Coming onto “Dancing with the Stars” as an Olympic gymnast is a double-edged sword. On one hand you’ve got the athletic conditioning, flexibility, and acrobatic skills to handle complex dance choreography. On the other hand, everyone knows that, so expectations are bound to be sky high. So Suni Lee had a lot to live up to when she took to the dance floor for the first time during the season 30 premiere on Monday, September 20. Watch her jive above.
Predictably, Lee put nary a foot wrong during her routine, which judge Len Goodman described as “clean” and “precise.” And Bruno Tonioli loved how she executed her flicks and kicks. But the judges seemed to be in agreement on one criticism: they want her to come out of her shell. Her pro partner Sasha Farber noted her shyness in the clip package that ran before her performance, and his warm, lively personality probably makes him a good match for her to put her at ease, especially after he partnered in previous seasons with her fellow gymnasts Simone Biles and Mary Lou Retton.
And she also has the benefit of advice from judge Derek Hough, who previously danced with Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin. From those experiences, Hough asked her to bring “a little less perfection and a little more expression” to her performances, which can be challenging for athletes from a discipline like gymnastics that demands such stoic precision. But it’s undoubtedly nerve-racking to dance for the first time on live television, so with that in mind she did pretty damn well, scoring sevens across the board from the panel and finishing tied for second with Amanda Kloots on the judges’ leaderboard, behind JoJo Siwa. My fingers are crossed that she can shake the opening night jitters and cut loose.
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