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Speaker 1: It's time for another Danielle with the Stars. I am

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Speaker 1: Danielle Fischel, a TV director, a podcaster to Panga on

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Speaker 1: Boy Meets World and its millennial reboot, plus a mom

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Speaker 1: of two. But right now I am a dedicated ballroom

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Speaker 1: dancer competing on season thirty four of Dancing with the Stars,

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Speaker 1: airing every Tuesday night on ABC and Disney Plus. I

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Speaker 1: know it's still weird for me too, And while I

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Speaker 1: chatcha salsa and foxtrot my little heart out, I am

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Speaker 1: recording this podcast, logging in my research and personal emotions

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Speaker 1: on trying to win my very own mirror Ball trophy,

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Speaker 1: and along the way, I'm talking to other contestants and

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Speaker 1: professionals in hopes that even just a small chat can

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Speaker 1: lead me in the right direction of success. And today

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Speaker 1: I know I'm onto something. He's the winner of three

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Speaker 1: mirror Ball trophies, leading Rumor Willis, Lori Hernandez, and Sochi

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Speaker 1: Gomez to the top spot. Over the whopping twenty seasons,

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Speaker 1: he has been a part of the show, and in

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Speaker 1: my opinion, there is no better week to talk to

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Speaker 1: him because he has been a part of a few

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Speaker 1: shocking eliminations himself also clocking in second or third place

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Speaker 1: finishes along the way. This season, he is paired with

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Speaker 1: social media Maven Alex Earl, helping her turn TikTok dance

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Speaker 1: skills into ballroom ballyho and they are killing it so far.

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Speaker 1: Please welcome to Danielle with the Stars. It's one of

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Speaker 1: the most talented and fashionable dancers in the game. Say

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Speaker 1: hello to Val Schmerkowsky. Wow, welcome. Hi. You are elusive

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Speaker 1: and hard to pin down. How many times have I

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Speaker 1: asked you to come on Danielle with the Stars the last.

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Speaker 2: Few weeks, so so many times.

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Speaker 1: I've pounded you. Stara has hounded you. Yeah, I'm so

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Speaker 1: honored you finally made it into my den of podcasting.

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Speaker 2: Thank you. I was, you know, maybe I was dodging

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Speaker 2: you because I was a little intimidated.

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Speaker 1: Now I'm ready, Okay, great, I'm actually I was happy

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Speaker 1: to confirm that you're not avoiding me, But I think

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Speaker 1: maybe you just confirmed you were avoiding me. Okay, So

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Speaker 1: I don't want to start with something heavy, but I

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Speaker 1: kind of have to. Can we talk about last night's elimination?

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Speaker 1: Were you as shocked as I was?

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Speaker 3: Oh?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I was very shocked. You know, Lauren to

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Speaker 2: me was a contender. Yeah, not just because of her

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Speaker 2: amazing dancing and just performance value. I mean, she's a

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Speaker 2: contender because of the massive fan base and just you know,

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Speaker 2: she's in it. She's a big star. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 2: and I just thought that she was in it for

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Speaker 2: the long haul. But again, it's like you never know.

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Speaker 2: I was very shocked. You know, I feel again, respectfully

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Speaker 2: to you and your fellow celebrities. Yeah, my heart immediately

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Speaker 2: goes to the pro. You know, I feel for the

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Speaker 2: celeb obviously, but there's such a huge responsibility that is

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Speaker 2: put on the pro, so I my empathy was more

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Speaker 2: immediate with Brandon. Obviously, I feel bad for Lauren. But

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Speaker 2: you know, again, I just making sure that he, you know,

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Speaker 2: just knows that this isn't a reflection on his professional capabilities,

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Speaker 2: but rather, you know, things that potentially are out of

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Speaker 2: his control. Now, should he take some responsibility, of course

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Speaker 2: he will, regardless of what I tell him. But separating

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Speaker 2: those two things, like you know, understanding that your professional

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Speaker 2: integrity has nothing to do with this result, and if

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Speaker 2: you could separate that, because I know you're stressing about

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Speaker 2: that too, you know, just enjoy the hurt, loathing, the disappointment,

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Speaker 2: because it definitely is disappointing, but don't tie those two

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Speaker 2: things together.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and you have experience with that, especially the season

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Speaker 1: as well, because your wife Jenna week one, So did

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Speaker 1: you have a very similar conversation with her? I know

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Speaker 1: she she described herself to me as psychotically competitive. So

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Speaker 1: what was that conversation like between the two of you

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Speaker 1: when she went home week one?

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Speaker 2: Difficult? Yeah, but also not the first time we've had

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Speaker 2: that conversation. I just think that the highs and lows

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Speaker 2: of the show and this industry in general. I mean

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Speaker 2: it's a reflection of being in the performing arts, but

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Speaker 2: then also in Hollywood. Then also just with the massive

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Speaker 2: appeal of the show right now, there's so many eyes,

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Speaker 2: so much just frequency around this project. It just it's hard.

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Speaker 2: You know, Plus, you were, you know what before used

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Speaker 2: to be, you were anxious about being validated once a

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Speaker 2: week in the form of judges' scores and potentially people's votes.

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Speaker 2: Now you are seeing direct validation or lack of in

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Speaker 2: every post that you post, right, and so you've you've

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Speaker 2: seen those views, you see in those comments, you've see

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Speaker 2: those likes. It's very hard not to pay attention to

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Speaker 2: the energy on on on social media. So yeah, with

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Speaker 2: all of that, there's a lot of pressure and so

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Speaker 2: you gotta, you gotta, you gotta have some some foundation

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Speaker 2: that can alleviate some of that stress. So the conversations

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Speaker 2: we've had, you know, we've had for many seasons now,

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Speaker 2: which is you know, there there's so much that you

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Speaker 2: can do. You are clearly good enough because last year

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Speaker 2: you have won in a very competitive season. You know,

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Speaker 2: this wasn't like a runaway win. This this is a battle,

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Speaker 2: and you know, just like this season is going to

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Speaker 2: be a battle. Last year she came out on top

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Speaker 2: and that was a really beautiful moment for our family. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: unfortunately this year that's not how it went. But yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: just keep moving.

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Speaker 1: It's interesting what you said talking about working in the

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Speaker 1: entertainment industry. We have such a weird dichotomy of needing

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Speaker 1: to be very vulnerable with people who are very willing

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Speaker 1: to be vulnerable and wear our hearts on our sleeve

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Speaker 1: for performance value, and yet also need to have a

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Speaker 1: thick skin, you know, which is hard to be both.

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Speaker 1: It's hard to be the type of person that can

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Speaker 1: leave it all out there and show you everything that

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Speaker 1: we're feeling and emote, and then also walk off the

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Speaker 1: dance floor and be like, I'm not going to let

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Speaker 1: that negative comment or those lack of likes or those whatever,

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Speaker 1: or this loss affect me.

