'Bachelor' Chris Soules making 2 LI stops on 'Ballroom With a Twist' dance tour
Chris Soules from ABC's "The Bachelor" goes through his steps as he prepares for his gig in "Ballroom With a Twist." Credit: Scott Stander
When it plays NYCB Theatre at Westbury on Sunday, the touring dance exhibition "Ballroom With a Twist" brings us a bachelor with a twist: Chris Soules, the Iowa farmer who starred in the most recent season of ABC's "The Bachelor" and then competed on "Dancing With the Stars."
The 33-year-old -- who has broken up with Whitney Bischoff, the Chicago nurse who won Season 19 of "The Bachelor" -- has been dancing selected dates on the "Ballroom" tour, appearing alongside "Dancing" pros Dmitry Chaplin, Chelsie Hightower and Anna Trebunskaya as well as others from that show and Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance." Sunday's show is his last scheduled performance, while the tour continues at Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts Wednesday, Aug. 12 to Sunday, Aug. 16. Soules spoke by phone from his family's agribusiness firm in Arlington, Iowa.
Your primary career is helping run your family's 5,000- to 6,000-acre farm. When you're called in to do a couple of "Ballroom" dates, do you get a lot of time to rehearse?
We went through a few rehearsal sessions in Beverly (Massachusetts) and I kind of got refreshed. I was pretty rusty; I'm not going to lie. I'm always a little rusty. In Westbury I think I'll be a little bit more on my game. Since the end of "Dancing With the Stars" -- the first week in May was our last dance -- I was a little nervous if I even remembered how to dance, to be honest with you. But it's a bit like riding a bike, especially when it's a similar routine you've done over and over.
I don't imagine you see a future where you leave the farm to dance professionally. So being among all those professionals, do you ever wonder what the nature is about your part in "Ballroom"?
It doesn't matter to me. I'm there to have fun and it's like when I'm walking down the street and people want to take their picture with me or whatever. The way I look at it, if I can make somebody smile and make somebody's day I'm happy to do that. If people want to watch me screw up onstage dancing or just meet me afterward during the meet-and-greet, I'm more than happy to do that. The cast is great, so we have a great time and I actually do enjoy dancing.
Do you get to know the other dancers in the show, or is it more like you fly in, rehearse, do your spot and fly out?
You do get to know each other -- you stay at the same hotel and after work you hang out. They're onstage throughout the entire 21/2-hour show, and you watch each other and cheer each other on. There's a sense of camaraderie.
You're a handsome guy, you're wealthy, you seem nice -- and yet you're single. So what chance do the rest of us have?
(Laughs) It's not so much about looks or being rich -- it's about finding the right person. Not everyone wants to live in a small town in northeast Iowa, so it's created some challenges for me. Everybody should be hopeful -- some find theirs early in life, some later. I have three sisters. My oldest sister found her husband when she was 17 and they dated through high school and college and married after grad school. Another took till she was 35. Everybody lives different lives. This is where I'm at.
WHEN | WHERE Sunday, Aug. 9 at 8 p.m., NYCB Theatre at Westbury, 960 Brush Hollow Rd.; also Wednesday, Aug. 12-Sunday, Aug. 16 (various times), Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts, 71 E. Main St.
INFO Westbury: $39.50-$59.50, 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com; Patchogue: $54-$89, 631-207-1313, patchoguetheatre.org
