Dancing with…Mandy Moore

00:00:17
Speaker 1: Welcome to Danielle with the Stars. I am Danielle Fischl, a TV director, a podcaster, forever tapanga, and a mom of two. But currently, as I speak, I am competing as a ballroom dancer on the thirty fourth season of Dancing with the Stars, and in the process of cutting rugs and tearing tendons, I am recording a podcast chronicling my earnest and difficult journey to win a Len Goodman Mirror Ball Trophy. Each week on this podcast, I am soaking up every little thing I can about my new profession. I'm taking in every tip, trick and story the pros and past contestants are willing to share with me, and today I will be squeezing every last hours of expertise out of my guest. An absolute legend in the world of dance. In choreography, she made her mark on So You Think You Can Dance and a little network experiment you may have heard of called Dancing with the Stars. She brought her vision to the OSCAR winning movie La La Land and even helped shape Taylor Swift's record breaking eras tour Oh No Big Deal. She's created for the Oscars, the Golden Globes, the Grammys, the Emmys, which have nominated her eight times and given her three. She is an undeniable force in the industry. And now she's a guest on Danielle with the Stars. So please say hello to superstar choreographer Mandy Moore, who, like that was literally.

00:01:44
Speaker 2: The best centrol ever.

00:01:45
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, thank you, thank you so much for being here. Of course, you are truly a legend.

00:01:51
Speaker 3: Oh people say that. It is so weird When people say that, I'm like, wait, I think I'm just doing the best I can no nome most of the time.

00:01:58
Speaker 1: So know how you know you're really special is when when other very special people, like every single pro on Dancing with the Stars says, that is a person who knows what they're doing. That's a person we love to work with. Like they work with a lot of different choreographers. No one has anything to say about you other than, oh, she's the best. She's the best of the best.

00:02:20
Speaker 2: Love them and like my family. Yeah, it's weird.

00:02:22
Speaker 3: You know, I've been on the show a long time and I feel like I grew with them, and so they really truly I consider most of them I'm family.

00:02:29
Speaker 1: Well, you can tell that amongst all of you, there's a trust, there's like a you don't have to overproduce or over nitpick. You can give them guidance and then let them have creative freedom, and if something's not working, you collaborate together to fix it like you can. You can see that, and that's always the best kind of creative environment to be in.

00:02:48
Speaker 2: One thousand percent.

00:02:49
Speaker 3: And you know, I think, I'm sure we're probably gonna get into it, but let us get into it, you know. Like I started on that show, I had never done a step of ballroom in my life, and it was a really weird like experiment for me. I mean, I've been I worked on television, so I'd choreographed on television, but the actual art of ballroom dance in Latin dance, like it is not my thing.

00:03:10
Speaker 4: You know.

00:03:10
Speaker 3: I grew up tap dancing, jazz, ballet, million other styles that hadn't done ballroom. And when I got on the show, I was like, I sure you want me to choreograph because I think in my mind I thought, oh well, if I don't know exactly all the steps, I can't make it. But it was a really amazing process because that's where I started to learn how to collaborate, like you were just saying, with the pros because their choreographers and artists and their own rights totally, and so I just kind of became this conductor of movement for them, and I would create with them and then basically tell them like, you guys look crazy. You need to be better insane y yeah, And they would probably all tell you that like I would. You know, I used to do this thing where I would like screenshot their wides and I would say you look nuts here, you look nuts here, you look nuts here, And they really started to I think that's where I trust started to happen, because it was like, I'm just here to make you look greatly and then they'd be.

00:03:59
Speaker 1: Like, oh, we look good on that part, now, Oh, thank you for telling I know I as a director, I have had a couple opportunities where there will be a scene with a beautiful woman and she's supposed to be sick on the couch, and so she's relaxing on the couch and I'll just take a screenshot of the camera and I'll come in. I'll be like, you're gonna want to lift your chin a little bit. I'm just gonna show you right here, and then they be like, thanks girl, thanks girl.

00:04:18
Speaker 2: Always you gotta have their back. Yes, that's exact thing.

00:04:21
Speaker 1: Now, you know, we were we at each other's back. Who was the first professional dancer you remember seeing as a kid like that made you go, oh wow, I want to do that.

00:04:32
Speaker 2: That's a good question.

00:04:33
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm a kid of the eighties, so I grew up on MTV right and all of the eighties films, So the ones that probably stick out the most to me are something like a like a Flash Dance or Journey Dancing, or John Travolta in Not Saturday Night Fever, Staying Alive, the Jazz.

00:04:50
Speaker 1: Movie, all the jazz ones like that.

00:04:52
Speaker 3: But I was also a kid who grew up on MGM Musical, so I would say, like most people, chene Kelly freens like those were kind of my initial I think back to being a kid and looking at dance on you know, on the television screen. That's who I remember.

00:05:05
Speaker 1: Okay, great, I know you grew up in Colorado, and I wondered, have you ever felt bullied because you're not from Utah?

00:05:13
Speaker 2: Okay, this is a good story. I don't know if you know this I don't so.

00:05:18
Speaker 3: My dance teacher, Kim del Grosso, had a small studio in Colorado, the Mountains of Colorado. I grew up dancing with Kim. When I was in middle school. She sold the studio and moved to Utah and open up what is known as Center Stage Dance Studio, which is Julianne, Derek Whitney, Lindsey, Jenna, like all of them. So it's also so weird that, like, I have this crazy connection to all these people that I know and love that we have the same dance teacher.

00:05:49
Speaker 1: Same dance teacher. Yeah, just in two different states, Colorado and Utah. Totally totally, So you're completely connected. You're al still part of that same family. There are so many aspiring dancers out there who have immense talent and are trying to make it. Who and what was the big break that got that helped you get into the right rooms?

00:06:07
Speaker 3: M let's see, this will be another good story, I guess, Harry ann and Aba really yes, So I moved out here at eighteen, you know, to be a dancer from the Mountains of Colorado. I didn't know anything about anything. I knew nothing about the business.

00:06:24
Speaker 1: Did you a family here at all.

00:06:25
Speaker 3: No, I had my family, had a friend here, and I stayed on his couch for like three weeks when I got here. I mean, it was one of those totally like cliche stories where I was like, I drive out in my Wrangler with a.

00:06:35
Speaker 1: Dollar in my poskeet. Yeah, I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna be a.

00:06:38
Speaker 3: Star one one thousand percent. And then you know, of course you get here and you're like, whoa, this is a whole.

00:06:43
Speaker 2: Thing here, you know.

00:06:44
Speaker 3: But I ended up kind of starting to train at the studio called Edge Performing Art Center. I don't know if you ever heard of it, but so that was kind of like my home base basically. And through training there, I started to take classes with carry In and she had just come off of tour with Madonna and one of my teachers, Alex Magno, she took a lot of class with and so Carrie Anne and I just kind of started always being bookends. Whenever he would do pieces or something like, he'd always put me on one side, she would be my book end, and so we just became friends. And then she started to transition into choreography and needed an assistant, and this is at the start of reality television, So this is like who wants to marry a multi millionaire America's Sexiest Bachelor, like some classic yeah yeah, And so I would be her assistant and then lo and behold, she started getting to know more people. We ended up being on a show called All American Girl where Conrad whose producer of.

