MacManiacs.org
  • Home
    • Privacy Policy
    • Registration
  • Updates
  • MacManiaLand
  • MacMusings
    • Tristan Interviews
  • Gallery
    • Gallery 2
    • Gallery 3
    • Gallery 4
    • Gallery 5
    • Gallery 6
    • Gallery 7
    • Gallery 8
    • Gallery 9
    • Gallery 10
    • Expressions
    • BWAT
    • Dance To the Movies
  • Archives
  • Articles
  • Performance
  • Interviews
  • Other Video

Tristan & Jennifer - We Kind Of Love It

9/10/2014

12 Comments

 
Picture
Photo Courtesy of BBC Strictly Instagram
This is a match made in Ireland – or in Strictly Come Dancing heaven, if you will. When the pros and celebrities were paired up on Sunday night's launch show, Tristan’s reaction and Jennifer’s reaction were even better than we could have hoped, and we are probably more excited than they are about what lies ahead, and there are plenty of reasons for that excitement.  Read on....

1. Certainly it’s not the only reason to pair them up, and it’s not the biggest reason, but Tristan and Jennifer have a lot in common, a lot to talk about, and a potential long-term friendship in the works.  He’s from Ireland, she’s from Ireland, and their respective senses of humor are going to make SCD wish they had thought of this years ago.  It’s pure genius, we say.

2. Tristan has always told us that his ideal partner would be someone who wants to learn.  He has that.  Jennifer said herself that she is embracing every single part of the Strictly Come Dancing experience – the training, the clothes, the makeup, the laughter, the tears….and Tristan’s experience with a very diverse group of celebrity entertainers during his seasons on Dancing With the Stars makes it brilliant because he always makes sure the celebrity enjoys the experience every step of the way.  Like we usually do, we drew upon our many interviews with Tristan to explain.  He might have been talking DWTS when he said this but it applies nonetheless in this case. “Any given season is that person’s only experience of the show outside of being a viewer and fan, so I want to make it as enjoyable as possible.”

3. Jennifer said that her goal in the SCD experience was to have fun.  Oh man, she has the right partner for that.  First of all, the DWTS pros said that Tristan MacManus was the funniest pro on the show.  Add that to the fact that his past partners loved him because he made things about them and not about himself or overdancing or anything else.  We asked him if he had to choose between a celebrity partner who already has quite a bit of dance training and/or experience or a celebrity partner who has little or no dance training and/or experience, his response was what you would expect from him.  “If I could choose a partner, anything dance would be the last thing that came into it.  If they had a lifetime of ballroom dance experience, and I didn’t like them, I couldn’t think of anyone worse to spend all that time with.  I would choose someone with little to none but with a brain of their own and a personality of their own every day of the week – breakfast, lunch and dinner!!”

4.  The obvious. Jennifer  already has a little endorsement, or at least a recognition of something unique.  On the launch show, Darcey was asked about posture and which celebrity she thought might potentially have what it takes to dance beautifully.  It was Jennifer.  Darcey said that Jennifer has "great poise, a lovely long back so she can really show it off."  That’s a great start, and Tristan is the perfect pro to take that advantage and make sure it stands out in their routines.

5. Tristan can laugh at himself and has said to us many times that he loves to laugh. Considering Jenny’s chosen profession, we suspect the same holds true for her.  A great sense of humor and the ability to laugh at oneself are, in our opinion, the best catalysts for a successful partnership, and we imagine we will hear great stories.  One of our favorite Tristan anecdotes involved his embarrassing moments as a professional dancer.  He had previously told us about split pants while dancing and the “Farmer MacManus” story which involved Sasha Farber and Damian Whitewood tucking his socks into his trousers during a Burn the Floor performances, and we were hungry for more.  Here is what he said:

“I did a show before -  Emma [Slater] was in it as well at the time, and all the lads had a dance with a bunch of half mannequins. The top half was a mannequin and bottom half was like a stand on wheels so we would dance around with these dolls all side by side, but we were all dossing around a bit before we had to go on, so the first lad missed the music cue so we all had to rush on and my mannequin popped off the stand just as I got on stage, so I had to do the whole dance carrying half a mannequin and instead of rolling it between partners, we had to throw the feckin’ thing from partner to partner.  It was like a Monty Python sketch.”  


This is just the tip of the iceberg – he always has great stories and we always get lots of laughs from them, and when you put him in the rehearsal studio with Jennifer, we might have enough material to write a book. 

