Pasha--My Story by Pasha Kovalev

Author:Pasha Kovalev [Pasha Kovalev]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782197799
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

I was smart enough to know that my Russian ways and calm demeanour almost certainly wouldn’t endear me to the American public. Usually, American reality television is all about wearing your heart on your sleeve and keeping emotions close to the surface. People in the US are used to their TV stars screaming and crying, and talking candidly about how they feel. Such behaviours definitely didn’t come naturally to me but, until I was able to better show that I was a human being, not a dancing cyborg, I was never going to be thought of as a contender for ‘America’s favourite dancer’.

I had proof of this when, in week two, Jessi and I found that we were one of the three couples who had received the least votes from the viewing public. We were so disappointed.

In the run-up to our performance, I’d been practising our exotic bird jazz routine a lot on my own. Jessi didn’t seem herself. I’d got to know a very energetic and bubbly character in Vegas and during the first week of the competition, but now she just seemed really tired all the time. When rehearsing our waltz in week one, I had so many things to say to Jessi to help her get the dance right, but in week two she had only given me a couple of tips on how to dance jazz, even though that was her area of speciality. With each day that passed, she was becoming quieter, moodier and more withdrawn.

Jessi had shared with me that she had a few issues with her body image at that time. She was a very skinny girl anyway and yet she was always doing something to try to make herself even slimmer than before. I wondered whether that was preying on her mind. Also, I suspected she wasn’t taking proper care of herself, drinking enough water or eating enough. In spite of all that, I had thought we danced our jazz routine well, so it was a little upsetting to find ourselves faced with the prospect of elimination.

Even worse than the feeling of disappointment at not getting the votes we needed was the knowledge that I’d have to dance a solo routine during the results show to fight for my right to stay. The idea filled me with horror. Until then, the only dancing I had ever done had been either with a partner or as part of a group. A big part of how I danced was in reacting and feeding off the performance of the other people or person on stage. I just wasn’t sure how I was going to handle it out there on my own.

Each week, every contestant has to prepare a different 30-second solo routine in case they find themselves in one of the bottom three couples. We choreographed it ourselves but sometimes sought advice from the other contestants to try to improve it. I’d rehearsed my routine, all the while hoping I’d never actually have to perform it.

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