00:07:44
Speaker 1: Green Yes, and.

00:07:45
Speaker 3: Nigel Lithgow were co producers, and so we met them, and then Nigel went over to American Idol and we Carrianne and I ended up going to American Idol and then she ended up getting this is a.

00:07:58
Speaker 2: Very I'm almost finished.

00:07:59
Speaker 3: Then Nigel went and started So You Think You Can Dance, and had asked Carrie Anne to come over to So you Think you Can Dance. Dancing with the Stars was also starting with Comrade, and Carrie Anne, at a very crazy moment, decided to go to Dancing with the Stars because she was going to be a judge on this brand new ballroom dancing show. And then she ended up being this judge and then I kind of started taking over it American Idol, so like I really and then the rest is kind of history from there. But I credit her was so much of my success because she really like, if I hadn't been with her, I wouldn't be in the rooms ununfenvable.

00:08:30
Speaker 1: What a great story. Yeah, and it's so nice too that it was like I love every time, no offense to men. I love every time it's another woman. Yes, that was like, listen, I see something in you. I want you with me. Let's do this together. See my assistant, learn from me, help me. And then when the time came, it was like, you're ready to launch and you got to just fly on your own.

00:08:51
Speaker 2: Yes, And that's huge to be supporting other people like that.

00:08:54
Speaker 3: And I learned so much about the business from her, like seeing her navigate these rooms full of a lot of men a lot of times, and like being in a place where like reality television and the kinds of things we were doing on television, it wasn't really happening, so she was kind of also making up things as we were going, you know. But I just loved understanding her process, understanding how she would run the department, what meetings, what she would say in meetings, what she didn't say in meetings. You know, where I was just a young kid with wanting to, you know, make up dance steps and I learned that it was so much more than that obviously.

00:09:25
Speaker 1: Right, it's a real business. You have to be a business woman.

00:09:27
Speaker 3: Yes, when you're heading a department, it's not about your dance steps. Yeah, it's about all the other things. And then it's still about your dance steps at the end of the day.

00:09:35
Speaker 1: So when you moved here and you were eighteen with a dollar in your pocket at that time, right before the reality TV boom, what was on your vision board? What was the dream? What did you what? What was your goal of coming here?

00:09:46
Speaker 3: I mean, I was definitely going to dance for Janet for ok I was going to go on tour with Janet, And I was definitely going to go on if Miss Jackson if You're Nasty, And then I was for sure going to go on tour with Madonna. Okay, either one of those things happened. But you know, now that I look back, I'm like, yeah, I'm like, you know, I was never probably going to be that person that was going to be on tour with those people. I definitely got to the end of a lot of those auditions, but I was like, I'm not your girl. I don't think Okay, you go so thankfully though, like I also learned in that time that I was like, I really love teaching and creating. I love choreography. I actually love it more than being in front of the camera, really, And that was like a really like interesting thing to kind of learn along the way that, like, you know, I'd be in in on film sets, you know, dancing, and I'd just be like, I didn't care about it. I wanted I was looking over at video Village and I was like, man, that ad is cool, Like what's this call sheet?

00:10:35
Speaker 2: I'm like, who's that person over there? You know?

00:10:38
Speaker 3: And I was way more interested in that than I was about getting warmed up at midnight to do some like big dance scene.

00:10:44
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, but there. It is interesting how being creative but creative in front of the camera and a creative behind the camera. How what different parts of your brain you have to use. I know, for me having made the transition from an actor to a director, being an actor, it's like everything's about all the forward facing stuff. I have to be in hair and makeup all the time. I have to physically be taking care of myself out at all times. If I have a pimple, it could be disastrous. I have to a disaster. If I have to have something to wear, I need to be hair and makeup ready. I need to have a glam team. That requires a lot of time. I have to be good at public speaking and doing all those things. And then as the director, I'm like, nobody gives a crap about me. But I still get to have all the creative juices going and work with other people, get to their performances out of them. So it is interesting how you're like, oh, I still get to be creative. It's just a little different.

00:11:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a totally It's almost like right brain, left brain, and somewhere way. Even though both are You're right, both are created. It's just a very different kind of like I don't know what's expected of you, you know, and like I mean as a dancer, it might be slightly different as an actor, but as a dancer on camera it's like, man, you're just like herded like cattle. It's just you know, and I really try to make a thing obviously when I'm on set and not have that happen for dancers too, that like no.

00:11:57
Speaker 2: One should be treated by cattle. But you know, it's like, man.

00:12:00
Speaker 3: These people are putting out their physicality and their bodies for us to like do this amazing thing that people love, which is dance, you know, but like the least we can do is like respect them and make sure that they're good, and give them a place of warm up and give them water.

00:12:12
Speaker 2: And like all the things.

00:12:14
Speaker 1: Just very basic, just basics now. And I wouldn't know any of that because on Dancing with the Stars, at least in my experience, everybody is treated, yes, very well.

00:12:25
Speaker 3: That's why that shows amazing.

00:12:26
Speaker 1: I mean it is from top to bottom. I have felt supported, listened to, understood, respected. They're absolutely with scheduling stuff. You know, I'm super type. So like they send me a schedule, They're like, the car will pick you up at six forty five. I'm like, I think their cars should pick me up at six thirty because I want to be there at seven am instead of seven to fifteen, because I want fifteen extra minutes warming up. And they're like, sure, weirdo, whatever you want. Like so, I but you're right now that I'm thinking about it. In other aspects of my life, I would not have thought about the fact that dancers were probably not treated very well.

00:13:01
Speaker 3: Not all the time. You know, the protections aren't always there. And I think it gets better, and I I think now in culture just in general, maybe people are hoping to understand and be you know, let people be heard and seeing. Like I do think it's getting better. But you know, it's the industry moves so fast, you know this, and like everybody's in and out in two seconds, and it's money, money, money, money, and you know, and unfortunately that can start. You don't always treat people like humans when that happens.

00:13:25
Speaker 1: And sometimes also the person making the schedule is not aware of what a dancer needs. So the person's like, all right, we'll bring these dancers in at eleven we'll have them on the floor at eleven oh two, and it's like, no, no, they're gonna need they they're bought there. They physically need to warm up, they need to drink something like. So yeah, sometimes it's just we need to have people who understand yes, and have can represent for each group of people to be involved in the planning of the days.

00:13:48
Speaker 3: One thousand percent. This is why you're a great producer director. Yes, you understand, I understand it.

00:13:54
Speaker 1: Okay, here's my transition to start asking about my own dances. Wait, wait, okay, I go weaseling my way in getting advice from one of the goats. What do you think makes a good student of dance?

