Martina Navratilova kicked off the season of Dancing with the Stars Monday night with good humor and some fun moves. When she entered, Navratilova appeared to be wearing not just a spangly gown, but a pink spangly gown, but that color turned out to be just a trick of the lighting. I hope you were able to revive any friends who collapsed from the shock before Martina went on.
When it came time for Martina’s segment, she mentioned that she’s an athlete and a breast cancer survivor, so good luck scaring her, show!
In her introductory video package, she mentioned that she hadn’t worn a dress in 20 years, and worried that she might be a little too tomboyish, but you’ll see that she’s rocking the makeup-and-gown look pretty well.
And now: A world-champion tennis legend doing the foxtrot. (With Tony Dovolani.)
You’ll note that Martina has that odd ballroom vacant smile-and-stare down cold, not to mention the sliding-through-the-legs trick and a couple of nice spins.
Followers of Hope Solo’s run last season were doubtless astonished to see that judge Carrie Anne was not immediately dragged to Hell for lying and saying that she loves Martina’s muscular arms.
So, wait, does that mean the show has gotten less gender normative? Hahahahahahahahahahaha! No.
Carrie Anne and Bruno praised Martina for her willingness to look girly far more than for her dancing. (And, hey, femme looks can be a truly magical thing. I just wish the judges weren’t quite so laser-focused on the necessity of all women conforming to them.) For her part, Martina said in her post-dance interview that the makeup, gown and heels went with the role of being a ballroom dancer, and that she was having fun playing that part.
Len accurately said that Martina and Tony were a little too careful. I look forward to Martina coming out with a roar next week.
SCORE: 7, 6, and 7 for a total of 20 out of a possible 30. That puts them toward the back of the pack.
There is another full dance show next Monday night before anybody gets eliminated on Tuesday, so vote like you mean it.
