Due to busy rehearsals, Maks wasn’t able to pen a new blog for TV Guide last week, but, he’s made up for it today tenfold. Maks writes of how he’s put his spat with Len behind him. He also writes how much he respects and loves all of his Dancing With The Stars “family” (including Derek). Below is what he writes for week 7 and the two dances he and Hope have….
Hope and I had fun doing the rumba, and I’m proud of her performance. It’s not new for Hope to be criticized and to have to prove herself. We had a long conversation. She called me and said, “This is our seventh week. That’s pretty crazy.” I realized that, and I always say during the show every season, “We should all embrace it.” We blinked and it’s Week 7. It’s a milestone of sorts. It’s not going unnoticed in my book. I’m very proud of her and how much she’s done. Even if she’s not good enough of a dancer to compete with some of the front-runners, I don’t look at it that way. It’s the fact that she was given the opportunity to dance. There won’t be another Olympic gold medalist, Golden Glove-winning goalkeeper that will also have an opportunity to learn how to dance. That’s something to be proud of. We’re focusing on the positive.
We have the samba next and a team paso doble with Ricki and Derek, and Rob and Cheryl. Rehearsals have been going great. We started our group rehearsal Tuesday after the show and now we mostly have to work on our solo spots in the routine. Our samba has a Halloween theme, of course, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s just another opportunity to dress up, so I think it will be a fun show.
Maks also writes of the Dance With Me showcase this weekend. I love what he says about what dancing is about….
One last thing: We have an incredible event on Sunday. It’s a Dance with Me showcase in Brooklyn at Grand Prospect Hall. Kirstie’s participating in it and it’s going to be great. Kirstie’s a dear, dear friend of mine and she’s just been incredible. She’s been phenomenal for everything dance. She hasn’t stopped dancing since we last danced in May. It’s an absolute honor to know I was part of her dance experience. She’s been traveling and raising money for charities, and for her to make a stop deliberately to participate in an event of ours is beyond any honor that I can even imagine. We’ll have all our dancers. Val is back, Dasha is back. It’s going to be beautiful. I’m really going to encourage people to come and enjoy dancing. It’s just dancing. No judging. No comparing. No confrontation. Just come and see somebody express emotions through movement. They’re putting their heart and soul into it, just like everyone on the show is. I want people to watch Dancing with the Stars for the dancing. It’s not Judging the Stars. People sometimes forget what dancing is. When I started teaching at 16 in my first studio, one thing I remember was from my first class of 33 students. Their parents came and some of the kids were older than me. I said to them: “Do you know what dance is? Dance is simply an interpretation of what you feel. It’s non-verbal communication. It’s how to communicate without speaking.” When Chaz, Carson, Kirstie, Brandy or Hope dance, they don’t try to be better than others, they’re dancing for themselves and are trying to convey their message through dance.
Much more at TV Guide!!
Note: Late last night, Maks posted he has a broken toe! Let’s hope this isn’t an issue come Monday night.
Picture above from DWTSSeason13 Facebook who has one of the most extensive Dancing With The Stars photo galleries on the internet.