'Dancing With the Stars' pro Britt Stewart on earning highest score of the season and her upcoming salsa performance
Britt Stewart is currently competing on season 29 of "Dancing With the Stars" alongside two-time Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir and she is documenting the experience for "Good Morning America."
Ahead of week 6's competition, tonight at 8/7c on ABC, Stewart, the show's first-ever Black female pro, reflects on her recent '80s night performance with Weir and their mindset going into tonight's battle on the dance floor.
Here is her latest installment.
Wow! I am so happy and almost speechless after Johnny and I performed our contemporary dance to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" for '80s night. It was one of those moments of synchronization when all the elements came together beautifully.
The performance, emotion and confidence Johnny exuded in harmony with my choreography displayed our hearts and artistic expression. There was a moment in our performance when I looked at Johnny and got chills all over my body. It was magical and I really couldn't be more proud of him.
We were thrilled to see the judges score us in line with how we both felt about the performance. After we got off stage, Johnny and I had another moment backstage and couldn't help but get a little more emotional!
The buzz over our contemporary dance continued into the beginning of the week. We feel grateful to have received so much love and praise about this performance. As performers, our biggest goal is always to produce a performance that lets our audience into our world.
We hope our dances always inspire an emotional connection -- anything from tears, joy, laughter to hope!
We are very proud to have received the highest score of the season. But as soon as Tuesday's rehearsal arrived, we held it to memory because we have to be back in the studio for a fresh start, working hard and strong to produce another solid dance.
This week we have a salsa set to "On the Floor" by Jennifer Lopez. It's fast, sassy and the ultimate party!
I have given Johnny a pretty advanced dance this week with a lot of fast footwork and tricks. Fast footwork has not been his strength in previous weeks, but I can see his growth in this area. We are also doing a couple tricks!
Johnny's immediate reaction is to always protect me, so he gets a little nervous. But I am confident he will nail these tricks come Monday. He is learning and retaining the choreography quicker than any of the other dances so far.
He has a new level of focus and confidence in our rehearsal space that shows his progress week to week. I am astonished by how quickly he has grown as a dancer. There is no way he could have accomplished this salsa choreography even a couple of weeks ago!
Some of my favorite moments in rehearsal are when I'm first teaching Johnny the dance. I always prep the bones of the choreography before getting to rehearsal but shape and enhance it once I teach it to Johnny.
He is such a special person and performer, and it's become such an enjoyable experience and honor to make all the dance styles unique to him. It is my goal to make sure he is comfortable and feels authentically himself no matter what style we are dancing. We work as a team to make this happen and we have so much fun in the process!
Now get ready to party with us! It's time to salsa!
