Dancing With the Stars pro dancer Mark Ballas always has one person in his corner: mom Shirley Ballas.
After Mark, 39, and celebrity partner Whitney Leavitt took some heat from fans for their samba during TikTok Night on DWTS Tuesday, September 30, Shirley, 65 — a renowned dancer known in the industry as the “Queen of Latin” — defended her son’s choreography.
In response to a comment questioning, “Is the samba in the room,” Shirley posted a TikTok video on Wednesday, October 1, naming all the moves Mark included in the routine and shutting down naysayers in the process.
“The samba was in the room. In fact, I’ll tell you exactly what was in the room,” she began before listing all the samba content in the dance. “Shake handhold Promenade runs, Promenade runs, samba zigzag, Cruzados runs, samba whisk … both timings, samba walk, samba pivot, voltas, reverse turn with (the most difficult) spin, a plait and a slow samba bounce chasse.”
“Yes,” she concluded, “That was a true samba.”
In the comments section, DWTS Nation championed Shirley — who has trained pros including Derek and Julianne Hough as well as Daniella Karagach.
“NO CAUSE PEOPLE DONT UNDERSTAND THE DIFFICULTY OF SAMBA YOU TELL EM!” season 34 pro Ezra Sosa, who is currently partnered with Jordan Chiles, wrote.
“You are seriously such an icon,” pro Brandon Armstrong’s wife, Brylee Armstrong, added, with Rylee and Lindsay Arnold’s mom Mindy Arnold chiming in, “You tell them Shirley!!😂❤.”
Fans supported mama bear Shirley too, with one commenter stating, “Are we really questioning whether THE Mark Ballas can dance a samba😭.” Another added, “People only know samba rolls. If no samba rolls, must not be a samba!”
Mark Ballas and Whitney Leavitt on TikTok Night. Disney/Eric McCandless
Mark and Leavitt, 32, danced a high-energy samba to “Shake Ya Ass” by Mystikal during week 3 of DWTS season 34 on Tuesday. Wearing coordinating black and white polka-dot tops and neon green pants, the pair thrilled the ballroom and earned a score of 24 out of 30 from the judges.
“When we talk about the samba, we want to see that elusive bounce, which is a continuous movement that hypnotizes you,” Bruno Tonioli told them following their performance. “And it’s so hard to get … you got it.”
Carrie Ann Inaba noted how “difficult” the samba is and that Leavitt “ate that up.” Derek Hough added that the routine was “mesmerizing” and he loved the “combination of a true samba mixed with the TikTok flair.”
During an interview with Us Weekly on Tuesday, Mark shared how tricky it was to choreograph a samba to Mystikal’s hit 2000 song.
“When we got that song, I was like, ‘Oh, whoa. This is, like, on ABC and Dancing.’ I was like, ‘I never thought, ever, that I’d be dancing to this song.’ But I feel like it was so suited to [Whitney’s] personality,” he told Us exclusively. “The samba is hard, it’s a different style, so it was interesting to take this TikTok theme and … it’s a challenge for all of us. We’ve never done anything like this. So I’m hoping everyone enjoyed it.”
The full celebrity cast reveal has brought Us one step closer to a new season of Dancing With the Stars. The highly successful 33rd season of the ballroom dance competition aired from September to November 2024, with Bachelor Joey Graziadei and pro partner Jenna Johnson winning the coveted mirrorball trophy. The season broke records, drawing […]
Mark and Leavitt ended up at the top of the leaderboard with Sosa and Chiles, both 24, while Fifth Harmony’s Lauren Jauregui and Brandon, 31, were shockingly sent home.
Leavitt’s Secret Lives of Mormon Wives costar and fellow DWTS season 34 competitor Jen Affleck said of Jauregui’s exit, “Seeing Lauren go home tonight, I’m just like, ‘Hey, you never know what’s gonna happen.’ So we’re trying to just soak in every single minute.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
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