00:14:06
Speaker 3: Oh?

00:14:09
Speaker 2: Vulnerability?

00:14:10
Speaker 1: Okay, I love your first yes.

00:14:14
Speaker 3: Because it is vulnerable to be an open enough vessel to accept information about something that you most likely are not good at.

00:14:24
Speaker 2: Round one right, because I'm sure what you guys had a tangle week one right?

00:14:28
Speaker 3: And and you know, I don't know how you feel.

00:14:31
Speaker 2: But again after saying like, I.

00:14:33
Speaker 3: Don't do Latin and borrom like when these guys and of course over the years they've taught me things, but it is hard. The coordination is really hard, and the weight changes hard. And as someone who understands their body, who understands how to put themselves in front of the camera, you have to be vulnerable to know that you are going to look really bad and be really bad. Yeah. First correct, and then you have to trust that you have an amazing coach, which Posh is like the best, really incredible. I mean he's not only like a fantastic human, but he's also a really really great coaching dancer and choreographer.

00:15:06
Speaker 1: He really is.

00:15:06
Speaker 3: So you're in great hands.

00:15:07
Speaker 1: I know, I've known that since moment one, I've been like, oh I can. I started just saying trust the Pasha because it was trust the process. At first it was, and then it was like, oh, it's not just it's not even about the process, it's about just totally trusting him. And like you know, the night before my chat jaw, we decided to speed it up, literally after doing dress rehearsal, and then we were like, I think we need, we need, we can do it faster now. And that was Monday night after Saturday, me being nowhere near ready for the dance Saturday night being like I'm I'm not even close.

00:15:40
Speaker 2: I'm not even it's over.

00:15:41
Speaker 3: It's over.

00:15:42
Speaker 1: Forget it, drop and kick me out. I'm out of here. And then Sunday we rehearsed all day and it was like everything had just settled, and then all of a sudden on Monday, I looked too comfortable and so we sped it up. But then that added a whole new thing to like, all right, now I've got to redo all this.

00:15:57
Speaker 2: And that's vulnerable. You said you're Type A.

00:15:59
Speaker 3: I am also type so I understand this that like you're used to being in control of how you are going to present yourself in any sort of a way. Great dance is when you can stop like that control of like how it's going the outcome, and like trust the process, vulnerable in the moment and dance from like inside. You have to find a moment of being able to dance from.

00:16:19
Speaker 1: Like your heart.

00:16:19
Speaker 3: Yes, that's when people love you. They can let go of a like weird arm or a being with a foot or a knee or whatever. But like if you look like you're having the time of your life and you're feeling this thing and you have like risen to the occasion, people are going to be into it.

00:16:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, I love that vulnerability. Anything else you think makes a good student of dance, I think.

00:16:40
Speaker 3: A good combo between I would say like head and heart that you're able to like cause I don't know if you feel this and the bits that you've been working with posh. But like I find when you're learning something, it's like it starts with head and you're kind of like mathematically trying to figure out what's going on because you also don't want to be a hot mess. Just like leading from your heart life and he's just twirling you around the floor. But then you start getting super heady and you have to then go like, okay, I gotta feel it. I gotta like let it in my body. And then you get all ah mess again and then you're like no, no, no, back to the head. And then before you know it, it's like those little interactions get smaller and smaller and smaller, and you kind of like put them together and you move from both your head and your heart at the same time.

00:17:18
Speaker 2: And I think that makes a really great student if you're able to do those things.

00:17:21
Speaker 1: Yes, that's a that's a very good point that And Pasha had said that to me when we started working, like on day one, he was like, listen, the first layer of this is all mental. Yes, it's just a matter of you remembering your steps, where your feet go, what you're supposed to do with your hand. All of that's in your brain. Then after you feel good about that, then we're going to have to get into performing it. Dancing it. Dance with your heart, dance you know, feel the move feel, and start putting some spice in it. If you put too much spice on it, we'll go we'll we'll tone it back, but go all out on the spice at first, and so we we've been we've been working on that. I did see somebody made a comment about our tango that I smile, I smiled a little too much during a tango for their for their preference, and I thought that's a great note. And yet being that it was our first week and it was kind of America's first introduction to me, I was okay with it being more of a representation of me rather than necessarily a representation of a perfect tango.

00:18:22
Speaker 3: Well, it's hard. It's interesting to say it because I always think, like a Week one, I feel for people that have a more like serious dance. Yeah, because you're right, people, I mean you have to understand this is also a game, it's a show, and you have to make sure that people connect to you.

00:18:35
Speaker 1: And like me.

00:18:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, because you have a very bubbly personality. So it's like it would be hard even though you're a great actress, it would be hard to just like Week one, be doing some like sultry serious like James bon Assassin tango. Yeah, because then also people a might be like who is this girl? Like I don't even like our she looks miserable, and you're like no, no, no, I'm just.

00:18:53
Speaker 2: Playing a character.

00:18:54
Speaker 1: On top of that, with the themes, yes, the theme was Anthem Week and my anthem was also very much tied to my breast cancer journey, so it was.

00:19:02
Speaker 2: Like stronger, right, yeah, stronger works in.

00:19:05
Speaker 1: I didn't want to go out there and be like it was like, that's just not that's not what the story is. Like, I had to tell a story with the tango, and even if it isn't the very traditional story you tell with a tango, we made a decision that fit it to me and I thought it was great. Thank you. I had really had I'm having the time of life.

00:19:26
Speaker 3: You guys were like literally flying like there was a really a member of wide shot where you like were going up floor.

00:19:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love it. I mean I love it.

00:19:32
Speaker 3: When they fly in a tangle too. I'm like, this was and you guys did a great job of that. Thank you.

00:19:37
Speaker 1: We worked really hard on that because we envisioned that we were going to be shot from that angle where we were going to be going toward it, and so we worked so hard on making sure I wasn't bouncing because I'm a bouncy human being.

00:19:50
Speaker 3: Boy.

00:19:51
Speaker 1: The dance really showed me how much. I love to hops just popping into everything. I don't know what's happening. Pasha's like, please, for the love of God, stay low, like okay. So we worked really hard on that. Then we worked really hard on the you know sharp shop. I mean, we spent so much time on it, and then we saw the shot and He's like, great, so we're shot from behind overhead, but we'll see Spiro, which you know again great it was. It was very cool. But yes, we worked hard on that, and I was proud of that moment because we did fly across the floor and if you had been closer, you would have seen that I was not bouncing.

00:20:23
Speaker 3: I know you were not. I saw you in the mine.

00:20:26
Speaker 2: I do would not thank you.

00:20:27
Speaker 1: Are you all caught up on this season of Dancing with the Stars, skies and everything?

