On Israel’s version of The Office, there’s a pretty decent apples-to-apples cast where the archetypal characters — the un-self-aware boss, the nerdy accountant, The Gay — from the British and American versions pop up. But on Israel’s version of Dancing With The Stars, it’s anything but: there’s a same-sex lady pair.
On America’s Dancing, going gay might get you kicked off. But in Israel, it’s how you get on.
Television sportscaster Gili Shem Tov, who is smokin’, said the only she’d appear on the show is if producers paired her with a female partner. So they did. “This is my way of life and this is my agenda, and I wanted to express it,” she says. “‘If even just a few people become more tolerant and open-minded as a result, then I have achieved something.”
Shem Tov, who lives with her partner and their son, said most reaction had been positive, although a few people had said a program watched by children should not show two women dancing together. ”I don’t understand that,” she said. ”I have a child myself.” Her partner, she said, was proud and excited ”and said I have a lot of courage”.
Her dance partner, Dorit Milman, was enthusiastic about the debut. ”Everyone knows that Israel has a lot of extremes,” she said. ”When we go on primetime TV as a couple, we’re showing everyone can love everyone.” Milman, who is heterosexual, said the pair had to ”change the rules” to make their dance routine work. She said: ”In a ‘normal’ couple, the man must show his masculinity and the female is very sensual.”
The gay pairing is the first for the Dancing brand, which originated in the U.K. with the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. Perhaps it’s time for Louis van Amstel, a dancing partner in America’s show, to stop feeling such shame about the whole thing
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Ash
I wish they’d do this on the American version, but they won’t. The cowards.
jason
Oh, please, two women dancing together is no big deal anywhere in the world. You see it all the time in the mainstream. The persecution paradigm is two men. You rarely see men dancing together unless it’s a segregated gay venue or if the men are dancing as a group of buddies.
A far more appropriate example of acceptance would be to show two men dancing together. I don’t think that even Israel’s Dancing With the Stars would show this.
As for the women in this particular skit, I think they’re being disingenuous. I don’t think they understand that the two men paradigm is far more discriminated against than the two women one. I think that they were in it for the publicity, as women often are.
Rick Gold
Israel Rocks.
Tom
I totally agree with Jason. Two women are very much standard on the lower levels of the competition circuit. There are simply not enough men, and those familiar with dancesport will certainly know.
That said, the dancing is downright horrendous. First, they have absolutely no chemistry, the pro’s technique is disturbingly poor and the first half of the choreography is a bad rip-off of Mandy Moore’s Season 3 “Sweet dreams” with Sabra and Neil. The execution was so poor and uncharismatic, my eyes started tearing up out of desperation. Watch the original here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFH1moy62VQ