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Speaker 2: It's yeah, I mean again, in the performing arts or

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Speaker 2: you know, you come from TV, I don't know if

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Speaker 2: you've done stage. I'm sure you have. You know, you

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Speaker 2: become vulnerable playing a character that then you go backstage

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Speaker 2: and you don't have to talk about it, you don't

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Speaker 2: have to reveal your natural self. Here. You're doing all

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Speaker 2: of that in a span of five minutes in front

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Speaker 2: of millions of people live and also you are setting

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Speaker 2: up the conversation in your package. Then you are going

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Speaker 2: all in revealing yourself. Again, if you want to have

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Speaker 2: a strong performance, you have to really throw yourself into it.

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Speaker 2: And then immediately it's like, how do you feel about that? Well,

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Speaker 2: I mean I don't. I can't even barely breathe. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's really hard to again, just all all of these

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Speaker 2: nights are so packed with intensity and just so many

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Speaker 2: emotions high low. Regardless, it's important to to have a

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Speaker 2: routine of the compression and like just just yeah, just

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Speaker 2: snapping out of it.

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Speaker 1: What is your decompression routine after a live show?

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Speaker 2: Oh?

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Speaker 1: Do you go eat?

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Speaker 2: I do? I eat pasta? That's my comfort food.

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Speaker 1: I guess, yeah, what kind of pasta?

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Speaker 2: I'm a basic? Yeah, I'm like, you mean the special

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Speaker 2: sticks to of course, you got to get the garlic bread.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so that's that's good. Anything else do you try

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Speaker 1: to do? You have a hard time coming down. I

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Speaker 1: wasn't able to go to sleep until one am last night.

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Speaker 1: I'm on such an adrenaline high. I don't know how

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Speaker 1: to calm my body down.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no, same, I stay up pretty late. Yeah, I

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Speaker 2: mean again, I preach more than I do, you know,

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Speaker 2: as far as decompress. Don't trust so much, don't you know?

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Speaker 2: But I was trussing the entire time already about next week.

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Speaker 2: And that's what's hard. It's like you become your own word,

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Speaker 2: you know, your biggest competition. When people are like, who's

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Speaker 2: your biggest competition? I mean there's obvious answers, but the bigger,

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Speaker 2: more honest answer is that it's yourself. As cliche as

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Speaker 2: it sounds, but you're only as good as your last performance,

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Speaker 2: you know, So after a night like last night for Us,

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Speaker 2: which was our best performance yet. Such a great moment.

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Speaker 2: It's very short lived because now I'm like, Okay, how

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Speaker 2: do I a moment? Yeah? So yeah, it's stressful.

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Speaker 1: Can we talk a little bit about Andy Richt's appeal?

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Speaker 1: The world has just fallen in love with him? How

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Speaker 1: much of that? Again, you mentioned that your empathy and

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Speaker 1: all of your your thoughts go to the pro I

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Speaker 1: also want to praise Emma.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah.

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Speaker 1: How much of what the audience sees about the celebrity,

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Speaker 1: how much of that is able to be shaped by you? Guys?

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Speaker 1: How quickly do you get to know your partners and say,

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Speaker 1: I'm able to spot this very specific thing that I

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Speaker 1: think America will fall in love with, and how do

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Speaker 1: you bring that to life?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? So much. I think we have a lot to

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Speaker 2: deal with that. I mean, Emma give her nickname magician

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Speaker 2: because she just like makes something, you know, kind of

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Speaker 2: out of something that very few would would would would

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Speaker 2: create so many, you know, so many dynamic performances with Yeah.

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Speaker 2: But as far as Andy, yeah, I think she's want

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Speaker 2: a great job creating his story, you know, and introducing

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Speaker 2: different parts and layers of him to our audience. I

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Speaker 2: think she does that really well every year, and she's

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Speaker 2: just emotionally invested, you know. I think that's that's a

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Speaker 2: big part of what makes a pro successful on our

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Speaker 2: show is besides the expertise and the and the knowledge,

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Speaker 2: you gotta be really you gotta really love people. Yea,

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Speaker 2: you gotta love people. You gotta want to connect with people.

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Speaker 2: And Emma's one of those pros that really is emotionally

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Speaker 2: invested in her partners. And I think, yeah, and that's

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Speaker 2: why that happens. But yeah, I mean she's also got

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Speaker 2: a great sense of humor. He's obviously got an incredible

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Speaker 2: creative sense of humor and is also down to play.

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Speaker 2: But but again, yeah, he's he's relatable because he's every

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Speaker 2: man every man and and even our female demographic is

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Speaker 2: watching him and sees the uncle or the grandfather or

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Speaker 2: the father or the brother or whatever. Yeah, the guy

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Speaker 2: in there in their family that's down to play. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: you know, And I think that's what's so beautiful about

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Speaker 2: him is he's not a perfect dancer, but he's attempting

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Speaker 2: it holdheartedly and I think effort, curiosity, enthusiasm goes a

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Speaker 2: long way.

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Speaker 1: Totally as someone who is both a technically incredible dancer

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Speaker 1: and also a wonderful performer. Would you rather have the

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Speaker 1: best dance of the night or someone's favorite dance of

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Speaker 1: the night.

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Speaker 2: Mmmm, that's great. I'd rather have someone's favorite yeah night. Yeah, okay,

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Speaker 2: I do it for the people. For the scores, right,

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Speaker 2: it sounded.

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Speaker 1: So that was good. Put that on, Put that on

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Speaker 1: a T shirt.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, scores they matter, but obviously they matter. They you

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Speaker 2: know the position, you know, you know you don't want

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Speaker 2: to be eliminated, but I just want to be I

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Speaker 2: want to steal the night. You know. That's how I

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Speaker 2: call I just right now. It's hard because there's so

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Speaker 2: many great couples and so many of them, it's hard

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Speaker 2: to do that. But yeah, I'm just trying to steal

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Speaker 2: the show with a performance that people love and want

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Speaker 2: to watch again, whether the scores in line or not.

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Speaker 2: You know, I try to balance both, but that would

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Speaker 2: be more important to.

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Speaker 1: Me, okay. Carrie Anne said this past week that there

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Speaker 1: seemed to be two camps on the show, those with

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Speaker 1: prior dance experience who walked in here already very impressive,

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Speaker 1: and those who knew nothing but are learning every week

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Speaker 1: and hopefully getting better. Where would you rather be strategy wise?

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Speaker 1: And what do you think is kind of the spirit

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Speaker 1: of the show.

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Speaker 2: I mean, the show is a balance and act of

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Speaker 2: both of those things. We just spoke about Andy and

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Speaker 2: the you know, he might not look like him, but

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Speaker 2: believe it or not, he's not a trained dancer. Surprised,

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Speaker 2: But I think our show is not just about dance.

