must strive to lengthen each step. It is quite challenging, so get into a class now to start learning this beautiful dance.

The Instant Dance was a genius idea to do this week.  Each couple randomly had to pick a song from Brooke Burke-Charvet that they did not have in rehearsals this past week.  Once they received the songs they had twenty minutes to rehearse it.  Wow, talk about pressure!  Musicality is extremely important in dance.  At this point of the competition, if the couples cannot match the song to the dance, then there is a problem.  The couples that stood out for me were:  HOPE and MAKSIM, RICKI and DEREK, and J.R. and KARINA.  Len Goodman couldn’t have put it better, “NANCY GRACE, it is midnight and time for you to go home!”  MAKSIM gave HOPE fun and creative choreography and J.R landed another perfect score! 

It was another great night in the Ballroom and I would say that NANCY GRACE is going home tonight.  Do you agree?  Please comment below.

Please remember to join me on www.twitter.com/ilysebaker for my live twitter party 8pm PST.  When you tweet, please type #DWTS #DWTSPartywithIlyse

Be sure to catch my future DWTS blogs at www.ilysebaker.com

Thanks so much for reading and come back next week for another weekly dose of dancing dirt!

-Ilyse

Dancing With The Stars: Episode 10/31/11

Halloween week on Dancing with the Stars was quite entertaining with Rob Kardashian’s bum being talked about a lot by the judges, Ricki Lake nails yet another routine, and the Teams out dance each other.

ROB KARDASIAN and CHERYL BURKE performed the Tango to The Addams Family.  It was one of Rob’s best performances.  The choreography was incredible so kudos to Cheryl for that one.  Bruno complimented Rob as the "Dance Master of the House" and I must agree.  The only critique that the judges had for Rob was about his cute “bum.”  He needs to keep in under.  Stop sticking that booty out Rob…would ya?!   

Dancing with your “bum” out is a common problem that most people face while they are performing.  It is best to have a neutral pelvis. Neutral is the position that respects the natural curvature of our spine, which is the most stable position and allows for the most movement potential. By tucking under, one creates the illusion of lengthening the low back, but in reality, it compresses the front of the spine. It creates a “gapping” of the back spine that actually increases tension in the low back muscles in an effort to create stability.  Try popping into a Pilate’s class or ballet class.  Yoga is great too for achieving that “bum” of yours to stay under.

RICKI LAKE and DEREK HOUGH danced an outstanding Paso Doble. I got chills watching them dance with such grace and energy.  Their shapes and transitions were mind blowing.  It was an absolute breathtaking performance even with RICKI’S injury.  She sure pushed through and was a Team player.

RICKI is a hard worker and extremely dedicated to this competition.  She is in it to win it!  Once you set your mind a certain way, you can do anything.  For example, if you have always wanted to take a dance class, but fear you cannot do it then rethink things now.  Turn the voice off in your head that says, “I can’t dance.”  Then, put your confidence hat on and strut into a dance class.  You might not get the entire routine the first class, but I promise by class 3-4 you will be dancing around like RICKI LAKE.

NANCY GRACE and TRISTAN MACMANUS performed the Jive this week, which is the most athletic dance in ballroom.  Let’s just say that stamina is needed big time when dancing the Jive.  Holy moly calories are being burned for sure!  Going Down to Georgia was their song, which made the routine fun and playful.

If you want a killer dance workout then the Jive is your best bet.  Talk about a major calorie burner!  Louis Van Amstel, past DWTS Professional Dancer has a great new program, LA Blast that provides an hour workout covering all styles of ballroom dance with different level options and the best part is that you do not even need a partner for it.  Check it out and get yourself into a class now to burn some major Jive calories.

J.R. MARTINEZ and KARINA SMIRNOFF’S Tango to Ghostbusters was not their best dance.  Their timing was off a lot and J.R.’s technique was not all there, which was quite surprising.  A bit of a disappointment this week, J.R. as in your past weeks have been outstanding.

The footwork in Tango dance is very difficult and challenging to grasp. Like anything worthwhile, it takes effort to learn. There is nothing quite like the synchronicity of a perfect Tango: when two bodies, two hearts, two minds, two souls move as one in perfect harmony with each other, with the music, with the floor, with the other couples ... ah, there is nothing quite like it! So, yes, it takes some effort, but it is well worth it!  Start with a beginner class and then work your way up to advanced tango.  It will take some time, but can do done!

DAVID ARQUETTE and KYM JOHNSON performed the Cha Cha this week and it was very entertaining.  I love DAVID’S improvement each week and his willingness to work harder and harder.  His opening jump in the routine was fabulous.  Go DAVID!  He just has this prestige about him that adds to his overall performance.  I was sad and disappointed that he was let go this week.  America, bad choice!

Overall, this week was fun and entertaining.  I loved the Team Dances and how Team RICKI Paso Doble stole the show.  Powerful…Dramatic…Fabulous!!!  Team J.R. Tango was nothing to write about...sorry to be so blunt, but it is true.  Team Ricki all the way as I felt the same way as the Judges.  :)

Congrats Dancers! Can’t wait for next week’s episode.  Please remember to join me on www.twitter.com/ilysebaker for my live twitter party 8pm PST.  When you tweet, please type #DWTS #DWTSPartywithIlyse

Thanks so much for reading and come back next week for another weekly dose of dancing dirt!