Re: Team VaLaur, Laurie and Val

by **peebeeb** Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:08 pm

Terrific dance.

by GymGirlJane Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:35 am

omg Laurie. I missed the show last night but just saw her on Youtube. I would have supported her no matter what because I love her as a gymnast. But this girl has incredible talent on the dance floor. Plus she has general star potential. What a personality. Totally proud of her.

by **singlyme** Tue Oct 04, 2016 8:13 am

Completely captivating! I had to watch it twice. Val looked adorable and Laurie - just wow.

by GymGirlJane Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:11 pm

Psychee22 wrote:To me, she doesn't seem to come across as 16 years old, either.

Laurie is an elite gymnast. She has led an extremely sheltered life. She is home schooled , has no social life. These girls spend their whole lives in the gym training. Most of them come across as younger than they are in some ways. They have an innocence born of the sheltered lives they have led. But they are lions. They are fierce and professional and competitive. They are so used to working much harder than the vast majority of people work and they have an outstanding work ethic.

Its interesting that you thought Shawn seemed more mature. Shawn's coach, Chow, has a unique approach. His elite gymnnasts train fewer hours than the rest of them do and he insists on more balance in their lives. Having said that, I always thought Shawn was pretty much the typical gymnast.

by **kincaid53** Tue Oct 04, 2016 2:20 pm

Shawn did not seem as mature to me as Laurie does, but maybe it was that little girl giggly laugh.

by **Glittersisgld** Tue Oct 04, 2016 4:10 pm

I just watched the dance and of course Laurie was wonderful. That was one of my favorite MJ videos. He looked so happy in it.

by **Glittersisgld** Tue Oct 04, 2016 4:11 pm

I think Shawn had a perpetual baby looking face.

by piratealikat Tue Oct 04, 2016 5:57 pm

I've watched this I don't know how many times....she was captivating! And kudos to Val for NOT loading it with tumbling....she is an amazing dancer and proved it!

by luvthepros Thu Oct 06, 2016 7:45 pm

I applauded Laurie when the dance was over. Laurie nailed that routine and Bruno nailed it with his comments.

by GymGirlJane Sun Oct 09, 2016 6:09 pm

Okay, so its not about Laurie. But it is about Simone Biles, who is Laurie's teammate.

And its a total scream.

by **Psychee22** Mon Oct 10, 2016 1:32 pm

I love her giggle. Next season with Sasha as her partner is going to be fun.

by GymGirlJane Mon Oct 10, 2016 2:43 pm

I knew I could connect it Your Honor!!!

Laurie was on the Ellen Show today.

by **peebeeb** Mon Oct 10, 2016 2:53 pm

GymGirlJane wrote:I knew I could connect it Your Honor!!!

Laurie was on the Ellen Show today.

How utterly adorable. Smile

by **Lesallee** Mon Oct 10, 2016 9:09 pm

Laurie puts a lot of pressure on herself and yes Val gets very intense. Yes, CAI is right, I was thinking Val went wrong with that opening, it was sort of superfluous and unnecessary. Still fun.

by **kincaid53** Mon Oct 10, 2016 10:09 pm

'Too much messin' around' lol it just didn't go with the rest of the dance, can't win them all..but she is still good, just not her dance tonight

by GymGirlJane Tue Oct 11, 2016 6:35 am

Definitely not Laurie's night. And not her dance. She seemed truly bruised by the judges' comments, although they seemed very fair to me. She'll reset and be back in business by next week though.

by bailadora Tue Oct 11, 2016 11:44 am

I think that the opening was very effective. Some people see gymnasts (and ice skaters) as robots that can easily perform any routine. This segment helped to humanize her and show her vulnerability. But the routine lacked some of the crispness that she had in her previous dances. Maybe she was exhausted due to her crazy schedule (schoolwork, tour, practice) or the highly emotional state that val wanted her to express interfered with the more calm state that she needs to forcefully hit her moves in the paso.

