Dancing With The Stars - Week 5

A Teacher's Perspective

By Debra Stroiney

Every week, no matter which dance, Gilles comes out and gives an amazing performance! He should consider doing more dancing in his entertainment career. He has learned so many things so quickly. He is truly a natural dancer. Now that he talked about his martial arts background I can see where some of his skill comes from. Participating in martial arts helps with balance, posture and coordination. I have one thing to say about Len’s comment that the routine was hectic…. I think that the routine was hectic because of the music. If they did not dance to the beat of the music then they would have been criticized for that. I showed this routine to someone who has never danced before and she even commented that the music was very fast and not that great. Speaking of the Paso Doble music, it makes me laugh at the songs they chose for this dance. For a show dance some of them are appropriate but I do empathize with the celebrities who have to learn the more difficult technique of this dance as well as dance to music where you can barely hear the beat.

This week of dances is one of the toughest. Both of these dances are difficult to first learn. The steps are simple but the technique and timing is difficult to learn and make or break the dance. I also think the scores reflected the more difficult dances. The higher scores were those who choreographed simpler routines and spent more time on the technique of the dance.

I have been surprised at how well Lil Kim has been doing with her dancing. The judges seem to like her a lot. They tend to praise her more than Shawn Johnson. I am wondering why they criticize Shawn more? Because she is an athlete and younger? They both received the same score in Viennese Waltz. I saw Shawn’s as being a little better; there was more substance to it.

I am actually surprised David Alan Grier was eliminated this week but it goes to show you that the votes really do count. David always had solid performances but never impressed the judges. Unfortunately, he must not have had a strong fan base either. Now there is evidence of just how much of a fan base Steve-O really had but it came through this week. There are times that he looks very uncomfortable while dancing but the viewers wanted to see him back. They must find him entertaining!