Chandler Kinney rapidly grew to become a reputation to observe on this season of “Dancing With the Stars.”
The actor, who has appeared in Disney’s “Zombies” film collection and “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin,” made a splash with dancing professional Brandon Armstrong within the season premiere. Their tango to Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go” earned the pair a 23/30 from the judges, the very best rating of the evening.
Whereas the two have remained towards the highest of the leaderboard all through the season, they’re nonetheless chasing the coveted excellent judges’ rating, falling only one level brief through the newest episode with their Viennese waltz to the “Pretty Little Liars” theme tune.
“I think people don’t realize ballroom is its own beast,” the actor informed HuffPost, including that studying dances for the present “could not be more different” than issues she’s accomplished previously. “The first couple of weeks was, for us, breaking habits of any past experience I had as a kid.”
Having acted in musical tasks like “Zombies” that contain massive dance numbers doesn’t robotically translate to an setting like “DWTS,” she stated.
“You know, on set, you have a million takes — maybe not a million, but you have a few. The live performance aspect of this show has been so scary for me because you only get the one opportunity,” she stated.
Eric McCandless through Getty Photos
Nonetheless, Armstrong acknowledged that there are “huge pros” that include being paired with a star who has danced earlier than: “knowing how to count music, knowing how to hold yourself, certain things like with your feet and legs.”
However Kinney’s expertise, Armstrong stated, is “why we’ve been able to push the bar so high for her.”
Coming in with some dance background could be a divisive prospect for the present’s followers, a few of whom take pleasure in watching a complete newcomer evolve because the weeks go on.
“I think that people love that or hate that, or whatever, but you can’t help but appreciate the value and quality that she does bring to the floor,” Armstrong, who’s in his seventh season of dancing as a professional, added. “I think it’s even hard for her to understand how much of a treat it is when you get someone like this.”
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Whereas the pair have delivered robust performances every week, the judges’ critiques have sometimes fallen flat for them. Throughout Week 4, decide Carrie Ann Inaba requested Kinney to “dig a little deeper” whereas commenting on a up to date dance she had devoted to her mom. Then, two weeks later, Inaba held off on giving Kinney an ideal 10 on her Viennese waltz, saying, “I wouldn’t call this one perfection just because of what the dance demanded,” eliciting boos from the viewers.
“I realized, specifically after Dedication Week, which — this isn’t something that I necessarily was specifically critiqued on, it was more my conclusion on the critiques that I did get — was that I think dance, in a lot of ways, is kind of like a representation of a thing,” Kinney stated. “And that, I think, requires an extra level of externalization of emotions that I typically just never think about as a TV and film actor. You never think about the perception of the story you’re telling. You’re just living in the moment.”
“With dance, you want the person who’s sitting right there on the floor next to the performance to have the same experience as someone up in the rafters,” she added. “That is, I think, one of the greatest gems that I’ve taken from these last couple weeks.”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
