‘Dance Your A-- Off’ set to start on Oxygen
Kate O'Hare
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Published: June 29, 2009
Anyone who watches ABC’s "Dancing With the Stars” learns two things: Ballroom dancing can leave you injured and in pain, but it also can leave you thinner and more fit.
Marissa Jaret Winokur hosts "Dance Your A-- Off,” which debuts at 9 tonight.Oxygen media photo
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Marissa Jaret Winokur, star of Broadway’s "Hairspray” and Season 6 of "Dancing,” has taken that idea to the next reality show level as host of "Dance Your A-- Off,” premiering at 9 tonight on Oxygen (Cox channel 166). The show combines dancing and diet to help plus-size contestants slim down and shape up.
"You have 12 contestants who are overweight, want to lose weight,” Winokur says. "You know what’s great about them all — kind of how I was on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ — they all want to be there. They all love it. They all feel good.
"They want to lose weight, but they definitely love themselves. And they get to know themselves more during the show, and they embrace more of their inner beauty.”
The male and female contestants are paired with professional dance partners who train them for their weekly performances. And it’s not just ballroom; the dance styles also include hip-hop and pole dancing.
Then they perform in front of a live studio audience and a panel of expert judges: choreographer
Danny Teeson, dancer/choreographer
Mayte Garcia and dancer/actress
Lisa Ann Walter. The judges score the dance, and contestants weigh in to reveal their weight-loss progress for the week. The dance score and the results from the scale are combined for an overall score, which determines who is eliminated each week.
As any fan of aerobics can tell you, mixing dance moves and weight loss is nothing new. But Winokur points out that this show takes that idea from the gym or the dance studio and throws in sparkly costumes and bright lights.
"I felt like I inspired them, because they all had seen ‘Dancing With the Stars,’” she says. "Being an overweight person, I think that I inspire people who are overweight at home wanting to be performers.
"It’s a dance show. The costuming is up to the ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and ‘
So You Think You Can Dance’ standard, as is the hair and makeup.”
Winokur continued, "Everybody feels a hundred times better when they get their hair and makeup done and get a dress put on. That just ups the ante to being, ‘Wait, I feel like a star right now.’
"That’s what helped me through ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ I put on a waltz dress and felt like I was now a ballerina. I feel like this is exactly the opportunity that they are giving to these contestants, to feel like a princess, to feel like a prince.”
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