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Len Goodman wants Aly Raisman to stick her butt in on Dancing with the Stars — but that won't happen this week. "It's Latin Night and we have the salsa, so you have to move your butt," she tells TVGuide.com. "Sorry, Len!" But butt-shaking isn't the only thing the Olympic champ is focused on this week. Find out what else she and Mark Ballas have planned.
Len Goodman wants Aly Raisman to stick her butt in on Dancing with the Stars — but that won't happen this week. "It's Latin Night and we have the salsa, so you have to move your butt," she tells TVGuide.com. "Sorry, Len!" But butt-shaking isn't the only thing the Olympic champ is focused on this week. Find out what else she and Mark Ballas have planned.
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How's the salsa going?
Aly Raisman: Good. I've been traveling this week, so it's been kind of crazy. We practiced until 12:15 a.m. Friday. But the salsa's going really well. I love these fast, fun dances, so I feel very good about it.
You said you really liked the samba and cha-cha. Is there anything you can take from those and apply here?
Raisman: Mostly just the performance aspect. I know I have to let myself go out there. But they're very different dances even if they might look slightly similar. I found myself doing the bouncing technique like in the samba, which is wrong in the salsa, so Mark's been really working with me on technique. I really want to nail the technique this week. I'm really happy with how I've been doing, but I want to do a clean routine. It's Week 7 and we're more than halfway done, so you want to step it up and show your improvement.
Is it a straightforward salsa?
Raisman: I don't know. [Laughs] Our routine is also very, very crazy! I laugh just thinking about it. We're going to dance like no one's watching.
So your butt will be sticking out.
Raisman: [Laughs] Yeah, so hopefully my butt will be an advantage this week!
Are you happy it's Latin Night and not Ballroom Night so you don't have to work on that this week?
Raisman: [Laughs] Sort of. Yeah, in the Latin dances, you have to use your butt. The more you shake it, the better. It's funny because in gymnastics, the judges would always tell me that my butt was sticking out too much too, so I thought it was funny that they gave me the same correction. The thing is, Mark said could feel my hips [in our foxtrot] so it was correct. But, you know, sometimes you can't really help it. There were also, like, 12,000 crystals on my ballgown, so that obviously added to the volume and weight. I loved the gown though.
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And you guys won the team dance. How did that feel after your first rehearsal was a total bust?