I did something unusually frivolous the other day — I went to see the live stage show of Dancing With The Stars. I’ve always loved ballroom dancing (I can recite by heart some of the dialog from Fred & Ginger movies), so I guess it was pretty predictable that I would come to enjoy DWTS.
My delight in the show comes about, in no small part, because of its “getting it right” format. I love entertainment (books, movies, and, apparently, TV shows) that have as their trajectory people who, through hard work, instructive mistakes, enthusiasm, heart, heroism, etc., start at the bottom and work their way to the top.
On DWTS, many of the “stars” (B-listers, athletes, musicians, and “personalities”) who come on the show have never danced before. Some of them never do learn how to dance, but others prove to have previously untapped talents and it’s a delight to see them go from stumbling around to impressive dance chops. And always — always! — the ones who stay the course are the ones who work hard and cheerfully. The lazy ones and the whiny ones flame out quickly. It’s a good life metaphor.