Atlantic City, Feb 2

Our third viewing of DWTS Tour show number three is behind us already! First, I must say that Louis Van Amstel has really established himself as the choreographer who has brought ballroom dancing to the public eye and to public approval. This show was fantastic. Louis did state that this show would step up the dancing, the sets, the staging, and it's true.

My family plus Monica, Felicia, Amanda, went to eat at Evo, a restaurant practically next door to Boardwalk Hall. We ran into Rich and Joanne, Joe and Linda. We saw Louis and Christian go by and then Brian joined us for dinner. We had some birthday cake for the three birthday girls and then went to the casino for a little while to play some slot machines. It really is a stupid pastime. I have a very good idea for an improved slot machine game. I think it will be my ticket to fortune. I just need to find the right person to tell it to.

When we got to the arena, our group was not seated all together, but everyone who got tickets through the studio VIP form and Sandy Ito had good seats.

Valentina saw a girl from her graduating class at Camden Catholic dancing in the Soft Scrub dance contest. I saw someone I used to know in the Soft Scrub dance contest. The person I used to know won the contest.

Right before the show started, I remarked to my friend, Monica, that there were a lot of empty seats in the arena. She said, "Don't worry, they'll fill in." She was right. Just about every single seat was occupied by the end of the first number. It almost seemed like people were avoiding the little dance contest. I guess by now people have figured out that it's like when you go to the movies and have watch all the ads for snacks and for upcoming movies for 20 minutes before the real show begins. So we know now that the show doesn't start at 7:30, it starts at 8:00, and the commercials start at 7:30.

We do make a spectacle of ourselves. We sing along, get into tthe rhythms, practically get up to dance in the aisles, scream for every dancer and dance that catches our fancy (that is everyone, all the time), and cheer like sports fans at the final game. Who is a normal fuddy duddy who would enjoy sitting in front of us? No one. That's OK. Not much can stop us, anyway.

Two ladies in front of us wanted me to not cheer so they could enjoy the show. A better soution would have been for them to move to a special fuddy duddy section. The dancers feed off the audience reactions and if the audience sits like lumps, the dancers will give less. The communication between the dancers and the audience in a show of this kind should be similar to the communication between a dance couple. There should be action and expressed response. My feeling is this: if you want a la di da show, go to a la di da theatre. When you go to a stadium, expect a few sports fans to express themselves. I do stay quiet in the theater. I know when the applause is not supposed to happen. We learned that in 8th grade music. We did go to the Academy of Music once a month during high school and I did dance with the Opera Ballet. But at Boardwalk Hall I am not sitting with my mouth shut and my hands in my lap.

Wayne Newton wished Happy Birthday to Valentina. That was nice. Brian said, "Hello, I love you," to all his friends and family while he was hosting the Soft Scrub dance challenge. He wished Felicia and his baby sister "Happy Birthday." We all had a laugh (him, too) when he used the correct grammar when asking the couples, "How long have you been dancing?" He acknowledged us when he left the "for" off of the end of the question.

Now that I have an idea of the sequence of the dances, it is fun to see how Louis has switched the partners around, putting different teams in the featured spots and changing up the line-up of dancers from show to show. This switching up probably keeps the choreography more stable and it surely makes adding and subtracting dancers less of a big deal.. Jonathan Roberts danced in 2 numbers that he was not part of last Wed and Irina Boubnovskaya stepped in to help replace Kym. By the way, Irina is amazing. She danced cha cha with Brian in the opening numbers when the different couples demonstrate the different dances. Brian says she came in, learned three numbers in about 30 minutes, then danced like they were created just for her.

It's so fun to sing along with the music. I won't keep singing along if they stop picking all my favorite songs.-I think I know most of the words to all of the tunes in this tour. I get totally absorbed into the excitement of the music, the intensity of dancing and effects of the smoke and lights.

Marie Osmond shared the Soft Scrub finals hosting with Wayne Newton. She is a kicky kind of woman. Joey Lawrence with Edyta Sliwinska was the other guest star. Drew Lachey danced with Cheryl Burke in Washington DC and Helio will join the company with Julianne next Sunday in Philly.

A note on the hair and make-up-stunning! Karina had her hair straightened. It flies like a filmy skirt. She looked gorgeous. Put that together with an amazing body and incredible dancing then pair her with any of the male dancers and what you get to watch is a real treat.

