DWTS Season 16 Dorothy Hamill Relying On Ageless Determination And Partner Tristan MacManus
In a new interview with XFinity Comcast, Dorothy Hamill says she will be calling fellow ice skaters and past Dancing With The Stars contestants Kristi Yamaguchi and Evan Lysacek to get whatever tips she can. She also speaks about what inspired her to dance and what she thinks her strengths and weaknesses will be….
Did Evan and Kristi encourage you to do “DWTS”?
Way back when, they said, “you have to do it,” and, of course, I would have loved to, but one has to be invited to do the show, so I sort of figured it would never happen. But now that I know and I’m allowed to talk to them, I’m going to call them and get whatever tips I can so that I can make it as painless as possible for Tristan.What else inspired you to put on the dance shoes?
I’ve always been a fan of the show. I think it’s terrific to watch people outside of their comfort zone come in and learn a new skill, especially later in life. I just wanted to learn how to dance for a long time.Obviously, you’ve already grasped choreography as a skater. What will your weaknesses be in the “DWTS” competition?
I have a really bad memory and I’m a very slow learner, so as far as the choreography goes, I bring all that from my skating. I’m really slow, so that’s why I’ve always been a solo skater because if I mess up, nobody knows.And your strengths?
I like to work hard, but I don’t know if I can keep up with the pace. Hopefully I’ll be able to. That doesn’t mean I’ll be any good, but I’ll try.
“Trying” is all that matters. I can’t wait to Dorothy’s her “artistry” the most. With Tristan’s artistry, they could be a real force. You can read more of this fun interview at XFinity Comcast.
ADDING: Here is Dorothy and Tristan on Access Hollywwod today.
xxx
Thanks, Vogue! I just adore this couple, can’t wait to see them dance. Hope they don’t have a goofy week 1 dance style.
Dorothy seems to be downplaying expectations quite a bit. That’s good as long as it’s just for the media and isn’t evidence of a real lack of confidence.
I’m with you Cidra – what’s not to love about this team! I’m a Tristaholic anyway, and the two of them together just has me giddy. I have high hopes for her ability – just hope she can believe in herself. She always was a humble person so no surprise she’s not trash-talking and trust that any lack of confidence will be washed away after their first dance.
I went to the link to read the rest of the interview and was delighted to see the DWTS Judges Mash Up again – what fun that was! Can’t wait for the premier – only 2 more weeks!
Vogue – your are a beast! Love LOVE love all these wonderful interviews/ photos/snippets/news/videos – all of it so appreciated as it gets us geared up and in the mood for dancing! Can’t wait for the premier – excited to see all these contestants dance, not a downer in the bunch – only 2 more weeks!
saw a pap interview with tristan, and he said they have contemporary week 1. hopefully the classical training she took for figure skating will help her out here.
The whole idea that Contemporary is being included as a regular dance just pisses me the hell off.
lol Linde! Thanks so much!!
Heidi, same here. I hate the Contemporary dance.
i love contemporary, just not on dwts. I didnt mind it as a random dance because it was a one time thing.
but to have it as a regular dance this season is crazy. firstly, its not a dance style u can pick up in a week, and none of the pros are even trained in it outside of sharna, lindsay, and peta and gleb who i think have formidable classical training.
And DWTS is supposed to be BALLROOM dancing. If I wanted to watch contemporary, I’ll watch it on SYTYCD.
Is contemporary a legitimate dance style? Are their certain requirements that must be fulfilled as in the other ballroom dances?
I think for week 1 they should stick to only the 2 styles of dance to keep things fair. We all know how fair the judging is….
+1!!!!
I don’t see how contemporary could possibly be *harder* than Ballroom and they manage to learn those dances in a week – but when they have professional partners TRAINED in Ballroom. That’s the difference. The other problem is that the judges can screw with the scores a lot easier. They don’t know jack about contemporary, but can pretend like they do and give someone a really good score for what is really not that great (see Kelly and Val or Melissa and Tony). Same issue with Gilles Bollywood – they don’t know what they’re looking at. Although that dance was so bad anyone should have been able to see it…unless there was an agenda.
i can see how contemporary could be harder to learn in a week than ballroom, especially for neophytes. Just look at it this way, ballroom is a social dance. if push comes to shove, everyone can learn basic steps and learn a fun little cha cha or salsa routine. contemporary is not a social dance, it is full of unorthodox movements that are foreign to the body at first. I think its just as hard to be an expert at both, but as far as teaching a beginner a routine, i can see how contemporary can be a little more difficult, especially in a weeks time.
Check out the first post again if interested. A new Access Hollywood interview with Dorothy and Tristan has been added.
Let me start off by saying… Billy Bush is an A-Hole!
Dorothy and Tristan are just lovely. I can’t wait to see these two. One of my favorite couples this season.
Thanks Vogue.
lol YW and thank you!xx
Why did they give her contemporary? No doubt Tristan will do awesome with the choregoraphy but I feel like unless she does really well with the scores, she might be in trouble. Hopefully she comes out in week one and gets good scores.
There seems to be a lot of respect and affection between them, which doesn’t surprise me. Loved how she said he has a beautiful girlfriend and to “back off ladies”, it seems so protective, not motherly (although I know she’s old enough for that) but big sisterly. I’d love to see them make it to the finals.
Aaaaaaaaaaargh! Contemporary. Why??? It just doesn’t belong on DWTS. I can put up with a lot, but this is a tough one to swallow. No wonder she’s not feeling confident. Of course, Tristan will say “it is what it is” and just get on with it. So I’m going to think positive.