00:20:31
Speaker 3: I've watched like most of everybody's duets because also right after the season, don't know any of it, but I direct the tour. Oh and so part of my world is I like, you know, love the show been on at a million and five times, but also like I love doing the research of like what's everybody doing? Because I like to track your guys' stories too. So like, if there's anything that happens with tour, then I can kind of know, like, oh, this is where you started, or this was a great song for you, or this was a great kind of a hard critique moment or whatever. It's just good to kind of know it all. So, yeah, I'm close. I'm almost caught up.

00:21:00
Speaker 1: Okay, And so you're obviously well into planning the tour now, yeah, yeah, well I'm I'm in January, right.

00:21:06
Speaker 3: It starts, yes, And it's hard because it's like I can't get too far in because I have to see how the season goes, you.

00:21:13
Speaker 1: Know, right, and yet you can't really if you know, season ends November twenty fifth, yes, so if you were to wait, you'd have like one month to do an.

00:21:20
Speaker 2: Entire tour stress ball change.

00:21:22
Speaker 3: And I'm also a planner, so I got to like get the stuff going.

00:21:24
Speaker 1: But so you have to have the loose the bullet points and then fill in with the details once you've seen the whole season. We have heard a lot from people on the show this year from other people about how this season seems to be extra competitive.

00:21:39
Speaker 2: Do you think that.

00:21:39
Speaker 1: This season feels more competitive than other seasons or is it in the same ballpark.

00:21:43
Speaker 3: That's interesting. I kind of got that from you guys in the first couple. I mean, there's every season is its own unique beasts, you know. But I did feel funny enough even at GMA when I like first met you, I mean for three seconds at three am.

00:21:57
Speaker 1: Those days are crazy.

00:21:59
Speaker 2: I don't even under stand.

00:22:00
Speaker 3: Like, honestly in GMA, I've done a seven thousand of those gmas, and I even this year, I was like, well, I was walking out after you guys all were like whoa that night, I was like, what just happened? My eyeballs were like so hot? Anyways, when I met you all, I thought, oh, there's like a thing, there's.

00:22:15
Speaker 2: Like a spark between all of you.

00:22:17
Speaker 3: Like I do think that the casting was really well done with Tena and the team, but also like you guys are good dancers and your great personalities, and then even the mix of the pros that are here too, Like yeah, it's you just never know from year to year, season to season, like who's gonna pop, who's gonna actually like in the eleventh hour do something amazing, or who you thought was gonna be the person and then they kind of fall from grace or yeah, but you guys are all in pretty high scores in the first couple of weeks already, I.

00:22:43
Speaker 1: Know, and I know that they anticipated they were not going to do that. I know. I think last year in particular, they started kind of high and then they.

00:22:51
Speaker 2: Had nowhere to go and they're like, not, can't give it nine point two?

00:22:54
Speaker 1: Or if everyone starts it, or if a lot of people started in eight and then three or four weeks later, they're clearly better, but they're still getting eights. The audience is like, well, wait a minute, I saw this person grow, why would they still get an eight?

00:23:07
Speaker 2: And it's hard. I think the audience doesn't understand that.

00:23:10
Speaker 3: As a judge. Also, it's like anything the show's been going for whatever, thirty some seasons, and everyone's gotten better and better and better. So not only are the pros smarter, they know how to train you guys better. Also just culturally, everyone's gotten better and they understand dance, and I think the kinds of people that are coming on the show are very talented. So it is hard when you're like I've always said that, I was like I wish we had at some point when it got to like nines eights and nines that you could go like nine point one nine point two, because there are little bits of like, oh you were better last week but not this week. But you can't do that when it's just a nine inutecent or an eight and nine in atcent exactly.

00:23:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're also I think the judges honestly have the hardest to do. They have the hardest job for one thing. Anytime someone maybe gives criticism that is earned, even it feels harsh and it's there, it's being said to somebody's fave and they get booed. It's such a terrible feeling. It's like, listen, it is their job. They're not trying to be hurt. But none of them in any way have a mean spirited bone in their body. We are all there. I mean, that's the thing I think I've been most impressed with with the show is how there is not a single person there top to bottom, crew, ABC, BBC Pros, dancers, anyone who's not there to absolutely just make the best stinking program they can one thousand percent.

00:24:32
Speaker 2: And it's been like that for a long time.

00:24:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, they just want it to be the most entertaining, positive enjoyable learning experience and they do such a good job at it. So anyway, the judges, I feel for them. As a matter of fact, I reached out to Derek today. I don't think he follows me, so he may not see it, but I reached out to him because he got stuck with one word of advice for me last week or not of advice or his critique of me. And he said good, and I was like, I need more. I'm going to need more. I'm going into week three. I know on the show you were limited to one word, but anything you're willing to share with me. So, Derek, you see this? Yeh, Dan sent you a DM.

00:25:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, answer the DM. Come on, he knows, like that's the thing. He's been a pro, he knows, and so he's.

00:25:15
Speaker 1: I'm sure he has advice for you. Oh, he definitely has advice for me. And I want to hear it because I want to soak it all up. I've been asking every podcast guest this question because it seems as though there are two camps. Where do you fall on the idea of whether or not celebrities quote unquote should be allowed to have extensive dance experience before they come on dancing with the stars. Some people think it's no problem. It's not called let me teach you how to dance, you know, And other people say, yeah, but it's it doesn't seem fair. Where do you fall.

00:26:01
Speaker 3: I don't have a problem with it because I also understand that I would say probably one hundred percent of the time, the people that have prior dance experience have never done ballroom in Latin, and as someone who understands the difference between ballroom and Latin and more contemporary styles are commercial styles, even social dance styles. If someone's like, oh, I'm a salsa dancer, like, it is not the same thing. And honestly, a lot of the times it's almost harder for people that have pre existing ideas about what dance is because they get in there and they're like, oh, this feels weird. I would never want to step this way in my heels. I don't do that when I do my other style. And I also just think, like, I think the audience is smart enough to understand what they're looking at, and I think.

00:26:42
Speaker 2: People like to see growth.

00:26:44
Speaker 3: So if they're seeing growth in someone who is already a great dance performer versus someone who has had no dance experience. I think the audience is smart enough give them credit to understand what that journey is. I mean, and yes, you know, everyone wants to like complain about everything these days.

00:26:59
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, everyone wants to share their opinion.

00:27:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I think it's great. I think the show can be for anyone. I mean, it's also like a football player comes on and there, all of a sudden, I had a chow chyaw really well, like you're going to fault them for being athletic.

00:27:11
Speaker 1: Right, exactly?

00:27:12
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.

00:27:12
Speaker 1: Technically it's unfair, you know, even even in the sense that part of it's a personality saying that's unfair too.

00:27:18
Speaker 2: You know.

00:27:19
Speaker 1: So we've all got our strengths, That's what I keep saying. Everyone keeps asking who's your biggest competition, And I'm like, it's impossible to say, because, first of all, America is so in charge with the votes. Yes, do they connect to and what they find the most entertaining. Some people truly are voting who is the best dancer here?

00:27:38
Speaker 3: Yes? And some are just like I like the entertainment exactly, Like I.

