#mark interview

[vislortherizzler]

[daydreaming-juna]

Seventeen | Read Receipts | Mark Tuan 

[lightfromtheshadows]

The creative process, for me, is always fun. Kind of brainstorming and coming up with cool concepts. The relationships you make with your partners, when you guys get along, it's like you make life-long friendships. You know, I hear from Sadie every day if not every other day. I hear from the whole family. You know, she always sends me inspirational quotes and she's always supporting me. I talk to Shawn Johnson all the time. Kristi Yamaguchi came out to see me on tour. You know, those bonds and friendships you make by taking someone on a journey who has absolutely no idea about this. The other part that I really love is getting to work with the other pros. Like getting to go out there and dance with someone like Anna. And also getting to put the pro numbers together and trade partners and be on your game, be on the fly. And getting to dance next to, like, Val and Derek every day and the girls. It's just a really, really fun experience.

Mark Ballas on his favorite things about Dancing With the Stars (x)

[lightfromtheshadows]

I do all of these creative, out-of-the-box things for the fans at home just because we're in Season 20. You've seen it all a million times and, you know, I want the show to keep going, I want it to keep having this kind of staple and influence on people that get to watch it, get inspired to get out and try dancing, get in shape, and be a role model to other people to go outside the box, to go outside your comfort zone, to be creative.

Mark Ballas (x) 

[lightfromtheshadows]

For me, when you want to work hard, I'm there with you. I can go all day. I'm down to train all day. But like I have to, at times...what I'm really learning with her is that she won't take a break because she really wants to get stuck into it and I kind of have to gauge it and I can tell by the look on her face. I can tell when it's now TMI, too much information, snack time.

Mark Ballas (x)

[lightfromtheshadows]

Last night I was really, really proud of her because she did suffer a bit of a rough week. She didn't hurt the rib until Saturday. Like we were on such a roll and then she hit the rib and it did kind of go out of place and we had to take her to get it adjusted and put back in. And talk about a trooper. Like most fourteen year old kids would be like, 'I don't wanna...' She wanted to keep going. I also took her to where...this place where we do the ice baths. Like where all the sports guys go and all the dancers go. And I was like, 'Look, we're gonna have to ice it if you wanna feel better.' The ice bath is freezing. We did four plunges and the first one she only made it thirty seconds and she was literally like *shivers* 'Can I get out now?' And then by the fourth one, she had convinced herself that I need to do this for my body to feel better. She stayed in there for four minutes, bless her heart.

Mark Ballas (x)

[lightfromtheshadows]

It's funny. With the celebrities, like when they make fun of you showing them, them nail it. You know, I'll say to someone - like Sadie last season - I was like I really need you to like do this. They're like, 'Oh, I'm embarrassed.' And then they'll make fun of you showing them and I was like, 'That's it! That's it right there!'

Mark Ballas (x)

[lightfromtheshadows]

And I can tell you, going first...sucks. It does. Especially for Willow and I. I don't know whose idea it was to put the fourteen year old first on the premiere, but that was a bad move. Anna can tell you too, like we have clicks at the beginning of the routine. Like, you hear click, click, click, and then you know your music is starting and we had our first move was on one, you know. And the audience was so loud and we didn't have a monitor and we couldn't hear them at all, so the music started and it just put Willow in like a...'help me' mode. She settled into it about fifteen seconds in and then she kind of got to cut loose, but Week 2 and last night, Week 3, I had them put monitors right behind us so we could hear those clicks super, super loud. She was very comfortable.

Mark Ballas (x)