Good Monday everyone!
Welcome to week two of Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro. Last week, our premiere episode introduced us to the twelve dancers looking to join Dancing with the Stars as the next pro. After some intense mentoring and rehearsals with guest judge Derek Hough, we saw six performances with varying degrees of success based on the week’s lesson of technique.
After all the dancing was done, Briar Nolet and Jake Monreal became the first two to be eliminated from the competition. Tonight, Brandon Armstrong is the guest as he helps the dancers navigate telling a personal story through movement. After five new routines featuring Rumba, Jive, and Viennese Waltz, the contestants will once again face elimination.
Robert Irwin is host. Mark Ballas and his mom, ballroom legend Shirley Ballas are our judges. Shirley notes the contestants need to make a huge impact. Mark says every challenge wipes the slate clean with a new set of challenges. Brandon Armstrong is introduced and we are treated to a lovely routine that shows why they brought in Brandon to discuss storytelling through dance. He mentions how the dance was based on his personal story of being adopted into a white family. He wants the dancers, in couples, to tell a story from their own lives. He wants a clearly expressed narrative. The judges pair up the dancers.
The contestants must pick one personal story to tell in their duo. They also need to choreograph the dance. Stephani wants to showcase her story of embracing who she was. Tristen agrees that he too needed to embrace his own unique qualities. They decide to do Stephani’s story. Benji wants to pay tribute to Miami. Nina is all about perseverance sticking with dancing even though she was going through it in her personal life. They decide to do Nina’s story as opposed to Benji’s. Benji notes by opting to do her story, it will make him look “selfless.” Well, ok then.
Adele talks about her dancing partner who is also her life partner. Allen’s dance is all about his mom. She wanted him to be on Dancing with the Stars. She passed when he was fifteen and since then, he has made dancing his number one priority. Adele wants them to focus on Allen’s story. Natalie is focusing on how dancing made her find her voice. She and Erik are choosing that route for the dance. AJ and Selena are choosing AJ’s story about winning a dancing championship. AJ is being a little aggressive in rehearsals as ballroom is his world.
Stephani and Tristen are working well together. Nina seems to be doing the majority of the choreography as Benji is feeling a bit overwhelmed. He feels he isn’t being listened to. Allen wants to make sure the choreography is exactly right. Adele is doubting herself because of the tricks in the dance. Back at the house after a day of rehearsals, Benji and Nina are airing out their grievances in front of the other dancers. They aren’t exactly meshing very well.
In day two of rehearsals, Benji has made a sandwich for Nina and apologizes for discussing issues in front of others. Brandon arrives to work with the dancers and see how they are progressing. He thinks AJ is not being clear in his dance with the story. He wants Tristen and Stefani’s choreography to match the story better. He loves what Allen and Adele are doing. He guides Natalie and Erik because he feels they are struggling with one another in terms of connecting. Brandon heard about Nina’s story but feels a disconnect with her and Benji. Allen is feeling very drained. Robert shows up at the house and wants to give Allen a little pep talk. He has experience with losing a parent. Allen feels this dance will be the closest he has been to his mom since her passing.
It is show night!
Natalie & Erik (Viennese Waltz) – That was a whole lot better than I expected. I am impressed. Erik showed some great skill as a partner and Natalie came back from a less than stellar week one. I still think she needs to work harder on her storytelling abilities but they both complimented one another well and considering the low expectations I had, they delivered. Shirley says Natalie found her confidence. She says Erik comes across as Prince Charming. Brandon thought it was amazing. Mark is very happy to see Natalie bouncing back. He calls it top notch.
Benji & Nina (Rumba) – Okay, well… on the opposite end of the spectrum, that was not so great. Benji really needs to work on his hip action. They were definitely taking the issues they had in rehearsal and showing it during the dance. It could have worked well but the lackluster dancing (on his part) and the general lack of chemistry hindered it. I think these two would have benefited from more time. Brandon calls it disjointed. Mark asks about rehearsal. He says they need to communicate better. Shirley feels the highlight for him was the back flip. Not a compliment. She feels Nina was not listening when Benji’s body came in. Mark feels this is a huge learning moment for the both.
Stephani & Tristen (Rumba) – Okay. That was a very good Rumba. Excellent hip action from both and I loved how locked in they were with another. However, the story was supposed to be about the two embracing who they are. The dance came off about embracing love with one another, which seemed a bit at odds for me. A Rumba is a romantic dance but I don’t know if it completely serviced the story. Loved the dance overall though. Mark felt it was beautiful. And he loved that Tristen was a great partner. Shirley was proud of the detail from Tristen despite a few technical issues. Brandon tells Tristen and Stephani they were good partners. He was pleasantly surprised with the dance.
Selena & AJ (Jive) – Methinks Selena is a front-runner to win this thing. I know it is early but she just explodes on the dance floor. She followed up last week with another amazing performance. Something about AJ is off- putting to me. I don’t know what it is. He comes off a bit fake and he was totally upstaged by Selena. He seems to think he is better than what he actually is. Odd. Shirley is confused why AJ picked to do a jive again. She tells him he needs to come with creativity because the same choreography is not going to work. She did marvel at the partnership. She tells Selena she is amazing. Brandon thinks the story was hard to relate to. Mark thinks it lacked some oomph.
Allen & Adele (Rumba) – Wow. Stunning. Performance of the night. A perfect blend of storytelling and technique. I could just feel the emotions in that piece. You bring a piece of yourself to everything you do in life and you could just see how much of Allen’s experience was there. Adele was the perfect representation of his mom in that dance. It was just incredibly moving to watch. Well, everyone is crying. LOL. Kleenex all around. Brandon asks Allen to remind us of the dance. He congratulates them. Mark says he would be happy to dance with them both. Shirley notes the quality of movement was outstanding. She labels it the best number of the night.
Time for the results. If it were up to me, I would give Benji and Nina the opportunity to work and improve and instead, send AJ & Selena to the bottom. And not because of her, obviously. To me, doing a jive with the same movements two weeks in a row with a story that supposed to be his just didn’t work and though he is a ballroom champion, I would cut him. But of course, this decision is up to the judges.
Mark says the couple in jeopardy is Benji and Nina. Dang. I thought they at least deserved another week. It was a rough go with them tonight but the potential is there. Shirley feels a dilemma. She wanted Nina to listen more. Mark feels the dance got away from Benji and he needs to speak up. Brandon thinks the communication has got to be better.
Shirley announces the eliminated dancer is… Benji.
Nina hugs him and says she is sorry. He is proud of his journey at representing the Latino community. He says no matter who he was paired with, it was his time. The rest of the contestants embrace him.
Next week is group work with Britt Stewart. And by the looks of the preview, more attitudes are on the horizon and perhaps an injury! Ambulance incoming. I hope you guys enjoyed the show tonight. Thanks for joining me and I’ll see you all in a week’s time. :)