00:27:42
Speaker 1: Think this person is better at dancing because I'm entertained by them, not because they pointed their toe the right way or because they did a good arm. So you know, that's why I keep saying, it's like it's it would be impossible for me to say who is competition. Everyone is competition because we all bring our own strengths.

00:27:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you never know.

00:27:59
Speaker 1: Now that's exactly right.

00:28:01
Speaker 2: Now.

00:28:02
Speaker 1: Another point of contention that I've been seeing brought up is breaking frame out here we go to possibly a viral moment or a TikTok moment, or adding in a lift that maybe isn't supposed to be there. If you were judging, how would you feel about that? Would you deduct for those things? Do you like it?

00:28:23
Speaker 2: It's an interesting question, and I think it's for me.

00:28:25
Speaker 3: It's evolved over the seasons, you know, because obviously when the show started we were not in the social media place that we are now. Correct, And ballroom dance and Latin dance in its nature is insular and so much about the partnering, and so much about the frame, and so much about respecting the tradition.

00:28:43
Speaker 1: Yep.

00:28:44
Speaker 3: And I think, like anything, if you don't respect tradition but allow it to grow and evolve, it will die of death because no one's going to care that you have. Like my dad when he watches the show, doesn't know that you're in a perfect frame, but he might appreciate that a judge said you had really good frame in that dance. But then he would like the moment where you broke frame and was like, oh, I remember that cute thing where you know.

00:29:08
Speaker 2: So I I think you have to evolve.

00:29:11
Speaker 3: And again, you know, I don't think you should like pay it shouldn't be disrespectful to the art form.

00:29:17
Speaker 2: But I think these pros do such a.

00:29:18
Speaker 3: Good job of really teaching their celebrity how to do this thing that they know and love. These guys have trained their whole lives to do it. Yeah, Also they want to break frame sometimes because they're bored.

00:29:28
Speaker 2: They've done this same think for it.

00:29:29
Speaker 1: They've done it, and they want to they and they want to modernize it and help us try something new and get a creative input in there that maybe wouldn't normally be in.

00:29:37
Speaker 3: Their creators anders. As we were saying, like they and they want the moment too. They want to make you stick out as well that you know, if you're just I feel for them sometimes because if some of them just play by the rules, you know, and like you do a proper tangle or you do a proper chatcha, and then all of a sudden, this person over here right did ninety seven percent of a proper whatever, but then had the one moment that everybody remembered. So they also have to play the game when they're creating, right, and I respect it.

00:30:03
Speaker 2: I say, go for it, as long as you're not disrespectful.

00:30:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, even if it means occasionally getting a note.

00:30:08
Speaker 2: Sure, Yeah, I mean, I.

00:30:09
Speaker 3: Guess there's also rules like when I've judged, like we are very clear about what the rules are, and so yes, if you have to deduct, then you should deduct. I mean that's also a thing, is like you can't deduct for one and then not for the other. I mean, as a judge, you have to make sure that you're even, yeah, and make sure that you don't you're not playing favorites in any sort of a way, Like you do have to make sure you're on biased in that way. But you know, as I go for it, and then you know, like you know, I have to deduct you on this moment. But guess what, it was a great moment.

00:30:35
Speaker 1: Right exactly, you're to get a little bit of a lower score, but I did enjoy it. Yeah, yeah, that's really smart. That's a good point that, like you guys have a list of things, yes, and as long as you're following the rules, it's still okay to do it, as long as even the pros No, all right, we might get a little bit of a deduction, but it's worth it.

00:30:51
Speaker 3: And isn't it.

00:30:51
Speaker 2: Sometimes in life you should break a.

00:30:53
Speaker 1: Rule exactly exactly. I mean, listen, I was a major rule follower up until you type it. That's what we're best at. And then you get to a certain point you go, you know what, I think it's a little more joyful to occasionally break a rule and it's okay exactly, it's exactly certain rules. What do you think is the number one thing I need to focus on the season? After having seen my two dances, I would.

00:31:16
Speaker 3: Say, continue to push yourself to go bigger, okay, and bolder, be more bold, because now you're going into week three and week four.

00:31:24
Speaker 2: Hopefully hope you're good, hope very far.

00:31:29
Speaker 3: People start to separate away from the pack right in the first couple of weeks. Everyone's kind of like they're just getting their feet wet. Then like some people might have like, oh wow, that was a great dance or a middle dance or like so good. But starting in week three and week four, you have to make bigger choices. And that's like in your performance, you need to show more vulnerability, more motion, more character, right because they're getting to know you now, So now they know you from your packages. They know that you're a nice person, they know that you're talented, and you come from bla blah blah blah.

00:31:56
Speaker 2: You know, it's like they know that now.

00:31:57
Speaker 3: But now you have to start making bolder, bigger voices, not only in your movement, so like more highs and lows in your dynamics, more plea, more straight legs, more sharp whatever the focus is. Then also in just the like performance of it, what character are you playing? Can you take us? Can you transport us for the minute and a half and the number into whatever world you're wanting us to go into.

00:32:19
Speaker 1: Such good advice, I mean, that's.

00:32:20
Speaker 3: What I would say. Just go big, I go home, you know what I mean, get in there.

00:32:24
Speaker 1: And it's funny because so much of obviously having been an actor, so much of my acting experience has helped me, yes, but also so much of it is hurting me because actors like to be a little more settle.

00:32:36
Speaker 2: Yes, and then no, no, it doesn't work in ballrooms.

00:32:38
Speaker 1: What don't you be subtle on the ballroom?

00:32:42
Speaker 2: For crazy?

00:32:44
Speaker 1: Yes, it's insane. And sometimes I'll be like, I'll watch myself in the mirror and I'm like, I look like a maniac. And then I watched them dance like the pros dance, and I'm like, oh, oh, no, I don't look like a maniac. They look like maniac. That's what I need to be doing.

00:32:56
Speaker 3: Yes, So there's something very like I remember when I start started the show and I watched them do their thing, you know, like when you watch them dance and do their thing, they're like these crazy peacock unicorn It's like, who are these people? And like if you took them out of the context of these like cameras and lights in ballroom.

00:33:14
Speaker 2: You'd be like, you're nuts, Like I don't know what you're doing out there.

00:33:16
Speaker 3: But it works, and that is part of the kind of like presentation of the art form. And so as someone who's now who's new in that world.

00:33:25
Speaker 2: You have to like give into it. You have to be like, Okay, I gotta go for it.

00:33:28
Speaker 3: And the hard part is you still have to find an authenticity inside that. You can't just have it be an outside thing. It does have to come from inside. Yeah, which is weird because you're not used to that.

00:33:37
Speaker 1: No, but but guess the best analogy I could think of is like the way theater stage makeup is so pronounced in when you are when you're like, wow, who did your makeup? And then when they're on stage they look totally normal to the people in the back row, totally you know, in the audience. It's very similar. The camera is diluting and the space is diluting a lot of what you're doing, So it has to be go big or go home, but also from a truly authentic place.

