'DANCING' QUEEN
Nancy dishes to Track about 'Stars'
Nancy Kerrigan may have rocked Vera Wang on the ice, but she’s been feeling her label-less dancing ensembles on this season of “Dancing With the Stars.”
“I’m not part of the whole process, but I have an idea presented to me each week and have the option to voice my opinion,” Kerrigan told the Track of her involvement in designing each week’s costumes. “Most important is making it as comfortable for me as possible. We also collaborate on color sometimes. It just depends on the week.”
Kerrigan has strutted out in some stunners: A sparkly, fringed turquoise number that boasted a plunging neckline for her samba to Ricky Martin’s “Shake Your Bon-Bon” in the third week of the competition; a silver, sequined ensemble that featured an illusion bodice and a freely flowing skirt for the sixth week’s paso doble to En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind”; and a princessworthy, cap-sleeved frock in robin’s-egg blue and cream for the fifth week’s jazz performance to “How Do You Know?” from the Disney movie “Enchanted.”
“I really have liked them all,” Kerrigan said. “The wardrobe people come up with things that allow me to embrace the characters. And when do you get to wear costumes like these! The wardrobe people do a great job.”
During her skating days, Kerrigan cleaned up at competitions, including a bronze medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, and a silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
Some of her skating skills have translated well to dancing, but, Kerrigan said, “Dancing With the Stars” is still a learning experience.
“I think the most challenging has been making all the transitions smooth because we learn things in sections and then put them together,” she said. “The most natural part so far has been probably getting into the characters for the performance.”
Many viewers have been blown away by Kerrigan’s ability to get into character, like when she slayed during her paso doble performance, channeling her inner boss. In her jazz performance, which rendered her personal best score from the judges to date with “9”s across the board, she transformed into Princess Giselle.
This evening, Kerrigan will perform a tango, which, she said, is her favorite routine to date.
“I’m taking to it pretty well maybe because we have more things to learn and so I just have less time. … I have to really focus hard and so it’s coming a little easier,” she said.
That’s good news for her partner, Artem Chigvintsev. Tonight’s episode marks the seventh week of the competition, which is when he was eliminated with his partner Maureen McCormick last season. In the past, Chigvintsev made it to the third week with actress Mischa Barton, the sixth week with singer Patti LaBelle and the ninth week with actress Lea Thompson.
Kerrigan hopes to bring home that mirrorball trophy — for Chigvintsev’s sake, but mostly for her own.
“I always want to do my best and this situation is no different,” she said.