1376 replies to this topic

[imhere2]

Tony D.

From the start he said that he has the reputation of being the "villain" in the ballroom dance world, but so far, he seems like a pretty likeable guy and a spectacular dancer. I have heard negative things about him but I suspect that is mostly b/c he has always done well.

[TudorQueen]

Tony Dovolani? A bad boy? That's the last thing I would have imagined as his public image in dancesport. He says himself that he gets a little short-tempered with his partners, but so do the other pros, and when you're working with 'celebrity' dancers, it's got to be frustrating at times...

[peaches222]

I'd like to know the source of his "bad boy" nickname as well.

[shortpplfedup]

I find him to be a terrible choreographer and thoroughly unlikable to boot. There is just something...oily about him.

[imhere2]

Lucky for him you're not on the Emmy's committee. He has been nominated for an Emmy for his choreography work in the show.

James Bond dance, Mambo, Jive… and some others are his work.

[tjames]

I quite like Tony in the Pro dances - any time DWtS feels like putting him in a Paso, I'm there - and I actually found him quite likeable with both Leeza and Sara, much as I thought both of those celebs sucked.

The only time I didn't like him was with Stacey, since he had that same smugness that made me dislike Karina last season.

His Pro choreography, I like too; but his work with his celeb partners is very hit-and-miss for some reason. With unfortunately a lot more misses. The only stand-out dance that really stuck with me was his Jive with Stacey.

[nycmambera]

I think the 'bad boy' thing is just branding/storyline. They had to come up with more angles than just "sexpot" (Maks) or "super intense technical" (Louis) for the men, and this was available.

[JenTG]

I can't imagine Tony D. as the "villian" of the danceworld. He seems like an overall likeable guy. Too bad he hasn't had a good partner since Stacey. I love him when he dances with Elena.

[peaches222]

I always thought Tony was Italian...

[TruBrit]

Contrary to popular rumor, the “bad boy” of the ballroom and his partner did not retire at the Emerald Ball.

Elena said:We wore thinking about it. But didn't make it officially yet. So you never know we mate just come out for couple more competitions. We not sure yet.

She writes like she talks, cute.

[AudyGal0516]

She writes like she talks, cute

I know! Those were my questions she was answering! Sorry, got a little excited.

Tony has said himself that he has a reputation, and he owns it. That said, anyone who has met him has nothing but good things to say. In fact, he seems to go out of his way to accomodate people. And right now his goal, like Maks, is promoting the ballroom community. I think his focus will be ballroomdancechannel.com (which is where you can find the interview where he says he has a reputation and doesn't deny it).

I didn't like Tony during the second season, I admit it. He has totally grown on me and I am a huge fan now.

[TryingHarder]

I like Tony and I enjoy watching him dance. And no one looks better in an unbuttoned white shirt with his tie undone. Whew.

He seems like an overall likeable guy. Too bad he hasn't had a good partner since Stacey. I love him when he dances with Elena.

He could dance all by himself and I'd be thrilled !

[mjforty]

I much prefer Tony's style of dancing to Maks'. It became apparent to me last night after watching Tony and Maks dance why Maks does not appeal to me. He's just too brash and flashy. He's a great dancer, don't get me wrong but his persona is very off-putting to me. Tony just seemed so much more smooth and sophisticated. It was like watching a brash 19-year old hood (Maks) try to compete with a cool, sophisticated man (Tony).

[peaches222]

I personally love them both.

Here’s a Maks and Tony dance-off now that was fun.

I love this Mambo of Tony and Elena, especially the end. Wonder what his wife thought about that...

Edited by peaches222, May 9, 2007 @ 3:40 PM.

[AudyGal0516]

I personally love them both.

Here’s a Maks and Tony dance-off now that was fun.

I love this Mambo of Tony and Elena, especially the end. Wonder what his wife thought about that...

I floved that dance to All Night Long. I love Tony dancing with Karina, Tony dancing with Elena, Maks dancing with Karina, Maks dancing with Elena...it is just awesome. I like both Maks and Tony's styles of dancing. They both rock my world. And man, Karina and Elena are fierce.

That Mambo was awesome! I doubt his wife worries. I would think to be a spouse of a dancer, just like an actor/actress, you have to be able to handle the sexiness. I think they are all friends, so I doubt she minds.

Man, I just love watching the pros take it down on the dancefloor. I am just gaga over their dancing.