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Speaker 2: It's about performance. It's about connection, you know, And so

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Speaker 2: that's the great equalizer, you know. So yes, you could

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Speaker 2: come in with a lifelong dance education in your in

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Speaker 2: your you know bag, but if you're not someone that

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Speaker 2: that makes people gravitate to you, then none of that matters.

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Speaker 2: So I think I think that's that's what's great about

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Speaker 2: dances and art in general. It is like sometimes something honest,

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Speaker 2: something less but honest is more impactful than more and

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Speaker 2: just you know, it doesn't mean much to you. Sometimes

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Speaker 2: it's a disadvantage. I'll say that. I mean, again, it

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Speaker 2: doesn't sound like you know, it sounds like a hot take.

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Speaker 2: But sometimes having dance experience is a disadvantage because there's

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Speaker 2: charm in the imperfection, there is relatability in the imperfection,

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Speaker 2: you know, And I that's why I want to clean

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Speaker 2: you know, when we were working with Alex even like,

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Speaker 2: I try to also embrace her imperfections because I think

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Speaker 2: that's what makes that performance even more entertaining, rather than

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Speaker 2: clean her into.

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Speaker 1: No polished perfect Danie.

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Speaker 2: That it's numb. So I never want to do that.

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Speaker 2: But it's a balance. I mean again, it's a balance

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Speaker 2: and act. It's hard for the judges, but I think

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Speaker 2: for them, uh, you know, whether it's two camps that

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Speaker 2: the show's divice, I don't know about that comment, but

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Speaker 2: it's in general, I think you're judging based on relativity

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Speaker 2: to that person's yeah, you know where they at. So

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Speaker 2: if for Andy, I feel like it's not the same

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Speaker 2: standard as Hilario and and I don't think there's anything

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Speaker 2: wrong with that, right exactly, we're being graded on a curve.

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Speaker 1: Yes, correct, correct. I want to talk a little bit

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Speaker 1: about Alex. Can you set the record straight here? You

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Speaker 1: guys have already done it. You guys get along, you

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Speaker 1: guys like each other, right, Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I think she's all right most of the time.

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Speaker 1: There's that sarcasm that keeps getting you guys into travel.

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Speaker 2: Well listen, you know again, my sarcasm has been getting

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Speaker 2: me in trouble my whole life.

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Speaker 1: It's not going to stop.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know, context never reveals itself on social media,

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Speaker 2: so I'm sure I don't blame the speculations. Yeah, but no,

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Speaker 2: of course I like each other. I I'm grateful to Alex.

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Speaker 2: You know, I think she's a remarkable talent. The fact

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Speaker 2: that I have the opportunity to work with that talent

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Speaker 2: there is a huge privilege of mine, you know. So

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Speaker 2: those are the things that don't you know, they're not

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Speaker 2: just right, that's not as funny.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, come across.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, So no, I don't just like her. I

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Speaker 2: am really proud of her, grateful to be her partner, teacher,

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Speaker 2: you know, I'm all in. Yeah, And I think there's

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Speaker 2: now even more common ground between me and my celebrity

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Speaker 2: partner because you guys don't get another chance to do

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Speaker 2: the show right, you know, every week is important, every

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Speaker 2: day is sacred for us. It's not guaranteed that we're

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Speaker 2: asked back, obviously, you know how fickle that relationship is.

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Speaker 2: But you know, there was a stretch, you know, this

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Speaker 2: is my twentieth season. There was a stretch where I

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Speaker 2: was like comfortable, you know, and I knew I was

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Speaker 2: going to come back next year. Now it's every season

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Speaker 2: feels very similar to how it feels for you. You know,

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Speaker 2: I don't know how many more.

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Speaker 1: Seasons I got so hi because you personally are starting

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Speaker 1: to think about doing something else, or you think they're

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Speaker 1: starting to think about needing other people.

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Speaker 2: I think a little bit of both. I'm not delusional

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Speaker 2: about the fact that my you know, my my tenure

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Speaker 2: on the show will eventually come to an end before

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Speaker 2: the show will come to an end, Okay, and I

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Speaker 2: want it that way, you know, I think my life

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Speaker 2: is better with the show around, whether I'm on it

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Speaker 2: or not. You know, I'm a huge champion of this project.

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Speaker 2: I love that it exists to change my life, first

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Speaker 2: through my brother Max, then through my own opportunities. But

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Speaker 2: having said that, I'm still killing it.

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Speaker 1: You know where on earth? Thinking you were.

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Speaker 2: Going, well, because I don't want to. I don't.

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Speaker 1: You don't want to take it for granted.

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Speaker 2: I don't. Well, first of all, I'm not taking it

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Speaker 2: for granted, But secondly, I I what is it? I

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Speaker 2: don't I don't want to overstay my welcome, you know,

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Speaker 2: So right now I'm still feeling pretty good. You know,

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Speaker 2: but eventually I understand there's going to be again. I

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Speaker 2: also don't want to be greedy, Like I don't want

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Speaker 2: to hog this really awesome opportunity. If there's a dancer

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Speaker 2: that's waiting for that slot, I will kindly give him

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Speaker 2: that slot. But you got to earn it.

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Speaker 1: Too, you know, as I say, you're so generous.

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Speaker 2: Look, Lebron James twenty three seasons into the league, like,

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Speaker 2: he's still the top ten player in the most competitive

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Speaker 2: sport in the world.

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Speaker 1: So so you've got at least three more years.

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Speaker 2: Oh little more than that.

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Speaker 1: Okay, I said, at least okay. Good. You mentioned your

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Speaker 1: brother Max, who had been on the show since season

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Speaker 1: two and you joined the show in season thirteen. Was

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Speaker 1: watching him be a part of the show something that

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Speaker 1: made you want to be a part of it as well?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, for sure. I mean, so there's so much

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Speaker 2: history with all the pro talent that came on the show.

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Speaker 2: Pretty much everybody knows each other, yeah, and knows all

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Speaker 2: of each other because the bom competitive Borum dance world

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Speaker 2: is so small. Yeah, So, you know, for from our perspective,

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Speaker 2: when this project came along, I was already you know,

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Speaker 2: a pretty solid name in the competitive ballroom dance world.

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Speaker 2: My brother was as well, and the pros that were recruited,

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Speaker 2: a lot of them were big names, but some of

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Speaker 2: the elite names, you know, still frowned upon this project

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Speaker 2: and the prospect of, you know, I'm going to go

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Speaker 2: and dance with celebrities on television. You know, it's like, yeah,

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Speaker 2: you know, I'm not gonna beyond that. And so yeah,

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Speaker 2: so there was that energy as well for me. But

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Speaker 2: but again that that's also partially joking. The point is

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Speaker 2: that I dedicate my whole life to pursuing this craft,

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Speaker 2: and I was already comfortable with being broke, you know.

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Speaker 2: So it's like I wasn't driven by the financial success

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Speaker 2: or the vanity of being in Hollywood. I was just

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Speaker 2: driven about being the best competitive ballroom dancing in the world.

