Leads and follows, please welcome to the blog: Colette Marotto! She is a mother, a businesswoman and an Open-level pro-am competitive ballroom dancer. Though you may better recognize her from her recent role on the show Dancing Queens.
As I wrapped up my series on Dancing Queens, I sat down with Colette to talk about the impacts that dance has had on our lives and vice versa, as well as her experiences on the show. Let’s jump in!
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I am so excited to welcome Sabrina Strasser to the blog! She is an Open Latin pro-am competitive ballroom dancer, mother of two, and owner of SabiChic, a dancewear accessories brand. Of course, you may know her better from the show Dancing Queens, which recently wrapped its first season on Bravo. I sat down with Sabrina to talk about competing in ballroom, managing mindset and that tricky life-dance balance, and her experiences on Dancing Queens.
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That’s a wrap! The first season of Bravo’s Dancing Queens came to an exciting end this past week. When the trailer was first released back in April, I felt curious more than anything else. After witnessing some nasty initial reactions to the trailer on social media, I felt called to act as a voice of reason and a reality check to the “reality” show. Our pro-am ballroom world would likely be overdramatized for the sake of Bravo’s audience, so I would follow along to inject a shot of common sense when necessary.
Now that the season has ended and I’ve watched the final episode, I can honestly say I enjoyed the journey! There was plenty of dancing to watch and as my reviews shared, there were also plenty of relatable challenges faced by the Dancing Queens ladies. Aside from a few highly edited scenes and scenarios that seemed set up solely for the sake of the storyline, the show’s portrayal of the ladies’ journey felt authentic.
In Episode 8, the ladies arrive at Millennium Dancesport Championships. Will the blood, sweat and tears they’ve all put into their dancing get them to that top podium?
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We’re in the final countdown to the competition that the Dancing Queens ladies have all been preparing for: Millennium Dancesport Championships. This competition is a very large regional event that is known for its elaborate themes. For example, 2023’s theme was Egyptian Nights. When I attended the event in 2018, the theme was comic book superheroes. The theme of the 2022 Millennium on Dancing Queens was a nostalgic flashback to the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
We haven’t arrived at the competition yet in Episode 7, but the ladies are in serious prep mode with lessons with their pros, cross training, and getting outside coaching. Through the pressure and stress of doing everything they can to ensure the best chance of dancing away as the champion, an important truth emerges in this episode – dance at its core is about joy.
Continue readingAnother competition is in the books for the Dancing Queens ladies! They all took the floor at the Atlanta Open in Episode 6, except for Gaëlle who was there only to spectate. There were some tense moments on and off the dance floor, highlighting the fact that our dance journeys are not all sunshine and rhinestones. While dancers may be considered athletes of the gods, we’re still human and we have bad days.
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We have arrived at yet another competition in Episode 5 of Dancing Queens. This episode served us more tension and drama between the women as they prepare to take the floor once again. For me, the drama felt much more manufactured via the magic of editing than in previous episodes, but hey, the producers have to keep the audience engaged, right? Not everyone tunes in just to see the dancing.
Aside from the artificially inflated tension, Episode 5 also highlighted some of the realities unique to the adult pro-am ballroom student experience. We are already living full lives when we first enter a ballroom dance studio. We have full-time jobs, homes and families that require our time and energy. Yet the passion for dance cannot be denied, and when we reach the point of committing to a competitive dance journey, sacrifices have to be made. The question is, are they worth it?
For the first time on Dancing Queens, we get to see all six of the ladies on the competition dance floor. Sabrina, Donie, Colette, Gaëlle and Pooja are facing each other at New Orleans Open, while Leonie tests out her partnership with her pro partner Koysta at American Star Ball. Episode 3 showed us how mindset comes into play in the final moments before stepping onto the floor. This past week’s Episode 4 gives us the opportunity to ask the question: do placements matter?
The ballroom drama continues in Week 3 of Dancing Queens! Sabrina, Donie, Colette and Gaëlle have travelled to New Orleans for their next competition, New Orleans Open, while Leonie prepares for American Star Ball in Atlantic City. We also meet the sixth lady of the show, Pooja.
Like Episode 1, this episode follows the ladies during the final days and hours before they step onto the competition dancefloor. As the countdown progresses, preparing to dance becomes less about rehearsing steps and more about the mental game.
Continue readingEpisode 2 of Dancing Queens showed us the real drama of a ballroom competition, as students and their teachers put everything they have into their performances in hopes of being noticed by the judges, making the final and ultimately winning their event. It also provided some fantastic examples of the dynamics of the pro-am relationship and how they trigger tension and conflict.
Dancing Queens, a new reality show on Bravo about pro-am ballroom dancers, premiered last Tuesday. There was a lot of anticipation leading up to the first episode, after the trailer riled some people up. Personally, I was so curious to see how Bravo, a network known for melodramatic reality shows like The Real Housewives franchise, would portray this world. There is plenty of drama naturally in pro-am ballroom, but would it be enough for television or would Bravo’s producers need to amp things up a bit?
The Girl with the Tree Tattoo 