Louis said he missed one of the numbers the other night in Newark. The tour had another injured dancer and he was trying to take care ot necessary phone calls including getting a female dancer for replacement, and he missed the cue. He said when his partner went to do a drop he wasn't there to catch her and she didn't know before hand that he wouldn't be coming out.

Jonathan Roberts was in at least two of the group numbers. That was nice to see. I don't remember him dancing in Washington, except for the dances with Marie Osmond. In one of the numbers, I think it was "Baby Love." He and Edyta were on the stage dancing the same choreography that the rest of the couples were dancing on the dance floor. I guess this is a way to separate them from the other dancers in case he doesn't know the choreography and blocking yet. These dancers are so quick though. It would probably take him 15 minutes and two tries in performance to get it perfect.

Tonight the band took so long to pick up the encore I was afraid that it wouldn't happen. There were plenty of people trying to start a standing ovation, and the end of the show was full of excitement.

Brian said there hasn't been too much participation in the "back stage pass" receptions this tour. But, tonight there were close to 100 people in a reception room. Carlos, the percussionist, dancers Christina, Snow, Brian and Louis, one of the male vocalists, the keyboard man were very gracious to come down and do autographs and pose for pictures with anyone who requested them. After the show and the reception, the DWTS performers and crew headed to Boston in the trucks and buses.

Back to the dancing-If you appreciate partnering, performing, dancing that expresses what the music makes you feel emotionally and physically, you must love a show like this. There was a least one scalper outside the arena in AC. I don't know if it is something people do at the Wachovia Center in Philly, but if this is what is acceptable, everyone who doesn't have a ticket should try to get one. How in the world could you miss this show?

Feb 1 - I really enjoyed the DWTS Tour show Wednesday night. We took the Metro to the stadium area, had dinner with our friends and Brian, then walked across the street to the Verizon Center. We had fabulous seats!!!!! Everyone was ON!!! The vocalists are just phenomenal and the staging, jokes between the dancers and celebrities, choreography and dancing are just superb. This is a tremendously entertaining show. Unless you don't love music, singing, dancing, joking, glamourous performers and stuff like that.

Marie Osmond and Jonathan Roberts did two or three numbers. Cheryl did one or two with Drew Lachey. Alec and Edyta do a VERY steamy Rumba. My favorites, aside from everytime Brian hits the floor, are the couples dancing with the poles (you have to see this) and the tango featuring Louis and Karina.The standout dancers are Louis and Christina. I don't recall seeing them dance together but sometimes the positions of the dancers hid my view since we were stage right. Christina sells every single move with grace, control and expression. She is an amazing dancer. Not that the others aren't, she just stands way out. Louis is in tremendous shape and I guess he is in a good frame of mind. It must be rewarding for him to be able to call up such tremendous talent and skill from his body. He is a very vibrant dancer and man, but he is quite a bit older than most of the dancers. His dancing is so clean, so clear and still so energetic. Every position is a picture. Karina is also just exquisite. Besides the tango, though, I don't remember her being a soloist. She must have done one of the dances at the beginning of the program. I will watch more carefully at the next show.

There was a dance to the Rocky theme. I didn't even remember it having been part of the show in Tampa. Brian said he danced it Wash DC but not in Tampa because one of the girls wasn't dancing in Tampa.

I want to say that the hairdresser(s) are putting some fabulously effective hairdos on the dancers. Derek (who would list a man's hair as being memorable?) had the perfect length hair that moved just enough, reflecting the light and not obscuring his handsome face. Anya (I think I remember her dancing with Scott Lazarov in mambo some years ago), should be in a commercial for hair products. Her hair is a beautiful, warm color with shine, bounce and shape. And it is LONG! They used to have a show where the model with the best hair would win a huge contract with Prell or Clairol and if Anya was in that contest there wouldn't be a contest. Some one must have said, "Make every little thing glamorous as can be." The costumes are gorgeous and so is the hair and makeup on everyone of the dancers.

We met Guy, who is top man in charge of the show. We got lots of pictures, but they are all lousy. That's OK, because we have a great memory of an exciting show. Brian opens the whole thing with the Soft Scrub dance challenge. Ten couples from the Arthur Murray's in Alexandria were entered. They had on some great costumes and Karina made mention of the dress makers: LeNique and Designs to shine.

At the end of the show a woman asked me for my autograph! How about that?

Caution!