This is it.
First call for two years.
Yes this is nice.
Thank you.
OK but what people may not understand
is the ballroom dance partnership
is deeper than a friendship.
I need your help.
It's not a romantic partnership, but the level of intensity
can be similar.
You're a chicken first.
OK?
and then you sort of hear of the whole,
dare I say, cougar dynamic.
I'm hungry.
Are you?
Yes you have to pay their fees, their flights,
their hotels, their food.
The cost becomes enormous.
I have to do his incidentals, so I'll just wait for him.
I can do my incident a little more.
Or you don't want me to see when you
put your order into the room?
Oh, you're not paying for the hooker.
Why not?
What are the chances of Alex actually getting a hooker?
Well, you'd have to ask Alex on my credit card.
None my room is.
Did you want me to take mine, you guys?
No I'll help you when you arrive at the competition.
It's like going into this fantasy world of getting to be
a different type of person.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the tri-state dance
sport championships.
It's a complete transformation.
You get to be a princess for a day.
The typical ballroom look has a lot of drama and flair.
Just like the dances.
There's crystals, rhinestones, feathers, literally.
Anything you can imagine.
You could walk into a competition
and you'd be thinking, god, is this mardi gras?
Ballroom dancing is a very expensive sport.
But we have to look the part.
The hair is plastered to your head and enough hairspray
to deplete the ozone layer.
The men are very tanned shirts, open chains on oiled chest,
hair gelled.
I mean, I love it.
The man and the man in the middle of.
Tri-state is the first competition I ever came to.
So I feel comfortable here.
I'm ready in time for Boyko.
We got what you want to call me donny?
I was just thinking, Larry.
How are you?
Good how are you?
Oh, good.
Yes, welcome.
I am ready to Cha Cha Cha.
I'm ready to see that.
Who is Boyko?
Oh, god.
Who is Boyko?
He does our hair.
He does our makeup.
Boyko is like grand central station.
Everyone's got to go through him.
Did I just say that we all bow down to Boyko?
He is the god of hair and makeup in ballroom.
Boyko is so packed that some women get up
at like three in the morning to get their hair done.
Because that's your last chance.
I walk into Boyko room like a tired, middle aged mom.
Welcome is it me you're looking for?
And I come out and empress ready to go battle on the dance floor
to empress battle.
I don't know I'm saying, but I like that word.
That was in the neverending story.
She was an empress.
I just know what that means.
Welcome how are you?
Good Conan.
Here's my boy who is in the house.
Oh the room is so calm.
And then in comes rocky Balboa like a hurricane.
Sabrina loves the spotlight, but then I don't think she
ever thinks it's off of her.
So nice to see you.
A beautiful tan.
Oh, thank you.
And let's do not mention what I find out is at least existing.
Well, I tell me now.
A week.
A week?
Yeah, a Merc with a pubic week.
Like a pube wig.
And it has a name.
A Merc.
And you knew the name immediately,
like it's from the 1800s when people
would get like like STDS.
Then they'd have to shave off all their hair.
But then if you, you wouldn't want your partner to know,
like, hey, I have scabies.
So you just had a wig on there.
I knew donny was a great dancer, but I did not know
that she was an STD expert.
It's true, especially from past centuries.
That's gross.
It's nice to bond with the other women,
but I'm still going to crush them all.
Merkin or no Merkin.
Bye, ladies.
I'll see you soon.
By me?
Oh, yes, by boiko.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Hey, are you dancing back with us?
Yeah, that's amazing. I know.
Can you believe it?
So this is our first Comp together in over two years.
Is it like a second marriage now?
Yes well, it was a second marriage.
That's why I left.
Yeah are you excited to be in b now?
Oh, b to be or not to be?
Stassi and I were the top of a for a very long time,
but we have new girls to beat in b, so we're
all sizing each other up.
I am not shaking in my boots because people are coming back.
The only thing I'm focused on is myself.
Everyone's friendly until we hit the dance floor.
You want all the glitters?
Go for it.
Do not hold back.
OK first place is mine.