Dancing With the Stars delivered its 22nd champion on Tuesday night, and it’s hard not to cry a bucket of tears over the winner. I’m certainly not sad over the new champion: I am completely moved by what he has accomplished.
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Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd set out to redefine dance this season — not only for the deaf community but also for all fans of the dance competition show. While we have seen other contestants have challenges before like Amy Purdy, Noah Galloway and Marlee Matlin, the America’s Next Top Model winner took it to the next level by feeling the movement even if he couldn’t hear the music.
That feeling not only carried him physically but it also moved me emotionally, whether I was in the DWTS studio watching it in person or sitting on my couch viewing it on TV. He made me and many longtime followers of the ABC show realize that the only limitations that exist are the ones we place upon ourselves.
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DiMarco might have had a harder time with fast-paced dances like the Quickstep or the Jive, but he made up for his inconsistencies in movement by exhibiting pure joy with each step. Can you imagine if we adopted that simple concept into our daily lives? We might stop saying “I can’t” so much and replace it with “I can.”
If he hadn’t agreed to do the show, he wouldn’t have taken on the challenge of doing DWTS, nor would he have defied all our expectations. I imagine his partner has received far more gifts from being paired up with him versus her teaching him the art of dance.
Before the duo’s names were even called as the winner, tears streamed down Murgatroyd’s face. I could feel every single salty tear as my own. She is a winner just for having DiMarco in her life.
“This is such an amazing feeling. This whole thing has been so incredible because of this man,” Murgatroyd summed up at the end of the show. “I owe everything to him.”
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And TV viewers owe everything to DiMarco for proving that redefining dance goes beyond a Mirror Ball trophy; it takes us to limitless possibilities in our own lives.
Do you think the right person won Season 22 of Dancing With the Stars?
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