“Hunger Games” star Willow Shields joins AccessHollywood.com as our behind-the-scenes celebrity blogger for Season 20 of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”
Here is Willow’s latest post…
At the start of every “Dancing with the Stars” show, there is always one thing that stands out – the troupe.
If you’re anything like me, when the troupe dancers show off their skills, your jaw literally drops. This week, Mark and I did a contemporary dance and trained with the troupe for the “Most Memorable Year” theme. Without the awesome troupe dancers, there’s no way we could’ve pulled of our interpretation of survival in “The Hunger Games.”
We were lucky enough to have Alan, Brittany, Henry and Lindsay train with us plus it give me a chance to finally get to know these dancers. There’s only one problem, dancing with these guys means I have to blend in and keep up with them. In other words, in case I haven’t mentioned it lately, (screaming out my apartment window, “I AM NOT A DANCER!”). The cool thing about screaming out your apartment window in West Hollywood is that no one really cares. In fact, I think I heard someone yell back from a nearby building “Neither am I, but I’m trying!”
PHOTOS: Willow Shields – In & Out Of The ‘DWTS’ Ballroom!
One of the biggest challenges training this week, besides keeping up with the troupe dancers, is that we were using large wooden sticks to represent weapons. Can you see where this is going? Mark accidently hit me in the leg, Henry kept dropping his stick, I constantly hit Brittany (I’m so sorry Brittany!). I hit Mark hard enough in the head when I was swinging the stick around that I’m almost sure they’re gonna use the video footage on the show tonight (I’m so sorry Mark!).
Alan somehow managed to hit himself in the face during a rehearsal. Of course, we couldn’t resist playing back video of this. Alan basically hit the ground with the stick, it broke in half and flew straight into his face! These guys are so tough and cool that even after an injury they walk around with both an ice pack AND smile on their face! The show must always go on! Almost nothing can faze these troupe dancers, and at this point maybe not even me.
.@WillowShields made the Mockingjay proud with her #DWTS performance! How did she react to her near perfect score? https://t.co/CbNaU4jWuy
— Access Hollywood (@accesshollywood) April 7, 2015
Brittany and Lindsay are so helpful and having Henry around is like working with a super hero, he’s all muscle. If Henry wasn’t such a sweet guy I think I would be too scared to dance with him! Anyway, I was so excited to dance Monday night and Mark and I both put a lot of thought into how we could present a dance that pays tribute to “The Hunger Games.” I know how serious the fans are and I truly hope they enjoyed our interpretation! Also, special thanks to the troupe dancers who helped bring this dance to life!
— Willow Shields
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