00:34:04
Speaker 3: To posh ever say to you, I'm sure he probably has, but like, and you've noticed that, like camera really takes away a good twenty to thirty percent of what you're doing. It's like the beautiful three dimensional thing that we're all creating goes into this two dimensional space and it looks like you're not even trying, like.

00:34:20
Speaker 2: Nothing, and you're like, I am down.

00:34:22
Speaker 1: You felt what I felt on me on the outside. Like we talked about that with the chat chap. He was like, inside, by the time our minute is done, we feel like we barely made it on the outside. Yeah, people are saying you need to speed that up. That looks a little slow. So yeah, what it feels like on the inside versus what it looks like, especially on camera, totally different beasts.

00:34:41
Speaker 2: That's what's gonna change.

00:34:42
Speaker 3: You're gonna start to see your body's gonna start making bigger choices. Yeah, you'll you'll start dancing bigger. Pasha'll start going like, oh wow, you're okay. He'll start dancing bigger, and then the whole thing expands. And if you don't start doing that now, like you will find that you're not gonna go away from the pack. It'll just kind of like well, just yeah, and you'll be fine, I'm sure, but it's not anything spectacular.

00:35:02
Speaker 1: It's going to go for the people that separate themselves from the pack. Of course, great advice. I love that, Thank you so much. Do you think there's a common thread if you look back on all the previous mirror Ball champions, would you say there's something that all of them have in common.

00:35:18
Speaker 2: Wow, that's a really good question.

00:35:22
Speaker 3: Huh.

00:35:23
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't think I've ever thought about that.

00:35:25
Speaker 3: I mean, charisma or they've had a lot of different Okay, you know what, I think they'll have in common maybe except for my twop or something. But you know, sometimes they slip in there. But I think the people that win the mirror Ball Trophy are everything we've been talking about, like the most authentic in the process, Like they're not trying to pre produce their own packages, their own ideas about how they're being seen. They give in to the process and they allow the audience to see them fail. They allow them the audience to see them succeed. They they are in the moment completely, which is very vulnerable and very scary of what she talked about. But I think those are the ones that really get to the top because it's like you see, I think the audience sees a bit of themselves in whoever that person is, or they want to see a bit of themselves in that person, like they want to be like, oh, that's like my sister, or that's like my cousin, or like I want to get in there. I want to dance with pashure. I want to whatever you know so in order to do that, because I also think you feel the same. It's like if you're very manicured and you're very produced in your own way of like presenting yourself. Yep, audience somehow senses it totally.

00:36:32
Speaker 1: You can smell authenticity from a mile away, the same way you can smell chemistry. Yes, you know that you can't. You can't fake chemistry. You can try, but people can watch and they go, I don't think those two like each other.

00:36:46
Speaker 2: Yes, you're exactly right, you can if they can feel the thing.

00:36:50
Speaker 3: I don't know what it is. It's like unsaid thing that they can feel totally.

00:36:52
Speaker 1: And when when someone is trying to like even you talking about pre producing their own packages, that is something that's like, yeah, you can feel that from certain people. They're like very much manicured images. Yes, what is your favorite dance that you have choreographed for Dancing with the Stars?

00:37:11
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, wow. Probably probably when we did the one shot drone at Griffith Observatory and it was an opening number that we did and I can't remember what season. I mean, it was like Derek was still dancing, Max was there, Val was there, Jenna was there, Cheryl like. It was kind of like a bit of the Og Crew, like OG two point zero and we yeah. Rob Wade was actually show running at the time, and he was like, I think we should do like this one shot drone at Griffith Observatory and I was like, you're nuts.

00:37:50
Speaker 2: I'm in let's do it.

00:37:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, You're insane. I love it.

00:37:53
Speaker 3: Yes, And at Magic Hour, of course, you know, so it's like you have like three seconds to get it.

00:37:57
Speaker 1: Exactly and there's no there's no take too when you're during Magic Now.

00:38:00
Speaker 3: And there's no coverage. We shot no coverage. It was the thing, and it was one of those like I think you can appreciate this because you you know, you understand directing, you love directing and producing. It's like it was one of those like all the departments came together, we all to make the thing, and then to see how it turned out was like that doesn't always happen. It's like the making and then you're like tono, so good or like that turned out and it was terrible making it. It was a perfect I was so proud of everybody and it was a beautiful piece of television. Making Like I just think, like we don't get to do it all the time, you know, these days, just because of budgets and things.

00:38:34
Speaker 2: But it was a really fun number.

00:38:36
Speaker 1: Oh that's so great. Yeah, oh I love that. It's funny. When I asked Pasha when I interviewed him for the podcast, I asked him about what felt so special about the night that he and Arianna got their their three tens, his first perfect thirty, and he said something very similar, which was like, it wasn't even about the scores being the thing. It was the fact that every moment of it had felt right kind of from the beginning, like the rehearsal of it, and then the vibe of the night, the focused of they like the energy just when all those little pieces come together and you're trying to overachieve, like you're doing a thing that's like a crazy thing, and then it all goes well. There is something so satisfying about that that like it's it's one of those highs you can live on for a long time.

00:39:24
Speaker 3: However, I'm live TV, like that's also the thing, like I'm pre shot. This is not That's the thing I think people forget, you know, It's like you guys are human beings on a live television show.

00:39:35
Speaker 1: You know, thanks for reminding me. Forgot about that part because it's not live on the West Coast, so I forget that. For some people, it very much.

00:39:41
Speaker 3: Is crazy though, like it, I don't know. I just every time I'm at the show, I'm just.

00:39:46
Speaker 2: Like little nuts.

00:39:47
Speaker 3: I know, little they're knowing, Yes, this is not robots, this is not like, this is real people doing real things now I know.

00:39:55
Speaker 1: Also, there's a lot of confetti.

00:39:57
Speaker 3: Oh my god.

00:39:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, they love a confetti.

00:39:59
Speaker 1: Confetti canon. Boy, there was so much confetti at this last one. And Pasha and I both like zero pieces of confetti on the floor because I do not need anything to slip on.

00:40:08
Speaker 2: No, no, no, So if.

00:40:10
Speaker 1: We see a single piece of confetti when we end out there, we're like, clean that up.

00:40:14
Speaker 3: Now, we're picking it up, picking up.

00:40:15
Speaker 1: We're literally on the floor picking up pieces of confetti. What do you think is the hardest dance I will have to do this year?

00:40:24
Speaker 2: Probably?

00:40:27
Speaker 3: I think samba okay can be really hard yep, And I think rumba can be really hard okay. I think because they're they're both highly technical, Like I find when i'm watching when I'm watching bodies do those two styles that have never done them, they seem to me to be the hardest ones to like really like you can't really fake them, if that makes sense. Where I think tango, it's like it's a good one to learn because it's like the idea of like having to hold your body in a front that's kind of easier for people, but not that it's easy. But yeah, cha chaw, you can kind of get away with some things.

