Xochitl Gomez will return to the ballroom TONIGHT (October 3) alongside her professional dance partner Val Chmerkovskiy in dancing with the stars!
The 17-year-old actress is the youngest competitor this season, but that doesn’t stop her.
In the first week, Xochitl and Val did very well with their cha cha, earning a score of 18 out of 30.
During the second week, they will dance salsa to Camila Cabello’s “Don’t Go Yet” for the show’s “Latin Night.”
Ahead of this week’s competition, we sat down with the Marvel star and talked about what her experience has been like so far on the show, how her background in musical theater and martial arts have helped her, and more.
Find out what he shared inside…
Just Jared: What has been your biggest challenge competing on the show so far? Xochitl Gomez: Ooh… I’d probably just say, I don’t know, probably [being] in my own head a little. I think sometimes I can turn it over in my head, like at the last minute. I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s competition mode.’ This is scary.’ It’s kind of like that mentality itself. But so far it’s been pretty easy and fun. I think part of it has to come from my background in musical theater. Just when I am in front of a crowd, I feel very excited. So I’m not too afraid. I just want to go out more.
JJ: Has your experience in musical theater helped you in any way? XG: Yeah, sure. I mean, as I was watching it on camera, I definitely noticed the term, row 40 has come up a lot, especially musical theater. It’s been like you have to make your energy and your facial expressions so commutative that you can see them from row 40. And my mom told me that after I did my first rehearsal, like the first camera block, she was like, ‘Girl from row 40, row 40.’ And that brought me back and I thought, oh, I got you. I have to be that in this. And yeah, I mean, it’s helped me a lot. I mean, I’m really excited about our sauce. I think you could see that from row 80. It’s very exciting.
JJ: Speaking of salsa, since this week is Latin week and Val is a Latin dance champion, do you think that gives you more of an advantage? XG: Oh my god, what isn’t Val the champion of? Yes, I must say that Val has done a very good job with her choreography in this one. I mean, cha cha was amazing, but this one, her choreography is really good. Yes, I want to say that she has done a very good job, but also she not only taught me the dance, but she also taught me some basic concepts about what salsa is. I mean, I’m only 17, I don’t know anything about salsa, because normally when you learn salsa it’s like in a club or something. So he’s had to teach me a lot about that kind of stuff and I’ve only had great experiences with him so far.
JJ: Speaking of being only 17, since you’re the youngest competitor, does that add more pressure because you’re so young? XG: It’s not fun enough, I mean it’s actually been, I feel like it’s been an advantage for me. a little bit, just because it’s almost like a family, you have to have a group of people that have different types of vibes and personalities. I think what’s good about it DWTS Alright dancing with the stars, it’s just like a family, and so I, it’s like in this position of being so young, I actually see everyone as, you know, uncles and aunts and people that I can look up to, you know. I think that’s probably my perspective because I’m so young.
JJ: What have you learned about yourself that’s new since you started this whole process? XG: I’m trying to think… I can probably dance pretty well. I didn’t think I could dance as crazy as I could. I guess, because I mean, I do dances on TikTok, but I don’t have any dancing experience. I’ve never danced cha cha, I’ve never danced salsa, I’ve never done any of this, like any type of dancing. I mean, even in musical theater, I did 22 full-length musicals, but they’re youth musical theater, you know. I haven’t even studied ballet, so I have no dance experience, like I have zero. And when I was a kid, I mean, I played rugby, flag football, like that was my vibe. So coming into this, I was like, okay, I really have to lean on all of TikTok because I don’t know anything else.
JJ: What do you hope to gain from this experience? XG: Know how to dance. Being able to go out and really know what I’m doing and not just say, ‘What can I do?’, you know, but really. It’s the opportunity to really learn how to do all these things and participate in such an incredible show.
JJ: You mentioned last week that you’re used to doing stunts and that this is different from stunt choreography, but did your training in stunt choreography help you learn dance choreography? XG: Yeah, sure. I mean, in certain small ways, you can see that. I mean, we’ve done it, we’ve started doing lifts and stuff, and even just practicing it. I mean, I posted about this on my Instagram and it was pretty funny because we were doing different lifts and stuff, and I could barely understand it. I thought, oh my god, this is so scary. But we did it recently, and I’ll give you a little hint. It’s in our dance, we were, I’m jumping from something from the beginning. And I have some height issues, like that kind of thing. But challenging that was really fun. And above all I do martial arts. So there are a lot of similarities with that. I mean, having your legs straight at a specific time and that kind of thing. So that helped me, simply because ballet, I have nothing with that, but at least I have a lot of similarities with martial arts.
JJ: Now that you’ve done your first dance, has that helped you gain confidence moving forward in the competition? XG: Yes, yes. I mean, now I know what the lay of the land is like, I know what’s going on. I thought I would have a lot more nerves than I did. Which, oddly enough, seemed like this week went by very quickly. Like it was the show, then we rehearsed a couple of times. Now we are here. And that’s the vibe this week. But yeah, I feel a lot more confident doing it now, just because now I know what the routine is going to be. And I just feel excited.
JJ: You’ve joked a little about your dancing this week, but what else can you joke about this week’s “Latin Night” dance? XG: Ooh, I’m just going to say one, one thing: in the heights. That’s all you get. That’s a lot, considering what you’re going to see tomorrow.
Be sure to tune in to watch Xochitl Gómez dance salsa during the second week of dancing with the stars TONIGHT (October 3) at 8pm ET/PT on ABC and Disney+!
To vote for her and Val, voting opens when the show starts at 8 pm ET/PT, and there are two options: you can text the word “Xochitl” to 21523 up to 10 times, or you can go to DWTSvote.abc.com to cast. Your votes that way!
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn