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Rehearsing the foxtrot for ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" tonight, Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson told IG she continues to enjoy the challenge of mastering new steps with partner Mark Ballas.  Johnson and Ballas perform the salsa in week two of "Dancing with the Stars" "It's definitely a process," said Johnson, who with Ballas danced to the third-highest combined judges' scores in the first two shows. "It takes time, and it takes Mark teaching me what I'm supposed to do and how I'm supposed to look. I'm taking it one thing at a time, and learning what I need to for each dance." Johnson and Ballas danced the waltz in the first show on March 9, and the salsa in the second show on March 16. Based on the judges' scores and audiences' telephone and online voting, they survived the first results show, held March 17. Singer Belinda Carlisle and professional dancer Jonathan Roberts, the lowest-scoring couple, were eliminated. Assessing the remaining 12 couples, Johnson and Ballas agree that there are no clear favorites. "Everybody is amazing," Johnson told IG. "You can't really tell who's the best or not, because there isn't one best. Everybody's out here to give a 100-percent performance and win over America, so you want to see everyone succeed." Ballas, who partnered with 1992 Olympic figure skating champion Kristi Yamaguchi to win the "Dancing with the Stars" title two seasons ago, said the competition for votes should become more intense every week. "The performance level is high, and there are lots of great people," Ballas said. "It's still too early to tell. We have several weeks to go. There are lots of people with a lot to offer, so we'll see how it goes as the weeks buckle down." Following their salsa performance, Ballas praised Johnson's commitment to taking on new styles of movement. "If someone's dedicated and excited to learn, I'm willing to go with it," he said. "We've worked really hard. We had to break a lot of habits and learn a lot of new things, but she's doing exceptionally well." Johnson said "gymnastics habits" are among those habits she has been challenged to break. "Gymnastics can't transfer over to ballroom, and gymnastics doesn't help it at all," she said. "I was a little disappointed to find that out. It's been hard, because gymnastics is second nature to me. It's been hard to drop those habits for this." Ballas said the main differences to which Johnson is adapting are obvious ones such as dancing in heels, as well as posture and rhythm. Still, he said he was impressed by Johnson's energetic, precise salsa. "Gymnasts are kind of stiff," said Ballas, who has won several international titles in ballroom and Latin dance competitions. "They kind of finish, and they don't use body flow. We've been working on it, and as you saw, Shawn did really well. I was excited, because it's the best she's danced it. I think that, as the weeks go on and we keep coming back, there will be lots of improvement." As various dance styles are introduced throughout the season, Ballas said he is confident that the 17-year-old Johnson will continue to impress viewers. "The Latin dances have more of a sense of freedom, and the judges said they want to see more 'naughtiness,' he told IG. "But, because of Shawn's age, we're probably going to go more for sassy and get Shawn to be a little more fun in that area. But all in all, I'm really happy with her. As the weeks go on, we'll definitely be improving everything we can." Comments (0)
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