00:41:06
Speaker 1: It's so fast correct.

00:41:07
Speaker 3: Jive is hard with kicks if you can understand the kicks, but I think the bounce and the kind of like feel of samba is hard, okay, And rumba is you know, it's like it's all about my chemistry and the like vitation, and you know that can be hard. So you have to really make sure that you're like, Okay, I'm gonna be awesome this week. If you have this, I need to let go. Okay, I need to let live.

00:41:28
Speaker 1: Right right right? Yeah, okay, good to know. I think Pasha's talked to me about both of those things really hard.

00:41:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay. Good.

00:41:34
Speaker 1: When we first started talking about it and we were going through like what what do we want to try to do this year, and he listed out all the different styles of dance and then he was like, you know, ones we may want to save for later in the season. Are these because they require some more vulnerability, it can be a little more difficult.

00:41:52
Speaker 3: So samba can be like super fun. So I think everyone just goes like, oh, it's bouncy and lah blah blah. Yeah, but to actually get in there and do it right, that's hard. Yeah, so you gotta get in there.

00:42:03
Speaker 1: As a viewer of Dancing with the Stars, do you find yourself gravitating toward who you think did the best dance or to whatever maybe was your favorite dance.

00:42:12
Speaker 3: Oh that's a hard one too for me because I feel like I'm not like the well, okay, because I know a lot about dance, so I you know, sometimes I'm actually more drawn to the person that I feel like was trying really hard because I know how hard it is to get somebody to do what we're asking these people to do. But I will say I'm definitely a sucker for a great dance, likeay, something is like they finish that button and you're like, yeah, like there is nothing like that, you know. But I also just love to see people try and do and like be in the moment. I can't stand it when people are mess when it looks like, oh, you didn't put in the work right, you didn't try like you didn't try yeah, or you like you should have done fourteen more hours of rehearsal and you didn't.

00:42:59
Speaker 2: You thought you had it and you don't.

00:43:00
Speaker 1: Got it right right right? You know that makes sense again that type we see it and we go, Oh, I see you didn't care.

00:43:07
Speaker 3: At all, did you?

00:43:09
Speaker 1: I see you, I see you. I know what happened here now because of your work on the Errors tour. I don't think it would take a rocket scientist to figure out that maybe Yon coming to Dancing with the Stars had something to do with you.

00:43:21
Speaker 3: I cannot. So you know, I love Yon very much and I've known him now after working with him this last couple of years with the Eras tour, and you know, things were coming into play, and you know, I just I think the world of him, and I'm very excited for him and this opportunity actually because I'm like, it's great for the show, it's great for him. Ultimately, he has to get out there and do the thing. Yep. And I'm very proud of him. I mean, I don't know if you've ever talked to him. I mean, he's hysterical. I adore him, and he knows that. My only thing was like, please don't go we've won. Please, please don't, please don't do that. And so I sent him a message actually didn't go home week what well, congratulations.

00:44:02
Speaker 2: You made it.

00:44:03
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I know it was so funny. I asked him, trying to remember. It was after Good Morning America. It must have been like right around week one. And I said, how are you liking it? You know what's going on? And he said, I'm more used to being just a supporting a supporting character. This is where now I'm such a main character. He's like, it's taking some getting used to.

00:44:26
Speaker 2: It's really hard.

00:44:27
Speaker 3: And I even saw that on GMA. I mean he looked like his eyeballs were so wide the whole time. And I kept telling him, I'm like, you know, that's gonna be a lot for you. I just want to let you know, because it is you get thrust into the spotlight. Yeah, And it's true. He's used to being the supporting mac to somebody who.

00:44:42
Speaker 1: Is exactly a megastar. Yeah, yeah, but he's so good. Like I said to him, but you're so good at it when you do, when you talk, when you engage. He's so funny. I really I have absolutely just completely adored him. When you you got to judge on Dancing with the Star, yeah, for Taylor Swift night right, Yeah, okay, unbelievable. What did it feel like having to be all judgy and giving out numbers? It's weird.

00:45:08
Speaker 3: It was the second time I'd done it, so I had done one like three or four seasons before, like a movie night or something, and I would that first one. I was so nervous because I was like, these again, these are they're my peers. Yes, like I am in a leadership role with them when I choreograph, but ultimately they are my peers.

00:45:25
Speaker 2: They are creators, just like I am.

00:45:27
Speaker 3: So to be in the judging seat, I thought, what am I going to be able to bring to this moment that maybe some of the other judges can't, And it was that I am a peer and so it was like talking to them like I would anyone that like I was in the dance studio with them, yeah, you know, and they after that first one, and I did. I kind of adopted that for Taylor stuff too, or that Taylor night because all the pearls were like, thank you for your critiques, because it felt like I was talking to my friend about what I needed to do, you know. And I understand not that Bruno and Derek and those guys don't anymore, because they do, but I'm so much closer to that moment because I still I'm still in the room. I still choreograph as I'm doing an opening number in a couple of weeks, so I will be in that ballroom with them. So you know, it was I mean, it's always nerve wracking because it's like again live and you're like, dear God, I don't want to say anything stupid and I don't want to like.

00:46:17
Speaker 2: Mess up this course and the wrong thing.

00:46:20
Speaker 3: Yes, but you do have to also like take in the moment and realize, oh, I'm bringing something to this. I have expertise that I can bring. It's different than carry In, different than Derek, different than Bruno, and that makes me who I am as a judge.

00:46:33
Speaker 1: That's always uniquely qualify. Yes to give this advice right now, Yes.

00:46:37
Speaker 3: And I don't want to speak like Bruno, because I'm not Bruno, right, So I will speak like myself and you know, hopefully if that works, it works.

00:46:42
Speaker 2: And apparently everyone was happy.

00:46:43
Speaker 1: So everyone was thrilled. So, yes, if given the opportunity, what would be a theme night that you would add to Dancing with the Stars?

00:46:52
Speaker 2: Who good question?

00:46:54
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, what if you did like I don't know, I don't know. I just thought this was like, what if you did like dance in the kitchen night or something, or like songs that you know you're like, oh, I love that song.

00:47:07
Speaker 2: I would dance while I'm like making.

00:47:09
Speaker 1: My back my cleaning playlist?

00:47:11
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, like something where you're like at home but I love that song and I dance at home.

00:47:15
Speaker 1: Yes, or like cross Country road Trains playlist, like something that you need to fill a few hours that keeps the vibes good. Yeah, that's a really great great songs, great songs. Yeah, well that's a good one. I like that.

00:47:26
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:47:39
Speaker 1: Can you tell us a little bit more about your work on the Dancing with the Stars tour and also how you're going to be able to accommodate me, because now that I'm a part of Dancing with the Stars, I literally don't think I'm ever gonna be able to return to my normal life.

00:47:51
Speaker 2: So how can.

