The “Real” Dance with the Stars

There are certain moments that occur in life that are so exquisite, they leave you breathless.

The challenge is, if you blink, you might miss them.

There was just such a moment during the dramatic rematch of last summer’s hit show, Dancing with the Stars.

Whether or not you saw the show, see if you sense the profundity contained within the moment about to be described:

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The "Real" Dance with the Stars

by Dr. Michael R. Norwood
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

In the smash summer television show, "Dance with the Stars," John O’Hurley, popular actor from the television comedy Seinfeld, was squared off against Kelly Monaco, sexy star of The Young and The Restless.

The series had started with six well-known stars, each teamed with a professional dancer with whom they had to learn difficult ballroom dance routines. Each week, base upon their televised performance, one team was eliminated.

This was determined by which team received the lowest number of votes from three experienced judges whose votes counted 50%, and millions of call-in viewers whose votes counted for the other other 50%.

All along, John O’Hurley and his professional dance partner, Charlotte Jorgensen, had been the judges and America’s favorite to win, scoring the highest by a landslide nearly every show.

But in the breath-taking final show of the competition, after receiving three perfect 10s from the judges for her final sizzling performance with partner and dance professional Alec Mazo, Kelly Monaco snatched the certain victory away from O’Hurley .

That show in itself was extraordinary. Monaco had almost been eliminated in the first two shows of the summer series, her dancing then described by one of the judges as "a disaster."

But with a spunk and tenacity that made her win the hearts of the judges and millions of the show’s fans, week by week, her dancing improved, until she and Mazo overcame the elegance that had all along been the trademark of John O’Hurley and his partner.

At the start of the rematch, O’Hurley expressed his great disappointment in losing the finale and his extreme desire to win back that which he felt had been stolen from him.

Monaco, always spunky, expressed in no uncertain terms her desire to retain her trophy.

In the rematch, Monaco and O’Hurley each had three dances with their professional partners to try to garner America’s votes, which would determine the winner. (The judges had no vote in the rematch).

Though both couples danced admirably considering that just a few months earlier they were total novices to ballroom dancing, neither couple in my opinion danced with the soul and the fire that made the original competition so electric.

Watching, I was, in fact, slightly disappointed.

But then, preceding the second round of dance, something so extraordinary occurred, something so ethereal, I find myself a very long time after the show’s airing finally sitting down and attempting to capture the unforgettable moment on paper.

It came during an exhibition performance featuring champion ballroom dancer, Jonathan Roberts. He had been paired during the original competition with one of the stars, but was eliminated with her during the third round of the summer series. Now he was dancing with his wife and professional partner, Anna Trebunskaya.

And thus the moment begins.

It starts with the haunting notes of live singer Brian McKnight singing "Fields of Gold."

And then, two dancers seem to simply materialize from off stage.

There is something immediately captivating.

They are whirling.

Their motion is effortless.

Something indefinable transcends the great hullabaloo of the tremendously publicized television show.

How do you describe magic?

How do you describe a perfectly still pond the moment a single drop of water – a tear – falls upon its surface?

How do you capture the perfect unison of two bodies dancing on sound waves rather than a floor?

How do you put into words two people – a man and a woman – a husband and a wife – whose deepest union is suddenly given form?

The show’s host, Tom Bergeron, is visibly moved by the performance. Normally the funny-man of "America’s Funniest Home Videos," he stumbles over his words when greeting the couple at the end of the dance.

And the moment is passed.

It’s back to the competition.

The show is not about the two spirits who for a moment left millions breathless; it’s a competition between two stars, Kelly Monaco and John O’Hurley.

John O’Hurley wins the rematch.

He is vindicated

By the end of the show, you most likely have forgotten the transcendent ninety seconds you witnessed earlier.

They could have been imaginary.

It was just a sideshow, after all.

But the moment hasn’t let me go.

Having recorded the show, I replayed that exquisite minute and a half over and over.

And not wanting to lose the ephemeral beauty of what I saw – what I’m still feeling – I’m writing these words.

How many such extraordinary moments pass in your life?

Moments that you never think about a second time simply because you’re so busy getting onto the next moment?

It happens to me all the time.

And, like a dream, if I don’t write something down immediately after to remind myself, I never think of it again.

And what is it you and I are running after if not that which may already be passing right before our very eyes?