Exclusive chats with "Dancing With the Stars" dancers regarding same-sex dancing pairs

"One of the main rules in the dancing rules is that it has to be a man and a woman."

That's hilarious! So is there a D.O.D.A.? (Defense Of Dancing Act?)

Alec: I don't know how that would work physically. Considering you have lifts and everything.

Mark: We're not allowed to lift. We're not allowed to lift at all.

Is it just me or is there a lot of BS from these guys to avoid being paired with Lance?

I've always been a bit confused why one would pair Lance with a guy just because he is gay. Just because he is gay. they'll make him do girlsteps? Or just because he is gay you can't expect him to lead a woman during a dance?

Most dances are laid out for male/female routines, so wouldn't a couple that has to do same sex dancing have a disadantage because they have to learn new things or can't do certain lifts or can't use the frilly costumes the girls wear for effect? 

I would be all for them to do a same sex round where everybody gets paired with a same sex partner, so all have the same advantage/disadvantage. 

To me dancing is just dancing. Wouldn't it be as much as a "message" to show that a gay male can be just as good a male lead dancer and a female/male coupling as any straight guy? And if male/male or female/female dancing is an interesting category itself, why not have everybody have to do it rather than just the gay guy? 

Through reading AE I have kinda got what the intention of supporting this is, I'm guessing that credit be given to Lance's sexuality, but my first instinct was to find it a bit strange that he should be given a male dance partner just because he's gay. 

One thing they would have to do in order to make this fair is either limit the pair as to who can lead and who can follow, at least in each week's dance, if not for the entire competition, or allow all couples to have lead changes.

If they did the former, it would put one partner or the other in the "woman's" role, and that might have its own PR disadvantages.

If they did the latter, I suspect some of the professionals would be upset, as that completely changes the nature of the competition.

I'm with LolaRuns on this. An out gay contestant is the win here. Same sex pairings really doesn't add anything to it... well, other than some really hot dance routines.

Boy, Alec Mazo really got nervous there, or at least startled by the question.

And what a strange comment about Denmark, because all those scandinavians are really up with same sex ballroom dancing. Or am I missing something?

At least Ballas was willing to work it out in his head. Which wasnt a bad idea to resolve the issue of "roles". I find it interesting that people have been for years trying to break the idea of gender roles and yet, there are aspects of life that apparently are untouchable. And what do you know? Ballroom dancing is one of them. Well, at least some are starting to think and talk about it. 

I dont think he should be paired why a guy just because he is gay, an out contestant would be a great step, but if they are willing it could be done.

I agree with somebody who earlier mentioned that So You Think You Can Dance will be a much better platform for same-sex pairing,since it is really hard for two boys to do ballroom.

I agree, I've always thought it odd that they would pair Lance with a guy just because he's gay. Especially because this isn't just a dance "show" but a competition based on a very standardized set of rules, and has a lot of tradition behind it. Lance should be able to compete without "special" circumstances.

I agree with the idea that if they do a same sex pairing than all people should do it. And gay ball-room dancing exists and they have their own rules and guidelines, so it's not like the dancers would have to make it up from scratch.

all that being said, a guy-guy tango is pretty damn sexy thing

www.thebittersuite.blogspot.com

First, I agree that just because Lance is gay doesn't mean that he HAS TO to be paired with a guy.

That being said -- I think Mark Ballas came up with a great approach. He said, "I'd probably ... dance everything in unison. I wouldn't dance it ... like if it happened to be the girls steps, I'd have him do man steps and I'd do man steps at the same time. So that's how I'd do it. I think it would be interesting."

That would play to both partners' strengths and make for a really dynamic routine. I'd love to see that!

BTW - So You Think You Can Dance already paired two guys this season but only for one dance and only because the eliminations left them one woman short for the pairings. Whether or not either or both of them is gay is something we'll probably never know considering how closeted the dance world seems to be. The routine they did was great but, of course, didn't involve any "intimate" moves.

When I think about this though I think about acrobats, which a generally performing a kind of "dance".  Cirque de Soleil and many other shows have used male-male pairs and groups for intricate performances where there was no single "lead" and the performers needed to be equally strong as they assuming alternating "lead" positions.

At issue, I suppose, are the conventions of ballroom dancing which assume that during a performance one persons leads and this does not change throughout the performance.

To me a male-male acrobatic performance where the roles are equal are as beautiful as a ballroom dancing performance where one person leads and the other is led.  But it would require some mindset changes in the realm of dancing where there has always been a strong sense of who does what.

Future epitaph: "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

What I really appreciated about last year's routine was the obvious effort and good naturedness that Jonathan put into it, as well as Steve Guttenberg (who was obviously over his head dancing with ANYONE).  However, there was still a bit of a camp element to it--a "Oh look, we didn't have a female partner, so we did this, isn't it funny?" undertone.  If Lance did it, it'd be tricky because he'd have to do things completely (ahem) straight--and while America might actually really enjoy watching two men do a scorching, powerful dance like the Pasa Doble, or a fast fun one like the Jive, they might squirm seeing them perform something with a romantic element like a waltz, or a blatantly sexual one like the rhumba or samba.  This then brings in the possibility of pairing him with a female partner for most of the show, and then letting him do one "exhibition" dance with a male partner--but that brings in an element of "Oh, look at the freak show."  (And none of the other couples would get this option, so why should he?) 

Serious conundrum going on here. 

Is it really so hard to wrap one's head around?  Why are we thinking of it in terms of boy part and girl part?  Why not, partner 1 and partner 2?  Then you just pick a part and stick with it and dance the hell out of it.  Psionycx makes a good point about mindset changes, but really, is it that hard?

I would love for Lance to go on, and I would love for him to be paired with a guy, because really... who else can they do that with?  It's an idea whose time has come, and I think it'd be a shame if it was passed up for too much longer.  I try to be a cynic, but truly, watching to men dance gets my heart all a-flutter.  I'm pulling for this possibility!