“It is a charming movie and I think it’s very time appropriate with everything that’s happening in the world,” Smirnoff tells Parade.com in this exclusive interview. “It’s uniting, it’s unifying, and it’s accepting of different religions, different cultures. I think it’s the perfect time for something like this.” In Tango Shalom, when Viviana’s (Smirnoff) ex-boyfriend decides to enter the Tango competition with another partner, she desperately searches for a man to replace him as she urgently needs the prize money. Enter Rabbi Moshe Yehuda (Jos Laniado), who is also short on funds, and seems to have the necessary skills, but as an Orthodox Jew, there is a huge problem: He is not allowed to touch a woman other than his wife. Moshe consults with wise men from four different religions—Judaism, Catholicism, Muslims and Hindi— before winding up with a solution that makes it possible to dance with Viviana without sacrificing his beliefs. More of the Tango Shalom conversation with Smirnoff is below, as well as her take on what 30 seasons of Dancing with the Stars has done for the ballroom world.
It isn’t often a movie involving ballroom dance that comes along. How were you the one that got cast in this?
When I was on DWTS, I used to go to a few auditions that would be within the schedule of the show. I remember very often, even though they would send me to an audition, I wouldn’t really feel that it would be my role. I remember going to this audition and it was just very easy, very natural. The flow was natural, the energy was good. Rarely do you do an audition with the director in the room. But everything was smooth, and we danced a little, we did a lot of acting, talking. Then afterward when they said, “OK, we’ll get back to you,” like they always do, they’re like, “Great, thank you.” Then they called me pretty much before I even got in the car and they said, “You have the part, the director loved you.” They said he was in the room. That’s how I met Gabriel Bologna. From that point on, it was an amazing ride. It was full of memories, full of new experiences. He is brilliant. Gabriel is brilliant in the way he had everyone organized. He was directing and running the whole show at the same time.
How good a dancer was Jos?
Well, I find that there are two types of people, two types of dancers in the world. The ones that think they’re incredible dancers and the ones who are the opposite. They’re like “I don’t dance. I have no rhythm," and then you put the music on and suddenly Billy Elliot comes out. I think Jos actually thinks he’s an incredible dancer, but he does have incredible talent, too. In the beginning, I think he was thinking that he was going to even do a lot of the choreography. But we did have Jordi Caballero, a great choreographer, who helped us go through the steps. And then, of course, we couldn’t have normal physical contact during it, so that was very creative, how to be able to lead and follow and physically not touch each other. That was very inventive.
You’ve done your own choreography for Dancing with the Stars. Why didn’t you do it for this?
It was difficult to keep me quiet, so I definitely did a lot of suggestions for the choreography. I was like, “What if we did this, can this work?” But I think Jordi understood the talent and Jos’s ability, and he was very clever in coming up with steps that Jos could actually execute well. So, it was great to have Jordi there. And Jordi’s an incredible Argentine Tango person. My forte is ballroom dancing, that is what I do best. I do Argentine Tango quite well because we did Forever Tango on Broadway, but this is not the style that I was raised in. So, to have Jordi there was absolutely fantastic.
So, is choreography not something you want to pursue more of? And what about acting?
Well, choreography I still do. I work in the field 24/7. I don’t think I’ll ever stop dancing or coaching or choreographing. My mom laughs at me because she goes, “Soon you’ll be using a walker, and you’ll still dance full out.” It gives you a whole different life of energy and emotions and expressions. I will never stop. Acting, I love it. It is yet another avenue where you can have an exciting life. With acting and dancing, you have something to get excited about every single day. So, of course, I want to act more, but with the little one [her toddler son]… Acting is great when you get to that A-lister level. The road to A-lister is not easy. It’s more of a Van Gogh-type thing, where you don’t make the money, you live off of the artistry and the emotion of the industry, and then you can make a good living afterward. I love it, but I have to space out how much I can act.
Dancing with the Stars is celebrating its 30th season this year. What do you think it has done for dance?
