Tristan MacManus & Dance Temptation (by Emma)

Photo Courtesy of Patty Hennessy

Thank you to our new website member, Emma, who kindly shared her Dance Temptation experience with us. What an amazing show! We think you will enjoy what she has to say.

I have watched Dancing With the Stars off and on for years, but I never invested much time or energy into following it.  I watched for the people who interested me and avoided it if I was bored.  I was aware of Tristan being on the show, and when he was dancing with Nancy Grace and Gladys Knight I always made sure to view the performances on You Tube, and I tried to watch all of his pro dances.   I was especially touched by his weeks dancing with Valerie Harper, but honestly, DWTS never held a lot of appeal for me, and Tristan was about the only dancer that I wanted to see see week after week. 

My husband and I planned a trip to Niagara Falls months ago and in the strangest of coincidences, we heard about Dance Temptation.  I remembered Edyta Sliwinska and Alec Mazo from DWTS performances so I was all for seeing what they had created in this show, but when I heard Tristan would be dancing, I admit to becoming a little fangirly.

The show wasn’t overly long but it was long enough so that we could see a story unfold before our eyes.  Most of Tristan's dances were with Peta, but he danced with another dancer as part of a group number, and I believe that was the Jive.  His dances with Peta were the Paso, Rumba, Tango, and maybe Contemporary (with some other things I can’t recall), but the story flowed so beautifully that I was engrossed in the performances and didn't care too much about the style.  They were that good.  There is just something that happens when Tristan gets on the stage – some call it magic, I suppose.  I call it having incredible talent and being a master of characterization.  He becomes his character and there is nothing fake about it.  

There were a lot of very well known dancers in this show and that is why it is a first-class production.  I was also pleasantly surprised to see Tristan's fellow Strictly Come Dancing pro, Trent Whiddon, on stage.  I can’t wait to see Tristan and Trent wow the Strictly Come Dancing audiences.  It WILL happen.

David Hernandez and Holly Tucker brought a freshness and a new energy to Dance Temptation, and I think both of them have talents we have yet to see.  I had seen them on American Idol and The Voice respectively but seeing them in person was a special experience.

But Dance Temptation is what made me go right to MacManiacs.org and join their fun.  I spent the better part of Sunday reading what has besaid about Tristan MacManus, and apparently the talk has been going on almost 3 years! Clearly I’ve been missing out on something special.  So as Tristan leaves to go to London for Strictly Come Dancing, I can only imagine the surprises in store for the viewers in the UK.  Let’s just say that I am now a MacManiac and happy to be one.  I will make sure all of my friends in the UK are watching and voting, and I’ll be right here in the USA supporting as loudly as I can.  

                                                                                                                                        --Emma