Speaking of getting up offa that thang and dancing, I just have to comment on something that has totally confounded me.  I happen to enjoy Dancing with the Stars.  I don’t get the pleasure of sitting and watching it when it airs this semester because of my heavy schedule, but I record it and watch it when I have time.  I love seeing the dancers improve from week to week.  I admire Cloris Leachman for the supreme effort she’s put into the show.  Is she not amazing at 82 years old?  I can only hope I’m that agile at 82.  I’m not that agile now!  But I was glad that she finally got voted off the show to allow the better dancers to move ahead.  I was sorry to see Toni Braxton voted off while Cloris Leachman got to stay.  I’m not saying that Cloris Leachman shouldn’t have been allowed to stay since she got more votes, but just strictly looking at dancing ability, you’ve got to admit that Toni Braxton was a better dancer.  Anyway, I admire all of them for getting out there and putting their heart and soul into the program.  You can not only see the week to week improvement in their dancing, but you can also see the amazing transformation of their bodies.  They tone and tighten and put on sleek muscle because dancing is rigorous.  And they also seem to really enjoy what they’re doing.  Well, maybe except for the ones that have injured themselves with torn muscles and ligaments.  As I said, dancing is rigorous and potentially dangerous if extreme care is not taken.  But at the pace they have to learn the new dances and at the high level of competition they face, they can’t afford not to take risks. 

So, with all that said, here’s what’s really bugging me.  Cheryl Burke, one of the professional dancers, has been getting a lot of grief because of her weight gain from last year’s show.  I’ve read all kinds of things from all kinds of people, and most of what I’ve read has not been very kind to Cheryl.  I noticed that she was heavier and curvier than when I watched the show last year.  My first impression was that she must have had a baby during the off season.  I could see that she was roomier through the hips, that her thighs were fuller, and that she did have a few little bulges in places she didn’t have them last year.  But fat?  Come on!  According to what I’ve read and also according to the interview she did with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, another favorite show of mine, Cheryl says she gained about 5 pounds over the summer because she didn’t go on tour, and she didn’t dance as much every day as she would have if she had been touring.  She says she still fits into her size 4 (yes, there really is a size 4, or so I hear) costumes.  Others, who may or may not know anything for sure, say she’s definitely gained more than 5 pounds, some even saying she’s gained about 30 pounds.  And she hasn’t had a baby although some have accused her of being pregnant.  What some are also saying is that she’s seen coming out of night clubs a lot, apparently under the influence of alcohol, and we all know that drinking alcohol can pack on the weight.  I don’t know about any of that.  All I know is what Cheryl herself has said, and I accept her word.

Now, I know that dancers have very muscular, lean, lithe bodies by virtue of their occupation and their daily routine.  And I also realize that people say that television puts an extra ten pounds on your appearance.  So, I know that most celebrities are aware that viewers check them out pretty carefully as they watch them and wish to BE them.  But having a thicker appearance on an otherwise beautifully curvy, muscular body than another dancer who is smaller overall does not make you fat!  I am watching Cheryl dance every week on the show.  I can see that she’s shrinking a little, and that’s probably because of the long hard hours of dancing.  She’s changing the same way, although not to the same extent, that the “stars” are changing.  But not even from the first show of the season have I thought of her as fat.  She moves so well, and when she moves, nothing on her jiggles.  Fat jiggles.  She just is not fat!

I think one of the things that bothers me so much about all this is that all the comments have hurt Cheryl’s feelings.  I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings if I can possibly help it.  But two of the male professional dancers on the show have called Cheryl out about her weight.  They claim that she “has to do something about it,” so the viewers who watch the show won’t be discouraged.  They claim that viewers like to watch the program because they like to dream that if they work that hard at dancing, they can have bodies like the dancers  someday.  Well, I don’t watch the program for that reason.  I know I’m never going to have a body like those professional dancers.  I don’t even want one.  But I would love to be more agile and move more gracefully.  And I would love to jiggle a little less.  And I think that’s entirely possible.