I think the show actually revived ballroom dancing. I know right now the show is heading maybe a slightly different direction and there are a lot of other styles that are coming into play, not necessarily ballroom. But for the ballroom industry, it was always in the front row of any movie, any musical with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly or Cyd Charisse, and then somehow, it became a social affinity for people who want to have something to do after work. When Dancing with the Stars and Strictly Come Dancing in England—because it started with the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing first, it revived the whole love and idea of what ballroom dancing is. Now, again, I think it is one of the top dance styles for people to want to learn. And for all the dancers on the show, it’s opened so many other doors like being able to have a platform, design their lines of clothing or accessories, acting, you name it. It allows the dancers who are part of the show to become mainstream.
What has it done for you? What are you up to these days besides Tango Shalom?
It’s actually really interesting. I went to Dancing with the Stars when my competitive career was on the very top. I did it because when you’re in the race to win the Worlds, what we call our Olympic medal, you don’t usually take time off to do other projects. But I was in a place where I thought, “I want to do it for at least one season.” I had a lot of my friends on the show—Tony Dovolani and Maksim Chmerkovskiy—and I remember everybody’s like, “Oh, you’ve got to do it.” And I thought, “Why not? I can take a few months off.” And then next thing I know, 11 years I’m still doing the show. But ironically enough, in the last few seasons of the show, I felt like I needed to go back to the competitive industry, if it was to judge, to coach, to do lectures, to do shows. So, the last few seasons of the show, I was doing both, which was extremely difficult and the producers weren’t too excited about it, either. You need to be available for the show. When the contract was over, I went back to the competitive industry, and right now this is my 24/7 job. I just came back from Europe judging the Worlds. It is something that I hope I’ll get to do for the rest of my life.
You competed against Derek in your time on DWTS and now he’s a judge on the show. Have you been able to watch him at all? How do you think he’s doing as a judge?
I think he’s fantastic as a judge. He was fantastic on World of Dance with Jennifer Lopez. He did a fantastic job there. I would definitely enjoy judging. I don’t know if I would go back as a dancer. I think there’s a right time in life for everything. But I think Derek is as fantastic as a judge as he was amazing as a dancer. [Veteran choreographer and original Fly Girl Carrie Ann Inaba has been a judge on Dancing with the Stars for all 30 seasons. She has made no public comments about leaving the ballroom but she has been battling autoimmune diseases in recent years.]
Where do you keep your Mirror Ball Trophy?
First, it was at my studio because I used to have a dance studio at the Westfield Village Mall. When I had the baby, I closed the studio down for a little while because I needed my mom to be on grandma duty. Right now, it’s at the house but it’s going to go back to the studio once we open up again.
How old is your son now?
He is 19 months already. Time flies.
Will you be OK if he wants to follow in your footsteps and be a dancer?
I think I would prefer if he didn’t, or if he would at least dance a different style than me. Only because I always find it difficult when the kids of the parents who had a certain placement in the dancing industry continue to dance. It’s never the same. There’s always a big challenge to prove that you are doing great, not because your mom and dad are this and that, but because you’re actually great on your own. I wouldn’t want to go through that battle with him. I would rather him do something else—maybe dance, but a different style. Not to mention I went through that in my life. I would love to experience a different side of the journey.
You have a degree in economics?
Yeah, and I have a year of law school. Here’s the thing, a lot of times people believe that dancing is its own education, with which I totally agree. But I think academic education broadens your ability to see world. It gives you other perspectives. To have both is amazing.
It probably also helps you think about your career long-term because a dancer’s life can be short. A perfect example is you thought ahead and now you’re judging and you’re going to re-open your studio. So, there is a business side to it, as well.
Absolutely. There are a lot of things. And dancing, besides being an art form and a sport, is a business. We have competitions that we organize, we have an annual gala, which is like a dance Oscar-type gala when once a year people get nominated, voted on, and the winners are announced. We do it together with Swarovski. So, there is a whole big side of the business that keeps the industry going, as well. Tango Shalom is currently available in limited theaters and on VOD. Next, Is Derek Hough as Good as Len Goodman on Dancing With the Stars?