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Speaker 2: And I wasn't there yet when they asked me to

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Speaker 2: be on the show or when my brother joined the show.

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Speaker 2: But so yeah, so I enjoyed it, if vicariously through him. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: he you know, we're really close. So you know, it's

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Speaker 2: like that Jay Z Lyric, Like I got on the billboard,

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Speaker 2: I took my boys with me, So it's the same thing.

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Speaker 2: You know, he made it out and he from his

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Speaker 2: first season, he already introduced me. They did a package

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Speaker 2: literally three weeks into his first season about how he

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Speaker 2: has this little dance school in New Jersey and his

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Speaker 2: brother is a part of that school, and so he

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Speaker 2: flew me out and I performed already. So but I'd

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Speaker 2: never wanted to full time, stop competing and do this

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Speaker 2: until I was like twenty five. So first, like six years,

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Speaker 2: I was watching and then Mark joined, Derek joined kind

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Speaker 2: of like that now my peers joined, and I was

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Speaker 2: watching that for a while, and again I was super happy,

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Speaker 2: but it was just and I said that before, like

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Speaker 2: at twenty five, there was a moment I just came

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Speaker 2: off the floor of competition, really prestigious event. I did

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Speaker 2: really well, but I walked away feeling kind of empty

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Speaker 2: and that curiosity of like what would it be like

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Speaker 2: to perform on this big stage in Hollywood and finally

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Speaker 2: have more than you know, four digits in my bank account?

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Speaker 2: You know, I just asked myself, like, the difference between

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Speaker 2: a hobby and a profession is a paycheck, and it

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Speaker 2: sounds kind of I don't know, maybe it sounds a

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Speaker 2: bit superficial, but like I said, you come to an

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Speaker 2: age where after you know, years of your life being

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Speaker 2: dedicated to a craft, seeing this opportunity to financially change

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Speaker 2: your life. But also I think also artistically, I was

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Speaker 2: done being just an athlete and I was excited to

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Speaker 2: start being more creative and more artistic. And the show

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Speaker 2: does allow for that totally. So once I joined the show,

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Speaker 2: I kind of built a different relationship with dance growing up.

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Speaker 1: What other hobbies did you have besides dance?

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Speaker 2: Girls, that's not a hobby I know. I played. So

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Speaker 2: I played violin for fifteen years.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I started playing when I was five, So that

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Speaker 2: was really my art and that was I took it seriously.

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Speaker 2: In any Eastern European family, especially immigrant family, they're like,

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Speaker 2: we ain't got time for games, you know. So everything

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Speaker 2: I did I did to be the best at.

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Speaker 1: What do your parents do? Why are you guys so creative?

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Speaker 2: They don't do anything creative. My mom she graduated college,

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Speaker 2: I think, with like an engineering degree, but then she

390
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Speaker 2: just didn't really pursue her career because she was taking

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Speaker 2: care of us. Huh. My dad was a merchant marine

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Speaker 2: out of college. Again. We were in Ukraine. Yessa as

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Speaker 2: a coastal city on the black seat. So everybody there

394
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Speaker 2: wanted to be you know, wanted to get out, and

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Speaker 2: that was a way to get out. They got to

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Speaker 2: travel the world by being a merchant marine. That means

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Speaker 2: they're working on a big ship carrying import export stuff.

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Speaker 2: And so he did that for like a year and

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Speaker 2: a half out of college. But my mom already had

400
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Speaker 2: Max and she was like, I'm not taking care of

401
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Speaker 2: this baby by myself because the trip is like six months.

402
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Speaker 2: He's might see and then comes back. So then he

403
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Speaker 2: stopped that and kind of committed to being an entrepreneur

404
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,600
Speaker 2: by that time. Again, this is like a history lesson

405
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Speaker 2: Soviet Union. There's no capitalism under communism, so you know,

406
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Speaker 2: a lot of that import export kind of just with

407
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:40,000
Speaker 2: commerce business in America. There was kind of tinkering on

408
00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,879
Speaker 2: being illegal. But he you know, again he would like

409
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Speaker 2: import jeans and sell them on the market there. He

410
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,280
Speaker 2: would bring in leather goods from Turkey and then you know,

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Speaker 2: so it was a hustle and he was doing well financially,

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Speaker 2: but again there was a lot of instability, and so

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Speaker 2: that was one of the reasons why they you know,

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Speaker 2: they really wanted to immigrate to America, and we got lucky,

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Speaker 2: we want to, you know, a visa and packed up

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Speaker 2: our bags and in a matter of like a month

417
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Speaker 2: and left our entire I mean, I wasn't leaving anything.

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Speaker 2: I am eight years old. I'm like excited for the adventure.

419
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,760
Speaker 2: I had no idea of what this means. But for them, yeah,

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Speaker 2: they left all their friends and lineage and history and

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Speaker 2: you know, comfort, and we moved to Brooklyn, New York.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, so that's it. They just to answer your question,

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Speaker 2: my dad is a business owner, that's it. And early

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Speaker 2: on he was looking you know, he started coding in

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Speaker 2: America because I was like leading up to the bubble,

426
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Speaker 2: right two thousands. We immigrated ninety four, so he learned

427
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Speaker 2: how to code, this dad, but then hated being in

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Speaker 2: a cubicle. And one day he quit his job and

429
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Speaker 2: opened up a dance studio with my brother. That's my

430
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 2: brother was sixteen years old. And that's it. Now we have, yeah,

431
00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:56,920
Speaker 2: we have fourteen dance studios around the country right now.

432
00:24:57,520 --> 00:24:59,080
Speaker 2: We just celebrated twenty years.

433
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 1: Amazing.

434
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,040
Speaker 2: But we had a kids school for a while and

435
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:04,440
Speaker 2: then we opened up. Now what we have now, which

436
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,640
Speaker 2: is a social dance studio catering to.

437
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 1: Adults, catering to adults like me, like yourself, want to

438
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,800
Speaker 1: learn how to dance, and no experience in it at all.

439
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,240
Speaker 2: That again, that are using dance as a vehicle to

440
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:23,240
Speaker 2: better themselves, challenge themselves, find community, find interaction. Right, We're

441
00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,639
Speaker 2: so connected, but we're so disconnected physically, you know. Dance

442
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:31,800
Speaker 2: I think is a great way to just yeah, you know,

443
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,919
Speaker 2: like feel another human and having that intimacy without you know,

444
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 2: the sexual intimacy, you know, And I think that's something

445
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:41,560
Speaker 2: that there's a lot of loneliness. There's a lot of people,

446
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,000
Speaker 2: you know, we have a lot of clients that you know,

447
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 2: maybe lost a lifelong partner and I just don't know

448
00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 2: where to even begin to heal. I think dance allows

449
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 2: you to heal that way.

450
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:53,120
Speaker 1: So it's so beautiful.

451
00:25:53,400 --> 00:26:04,200
Speaker 3: Thanks.