6. Speaking of laughing, we asked Tristan about what type of film or television show he would most be interested in appearing on if given the opportunity, and his immediate answer was “comedy – always.”  Another thing in common...

7.  Tristan will appreciate that Jennifer took the leap of faith and decided to embrace the SCD experience.  She has already said everything Tristan says below, just using different words. 

“Don’t be afraid to try something new because it’s the people who aren’t afraid to try that get the rewards or sometimes it just inspires others to.”

8.  He will do everything he can to not only teach but he will make Jennifer’s experience as enjoyable as possible.  He has a plan that works.

“Getting to know them [the celebrity partners] is the only way.  Production and competition cause things to wander in a certain way, and you potentially end up doing things to win or to get an upper hand.  I like to know my partners and try to relate everything to them as opposed to relating it to dancing and techniques and what not.  I want them to get better, but I want them to get better by understanding what they are doing - why I like to dance and not about what 'makes me a dancer'.  I never concentrated on technique when I went back to dancing.  I know it’s very important, but at the same time if I know what I am doing storywise is right or wrong, I will always lean that way before technical.”

9. Tristan always creates a story for every performance, and his system will create some storyline magic on this SCD journey.  Jennifer has acting skills to make the story work, and Tristan will make sure it works to their advantage.  “I never come up with a concept before I meet my partner. I always have ideas and songs that I want to use, but if they don’t suit our partnership then it’s hard to make them happen! I get to know my partner, and once I hear the song, I either relate it to them or I will come up with an idea that I think they can relate to or can imagine.  I try to use word association at certain times to remind steps and feelings.  I think when you know your story or know your character then if you forget stepwise what you are doing you won’t lose the character.  Some find that comforting; some just forget that too. Haha!”

10.  Shallow reason – they are both gorgeous.  Enough said.

These are just a few reasons why Tristan MacManus and Jennifer Gibney will work. They are already a team and no matter what name they come up with – Team Ireland, Team Irish, Team Jennistan, Team MacGibney, Team Craic, Team Irish Charm, Team Jennifer, Team Jennifer and Tristan, or a new favorite, Team Don'tMessWithTheIrish.  Regardless of the name you give to this duo, they already have massive support pouring in, and we're a little giddy thinking about it all.


Picture
Screencap Credit @clrhmly via BBC
12 Comments
Joan
9/10/2014 04:49:28 am

Tristan's fans are the most positive I have ever seen, and the upbeat nature of this post confirms it. Very nicely done.

Reply
Mrs_ATA
9/10/2014 04:55:45 am

I'm definitely giddy about this!! And from the looks of Twitter & Facebook, lots of other folks are too. This is gonna be one heckuva foon ride!

Reply
Keri MacDougal
9/10/2014 05:04:29 am

I love this, of course. Tristan and Jenny will have a great time and isn't that all that's really important? She wants the fun, and she's in great hands.

Reply
CC
9/10/2014 05:58:23 am

Spot on - I feel exactly the same way.

Reply
Ava
9/10/2014 06:15:51 am

LOL - Team Don't Mess With The Irish - Brilliant! Hope it catches on. We could get lots of laughs from that this year.

Reply
Tony
9/10/2014 07:27:09 am

Excited to see them dancing!

Reply
Fiona
9/10/2014 08:41:11 am

I think they will work well together and got everything crossed that they can pull it off it's going to be fun but don't forget they got to work hard to get into the final and I'm sure that's what fans of Jennifer's and Tristan want all we can say is good luck and god bless u both

Reply
Lilah
9/10/2014 10:04:55 am

It's exciting to see 2 people thrilled to be working together and I think their attitudes are commendable. Thanks for expressing these reasons why Tristan and Jennifer make such a fine partnership.

Reply
Linda Hayes
9/10/2014 12:04:39 pm

Shakes and Chiquita , great job, right on all counts. Perfection!

Reply
Nikki
9/10/2014 12:35:55 pm

I love this team and wish them the very best. I know fans of Strictly will love them.

Reply
Becky
9/10/2014 02:19:49 pm

Good luck to them both. I hope the people from the UK enjoy Tristan as much as we have while he was on DWTS. So glad we will get to see videos and clips.

Reply
Jamie
9/11/2014 03:40:24 am

Best of luck to Tristan and Jennifer! I'm looking forward to seeing all the clips and will be supporting them strongly here in the U.S.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    September 2020
    March 2020
    September 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed