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The Dancing Queens Cast Reveals Ballroom Competition Secrets
The women of Dancing Queens shared how much they actually practice a week and how dancing impacts their mental health.
Enemies on the dance floor, friends (sometimes) outside the competitions. Six women are opening up about the world of competitive ballroom dancing on Bravo’s Dancing Queens — and it’s not an easy one in which to live.
From high costs to practicing hours on end, the ladies are spilling the tea on ballroom dancing and how it impacts their lives: the good, bad, and the ugly.
Get to Know the Dancing Queens
If you need a quick refresher on the cast, they’re revealing more about themselves and how they got into dancing in a new Bravo video.
Sabrina Strasser reveals she raised in Toronto and has three sisters and one brother. She has two daughters, Abigail and Chloe, with her husband, Ronnie. She first got into dancing when she was 29 years old.
“I started taking lessons, once a week, after work — just an activity,” Sabrina told Bravo. “And what slowly started as a slow progression became a huge journey and obsession.”
Pooja Mehta was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, but currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“Dance has been a part of my life since I was a little girl, since I was the age of 8 or 9,” Pooja told Bravo. “I was doing a lot of Indian dancing for many years until I found Latin and ballroom Pro/Am around the age of 17 or 18. I’ve been dancing on and off for the last 10 or 11 years, and I absolutely love it.”
Donie Burch is from Houston, Texas, but lives in New York City now.
“I’ve danced my whole life — all styles of dance,” Donie told Bravo. “I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from Southern Methodist University.”
Colette Marotto shared she grew up in a Chicago suburb, and moved to Arizona 20 years ago. She first started dancing 10 years ago.
Gaëlle Benchetrit is from Paris, France, and moved to New York City in 2017. She’s married with three children and owns a medical spa in Manhattan.
She said she first discovered ballroom dancing when she came to the U.S.
“My children were at school, my husband was working, so I didn’t know what to do in New York,” Gaëlle told Bravo. “I didn’t know anyone, so I thought maybe it was a good opportunity for me to find a dance studio and maybe to learn some cha cha cha. I just fell in love and changed my life, and ballroom dancing became a true passion.”
Leonie Biggs is from New Jersey and has been dancing for about five years. She fell in love from the moment she attended her first competition, even though she was just there to observe.
“It’s a lot. And I would say it’s right up there … surpasses going to like a Broadway [show],” Leonie told Bravo. “I’m mildly entertained by it. Actually, I’m a lot entertained by it.”
How Much Do the Dancing Queenz Really Practice And Perform?
How big of a commitment is ballroom dancing? The ladies said if you want to be good and win competitions, it can be a huge commitment.
“We’re used to this [competitions], this is like every weekend, sometimes once a month, sometimes four times a month,” Sabrina said. “It really just depends on our schedule. And I feel like we’re so used to the grind.”
Gaëlle also revealed she practices a lot to maintain her level of preparedness.
“Every day, three hours,” Gaëlle said. “It’s a lot of work I know, with the kids and business. But it’s a tough category, so to be able to beat my friends I have to work hard.”
Behind The Scenes Secrets of Ballroom Dance Competitions
Although the fierce competition can be a grind, the dancers said it can actually improve mental health.
“[It’s a] lot of courage to get in front of a group of people and be judged,” Pooja said. “It can really boost your morale, self-esteem. And it can be great.”
Leonie shared one aspect of dancing she didn’t realize was so important until she began competitions: her face.
“The one thing that people don’t know about ballroom dancing is that you don’t just dance with your arms, legs and body, you dance with your face,” Biggs said. “These facial expressions are extra. And I can’t get enough of it. I kind of love the fact that people just go there. I’m still working on my face.”
The ladies also revealed how ballroom dancing keeps them on their toes.
“We never know what song is going to play until we’re standing on the competition floor,” Donie said.
Colette added they must be ready for anything at competitions.
“We get to know the character of the dance and the approximate speed of the song,” she said. “That’s it. We have to make it work from there.”
Sabrina said the dancers get a strenuous workout every time they hit the ballroom floor.
“Dancing is not easy. It uses every muscle in your body,” she said. “Muscles you never knew existed. There’s really no hidden secret of what we do, we just do.
Watch Dancing Queens on Bravo Tuesdays at 9/8c and the next day on Peacock.
