Backstage at Dancing With the Stars: Anger on the Dance Floor

The stars weren't the only ones battling it out on the Dancing With the Stars dance floor Monday night. Pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy went after judge Carrie Ann Inaba on the air, fighting back verbally after Inaba dissed the slow opening to his "instant dance" cha cha choreography with Brandy. But backstage after the show, long-time choreographer and dancer teacher Buddy Schwimmer, father of pro Lacey Schwimmer, went after Maks. 

"I would've thrown him off the show," said Schwimmer. "You don't do that to a judge. It's very unprofessional. Afterwards, if you want to say something, that's one thing. But not on the air, when all you're trying to do is make them look bad. If someone did that to me, I would kick them out of the studio."

Schwimmer wasn't the only parent who had issues with Monday night's show. Shirley Ballas, Mark's mother and herself a gifted professional dance teacher, came down on Maks' side. "I must say, I didn't agree with some of the judging today," she said. "I think Carrie Ann was a bit off. There were some biased feelings there against Maks, and also with Bristol [Palin, Mark's partner]. This was probably Bristol's best week when it came to technique. She didn't put a foot wrong. She did extremely well. But she can't please that woman. I don't know what it is that Carrie Ann wants to see from her. The girl is improving week by week, and one positive remark could be quite nice."

Ballas is a proud mom, but not too proud to point out when her son makes a misstep. "I think it was Mark who went wrong in the samba, not Bristol. She seemed to know where she was going. He made the mistake. And I think when you're looking from the outside as an experienced professional, you should be able to see that the error came from him and not from Bristol." 

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