Ilona Maher is redefining femininity on ‘Dancing with the Stars’: Watch her electrifying salsa
One of the highlights of “Oscars Night” on “Dancing with the Stars” came at the very end of the episode when Olympic rugby medalist Ilona Maher performed a salsa with her pro partner Alan Bersten. The duo danced to the award-winning song “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from the classic film “Dirty Dancing,” giving Maher another opportunity to expand what it means to be feminine. Watch their routine above.
I was a little bit worried for Maher after the season 33 premiere episode. She performed a cha cha that was a little tight and reserved, and I wondered if her muscularity was limiting her range of motion. But when she received straight sixes from the judges she rejoiced; she seemed to think the judges were being too kind to her, and her modesty and enthusiasm were infectious. I was instantly rooting for her.
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So it was a delight to see her loosen up during her week-two salsa. She even performed a few impressive lifts — that is, she lifted Bersten in addition to him lifting her. They even recreated the iconic overhead lift from the film they were paying tribute to. “Not only was that a moment people will be talking about for years to come,” raved judge Carrie Ann Inaba, “you are leading this conversation on what femininity is.”
She ended up improving her scores from week to week. This time she got straight sevens from Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli. When her scores from the first two weeks of the competition were added up, she finished a respectable seventh on the judges’ leaderboard. And when viewer votes were added in, she was unsurprisingly safe from elimination, meaning she’ll get at least one more chance to toss Bersten around the ballroom, and I’m here for it.
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