Sports
Aly Raisman's Run on Dancing With the Stars Continues Tonight
Raisman performs on Dancing With the Stars tonight, with professional dancer Mark Ballas. Get to know him a bit better.
Local Olympian Aly Raisman is back on "Dancing With the Stars tonight," and seems to be doing well so far.
Raisman, who first started gymnastics at Exxcel Gymnastics in Newton, scored 21 points her first week, with 7 points from each of the three judges. This puts her in a three-way tie for second, along with Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough, and Dorothy Hamill and Tristan MacManus. These teams are behind that of Zendaya Coleman and Val Chmerkovskiy who scored 24.
The team of Alexandra (as she is called on the show) and Mark will be training for the quickstep this week, along with three other teams. Last week, they performed the Cha-cha.
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No dancers were eliminated last week, but the lowest-ranked duo will be off the show this week during the Results Show tomorrow night. Musical guests are Josh Groban and Icona Pop.
Raisman, a Needham native, is dancing with professional dancer Mark Ballas. He joined the cast of the program during season 5, according to his ABC DWTS profile page. He won season 6 with gold medal Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. In season 14, he made it to second place with his partner, singer Katherine Jenkins.
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He has also danced with Bristol Palin, daughter of Sarah Palin, twice--once in the All-Stars season, and actors Shannen Doherty and Melissa Joan Hart.
Raisman was interviewed by the LA Times about her performance on the show. In her first post, she says she feels she has a real connection to Ballas on the dance floor, and that he has really been helping her.
She also notes that one of the biggest challenges to overcome is being more fluid, as gymnastics tend to require sharp movement.
Read her full LA Times e-mail interview here.
"Dancing With the Stars" returns tonight from 8 p.m. to 10:01 p.m., with the DWTS Results Show airing tomorrow night from 9 p.m. to 10:01 p.m.
In addition to getting her gymnastics start in Newton, Raisman is also a member of Newton's Temple Beth Avodah.
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