Tristan MacManus Interview (4) - November 19, 2012

This interview was posted near the end of Season 15 of Dancing With the Stars.

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You’ve been keeping busy this season! We saw tweets from Katherine Jenkins when you were in London, and she mentioned that you were rehearsing the Argentine Tango with her. Would you tell us a bit about that?

London was a blast. I flew over to dance with Katherine for her Christmas special she is doing on an English tv station there to be aired in December where Kat sings and dances.  We did a reprise of her and Mark’s Argentine Tango. We had to change a few things, and the music was different but it was fun to dance with her again plus I got to see a lot of friends in London I hadn’t seen in a long long time. I also went home for a few days. I’m not sure when it airs yet but I’m sure you will hear about it through Kat when it does.

We were thrilled to see you back on the dance floor this season and we loved the fusion dance choreographed by Henry Byalikov. Tell us like about this dance with Kym, Anna, Louis, and the troupe and how it all came together.

Fusion week was cool enough. Yeah, I had just got back from London so I had missed the first couple of rehearsals, but I learned it on the Saturday and then performed it that week. It was a good number and it went down pretty well with everyone, so happy days! The troupe are getting to dance an awful lot more these last few seasons which is great. I don’t think they really knew what to do with us the first year round, and there is a lot more happening for the troupe now. 

We knew we were all going to be in for a treat when you danced the Paso Trio with Kirstie and Maks.  What was it like working with them?

Maks and Kirstie are great! I was just like everybody else on the outside looking in wondering what it would be like all day, but it was fun. It’s difficult with the trios I think because everybody is different at teaching and behaves in different ways while at the same time trying to make an impact so you sometimes have to be weary of stepping on people’s toes and contradicting things to get your point across. I tried to make it clear at the start that I was just a partner and that Maks was always the teacher, but he also gives you freedom to put your points across and certainly isn’t as bullheaded as some might assume - HaHa. I think it gives everybody a fresh impetus and perspective just having another voice or ear in the room. I really enjoyed it and was very interested to see how another pro teaches and how others learn. The score wasn’t the best but the experience was great and helped me to get to know people better. What I found though was a happy, fun relationship and a nice balance between hard work and play and a very honest couple.

You have done so many pro dances in your seasons on Dancing With the Stars, and we have to admit that last week’s “Locomotion” dance choreographed by Sharna is one of our favorites. Is there any pro dance that you have found to be more challenging than the others?

Em… I don’t know if I find them more challenging or not. I enjoy doing most numbers - maybe not so much the different styles sometimes - when they try do hip-hop numbers and things like that - it’s not really my thing. I love to watch them but don’t feel comfortable doing them to be honest so that can be challenging, and I’m not a handstand flip barrel turn kind of guy either - haha - so usually when they come along, I’ll puff the cheeks out and scratch my head. Most people have their style and moves that you see them do in a lot of numbers where you can say they are great at that or whatever but I’m low-key, you know. I don’t have specific moves; I just move to the songs I like!! 

We’ve all noticed how much you travel, and you’ve been to many parts of the U.S. performing and teaching.  One of the questions that our site members keep asking is what parts of this country are your favorites, and is there a place you want to visit but never have?

I get to travel around America, yeah not as much as I’d like to, and there are still a lot of places that I haven’t been yet. When you are on tour like I was when visiting most of the places, it’s very hard to get to see them. You are usually just in the theatre and then on the plane or bus moving somewhere else so I’d love to do a lot of revisiting. I was always fascinated by Texas and the South in general. I loved the stories of music in New Orleans.  I’d still love to visit. Louisiana.  I really like the East Coast too. Living in Boston was always fun, and I love NY. I love Canada so I’d love to get to Canada a bit more if possible at some stage this year, but I just love to travel so anywhere I go hopefully I get time to enjoy it. I’ve been to Chicago airport more times than most places but never got to Chicago, so I’ll work on that. 


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