Dorothy’s a singles skater not used to partnering. This could be good. Contemporary doesn’t have to be sexy or romantic, and unitards aren’t mandatory
Dorothy won’t have to worry about frame or being in close hold and accidentally tripping over Tristan’s feet. They can do some nifty, modern, abstract thing with side-by-side and mirroring stuff, etc. Also, just like Ingo and Kym, they can get it out of the way immediately.
Sorry, I had to get that out of my system. I agree Jess, they already seem to have an easy comfort level between them. It was a lovely interview except for Silly Billy
Cidra, you’re more kind re billy than I am, my thoughts about him are more along the lines of what Sandy called him
I feel bad that people want to compare her to Kristie as to why she should automatically do well. Kristie was what? 37?. Huge difference.
Heidi put into words what’s been really bugging me about contemporary, apart from it not being a ballroom dance. A large portion of celebs are learning a dance style that their pros know inside and out. Seems like a disadvantage for few if your pro is teaching you a dance that he/she doesn’t know much about either.
What is wrong with the hosts on Access Hollywood??!! In *every* interview that I’ve seen from them (the ones in this clip – not necessarily the on-site interviewers) this season, they keep harping on romances (showmances, hookups, whatever) – don’t they know chemistry between dance partners may have nothing to do with romance (or being sexy)? And it makes the interviews so awkward for the celebs and their partners.
Re. contemporary dancing in week 1, there go my hopes for TPTB not effing things up until week 3 or 4… I thought they were trying to get viewing numbers back up
MC, This *is* them trying to get ratings back up, but they don’t have a flippin’ clue and they obviously didn’t bother to pay attention to PH’s open letter…their loss, and ours.
I am really enjoying this couple and hope they go far. I like that Dorothy has reached out to Kristi Y. and Evan about DWTS. SMH regarding contemporary.
@Sandy #13 – a$$hole is a good description for Billy, but I have also thought fake, fraud and bully. He and Kit Hoover’s (she’s not much better than him)interrogation about showmance/hookups with 16 year old Zendaya Coleman should be fun to watch.
I for one am thrilled they got contemporary as this should play to Dorothy’s strengths. Also rather than putting a move into a Ballroom dance which is totally out of context for a standard ballroom dance you have a genre that relies on artistry and purity of dance technique . Doing this style is lonely going to help get sharper for the dances like Waltz and Quickstep but giving a little leeway to allow lifts right off the start
Didn’t like the “gymnastics” of last seasons Shawn AND Melissa…yet you’re thrilled with contemporary. Uh huh. Right.
This right here, folks, is called hyperbole, that this show often encourages.
If the inclusion of contemporary is indicative of what I think it might – this season could be worse than the last one. This does NOT make me happy. I want Ballroom professionals to teach BALLROOM.
Yes Contemporary is a genre of ballet dance and as such is a dancing genre that may have lifts. That isn’t a problem for me just as Argentine Tango isn’t a Ballroom or Latin dance either. In fact my sense is D and T will do a sort of WaltzFoxtrot type of dance with lifts something Anna and Jonathan used to do for their show dance. It’s not like doing punch fronts off of a trampoline or resort to back flips Instead of doing any actual Samba or Quckstep, Comtporary is a dance genre on to itself not trying to change beautiful ballroom dances. The big thing about contemporary is not the athletics so much but rather the artistry and the connection the partners have to each other. That is difficult for a lot of people to do well.
Again with the hyperbole. Do you want to be taken seriously or just mocked?? I can go either way.
Ignorance annoys me. You want “artistry” yet dismiss Shawn and Derek’s dancing as if it were nothing more than gymnastic. Ignorant or willfully asinine??
It’s fans like Lady Sybil that make me root for certain couples early elimination.
PH, I’m voting for wilfully asinine, but there will be war between us if you start sticking pins into your Dorothy and Tristan voodoo dolls
I might have to storm off the site vowing “never to return” *cue the melodramatic music*
JMO, but agree that I did not like the addition of contemporary last season and wish this show would go back to the way it started out and made it successful in the first place. I agree with PH how is it fair to make any of these dancers learn a dance that even most pros don’t know how to teach and the judges don’t know how to judge. I was looking forward to this season as last season was a disappointment for many reasons. I didn’t like the fact that it was labeled an All Star Season and you had dancers that had not won before. That alne is not an All Star Season. Since this season does not have as many contestants as last season that tells me that they did have enough to have a true All Star season. Sorry I won’t rant about that any more as it is over and this is a new season.
If I want to see contempary I can watch SYTYCD as PH stated. I wish they would return to their original format of why I fell in love with this show to begin with.
Just don’t understand all the fuss. Argentine Tango is never a ballroom dance or Latin dance and to me if Dorothy and Tristan are doing a sort of Foxtrot with lifts that is very similar to what they coin American Smooth on Strictly. This is a heelluva lot better than teenagers doing half gainers in a Quickstwp
You’re the one making the fuss…and coincidentally, showing your ass, Lady Sybil. The more you talk…the more we talk about you behind your back.
So transparent…actually, I think the words used were “passive aggressive”. FYI – it’s spelled “quickstep” and it was also called the best dance in the history of DWTS. An opinion – just like yours, so start framing it that way and move on to your next subject, if you have one. You’ve beaten this to death and I’ll only tolerate so much passive aggressive assholery (tm Heidi).
Cidra, I’m thinking willfully asinine AND passive aggressive and neither one sits well with me. But it is true that nothing turns me off a couple faster than a few fans who are utter assholes.
Sorry.
She’s flame baiting and I’m quite proud that no one, other than myself to call “willfully asinine”, has taken the bait. It’s my job.
I’m wracking my brain trying to remember the internet slang for when someone post a bunch of nastiness, then storms out, supposedly to “nevah return!!”
PH, You better look that one up in the slang dictionary because ya know you’re gonna need it before too much longer
PH (Post #4) – I can’t put it any better than that, so – Ditto.