[peaches222]

I doubt his wife worries. I would think to be a spouse of a dancer, just like an actor/actress, you have to be able to handle the sexiness. I think they are all friends, so I doubt she minds.

I know, I know...I wonder if his wife is/was a dancer


Tony and his wife

1; 2

Tony, Wife, Sara, Eva, and friend

What are you looking at Tony?

Move over Brad and Angie...Tony and Elena are in town

Edited by peaches222, Jun 12, 2007 @ 4:18 PM.

[justmy2cents]

Cute pics above, peaches.

no one looks better in an unbuttoned white shirt with his tie undone. Whew.

That's my favorite look for him, too, TryingHarder! I am very on-again off-again with Tony. When I love him, though, boy howdy. I think that's mostly in his romantic dances with Elena: rumba, bolero. When he gets into expressing the passion of the dance, I have to be scraped off the floor with a special drool picker-upper. The other dances, though - not so much.

I think the fundamental reason I haven't enjoyed him more on this show is that he does not let go to have "chemistry" with them. Also, he doesn't seem comfortable with someone who is not at his level of dancing. I think Elena has this problem, too. The one time on this show where I thought he let go and enjoyed himself performing was with Cheryl in the Dirty Dancing pro demo...I might've watched that more than a few times. ;)

[peaches222]

Tony as Slick Willy LOL



A cute interview of Tony

Edited by peaches222, Jun 15, 2007 @ 2:58 PM.

[TruBrit]

Little known fact about Tony - He proposed to his wife after one blind date. They have now been married over seven years.

[imhere2]

Tony as Slick Willy

I remember we joked at that time that he really wasn't acting since we saw him start arguing between dances with someone in a competition. HeeHee

I heard the other day that when Tony and his then partner Inna Ivanenko were approached to be in the 1st season of Dancing With The Stars Tony really wanted to do it but Inna turned it down. Apparently, that started all the drama and rumors that followed their split. Tony and Inna were crowned champions in September and by November he was winning with Elena.

You can watch Inna and her new partner HERE @ 07:00

Edited by imhere2, Jul 5, 2007 @ 9:43 AM.

[KarenM]

Tony talks about Sara ...while Elena reveals she wants a Brad Pitt.Dancing Stars dish with Dan


Tony and Elena rumba

Edited by KarenM, Aug 23, 2007 @ 11:43 AM.

[willmore]

I attended a workshop by Tony along with a private lesson afterwards working on American Rumba. Wow… it was simply amazing.


One of the main drills from the group class that was useful was to start standing against a wall, with heels touching (each other and the wall), rear, shoulder blades, and back of head against the wall. Now step about 2-3 inches away from the wall staying vertical. Shift weight to one side and rotate the standing leg's hip back until the outside seam of the pants touch the wall. Repeat to other side for as long as you can take... The focus on the outside seam was what really changed the way I thought of the hip motion.

He was much more into rotation than "settling". He wanted more turnouts that I've seen anyone else ask for.... Almost as much turnout in the hips as in some of the ballet classes I've taken, but without the additional spiraling turnout down the legs, so the feet are still only about 45 degrees off straight. But it wasn't really the turn out that got the outside seam to the wall, that was only part of it, more was just that he wanted us to think about rotating the hips that much -- not just pushing a cheek back...

His take on the international v american differences -- all the rotating of the hips happens on two straight legs in both cases. International will stop the rotating when doing more is impossible without bending the knee, while American will allow the knee to bend to develop even more rotation.


His take on leading -- the guy does not lead the woman, he only initiates the move.


I hope "stars" know how lucky they are to work with such amazing pros. WOW

[peaches222]

Stacy said - I can't dance without Tony

[KarenM]

Tony and Elena won't defend their title

[peaches222]

Tony posted this on his myspace

It’s official

Hey Everyone.


It's official.... Season 5, here we go. And Jane Seymour! ..... Just wait and see ..... we are going to be so good the votes are going to dial in on their own! Ok Ok, maybe we will need a little help from your fingers! But get ready to enjoy an amazing season. Give me a little time to adjust all the links to reflect the new season and then.... lets chat.


Regards

Tony

He sounds happy...