452
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,000
Speaker 1: We had Jenna on the podcast recently, your Beautiful Wife,

453
00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,000
Speaker 1: and she was telling me that you had started dabbling

454
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,520
Speaker 1: in stand up comedy. Yes, I need to know everything

455
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,600
Speaker 1: about this. What made you want to do that? And

456
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,960
Speaker 1: is it scarier than dancing in front of millions of

457
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:22,520
Speaker 1: people live every single week?

458
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, let's start with the scary. It's definitely more

459
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,240
Speaker 2: terrifying than dancing in front of millions of people. Part

460
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:34,200
Speaker 2: of it is also putting myself in a position to

461
00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:39,320
Speaker 2: really feel how you guys feel as well. You know,

462
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 2: this project has put me into this position of authority

463
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 2: and direction and leadership, and I'm teaching you, and you know,

464
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,160
Speaker 2: sometimes I want to learn teach me. You know. Sometimes

465
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:53,560
Speaker 2: when I see a celeb on our show that's taking

466
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 2: it for granted, I'm like, what, Yeah, I wish I

467
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,600
Speaker 2: was on a project where a master of their craft

468
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:04,840
Speaker 2: took their entire life and gave me their undivided attention

469
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,439
Speaker 2: and effort to teach me their expertise. Please. I mean,

470
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 2: I did a cooking show. It was the greatest experience

471
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:12,359
Speaker 2: of my life because I was like, I had a

472
00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:15,600
Speaker 2: chef teaching me a craft that has always evaded me,

473
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 2: that only empowered me as a human. You know. So

474
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 2: I was like, so grateful that you're sharing that with me.

475
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,879
Speaker 2: So same thing with this comedy thing. I preach a

476
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:28,000
Speaker 2: lot like go out there and do it, you know,

477
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,160
Speaker 2: go outside your comfort zone. I'm like, well, how often

478
00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 2: do you go outside of a comfort zone? And so

479
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:39,359
Speaker 2: this was my comfort zone that I exited because stand

480
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:41,960
Speaker 2: up comedy. I just love storytelling. I love comedy. I

481
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 2: think it's a great vehicle for people to express their

482
00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:48,680
Speaker 2: trauma in a digestible way. I think it builds bridges

483
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:52,639
Speaker 2: with people. It's a way to, you know, again, maybe

484
00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,320
Speaker 2: touch on a topic matter that people have felt but

485
00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:01,480
Speaker 2: never felt that way or never expressed that way. So yeah,

486
00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,040
Speaker 2: And I'm a big fan of others that do stand

487
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:09,400
Speaker 2: up so yeah. And also my whole life, I've I'm

488
00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:11,920
Speaker 2: in partnership, you know, even when you tell three time

489
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,199
Speaker 2: mirror bold Champion, world champion, this champion, I never I

490
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,959
Speaker 2: didn't do any of these things by myself, right right,

491
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 2: you know. And I love that. I love camaraderie, I

492
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,760
Speaker 2: love the laboration. I love that. It makes me so

493
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,879
Speaker 2: happy because I as much as I want things to

494
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,359
Speaker 2: be mine, I also want to be of service to others,

495
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:33,640
Speaker 2: you know. And so I love being on a team

496
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:35,520
Speaker 2: because I get to do both. You know, I get

497
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:39,680
Speaker 2: to triumph or if it's a win, triumph and feel

498
00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:44,120
Speaker 2: great about myself, but also at the same time be

499
00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,600
Speaker 2: of service and and and share this feeling with somebody else.

500
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:48,320
Speaker 2: So I love that.

501
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 1: Yeah.

502
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,920
Speaker 2: But again, it's I've been a partner with somebody and

503
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:58,800
Speaker 2: everything I've accomplished, even creative projects. I you know, Max

504
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:04,400
Speaker 2: and valtour we did three tours together. I teach a lot,

505
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,480
Speaker 2: you know. I teach with my incredible wife, Jenna. That's

506
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,400
Speaker 2: another partnership. So there's a lot of partnerships in my life.

507
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,040
Speaker 2: I wanted to do something by myself. You know, when

508
00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 2: I go out there, I can't rely on anybody. It's

509
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:21,560
Speaker 2: just meet the mic and that's it, you know. And

510
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:26,120
Speaker 2: that also was something that intrigued me, is like, put

511
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:28,920
Speaker 2: put yourself out there. It's scary. And so I again,

512
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,040
Speaker 2: I was on Dancing with the Stars. I was in

513
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:35,040
Speaker 2: the finale with Sochi. It was a long blocking day.

514
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:37,920
Speaker 2: We have stand ins, you know. So one of the standings,

515
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,280
Speaker 2: her name is Sheila. Sheila Ratner. She's an amazing comedian,

516
00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 2: which I didn't know at the time, but she did

517
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,040
Speaker 2: stand and work on Dancing with the Stars. So she

518
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:48,440
Speaker 2: was so chea for like a two hour blocking of

519
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,160
Speaker 2: an opening and her and I were just sitting there

520
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,400
Speaker 2: and just roasting everybody that we were watching, amazing to

521
00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:56,680
Speaker 2: each other, and I was just like, yo, you are

522
00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,239
Speaker 2: so freaking funny. You should do comedy. She was like,

523
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:01,160
Speaker 2: I did I'm a stand up the media and I

524
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:03,600
Speaker 2: was like what. I was like, that's on my bucket list,

525
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,520
Speaker 2: like I've always wanted to do it. I just didn't

526
00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:09,200
Speaker 2: even know where to start. And she was like, what,

527
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,960
Speaker 2: you're professional world renowned dancer who was real passion is.

528
00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:20,960
Speaker 2: It's like, well, actually that's the opening of my old set. Anyway,

529
00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,440
Speaker 2: So one thing led to another. Off season, she hit

530
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:26,760
Speaker 2: me up and she invited me to you know, kind

531
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:30,120
Speaker 2: of like an open mic, and I said, sure, this

532
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:31,880
Speaker 2: is like Thursday. I was like sure, and it was

533
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 2: on Tuesday, and I again, I try to exercise that

534
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:37,800
Speaker 2: spirit of like saying yes and then figuring it out.

