DWTS: The Next Pro Week 3 Recap
Ohh boy. This week was surely something else.
Let’s just bullet point the notes that I took between bites of Wingstop on Tuesday night.
First, I had noticed something that I did not before: this show seems to have no live audience.
Now, this could be because of budget restraints, but if anything this would only help, right?
You get funding from ticket sales and since the entire point of the show is to find the next pro for DWTS’ main season, wouldn’t it be good for them to practice performing in front of a live audience? That would surely better prepare them for the pressure of the main stage.
Next, I had at first wondered why Britt’s introduction dance was so long-that’s why! The pros are now challenged to recreate her dance together. This was messy because the judges watched them perform the dance in the rehearsal room after like 3 hours. This was good though, since it was said that when you dance for DWTS you usually only get about 3 hours to learn choreo before live filming. This was a good test and I like how it was unexpected. I also liked that we technically got two rounds of dancing this week to watch because of that.
The next note that I took is that Nina is a bully. Maybe her attitude is more common in the professional dancing scene, but I am genuinely surprised how nobody else was filmed standing up for Serena and backing her up when she confronted Nina about her behavior. At this point she got Benji sent home because of her overstepping, and also received critiques last week from the judges on her approach to teamwork. Now, this week during a team dance she does the same thing.
She was praised later on in the episode for letting AJ take the reins of “cleaning up” her group’s dance but I am not convinced yet that she has changed her ways. Surely that can not be a good thing to carry on into DWTS.
On the flipside, Nina’s directiveness might be more useful than the passiveness of someone like Tristen. I really like this guy and want the best for him but I am afraid that he might not be cut out for this thing. He seems to be suffering from anxiety every time I see him on screen and has the tendency to shut down or give up during a challenge. He does do good during his performances but I’m not sure if it is enough to make up for the lack of “coach” qualities.
I am glad that he got to stay, though, only because of Natalie’s absence. I don’t want to say negativity today. I want to speak life. However, I did think that the entire thing was very dramatic. I can only imagine how many times the pros on DWTS were accidentally hit or smacked during practice or performing and yet the show must go on. It is a physical sport and I believe that happens sometimes. I’m sure that the show hyped up the incident for dramatic effect and maybe Natalie just had to play along or she used it as another reason to leave the show (I’m not sure why that would be), but either way she probably wouldn’t have been cut out for DWTS either if that was her reaction to what seemed like a minor incident. However, I am not her and maybe it really was severe. Who’s to say. Natalie I hope that you are doing well and have recovered nicely.
To wrap it up, I loved team friendship’s (the name I have coined to the team with Tristen) number at the end and I thought that the choreography was intense and enjoyable. They just ended up being loose at the seams and several of the dancers lacked a good spatial awareness which is crucial in a team dance.
There was also such a heavy amount of editing in this episode that just didn’t sit right with me at times. It’s hard to tell what’s engineered for the show and what’s not. So far this show seems like something that we could pass on in the next year if it doesn’t improve and I have to agree with others when I say that I’m not quite sure if this is the best format to find a pro. I still need to be convinced that this is necessary in the DWTS ecosystem.
A crazy week, but on to the next. See you then!
Disclaimer
I am no expert! I simply love watching this show and voicing my opinions and personal ratings, however these ratings are arbitrary and are not an official ruling! I wish the best for all contestants and do not mean anything against them personally. They all dance better than I ever could (especially considering that I know nothing about dance) and I am just grateful that we get to watch them each week!