[willmore]

Tony and Elena won't defend their title

That's disappointing to hear. I hope to see both of them dance together on DWTS.I

[Boton]

Tony definitely is a class act in person. Mr. Boton and I had a week of classes with him at BYU dance camp and I was impressed by several things. First, even though he is generally flirtatious and is probably well aware of his popularity among the ladies, he does not exploit it. He will be flirty with the class of women as a whole, but never singles out any one to flirt with individually. And he talks very devotedly about his wife. Second, he really emphasized the importance of the foundational skills to dancing, even telling stories about how his first lesson after his most recent win involved revisiting the basic. This was very cool, because it was easy for some of the other pros to fall into the trap of just teaching steps and routines rather than technique because that is what the class wanted. Finally, he got out there and performed with our class at the end-of-camp show. Yes, he's maybe a little bit of a ham, but there was no reason for the World Pro Rhythm champion to feel like he needed to dance in a beginner's samba routine, yet he was one of the few or maybe the only instructor who jumped in and danced to help offset the imbalance between men and women in the class. I thought that was very classy.

[KarenM]

Taken from Maks’ Forum

Meeting Tony

DancinUpaStorm
Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:50 pm Post subject: I'm also a Tony Dovolani fan!

Well - I'll be! First of all, I had no idea you guys would find my post so quickly now that the Forum has really grown! And second, I had no idea I'd get rave reviews....thank you all for your positive feedback on the photo. I knew how great Tony looked and was thinking as my friend shot the pic that I better come out looking good, too or I would not want to show anyone. We never want to share our bad shots...but I guess I would have done so anyway...since Tony just looked too great!

What's funny is that I did not plan to wear that dress (one of my favorites) that night...I thought I'd save it for the Saturday night at the dancesport...since Saturday was going to be a bigger deal. But, it was going to be about 100 degrees outside on Saturday while Thursday was only in the low 80s...with the air conditioning, it did not seem weird that I was wearing a dress with sleeves! Ha! I'm so glad I wore it since red is my color....everyone does tell me that...and I'm glad to see you guys agree. Anyway, normally when we get surprised, we're not prepared. I'm so glad I was wearing that dress...I could have used some lipstick however! Ha! (Anyone who knows me knows I always have lipstick on...not sure what happened there!)

Oh...and something I did not mention before, but I may as well tell you so you get the full effect...Tony smelled divine! I don't know what cologne he was wearing, but it was heavenly! No wonder I started to lose it...he looked amazing, smelled fantastic, smiled the whole time, and said really nice things to me...wow...more please....more moments like that!! And one other detail...okay maybe I did say this already but I'm not going back to my post to check....Tony had a jacket at first but practically tore it off for the photo....I'm sure I said that already. It was just a great visual....he jumped up from his seat to meet me, and when he saw my friend with a camera, he was quick to take off his sports jacket. Thank you, Tony!!

And finally, he told me, "You have a great smile!" as he walked away to get "backstage" before the awards. I could barely speak at that point....I mean....I was star-stuck "something awful"! He grinned a knowing grin....and walked off. My friends had a field day after that! I was there with a woman, Peggy, and two guys, Randy and Bruce....they were the ones right there...and they just kept teasing me all night long. Tonight we all go to a Happy Hour before we dance (yes, before!) at our studio, and I know the "Christine and Tony story" will be told by Bruce, Peggy and Randy. They tell it much better than I do actually! Peggy keeps saying that Tony winked at me when he danced and threw in extra moves for me....he did seem more energetic when I started cheering for him, but I missed his wink!! Darn.

Okay - enough. Poor Maks....the same friends say my lip curls up on one side when I say "Maks" or "Maksim," but now tonight I know they're going to check to see if it still does...they keep saying, "Gee...does the name Maks mean anything to you?" or "I remember when you used to talk about a guy named Maks!" or even "Maks is out, Tony's in."

Oh....my friends are hilarious....and they know darn well I still adore Maks! My curled lip will prove it!

So - I'll try to get back to posting but the Forum is so large now, I never know where to write...I guess you guys find stuff pretty well, so I can just start posting anywhere!

Thanks again! You all are the best!

Christine

Edited by KarenM, Sep 4, 2007 @ 11:32 AM.

[peaches222]

Jane and Tony @ Entertainment Weekly's pre-Emmy Party

1,2,3,4

Edited by peaches222, Sep 17, 2007 @ 11:12 AM.

[peaches222]

A painting of Tony & Elena for charity auction

Edited by peaches222, Sep 18, 2007 @ 9:56 AM.