535
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,240
Speaker 2: So I was like, yes, I'm in. And then and

536
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:42,520
Speaker 2: then Monday roll you know, Monday rolls around. I'm like

537
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,320
Speaker 2: I need to work. Yeah, and so yeah, I mean,

538
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,360
Speaker 2: I've always been a creative writer. I wrote poetry ideas

539
00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:52,120
Speaker 2: to Ukraine. Again, the city that I'm from was kind

540
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 2: of the New Orleans of the Soviet Union. There's a

541
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:59,719
Speaker 2: big comedy scene. There's a huge like jazz comedy, just

542
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:05,200
Speaker 2: melting pot of Jewish and Slavic and other cultures kind

543
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,520
Speaker 2: of but the energy of the city that I'm from

544
00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:13,440
Speaker 2: is it's kind of in us to be sarcastic and funny,

545
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,760
Speaker 2: and you know a lot of comedians came out of

546
00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:19,800
Speaker 2: that city, So yeah, I mean I on tours, I

547
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:23,560
Speaker 2: gravitate to open mics and just kind of going off

548
00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:26,080
Speaker 2: the cuff. But anyway, the point is I was terrified

549
00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,960
Speaker 2: and I almost pulled out like a hundred times because

550
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,040
Speaker 2: again in my mind, I'm like, Wow, you don't need

551
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:33,320
Speaker 2: to do this, Like why are you putting yourself through

552
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:38,320
Speaker 2: so much anxiety right now on a random Tuesday. It's like, because,

553
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:40,320
Speaker 2: you know, because you have to do that. And then

554
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,360
Speaker 2: I showed up and I did it, and I did

555
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 2: it pretty well. And the feeling that I felt driving

556
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:50,800
Speaker 2: back home after literally a five minute set. Whether way,

557
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,600
Speaker 2: I'm not doing a forty five minutes set, nothing in

558
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 2: the big scheme of things, but it was just such

559
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 2: a moment of accomplishment that I was like, I gotta

560
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,640
Speaker 2: do this again. Been you know, I've done it like

561
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,680
Speaker 2: six seven times. It's just been so fun and exhilarating,

562
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 2: and I've also learned a lot about myself like that.

563
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,320
Speaker 2: The anxiety is until I got there. As soon as

564
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 2: I got there, I'm like, oh, okay, I feel natural here,

565
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:21,720
Speaker 2: and rightfully so, I've been performing and entertaining people's since

566
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:25,720
Speaker 2: I was twelve years old, right for money, you know,

567
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:31,200
Speaker 2: like professionally, So I feel really comfortable in that space

568
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 2: of pressure.

569
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,160
Speaker 1: Like you said, so much of dance is storytelling. Comedy

570
00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:38,360
Speaker 1: is storytelling. Acting is storytelling. It's all just different forms

571
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:40,960
Speaker 1: of storytelling. So even if it's a form you've never

572
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,080
Speaker 1: done before, once you get up there and start doing it,

573
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:47,080
Speaker 1: you're like, actually, it feels very similar. It's just a

574
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:49,760
Speaker 1: different dial or a different channel than I'm used to

575
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:53,440
Speaker 1: being on. Talking about partnerships, I wanted to talk to

576
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,280
Speaker 1: you about season sixteen when you were paired with Zendea,

577
00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:59,920
Speaker 1: arguably the biggest star to ever participate on the show

578
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:02,760
Speaker 1: for where she is now. But a lot of people

579
00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,479
Speaker 1: consider you two coming in second to be a crime

580
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:10,800
Speaker 1: against humanity. Did you guys assume that you would win

581
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,040
Speaker 1: or do you know it by the time season sixteen

582
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:14,640
Speaker 1: rules around to never assume?

583
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:19,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I wasn't assuming that. Plus, I mean, first

584
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:23,480
Speaker 2: of all, thank you to all the fans that you.

585
00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,560
Speaker 1: Know, crime against humanity has been said more than one time.

586
00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:32,200
Speaker 2: That's a lot but again out of context. Yeah, sure,

587
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 2: that seems a little bit much, But if you paid

588
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:38,920
Speaker 2: attention to that season, you knew that Kelly Pickler was

589
00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:43,960
Speaker 2: killing it, and Derek did an incredible job again creating

590
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:46,920
Speaker 2: her season and telling her story and giving her a

591
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:52,960
Speaker 2: chance against a juggernaut like Zendeia. But no, I don't

592
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:57,520
Speaker 2: think we were so far ahead that this was a

593
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:03,080
Speaker 2: huge shocker. It was edibly disappointing, and I take a

594
00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:08,320
Speaker 2: lot of responsibility for that, but they definitely you know, again,

595
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,080
Speaker 2: in hindsight, you look back and just how massive she

596
00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,680
Speaker 2: is and how great her performances were, no doubt, But

597
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:19,280
Speaker 2: seeing those isolated performances doesn't show you the big picture,

598
00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 2: because Kelly also had some great performances and she did

599
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 2: a great job.

600
00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:26,920
Speaker 1: What kind of teacher do you think you are? How

601
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 1: would you describe yourself to somebody who's never seen you

602
00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:33,640
Speaker 1: as a pro? How would you describe your teaching style?

603
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:39,239
Speaker 2: I again, you know, first of all, you you're at

604
00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:42,239
Speaker 2: least a reflection, maybe not a full product of the

605
00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:45,400
Speaker 2: guidance and the influence that that you were brought up with,

606
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:47,920
Speaker 2: But you're gonna be a reflection of that unless you

607
00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:51,920
Speaker 2: make a very conscious choice not to write. So you

608
00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:58,360
Speaker 2: know I'm a product of you know, a preacher, preacher dad.

609
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:00,960
Speaker 2: You know, you fail to prepare, you prepared to fail.

610
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:03,840
Speaker 2: Like you know, he coached me through life as a father.

611
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:05,960
Speaker 2: He never coached me in dance, but he you know,

612
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:09,560
Speaker 2: I feel like his his coaching. You know, if it

613
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:11,719
Speaker 2: doesn't hurt, you're not doing much. You know, you're not

614
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:14,040
Speaker 2: doing enough. Like if you want to be successful, you

615
00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:16,680
Speaker 2: got to be hungry and desperate and you know, broke,

616
00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:19,960
Speaker 2: and you know it's just like all these socialist values

617
00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:25,440
Speaker 2: social No, he's the big I mean, this guy is

618
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,120
Speaker 2: the biggest patriot. I mean, we love America just for

619
00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:32,120
Speaker 2: the record, and capitalism and you don't have to say that,

620
00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:38,439
Speaker 2: just don't import me. It's the truth. But he grew

621
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 2: up in an environment where again there are values, are

622
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,480
Speaker 2: human values that are really great that come out of that.

623
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:47,279
Speaker 2: There's no shame. And again where we're from, and the

624
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:52,239
Speaker 2: Soviet values, whether they're practical to build a build a

625
00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:56,359
Speaker 2: community and structure around maybe not, but as a human being,

626
00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:02,080
Speaker 2: to hold yourself accountable to certain principles and hard work

627
00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:05,160
Speaker 2: and like those that's the household I grew up in

628
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:08,000
Speaker 2: and then my brother was a coach, and he was

629
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:13,319
Speaker 2: a coach that lacked information and experience. And what I

630
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,080
Speaker 2: mean by that is how great of a coach can

631
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:17,120
Speaker 2: you be at eighteen?

632
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:17,640
Speaker 1: Yeah?

633
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:21,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, so he's figuring it out with me,

634
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:24,360
Speaker 2: you know, as as a kid, he was coaching me.

