I was completely with the reality TV boom for a while. I really liked a lot of the reality TV, and the one that lost me was the ballroom dancing one they do, 'Dancing with the Stars.' That was the one where I watched it and I was perplexed. I thought it was really boring.
I didnt learn until I was about 26 that my dad was a national ballroom dancing champion. He won loads of trophies. Im not sure why he was so quiet about his achievements. Maybe he thought ballroom dancing wasnt a manly thing to do.
Growing up in the Soviet Union, ballroom dancing wasn't the coolest thing to do. But that probably made me tougher, because it wasn't an easy task to do ballroom dancing and not get bullied. And I never got bullied in my life, even though I changed to five secondary schools in three different countries.
I have maintained a low profile throughout my career but have always done things in my own unique way, be it dancing or dressing up. On the dance floor, I had my own unique steps and often had to lead my choreographer.
It's great that ballroom dancing is being recognised. For many years ballroom dancers were misunderstood and other dance forms didn't want anything to do with us.
There was a lot of dancing in '76, '78, in the '80s. A lot of dancing. The burn years. A lot of dancing. And for a while, working fit in with all that. 'Moonlighting' - that wasn't acting. It was people telling me 'Let's create a character who is you, so you can play him the way you are. The guy you are at night.' It was fun.
I grew up dancing. When I was three years old, my mom would always watch Latin ballroom dancing competitions on PBS.
Ballroom dancing is so articulate. Your hips have to be a certain way, legs have to be straight at one time and bent another.
Each book I've done somehow finds its own unique form, a specific way it has to be written, and once I find it, I stick with it.
Sometimes people can get lost within the crowd, but we have to remember that ballroom dancing is an intimate sport where people look into your story and not the other way around. It's so important to just stay focused as a couple and that you don't let your adrenaline get the best of you by dancing too fast to the music or whatever.
I would love to do a little ballroom dancing with my husband... He and I can take a couple classes together. It would be a lot of fun!
If I see somebody dancing really well, it can make me want to dance. Or it could be the music. But perhaps the thing I miss the most is that when you're dancing, everyday concerns vanish. It's a unique world.
I was first introduced to dancing through the TV: I remember watching ballet, jazz and ballroom dancing when I was very little. But I felt no connection with it whatsoever: it was just like watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon.
People talk about ballroom, but they don't really understand the history. Crystal Labeija, Avis Pendavis, Paris Dupree, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey. These were the women that really brought ballroom to life.
Twerking is just limited to a certain, specific dance where it's hand on the knees and you're busting open. With bounce music, we do a whole lot more and everyone is so unique in the way that they move and their personality.
My ballroom dancing skills are completely non-existent.