When the cast of “Dancing With the Stars” Season 35 was announced on Wednesday morning, a few of the names raised eyebrows among fans of the reality competition series.
The most controversial casting, perhaps, is Jenna Dewan, a professional dancer who started her career as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and starred opposite Channing Tatum in the 2006 dance movie “Step Up.” While the premise of “DWTS” is pairing professional dancers with celebrity amateurs, Dewan will be paired with a pro, ballroom expert and “DWTS” veteran Val Chmerkovskiy. Dewan’s casting sparked backlash online, with some fans arguing that Dewan has an extensive dance background and therefore has a clear advantage over the other contestants. Still, “DWTS” has no clear standard when it comes to the extent of contestants’ dance background, and many of the celebrities who have competed on the show have some experience.
Dewan defended her casting in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying that while she is a highly experienced dancer, “I do not know how to ballroom dance.”
“Let’s be clear. It’s two different languages,” Dewan told EW. “There’s parts of my dance training that’s helpful, obviously. I’ve learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain sense of unlearning for me. It’s a new technique, brand new technique. It almost threw me off initially because I had to unlearn a lot of — I don’t want to say bad habits — but just habits of the style that I’m used to.”
