Sharna Burgess can sympathize with fellow Dancing With the Stars pro Jenna Johnson about including lifts in routines.
“This [is a] bit of a loophole that I thought Jenna had found, but honestly I have zero recollection of this happening before to have any real answer,” Burgess, 41, wrote via a TikTok comment on Thursday, October 15, when asked whether troupe dancers are included in the rule. “I totally get how Jenna came to that conclusion in the rule, and then I also see where [judge] Carrie Ann [Inaba] is coming from.”
Burgess stressed that she has “no side” in the ongoing discourse.
“I do think the rules need to be more clear for everyone on that one,” she concluded.
Inaba, 58, called out Johnson, 32, on Tuesday, October 13, for including an illegal lift in her Super Bowl Night samba with Harry Shum Jr., which confused the two-time mirrorball champ. (Two members of the troupe helped Shum, 44, complete a backflip mid-routine, moments before Johnson’s foot appeared to come off the floor while completing a one-legged spin.)
“A lift is — I just need to say it — any movement during which one of the dancers has both feet off the floor at the same time with the assistance or support of their partner,” Inaba, also critiquing the lack of content in the number, read aloud a printed definition. “Yeah. Lift.”
Despite her initial confusion, Johnson later noted that she spoke with Inaba about the seemingly tense interaction.
“You know what, it’s hard, because usually when someone’s called out for a lift, it’s when your partner lifts you,” Johnson told Extra after the live show. “I was definitely unaware of, like, two guys that weren’t myself rolling back Harry and lifting him. I absolutely hear Carrie Ann. I like to take risks, but I also love rules, and I said that to her afterwards; I went up to her … so I hear and respect the judges, absolutely.”
In traditional ballroom and Latin styles, lifts are only allowed in a select few numbers. (Inaba is notoriously known as the “lift police,” deducting points if she spots an illegal move.)
“Zero lifts [are allowed] in any of the ballroom dances, so waltz, tango, foxtrot, quickstep [and] Viennese waltz,” Burgess explained in a Thursday social media video. “The Latin dances are cha chat, samba rumba, paso doble and jive, [which have] zero lifts.”
To avoid any accidental lifts while performing certain moves, Burgess revealed that the dancers “work really hard to keep one foot on the floor.”
“In the dances that we can do lifts are the extra ones, so jazz — like what we did last night — lifts are allowed,” she continued. “Salsa, lifts are allowed, contemporary, yes, Argentine tango [and] did I say Charleston? … They are the extra styles that are not considered the 10 core ballroom dances, those we can do lifts in.”
Burgess further noted that lift rules “can get a little tricky” when some moves are classified as an assist.
“A lift is when Tyler’s lifting me off the ground, my feet are off the ground … doing something,” she said. “An assist, however, is something where we do what’s called a butterfly, where I’m gonna do a leap and a jump [and] he is going to assist in the direction and the timing of the leap.”
While Johnson and Inaba appeared to clear the air right away, the choreographer’s husband, Val Chmerkovskiy, seemingly threatened to slap the judge via social media in defense of his wife. Chmerkovskiy, 40, has since issued a public apology.
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
