We're having a

blast.

We're having a blast.

She's incredible to work with.

It's fun to get out and finally share with the world what we've been practicing and Hopefully they keep us around long enough for us to tell more stories.

Oh, you will.

You

I'm having such a good time.

Mm-hmm

...

I just want a, a great performance, a, a performance that I think she can get, and I have two different ways of approaching the week.

I, I could be a teacher, which, which I love being a teacher, an educator, a c- you know, a philosopher, and then there's a coach, and a coach is someone that isn't going to explain that much.

I just wanted to ignite a fire in her.

Yeah.

Uh, and yeah, I mean, that stuff definitely gets, gets to us.

I just wanna celebrate people.

Interesting.

You know? And cool.

And I flew out.

I performed actually a few times because, you know, it's a new space and now it's Discovery, and now there's a new, new guy.

You know, season two is this, you know, Maks, this, you know, what is this accent and what is this ego? And then they did a piece on him and they realized he has a kids dance studio, ballroom dance studio in New Jersey.

He has a younger brother, Val, who's, you know, a, a champion, and then there's, like, 15-year-old, 14, 12-year-old kids, you know? And, and they did a story on us, and we came out to the show and we performed, and it kinda blew people's mind because they also saw ballroom dancing on, on smaller bodies [laughs] and-

Mm-hmm

... for a while.

mean honestly i miss dancing so much it's like it is my first true love just to be back training like this in a whole different way because ballroom is like completely different so i'm like unlearning a lot of what you know i have learned my whole life but i hope so we do we need to bring Yeah, I mean,

selfishly, I'm treating myself to this incredible blessing that is Jenna Dewan.

We're in the

top.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the name.

She's on it.

She's

don't think you don't think the sparkles is the same as slam dunking over Shaq.

Yeah, but also it's all relative.

You know, I approached ballroom dancing in a similar way that probably Kobe Bryant approached basketball or basketball.

You know, Pete Ampers approached tennis.

It's like, and that's, again, back to ICL and creating a system.

It's just plug in and plug out.

And obviously, you want to see what sparks your child's interest.

we can help and you know we we'd love to take it offline to see how you know even at icl we can we can help do this because this is what we're here for to try to help the guide and and do this so i know val actually has to get ready for a flight to new york so we're going to keep it okay start wrapping it but i

That is a great idea.

Well, I mean, that was, that was the inspiration be- behind my parents signing my brother and I up for ballroom dances was an after-school program.

We were, uh, born in Ukraine, and in Ukraine there was an after-school program for boys to learn chivalry, and [laughs] that was one of the things, uh, table manners, etiquette, and how to curtsy and ballroom dance, and how to create, I guess, the right amount of space, right? 'Cause you wanna learn how to be in cr- close proximity in an, in an intimate, uh, kind of way with- with- with a young lady and a, and a woman.

But again, it's- it's like a, a respectful-

He is proud.

You know, I'm very proud.

Uh, you know, pride is the reason why I wouldn't steal.

Pride is the reason why I try to be accountable to something, you know, bigger than, than my own temptations to do things.

[laughs]

Um, secondly, I mean, again, you gotta love it.

Uh, one of the things I'm proud of with the success that I've been lucky enough to have on Dancing With The Stars is that I pursued ballroom dance at a time when there was no prospect.

There was no Dancing With The Stars in my future.

There was no real financially, uh, lucrative career [laughs] ahead of me.

I was just pursuing it, um, w- with blind passion, you know? And, and, and somehow the universe aligned for me, so I'm, I'm really proud of that.

I'm proud that my parents were able to support me, uh, irrationally as well with no [laughs] end goal in mind of, of, like I said, financial prosperity, which is something that, uh, I, I think a lot of people look, uh, when, when they're looking to, to pursue a craft of sorts.

... you individually but also in that partnership.