00:47:52
Speaker 1: You involve me? I'll clean the kitchens or the bathrooms or whatever. Just let me be around.

00:47:58
Speaker 2: Oh my god, come dance. Sound be so fun.

00:48:01
Speaker 1: I would love to.

00:48:02
Speaker 3: Well, the tour is like okay, so I've done the tour forever. Yeah, multiple roles, Like I used to be supervising choreographer, and then i was co director for a while, and then I've been director for the last like four years, five years, I think. And it is so fun. I mean, like again, we don't have to talking about it now, but it would be amazing if you could come on and you could do a thing, and you know that's they were people that talk and you know, your group has to talk to my group whatever. You know, fine, but it is so fun to get out there and be amongst these people that vote for you, into you go into their towns and they you know, basically we are bringing this television show that they know and love right to their back door. And it's also an amazing moment for these pros to dance their.

00:48:41
Speaker 1: Face off exactly. I mean, yes, they are. This show has shown me the real stars of this show are these pros.

00:48:50
Speaker 3: I mean, they're incredible.

00:48:51
Speaker 1: They are incredible. I mean, I can't I really can't say it enough. Just how hard their job is to deal with a different personality every season. They have no idea what they're going to get, no idea. Every person learns differently, So even if they figure out how they become very good teachers, they have to adapt for somebody who's going to not, you know, not work well. Also, what if they are best at teaching from nine to one, but this person sleeps until three pm every day and they need to do five to nine every night. Yes, And like just the amount of things they have to do, and then dealing with our little like meltdowns and struggles and freaking injuries and you know, I mean just it's so much. And they do it all with so much grace. They're all so friendly with each other, they're all so supportive. I just they are so it feels to me. The thing I think I love most about the idea of Tour is that they are the stars of Tour.

00:49:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a big thing when I when I took it over, I was like, I really want to just highlight them and make a show that they love to do every night that they feels good on their bodies, good in their souls, but then also highlights whoever's going to come out. So if we've got a celebrity that comes out, that we still have the kind of show that can highlight them and their journey for the moment and kind of like pop into a fun party for a couple of days or a week or two weeks, whatever it is, and then go away, you know, and like that. It doesn't make that the show doesn't sacrifice in it any way.

00:50:19
Speaker 2: So it's it's fun.

00:50:21
Speaker 3: It's actually one of my favorite jobs I do every year, and that's why I keep coming back because I just again, they're like my family and getting in the room and creating with Pasha, Yeah, being with Daniella, being with Britt, being with Emma, band with Alan val Jenna, all those guys, Like these are my cats. Yeah, like my squad, you know, So to get to make with them is so fun.

00:50:38
Speaker 1: Oh, I love that so much. Yeah, what is it dance from over the years that you think encapsulates the spirit and specialness of the show.

00:50:48
Speaker 3: M I always think that, Oh wow, I don't know, it's like I can't damn good questions.

00:50:58
Speaker 2: You're really good at your job. Hmm, okay, you know what, I actually okay, I don't know why.

00:51:04
Speaker 3: I just thought about this, but did you see that Len Goodman tribute that Valan Jenna?

00:51:07
Speaker 1: Yes?

00:51:08
Speaker 3: To me, I'm like that, for some reason encapsulates what makes the show so special. That they were able to take, you know, a style of dance and a moment on live television which you know doesn't always get to be the moment and celebrate a man who was a huge part of our show. And they did it so eloquently, and it was poetic and it was beautiful and it was entertaining, and it was like, I just remember when I watched it, I thought, like, good on you guys, like that was the moment.

00:51:39
Speaker 1: Would have loved that, Yes, And it was just done right.

00:51:43
Speaker 3: You know, it was produced right, it was costumed right, it was lit right, it was shot right. It was one of those things that again everybody came together to make the very best moments. And I guess that would be I thought.

00:51:53
Speaker 1: That really does sum up perfectly what Dancing with the Stars is. It's like from every every angle, there is a team working their hardest to make sure that the end result is as perfect, as close to perfect as it could possibly be, from the wardrobe to the lighting, to the hair, to the you know, choreography, to the dancers. It's it is, it's it's such a it's a machine and it's a well oiled machine, and it's somehow not cold.

00:52:20
Speaker 2: Yes love this?

00:52:21
Speaker 1: Oh, like, how are you a machine that is also a jacuzzie that's warm and fun? Like get me a beverage and put out the jacuzzi arm. It's like how, I don't know, It's just it's amazing. And I'm just so happy that I am a part of this twentieth season, that this twentieth anniversary, thirty fourth season. I am just I spent way too many years saying no for many different reasons, and boy, I'm thrilled. This was the perfect year to say yes, Yes.

00:52:50
Speaker 2: Good, You're gonna kill it too.

00:52:52
Speaker 3: I come on, I can't wait to see.

00:52:53
Speaker 1: I appreciate your advice. I'm going to take every last bit of it, and I'm going to be thinking about you this week as we are practicing our foxtrot.

00:53:00
Speaker 3: Oh you have a fox trot.

00:53:01
Speaker 2: I love a fox trots.

00:53:03
Speaker 1: Oh my god, he's very good at a very good I God, I love this. I'm so excited. So I'm gonna be I'm gonna be huge.

00:53:10
Speaker 3: Okay.

00:53:11
Speaker 1: Also shoulders down, yeah, because if you don't get to look nuts, don't look not don't look nuts. I also, I can't have Bruno tell me a third week in a row that I need to keep my shoulders down. I my number one goal for this week is that Bruno says.

00:53:22
Speaker 2: Hey, I saw your neck. Yeah, you know what.

00:53:25
Speaker 3: I also think maybe long neck instead of shoulders down, because sometimes shoulders down people get like this and they're still like kind of like turtally. But if you go like long neck at the same time, that might help.

00:53:34
Speaker 1: A good idea. Alright you yeah, I try. I try. I don't have a long neck, so I fake them out exactly. I just got to pretend that's fine.

00:53:42
Speaker 3: Look at you.

00:53:43
Speaker 1: Do you love your dress? Oh my god, a fox shrot dress. I love my dress. It's so beautiful. I was just talking about it with Posha last night. We're trying to decide if we're going to do a long sleeve. But if you do a long sleeve, I want the thing over the middle finger. I want lot and I want to shear with Ryan Stone. Yes, it's gonna feel like.

00:53:59
Speaker 3: A million boos.

00:54:00
Speaker 4: Oh my, your colors like this.

00:54:02
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining me. I am Mandy Moore. You are a legend. I am just so honored that you came and spend time with me this morning.

00:54:08
Speaker 2: And it's time, my friend. Thank you, Thank you.

00:54:13
Speaker 1: Danielle with the Stars Produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel. Executive producers Jensen Carp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production, Danielle Romo, Producer, editor and engineer Tara Sudbosch. Theme song by Justin Siegel. Follow us on Instagram at Danielle with Stars and vote for me.