635
00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:27,799
Speaker 2: And so then I had other teachers that were great.

636
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:30,319
Speaker 2: So how am i as a teacher. I'm not the

637
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:33,960
Speaker 2: type of person that is going to force you to

638
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,040
Speaker 2: do anything. I want to inspire you. I want to

639
00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:39,680
Speaker 2: give you the tools, and then you have to pick

640
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:43,920
Speaker 2: up these tools and do them. And that's the difference

641
00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:45,839
Speaker 2: between a teacher and a coach, you know. I think

642
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:51,200
Speaker 2: a coach doesn't ask you much. He tells you and really,

643
00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:55,040
Speaker 2: you know, kind of pushes you to execute. A teacher

644
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:59,960
Speaker 2: is someone that guides you and teaches you and gives

645
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:03,520
Speaker 2: you and then you have to have the passion and

646
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,839
Speaker 2: the and the work ethic to to actually execute that.

647
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:10,360
Speaker 2: I try to find a balance because in this project,

648
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:14,560
Speaker 2: it's you know, it's teaching, it's therapy, it's you know, nutrition,

649
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,359
Speaker 2: it's like all of it. But I think that's where

650
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:20,320
Speaker 2: I'm at, and I don't I wouldn't say I'm the

651
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,680
Speaker 2: best teacher, you know, I try to be. I'm always

652
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:31,880
Speaker 2: getting better. But yeah, I I love teaching, I love motivating, inspiring,

653
00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:37,760
Speaker 2: but I love performing, you know. I like back to Lebron.

654
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,400
Speaker 2: You know, Lebron didn't dream of teaching one day or

655
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:43,759
Speaker 2: coaching basketball one day. He dreamed about performing at the

656
00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:49,319
Speaker 2: highest level. So those were my aspirations. But I'm really

657
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,759
Speaker 2: grateful that I'm able to enjoy all facets right. And

658
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 2: the core is dance and it has so many ways

659
00:37:57,239 --> 00:38:00,000
Speaker 2: that it's bettered my life and has shaped my life,

660
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,719
Speaker 2: you know. But being a teacher is one of them.

661
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:07,880
Speaker 2: Being a performer is another one. Being an entrepreneur in

662
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:11,480
Speaker 2: the space of dance is another one, you know. But again,

663
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:14,560
Speaker 2: my favorite part about teaching is being of service to

664
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:18,920
Speaker 2: this person. And the truth is a great coach, I

665
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:22,000
Speaker 2: don't think even approaches it that way. He's not at

666
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:24,560
Speaker 2: the service. He's more of the service of the game.

667
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:29,200
Speaker 2: And you gotta you know, we're all here to accommodate

668
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 2: the game. And in regards to dancing with the stars,

669
00:38:33,719 --> 00:38:36,560
Speaker 2: I don't have that type of approach, you know, I do.

670
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:40,120
Speaker 2: I think we both should be invested in the bigger picture.

671
00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:44,040
Speaker 2: Which is, let's get the best performance out there. But

672
00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:48,160
Speaker 2: ultimately I still lean towards I'm here at your service.

673
00:38:48,239 --> 00:38:51,080
Speaker 2: You know, you only get this thing once. How can

674
00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:53,880
Speaker 2: I make this the best thing you've ever experienced and

675
00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,440
Speaker 2: exactly how you wanted to experience it in the first place?

676
00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,439
Speaker 2: You know? So what are those creatives? What are those

677
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:00,880
Speaker 2: dresses you want to wear? What are the songs you

678
00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,640
Speaker 2: want to dance to? Whether I like them or not, obviously,

679
00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:06,680
Speaker 2: I'm going to give you my direction and opinion, but

680
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:10,360
Speaker 2: really I'm here to make your dreams come to life.

681
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:13,440
Speaker 1: Can we talk about the double cartwheel? Was that one

682
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:14,400
Speaker 1: of Alex's dreams?

683
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:17,359
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yes, that was Alex's dreams? It was it turned

684
00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,960
Speaker 2: into my nightmare, but it was definitely tell me what happened?

685
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:24,600
Speaker 1: What I I literally couldn't believe it when I saw

686
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:27,960
Speaker 1: the video and you guys just slamming into the ground.

687
00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:28,880
Speaker 1: How did this start?

688
00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:32,400
Speaker 2: Well, we were doing our quick step and I was,

689
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:36,200
Speaker 2: you know, I had like this one cartwheel, which ultimately

690
00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:37,000
Speaker 2: what we ended up.

691
00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:38,440
Speaker 1: Doing, which looked phenomenal.

692
00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:42,239
Speaker 2: Thanks, And she was like, what if we went to

693
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:45,520
Speaker 2: get like like I went, then you went? Then I

694
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:48,440
Speaker 2: you know, it's like you probably saw it on TikTok somewhere.

695
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:53,839
Speaker 2: I was like, that's really cool. I can't do it,

696
00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:59,960
Speaker 2: but you know, let's do it. Because again, so that's

697
00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:04,719
Speaker 2: things like, you know, there's pressure on us. I want

698
00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:06,879
Speaker 2: to be good, you know, I want to be good

699
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:11,799
Speaker 2: enough for you, you know, and she's challenging me, which

700
00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:15,400
Speaker 2: is again, if I preach this the spiel of like,

701
00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:18,640
Speaker 2: then I got to walk the walk, you know. And

702
00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:20,799
Speaker 2: so that was one of those situations where I like,

703
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:23,400
Speaker 2: that is the most terrifying thing in the world. I

704
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,480
Speaker 2: have next surgery two years ago, Like, I definitely don't

705
00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:29,040
Speaker 2: want to land on my head, but I will do

706
00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:31,960
Speaker 2: this because you're doing this, So how can I not

707
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:33,960
Speaker 2: do this? You know, So let's do this. How do

708
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,320
Speaker 2: we do this? And so then I try to YouTube.

709
00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:40,360
Speaker 2: I'm mad. I immediately thought like, she'll slip on the

710
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:44,480
Speaker 2: map because this would be worse. So yeah, so we

711
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:49,839
Speaker 2: just youtubed some instructionals and I was like, let's go

712
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:53,600
Speaker 2: for it, and yeah, we went forward a bunch of times,

713
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:56,120
Speaker 2: and I mean, she you know that that's the part

714
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:59,200
Speaker 2: that I wish showed up more in the packages, and

715
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:01,880
Speaker 2: just like I want to communicate that to our audience

716
00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:06,800
Speaker 2: is like this pretty put together a young Barbie looking

717
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:10,800
Speaker 2: thing is an animal in the studio. That's like, let's

718
00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:15,200
Speaker 2: go try to thrown her body around like I mean,

719
00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:17,279
Speaker 2: you saw her do the baby freeze in the jive,

720
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,439
Speaker 2: Like she's down. You know, she's down a place she's

721
00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:23,400
Speaker 2: down to like get messy. And like I said, I

722
00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:26,600
Speaker 2: would be a hypocrite if fund and match that energy

723
00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:30,640
Speaker 2: and reciprocate that energy, even as irresponsible as it was

724
00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:33,560
Speaker 2: for us to do this week. But that move is

725
00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:37,040
Speaker 2: still there. There's still promise because we're close. I just

726
00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:41,319
Speaker 2: need to become significantly more flexible than my working on this.

