“Take It From Me” is a TODAY.com series where experts use their wisdom to explain trends or make recommendations within their fields. In this latest installment, “Dancing With the Stars” pro Mark Ballas breaks down celebrities with dance backgrounds competing on the show.
Every year after a new “Dancing With the Stars” cast is announced, fans have varying opinions about the latest celebrities vying for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy — and this year is no different.
Sixteen stars will be competing on Season 35 of the competition show, some with past dance experience. Among them is Julia Stiles, known for her moves in “Save the Last Dance,” and Jenna Dewan and Harry Shum Jr., who are both trained dancers.
Some social media users have been criticizing their casting, arguing that they have an advantage over other celebrities with no prior experience.
But “DWTS” pro Mark Ballas has a different take.
“The show’s called ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ not ‘Dancing With the Stars With No Dance Experience,’” he tells TODAY.com. “Good luck casting 12 to 16 people in the entertainment industry, and one of them hasn’t danced before.”
The 40-year-old dancer and three-time Mirrorball champ also notes that dance experience is not always an advantage.
“It’s about finding teams that you’re invested in. The cool thing about the show is it’s all about preference, right?” he says before mentioning the voting process that determines which couples remain on the show every episode.
The different skill level, he says, is what makes “DWTS” exciting and keeps viewers tuning in.
“If you had a whole show of complete and utter beginners who can’t dance at all, that’s not fun. And if you have it the other way, with all dancers, that’s not as fun either,” Ballas continues. “But it’s fun to see great dances. It’s fun to see people struggle and then overcome the struggle. And it’s fun to see people who are like, ‘Oh wait, how come you’re, like, accidentally pretty good at this?’”
He adds that what’s great about “DWTS” is that “it feeds every different viewer for what they want to see.”
Carrie Ann Inaba, who has been a judge since the first season, also chimed in on the debate. She explained that it matters what previous dance styles a celebrity has tried before being cast.
“What’s difficult — and I don’t think people realize this — is when you go from being a jazz dancer or a hip-hop dancer or all the other forms of dancing (to ballroom),” she told Entertainment Weekly. “The weight placement is so different. It’s weird because your body has memory, so it remembers how to dance, and it thinks it already knows how to do these moves, but it doesn’t.”
She added, “It takes a lot of time to un-train the body to put your weight on the front more over your toes instead of back and down and grounded.”
“It’s not as easy as people think,” Inaba said, pointing out that the advantage some dancers have is based on their rhythm and musicality.
Going into his 22nd season, and this time with fellow “Traitors” alum Maura Higgins as his partner, Ballas tells TODAY.com he just wants his partners to “feel like they got the best experience that they possibly could.”
“It’s a once in a lifetime experience. And think about it, it’s quite silly, we’re ballroom dancing on telly and you get a new style every six days, and you’re just hoping that you make it to the end,” he shares.
The new season of “Dancing With the Stars” premieres Sept. 15, with a second episode on Sept. 16.
