“Someone different, competing their first time, why not? A different color. Anything’s possible in life,” he says. “You just have to believe and have faith and hope. That’s what I tell Lolo every day.” ~Keoikantse Motsepe
What a wonderful piece at the New York Post on Keoikantse Motsepe. He talks about Dancing With The Stars and how honored he is to be doing the show. He also chats about Julianne Hough and his partner Lolo Jones!!
“Me being the first black, non-white dancer in the show, obviously there’s something special about me, there’s something the producers saw,” Motsepe tells The Post. “I’m very honored and feel very blessed about that. For me it’s about making history in my life and making history in the world.”
Motsepe, an avid fan of “Dancing,” says he was only partially surprised it’s taken so long for an African-American professional dancer to be cast in a show that has often had African-American celebrities as competitors.
“The other day I was in tech [rehearsal] and a guy goes to me, ‘Wait, are you doing ‘Dancing With the Stars?’ He said … ‘Now I’m going to start watching.’ If one non-white person can think like that, the word-of mouth is the biggest tool in the world.”
Motsepe has had to adjust to the challenges of dancing on TV — having to think about costumes, lighting and camera angles instead of just fancy footwork. But he says Jones has brought her athlete’s work ethic to early practices.
“This competition is very healthy and very strong,” he says. “We just want to have fun for the first day and see how this goes. Everyone has something different about them — there are people who have rhythm, people who are fast, people who have funny ideas or sexy ideas.”
This season also brings the return of former pro Julianne Hough, who will be a judge on the show. Motsepe knows her from the ballroom dance circuit and expects she will be a fresh addition to the panel. “Julianne being in the show is going to add a little bit of spark, which is good,” he says. Motsepe also hopes he can follow in the footsteps of Hough, who claimed the “Dancing” trophy in her first season as a pro.
“Someone different, competing their first time, why not? A different color. Anything’s possible in life,” he says. “You just have to believe and have faith and hope. That’s what I tell Lolo every day.”
For the full story, see New York Post.
