Dancing the night away…

For those of you who might be wondering what Carol has been up to for the past couple of months, you’ll be happy to know that she’s been dancing up a storm on the Italian version of “Dancing With The Stars” (“Ballando Con Le Stelle”).

“It’s been a very interesting experience, I must say”, Carol tells us. “For one thing, I ripped a 15mm tear in a muscle in my back and then there I was, dancing the jive with that kind of injury. I honestly never had a clear picture of what a dancer’s life is really like: The concentration, the intricate moves, and how incredibly technical it all is. Then there is the sheer number of dances. By the time this is finished, I’ll have learned 11 separate dances! And that includes, by the way…the Flamenco!

“Until you actually do it, you don’t really think about all the different steps and moves that go into the various ballroom dances – and each one is very, very different from the others. For example, sometimes both legs have to be kept straight; other times, they have to be bent; and then sometimes, one is straight, while the other is bent! And that’s just the lower half of your body! Some dances call for a really smooth, gliding style and then in others, you have to bounce. It’s a lot to learn and a lot of hard work before you feel comfortable doing any of it.

“I have to admit that when I accepted this project, I didn’t understand how challenging it was going to be. You know how when you’re out on a dance floor with your partner, you kind of learn how to dance together and it’s usually not any particular “formal” dance. But when you’re dancing on a professional level (or trying to!), you have to give up control and follow your partner, who, in this case, is a professional, highly experienced dancer. Of course, when I say “follow”, that also means the guys who are learning to dance with a professional female partner, too, even though they’re supposed to lead. You can’t lead OR follow if you don’t have a clue what you’re doing! And some of those moves are pretty bizarre, too.

“Take the waltz, for example. Your hips are together, his leg is placed between your legs, you’re bending backwards, with your heads away from each other and you aren’t even looking at each other!” Carol pauses and then laughs as she continues: “In the olden days, when young ladies could only dance with their chaperones in attendance, I can certainly understand why they wanted to waltz. Think about it: From the waist up, they looked like they weren’t even touching. All the “action” was from the waist down…!”

Carol was fortunate to have Raimondo Todaro, winner of previous “Ballandos”, as her partner/instructor. The unfortunate part was that Carol and Raimondo each lost a lot of valuable rehearsal time, she by having to fly to Florida for work and he by having to attend a competition in London. In addition to that, Carol was invited to join the show rather late in the game and already had commitments that prevented her from starting at the same time as the others (they began rehearsals on December 15th, but Carol wasn’t available until January 5th). The producers and agents involved were all aware of this situation when they offered Carol the show, but she is so popular in Italy that they apparently felt it was worth taking a little risk. All in all, she and Raimondo were 5 weeks behind everyone else and were never really able to catch up on that lost time – although they certainly gave it their all, as you can see in the following clip of their beautiful waltz, from Italian YouTube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdih8fc5OwM&feature=channel_page

“Raimondo was very patient with me throughout and that really helped. For some reason, the rhumba was particularly difficult for me, because you have to keep your legs straight and the muscles tight, while executing lots of turns. But other dances, such as the tango, quick-step, waltz and jive are really good for someone of my height, because they’re somewhat looser and yet still sensual, and I found I was able to move more freely. Of course, many of the movements involved here go completely counter to the way I’ve had to move most of my life as a model.”

The competition aspect of “Ballando Con Le Stelle” is over now for Carol. She and Raimondo were eliminated after the fourth episode. Of course, that doesn’t mean her work in Italy is over quite yet, since she’ll be participating in various ways until the season ends for “Ballando” in late March.

“Tough as it was – especially knowing that we were coming into it late, with a couple of weeks less practice time than everyone else – I still feel that it was a wonderful, amazing experience. I actually enjoyed being tired physically for a change, since most of what I do now is pretty cerebral and I’m usually exhausted mentally at the end of the day, yet fully awake physically. Plus, I learned more than I could possibly have imagined and I know that from now on, I will certainly be able to hold my own on a dance floor. I’m more versed in a type of social interaction than I ever would have been otherwise, for which I am truly grateful.

“Now, if someone would just invite me to waltz in Vienna…!”