While we’re in touch, Paula Barale must be careful how to move and how to speak because with every sudden movement she could feel the pain that has, in fact, marked the end of her adventure in Dancing with the Stars. The injury, as she herself recounts today, occurred two Saturdays before the final, when a wrong grip with her dance teacher Roly Maden gave her “a right hemirotace blunt trauma with fracture lesion of the seventh and eighth costal arch of the right” with a 30 day prognosis. «When I hurt myself, perhaps due to the fact that I was still hot, I didn’t feel it right away, so I continued to dance», says Paola Barale a few hours before the final of Dancingan experience that, now that the games are done, he defines as “very positive”, but also peppered with too many dramas that have effectively erased that lightness that has always been the trademark not only of the program, but also of Saturday evening of Rai1.
In the meantime, Paola is in Rome, at the house of a friend who lives on the third floor without a lift: which, needless to say, has certainly not done her fractured ribs any good. She will spend Christmas in the capital – an unforeseen circumstance, so much so that a moment before the interview she ran to a shop to buy “lights and a gnome” to decorate the table – together with her parents, who will celebrate with her before the party with his sister in Piedmont.
His adventure a Dancing with the Stars is literally one step away from the end: sorry?
«Very much, in spite of myself, I had to withdraw because I would not have been able to go on. I found out about the fracture last Wednesday, when I got x-rays: from then on I took painkillers hoping to contain the pain and even danced on it, but I think I hurt. I insisted to the last but, when I realized that I was freediving after the holds and that I would never be able to give my best on the track, I realized that I should have stopped there. I’m sorry, because I had finally found a choreography that I enjoyed, inspired by Studio 54».
Some viewers thought she wasn’t really hurt because it looked like she was ready to perform at the semi-final.
«The Rai doctor didn’t give me the go-ahead to dance but told me that, if I signed a release from liability, I could decide for myself. I tried until the end, but there was no way: the practice requires you to prepare yourself first and then understand what to do. It’s from the first episode that I promised myself not to bring any kind of drama but only a little levity, and that’s why I wouldn’t have gone there to do the main scene».
Did Roly Maden, your teacher, make up for that wrong grip?
“If it hadn’t been for him, I would have fallen to the ground and seriously hurt myself, but instead I landed on his deltoid. We were still, it wasn’t difficult stuff. Among other things, I had proposed that hold».
Be honest: apart from the regret for having given up, did you by any chance also feel a little relief at the idea that it was over?
“Partially yes. Dancing it was a wonderful experience, but very tiring and demanding. It was nice to get up in the morning, go to the rehearsal room and do something for myself and for my body: I enjoyed this experience and also made me lose weight. Dancing is therapeutic, whether you dance well or badly. But it was like being thrown into a blender.”
The problem, in your case, was perhaps also one of expectation, don’t you think?
«I didn’t fully manage to do what I wanted: I relied heavily on the people who did this job, but I didn’t identify much with the things they asked me to tell. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with how it turned out, but I would have liked to see less drama. Especially on Saturday night.”
In fact he attended the most drama-filled edition in the history of Dancing with the Stars.
«It wasn’t like this in other years, and that’s why I didn’t feel so functional to the program: it’s a type of story that doesn’t belong to me. I think it showed.”
As a spectator I can say that I felt a lot of tension from home: and inside?
“Of course yes. When I was eliminated I was sad because, sometimes, the judges exaggerate in their way of dealing with the evaluation: you can say things in different ways. I understand that Dancing is a program not only of dance but of entertainment, so much so that the judges are right for what they are called to do. The problem is that we competitors work together a lot: sometimes, for me, they were not very objective, and this makes things go a bit round given the work and commitment that everyone puts into it. In my case, then, I don’t think they made my life too easy».
Why, in your opinion?
«I don’t know, maybe I closed myself off because I couldn’t find fertile ground. I’m not competitive and, above all, I don’t like confrontation. If I have to go and get massacred I prefer something else, but I don’t think it’s just a problem Dancing: is the TV that is taking this trend. The show doesn’t necessarily have to be screamed, dramatic. In this period of my life I feel a great need for a concrete lightness, and I didn’t feel it back there».
Into what Dancing with the Stars could it be lighter?
“I don’t want to get into controversy, but perhaps I would have preferred more confrontation, a more discursive and less aggressive language, more laughter and less drama”.
Back to the race: who are you rooting for?
«Gabriel Garko is undoubtedly the moral winner of this edition: I think that he, Alessandro Egger, Alex Di Giorgio and Ema Stokholma have all the credentials because they have all made a beautiful journey. Even Iva Zanicchi, in her own way, made entertainment: it was functional to the programme, but perhaps I wouldn’t have put her in competition with younger competitors more inclined to dance than she was ».
Answer truthfully: Did you laugh at your X-rated jokes?
“I laughed, we even talked about it. She also knows that every now and then she pushes too hard on the accelerator, but that’s the way it is. I’ve known her since Have a nice Sunday and I’ve always liked his lightness and his way of carrying his personality. I am very fond of her, she is a real woman.’
Let’s go back to the jury, which this year seemed really at loggerheads: in your opinion, could they continue to be together next year after what happened in this edition?
«However, we need to understand if they are really at loggerheads or if this too is part of a television dynamic. wild (Lucarelli, ed) has been excessive many times, but often said the right things. Except when she started giving away 10 at random – they were very thrifty with me -. I don’t know if these clashes were part of the game: from my point of view, sometimes they were excessive. When you enter people’s homes, you have to do it in a certain way, because you often set an example. If one gets used to confrontation, shouting and swearing, that’s not good: it cannot become normal language».
Let’s close with the longed-for lightness: will he continue to dance?
“Of course. I really like dancing, it’s good for me. I won’t be lucky enough to have a teacher available every day, but I’ve already involved some friends: at least once a month, I’d like to give myself a few trips to some club where they dance as a couple as soon as I’m better. You keep fit while having fun: what could be better?».
Other Vanity Fair stories you may be interested in:
Dancing with the Stars 2022: something broke
Lorenzo Biagiarelli: «Me, Selvaggia Lucarelli and the excess of diplomacy»
Alessandro Egger: «Dreaming of the Oscar»
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Source: Vanity Fair
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
