After class, Louis tells me I did well.  I think he was surprised that I didn't trip or fall. He asked "have you done dance for more than reporting stories?" which I took as a compliment. I liked it so much I may try to get there Monday, too. (Though I just took Advil for tonight's aches.)

Louis and I got a quick bite to eat together so we could talk a little about his dancing life. Did you know he's under contract with DWTS until 2015?  I also learned that the pros don't get paid when they aren't on the show (thus the teaching and other projects) and Louis' partner this season, Priscilla Presley, was voted off the show in the fifth week. I thought Priscilla's nervousness always showed on the Monday dance nights and Louis tells me it was real; that she had a bad case of stage fright each week. But I was most impressed with Louis' plans to "give back" and he has a great idea for a national campaign to fight obesity with dancing. He's already worked with the American Heart Association in Utah, where he's from, on a fundraising event there and he tells me: "I'm willing to start small, I'm patient." (Many of Dancing's previous contestants, including Lisa, Drew Lachey, Joey Fatone, Joey McIntyre and Joey Lawrence have let him know they are willling to help him.) As a survivor of a quadruple cardiac bypass surgery, I see real possibilities for his idea - dancing events in cities across America to get us all on our feet to get our heart rates up.