'Dancing with the Stars' pros bring ballroom to York
Can’t get enough of shows like “Dancing with the Stars,”“So You Think You Can Dance” and “American Idol”?
Performers from all three are coming to York’s Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center May 14 for Ballroom with a Twist – a show that takes your love of reality TV from your living room to the stage.
The show – hosted by “Dancing with the Stars” pros Anna Trebunskaya and Dmitry Chaplin – will also feature performances from Oksana Dmytreko, Magda Fialek, Anya Fuchs and Kiki Nyemchek from “Dancing With The Stars”; Legacy, Serge Onik, Jonathan Platero and Randi Lynn Strong from “So You Think You Can Dance”; and Gina Glocksen-Ruzicka with Mykal Kilgore from “American Idol.”
You probably remember Trebunskaya from her performances with Jerry Rice, Evan Lycasek and, most recently, Gary Busey.
“The fun thing about Ballroom With A Twist is that you get the best dancers from ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ ‘Dancing With The Stars’ and ‘American Idol’ all happening live,” she said. “And it’s not just one type of dancing.”
The audience can expect to see everything from Latin to contemporary and even b-boy style.
The best part? There’s no judges, Trebunskaya said, so the dancers can just focus on sharing their love of dance with the audience.
Ever wonder what it’s like to perform on a show like “Dancing with the Stars”? Trebunskaya said it’s a lot a lot like going on a cruise. For three months. Without the feeling of actually being on vacation.
“You basically don’t have your own schedule for three months out of the year,” she said. “You go on the ship and the people on the cruise, they become your family and friends and everything … You work seven days a week. You don’t have days off. After three months, you go to some land and you’re like, ‘Oh, there’s other people, too. There’s other people than your family.’ For three months, the crew and cast is really our family.”
Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the amount of time “Dancing with the Stars” dancers dedicate to the show.
Time to teach a new dance – 5 days
Outside of the show, Trebunskaya said she typically spends at least three or four months teaching a dance routine to a beginner student. On “Dancing with the Stars,” the professionals have only five days. And as you get closer to the finals, you end up teaching three to four dances a week when you factor in all of the group dances, she said.
Rehearsals – 8-14 hours a day
Often, people think the dancers just rehearse a few hours each day. And sometimes, that’s true. But even if a rehearsal is only three or four hours long (although it’s sometimes more like six), they also have to factor in travel, wardrobe fittings and other behind-the-scenes tasks, Trebunskaya said. Even if they get eliminated from the competition, they’re still involved in choreography and professional dance numbers, which also takes time.
Travel – 3 hours a day (at least)
You have to rehearse where your celebrity is, Trebunskaya said. That often means at least three hours of travel time per day – sometimes more if you have to fly to another state.
Interviews – 1-2 hours
Even though you only see about a minute of it on TV, interviews and reality bits tend to take more than an hour to complete, Trebunskaya said.
Hair and makeup – 4 hours
Getting ready for show night is no simple task. Dancers typically spend an hour in hair and an hour in makeup – sometimes longer if they’re going for a crazy character look. Then, they have about 30 to 45 minutes of touchup, plus some extra time for spray tanning and body makeup. When it’s all said and done, it takes about four hours every show night, Trebunskaya said.
If you go
What: Ballroom With A Twist
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14
Where: Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center, 50 N. George St., York
Cost: $42, $52, $62. Meet-and-greet tickets are an extra $50.
More information: Visit www.mystrandcapitol.org