Dancing With The Stars Recap, Week 5

By Jackie Josephs

Susan and Tony - Hustle: Many of the pros were devastated when they heard about the new dances, but Tony’s time with Fred Astaire proved helpful yet again as he borrowed the popular hustle moves from the Fred Astaire curriculum. Susan demonstrated smooth arm movements and a wonderful array of stylized disco lifts. Her turns were also much better than in previous dances. She could stand to have a bit more energy and she should definitely lose the heel leads.

Warren and Kym - Hustle: I absolutely loved it!! The timing was great, the movement was free and uninhibited, and his interpretation of the hustle was dead on. The lifts were amazing and so classic disco. I can’t imagine how it feels to dance with such a massive and powerful partner, but Kym certainly used to her advantage during this performance.

Cloris and Corky - Salsa: “Hotter than a chili pepper” where does Bruno come up with those quotes? Anyway, as usual, her turns were great. Her timing was pretty good and she did a great job incorporating the skirt into her dance. You absolutely have to admit that Cloris is always wildly entertaining!

Toni and Alec - West Coast Swing: This was a tough week for Toni. I could see that she was trying very hard to perform through her frustrations with the choreography. Unfortunately, in the end it was very stiff and didn’t really demonstrate the laid back, cool style of Western Swing. She needs to concentrate on finishing her lines. One thing that will help that is really getting solidly balanced on her feet and using the pressure on the floor to repair her posture and allow her to fully extend her arms and legs.

Julianne and Cody - Jitterbug: Oh. My. Goodness. I loved it. Amazing personality, long lines, and high kicks. What more could you ask for? The routine was delightfully challenging and maintained an excellent degree of entertainment. It is so fun to see those two being youthful yet still respecting the integrity of the dance and the era which it represents.

Derek and Brooke - Jitterbug: Where has Jitterbug been all my life?! This dance really brought out the best in these two. The choreography was so original and so challenging. I truly enjoyed how artistic it was and how perfectly it captured the feel of that era. Brooke really brings so much to the table with her energy, talent, and enthusiasm for the competition.

Maurice and Cheryl - Salsa: It’s nice to see a male student be able to demonstrate proper hip motion. I would love to see him take more compact steps in these faster dances. His performance was a little crazy, but it was still entertaining. He really had great energy and showed a good understanding of the feeling of Salsa. He did a pretty good job this week.

Lance and Lacey - West Coast Swing: She is pushing the limits with her behavior on this show. DWTS is meant to showcase the celebrity partners, not the pros. Lacey clearly out danced Lance this week and obviously neglected to focus on the fine tuning of the choreography. Lance let his posture slip during the performance and even fell during a slide. Lance is an extremely talented dancer and will often show that with moments of greatness, but this week, Lacey let her ego get the best of her and stood by as Lance gave a sub par performance. I sincerely hope Lance gets to stay another week so he gets a chance to fully redeem himself. He deserves it.