Who would have thought that dancing an American Smooth routine could lead to a near-death experience? The competition is heating up and, for this week, contestants were allowed to do up to three "lifts" – to be elevated, or whirled in the air.
Silly me, I had been under the impression that I would do nothing more than wait to be swept off my feet by my partner James Jordan, but I soon learned that I had to contribute rather a lot. For our first lift, I had to spin towards him in an absolutely straight path, remaining perfectly balanced and ending 6in away from his right foot with my left leg lifted high in front and my right leg on tiptoe. To avoid breaking his nose with my elbow, both arms had to be swung above my head at the last minute, then the left one had to be placed behind his head as we achieved lift-off.
Without precision, he was rendered utterly incapable of lifting me – no jokes please (I've already done them).
Another lift was supposed to be a fast, no-hold spin around his shoulders, after which he would stop suddenly and allow centrifugal force to whip my body forward to drop into his cradling arms. Unfortunately, in rehearsal I weighted my body incorrectly and slid backwards, head first, down his back. Sheer luck and superb reflexes meant he caught my ankles, thus saving me from snapping my neck as my head hit the ground at top speed. American Smooth? Nah – American Scary.
My husband (who's in Canada) caught the incident on YouTube. "Pamela, what possessed you?" That was a tough one. What exactly did "possess" me? The Ghosts of Contestants Past?