Nevertheless, in no way was her dance just 1 point better than amber's or maureen's. I would hope that the judges were not afraid of giving low scores in the middle of the season. Amber's samba probably deserved 6's. It wouldn't surprise me if Laurie was placed in jeopardy next week and if there's a surprise elimination. There's still time to vote online if we want the best dancers to stay.

by GymGirlJane Tue Oct 11, 2016 1:03 pm

bailadora wrote: Maybe she was exhausted due to her crazy schedule (schoolwork, tour, practice) or the highly emotional state that val wanted her to express interfered with the more calm state that she needs to forcefully hit her moves in the paso.

Very true. The whole 'show your emotion" thing is something gymnasts just can not do . Not easily anyway. It goes against your whole training. I can see how it would have totally thrown Laurie off her game. Anyway, as i said she will reset and be back in top form next week I am sure.

by **Psychee22** Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:05 pm

I think that being out of her element, she has to pretty much depend on Val to be her sole emotional support in that training room, and she wants to please him SO much that when he does what I call his "Russian Ballet Teacher" thing (I had one, you see, and those were not fond memories) she feels demoralized. So he sees that and tells her that she just has to yell at him when he does that, and that is TRULY beyond her training. Talk back to a trainer??? C'mon!

by **kincaid53** Tue Oct 11, 2016 6:13 pm

bailadora wrote:I think that the opening was very effective. Some people see gymnasts (and ice skaters) as robots that can easily perform any routine. This segment helped to humanize her and show her vulnerability. But the routine lacked some of the crispness that she had in her previous dances. Maybe she was exhausted due to her crazy schedule (schoolwork, tour, practice) or the highly emotional state that val wanted her to express interfered with the more calm state that she needs to forcefully hit her moves in the paso.

Nevertheless, in no way was her dance just 1 point better than amber's or maureen's. I would hope that the judges were not afraid of giving low scores in the middle of the season. Amber's samba probably deserved 6's. It wouldn't surprise me if Laurie was placed in jeopardy next week and if there's a surprise elimination. There's still time to vote online if we want the best dancers to stay.

Disagree Amber got the scores she deserved for that dance. Maureen got the scores she deserved for her dance and so did Laurie.

by **kincaid53** Tue Oct 11, 2016 6:22 pm

All of the underage 'stars' on this show (with the exception of 'B' has had their parent close by in rehearsal where is yours?.......so laurie take note, you are on dwts, dancing with the big boys. Like Willow Shields Dad told her," You wanted it" so you'll get through it unless this was just a sympathy ploy.

by GymGirlJane Tue Oct 11, 2016 6:58 pm

Psychee22 wrote:I think that being out of her element, she has to pretty much depend on Val to be her sole emotional support in that training room, and she wants to please him SO much that when he does what I call his "Russian Ballet Teacher" thing (I had one, you see, and those were not fond memories) she feels demoralized. So he sees that and tells her that she just has to yell at him when he does that, and that is TRULY beyond her training. Talk back to a trainer??? C'mon!

Also totally right. You would simply not -- not ever -- talk back to your coach. You just wouldn't. And Laurie has no way to know how to relate to her dance pro other than as her coach.

by **kincaid53** Tue Oct 11, 2016 8:06 pm

She's not in Kansas anymore so life lessons learned on a show he says she always wanted to be on,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,growing up time..................sorry Laurie if you want to win then learn fast . You are amazing and you took the first step this week.....to coming out of you secluded world.

by **Psychee22** Tue Oct 11, 2016 9:33 pm

Who with the initial of "B" didn't have a parent close by? Bindi's mother stayed all day in the little waiting room while they practiced. She was never more than a room away.

I think the rule is that in the studio there just has to be a chaperone-- that the celeb and the underage child can't be alone together. That's smart. It protects both parties from naughty goings-on or the perception or the accusation of such.

But an actual parent in the room could be a terrible distraction. Imagine trying to please your parent and your teacher all at one time. You'd never learn how to dance.

by **kincaid53** Tue Oct 11, 2016 10:28 pm

Thank you for clarifying that!

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