Each week, from living rooms in Seattle and throughout the country, some 20 million viewers suddenly morph into armchair dance critics as those preternaturally bronzed professional ballroom dancers, with their eager-to-please celebrity mates, strut into the ballroom. So, in advance of tonight's show (likely the final one for either Cyrus or John Ratzenberger), why not sharpen our dance criticism with insight from a trio of local experts: Peter Boal, Juliet McMains and Wade Madsen.
Masters in their respective dance spheres (ballet, ballroom, modern dance), they recently weighed in on the spectacle that is Ohno in jazz pants. Their verdict: a 10.
Peter Boal
Artistic director, Pacific Northwest Ballet
"Speed skaters, first of all, move one arm and two legs. And the rest of the body is stable. There's no articulation of the torso. Only shifting eyes. So you don't see all the intricacies of dancing. You see a stillness, a balance. So I would have thought it wouldn't have worked.
"But you see his hips flying all over the dance floor. He has an amazing liquidity and the personality that comes out. I suppose it [skating] gave him incredible focus.
"I think he's a flashy dancer. He's really extroverted when he's dancing, which comes across. He's got great posture. He wears his personality on the front of his chest. He doesn't let it sink into his body.
"It looks like he's a natural. I wonder if dancing was part of his history. Technically, he's able to really move his hips. We [PNB] have some solos the sailor dance in `Fancy Free' and some guys can't get theirs moving. And he has nice expressive hands.
"I think I expected the leg work to be there. But he's able to move his shoulders, head, neck, rib cage with such precision.
"It's good that he's competitive. He knows what it feels like to win.
"I'll put my money on Laila Ali (and Apolo). Those two. They're both charming and they have chemistry with their partners. It doesn't mean anything if you don't have that chemistry."
Boal's TV watching: last summer it was "Rock Star: Supernova;" when he watches with wife Kelly it's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Brothers and Sisters." Son Sebastian, 11, turned the family onto "Planet Earth." And yes, Boal's caught some episodes of "Dancing With The Stars" "Anything that touches on our profession is great. I'm just waiting for Chapter Two. Dancing with the Stars: Ballet."
Juliet McMains
Former DanceSport competitor and assistant professor in the dance program at University of Washington
"I don't know celebrities in general. But when I saw him (Ohno) dancing I saw that he had tremendous talent.
"It's obvious that he's got youth on his side. And he has tremendous energy that comes with that. But he also has a really relaxed body. A body that absorb things. It's not all knotted up in places.
"I've been teaching social dancing for years and I've often noticed there's a significant shift in how quickly someone learns who's under 35 versus over 35. [Ohno is 24.] I'm not sure why but maybe there's something in the brain that makes it harder.
"In the Latin dances when he has to do body isolations, isolations of the torso, pulses, thrusts, his hip movements are very easy. The energy flows from the bottom of his toes to the tips of his fingers.
"He makes beautiful lines and I think that's because his body is so relaxed. And he's so well-matched with his partner. She's maybe his same height but she's tiny. So he doesn't look small [Ohno is 5-foot-8].
"His footwork is better by far than anyone else's. And he extends his arms more fully than anyone else. And the extension starts from the middle of his back.
"His center is his weakest thing. That's what he's missing. You can sometimes see that when he lifts his shoulders up.
"His choreography is actually more difficult than just about anybody else's. And Apolo looks like he's actually leading [his partner]. Billy Ray doesn't lead anything, and it's obvious."
As a competitive ballroom dancer, Juliet McMains was twice named a Rising Star national finalist and won competitions in the U.S. and in Canada. She scrutinized the ballroom dancing industry in her 2006 book "Glamour Addiction." And yes, she's a faithful watcher of the show.
Wade Madsen
Dancer, choreographer and Cornish College of the Arts faculty member
"To learn a step is one thing. But to learn a step in sequence with someone else is very difficult. You not only have to know what you're doing but what the other person's doing. ... You have your arm around someone's waist and you're creating tension. He's got to pull her in at the same time she's pushing him away to create that tension.
"Now why is he an interesting dancer? I can't imagine going how fast he goes [on the ice]. There's a subtlety that he has to have to be on the skates. A muscular subtlety that I'm sure translated into him moving, and into dancing.
"The first thing I noticed was he understands the movement comes from the core of the body, from his hips. He doesn't move from his arms. He moves from the center. And he's sharp. He has clean lines. And they put him in great pants to show off his skater tush.
"The other thing I notice is he has a really great rapport with his partner. They seem to be enjoying dancing together. There's a closeness between them. And what I notice is how he moves his center, his torso, with her. The space between them was electric. There was a sense that their space was charged.
"I'm assuming young girls are going ga-ga over him because when I look at him I feel like a young girl. There's something about him. He just looks like he's the coolest kid next door. And then to see him dance you go, Wow. He's totally committed."
Madsen loves TV, sometimes turning it on at 4 p.m. and zoning out until 11 p.m. He watches "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and with his partner Macks Leger they'll watch "The Simpsons" and "South Park." Leger, however, thinks "Dancing With The Stars" is "stupid," Madsen says. "I think one of the things I like, being a teacher, is to watch how these guys are learning. And at what level they're accomplishing what they've learned."
Florangela Davila: 206-464-2916 or