727
00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:44,640
Speaker 2: I am, I am, and she just potentially needs to

728
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:46,360
Speaker 2: be just a little bit stronger.

729
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:49,239
Speaker 1: Okay, so she needs to need some strength training and

730
00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:51,960
Speaker 1: you need some flexibility work. But there's still a possibility

731
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,640
Speaker 1: we could see a double cartwheel this season. Fingers crossed,

732
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,600
Speaker 1: not even because I want to, not even because I

733
00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:00,400
Speaker 1: want to see it in the performance, but because I

734
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:04,320
Speaker 1: want for both of you to feel like you pushed

735
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,040
Speaker 1: yourself in the direction and that you checked that box,

736
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:09,759
Speaker 1: like she presented something that was a challenge for me

737
00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:11,360
Speaker 1: and you got what you wanted out of it, like,

738
00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:13,000
Speaker 1: I'm so rooting for.

739
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:17,560
Speaker 2: That this show. You're not successful on the show unless

740
00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:19,640
Speaker 2: you have moments like that. Yeah, exactly, And that's what

741
00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:23,040
Speaker 2: I realized. It's like anytime I was successful, it's when

742
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,600
Speaker 2: I said yes to some crazy thing and we pushed

743
00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:31,640
Speaker 2: through and we did it. Yeah, because that is so contagious.

744
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,319
Speaker 2: People at home feel that they see that, they see

745
00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:37,360
Speaker 2: the stakes. Really, it was back to the two camps

746
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:39,160
Speaker 2: and when we were talking about the quality of dance,

747
00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:41,440
Speaker 2: it doesn't matter. And that's where it could be a

748
00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:44,240
Speaker 2: little bit of a disadvantage because if you've already reached

749
00:42:44,239 --> 00:42:47,160
Speaker 2: the peak, what do we wear? Are the stakes? Where

750
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:50,879
Speaker 2: are you headed now? Yeah? But you got to reach

751
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:54,000
Speaker 2: for those peaks and that's what's fun to watch. So

752
00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:57,839
Speaker 2: I appreciate Alex for that idea, and again we'll still

753
00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:00,520
Speaker 2: execute it, hopefully in a couple of weeks.

754
00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:02,640
Speaker 1: Can we talk fashion for just a brief second. What

755
00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:05,520
Speaker 1: are some of your influences? I think you have incredible style.

756
00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:07,919
Speaker 1: Every time we see each other, we do a full

757
00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,520
Speaker 1: little fit check. What are some of your influences and

758
00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:11,600
Speaker 1: what are you into right now?

759
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:15,680
Speaker 2: I'm influencing you know again, I'm a product of so much,

760
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:20,239
Speaker 2: you know, combustion of different cultures. You know, I'm an

761
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:22,959
Speaker 2: Eastern European kid that grew up in Brooklyn, New York,

762
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:27,160
Speaker 2: listening to a hip hop while playing violin and being

763
00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:31,120
Speaker 2: you know, educated and dance, and dance introduced me to

764
00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:34,640
Speaker 2: a Latin culture in which so much of our bravado

765
00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:37,600
Speaker 2: because again I specialized in the Latin styles, not the

766
00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:40,319
Speaker 2: Borm styles. I did Borm, but the Latin styles were

767
00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:44,520
Speaker 2: my expertise. So I'm mimicking the Bravado of all these,

768
00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:48,560
Speaker 2: you know, Antonio Benderis's and that's Barrados, and so there's

769
00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:52,440
Speaker 2: a fashion and you know that kind of like peacocking

770
00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:56,760
Speaker 2: of that energy plus my dance aesthetic. You know, I've

771
00:43:56,800 --> 00:43:59,400
Speaker 2: been wearing chaffon since I was twelve years old, you know,

772
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:04,240
Speaker 2: ten years. Oh, so it's it's a bit of everything.

773
00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:08,080
Speaker 2: It's it's so and I traveled to Europe for competitions

774
00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:10,719
Speaker 2: a lot as a kid through on my teens as well,

775
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:13,200
Speaker 2: so I saw the you know, the kind of the

776
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:15,879
Speaker 2: fitted fashion. Then I would come back to New York

777
00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:20,239
Speaker 2: and obviously be surrounded by i mean, late nineties jenko Is.

778
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:23,560
Speaker 2: It's crazy to see all this wide fit now coming back.

779
00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:28,399
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean, I love pop culture and I

780
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:33,680
Speaker 2: love dance, but I you know, I live beyond dance,

781
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:37,200
Speaker 2: you know, and ballroom dance. I love, like I said,

782
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:42,279
Speaker 2: hip hop music, Latin music. You know. I played in

783
00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:45,120
Speaker 2: an orchestra, played classical music my whole life, you know.

784
00:44:45,239 --> 00:44:47,680
Speaker 2: So I just love it all. And I love where

785
00:44:47,719 --> 00:44:50,440
Speaker 2: we live now, where it's like anything goes, you know.

786
00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:54,280
Speaker 2: As soon as sneakers were acceptable with a three piece

787
00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:56,520
Speaker 2: suit my zone.

788
00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:59,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm happy. Yeah, I want to thank you so

789
00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:01,480
Speaker 1: much for coming on the show. I can tell you

790
00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:03,680
Speaker 1: that from the moment I agreed to do Dancing with

791
00:45:03,719 --> 00:45:06,440
Speaker 1: the Stars, you and your brother were a major reason

792
00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:09,440
Speaker 1: why I have just been such a fan for so long,

793
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:13,880
Speaker 1: and you guys are very inspiring. So I have so

794
00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:16,359
Speaker 1: appreciated getting to know you and spending time with you,

795
00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:19,480
Speaker 1: and you're just an absolute joy. So thank you for

796
00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:19,920
Speaker 1: doing this show.

797
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:21,680
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you for having me. I'm glad we

798
00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:22,960
Speaker 2: let it happen.

799
00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:23,680
Speaker 1: You sure did.

800
00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:24,359
Speaker 2: Thank you.

801
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:30,280
Speaker 1: Danielle with the Stars produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel.

802
00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:33,719
Speaker 1: Executive producers Jensen carp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge

803
00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:37,920
Speaker 1: of production, Danielle Romo producer, editor and engineer Tara Sudbosch.

804
00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:41,279
Speaker 1: Theme song by Justin Siegel. Follow us on Instagram at

805
00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:44,160
Speaker 1: Danielle with Stars and vote for me