Anna Zigmond is a huge believer that dance can connect people.
“The body language and what we can convey through dance is totally unique,” she said.
So, the 2013 Guerin Catholic High School graduate from Carmel was a natural fit for “Flirty Dancing.” Zigmond, who lives in Los Angeles, appeared on the Fox TV show Jan. 8.
She danced with two men on a blind date. At the end, she picked one to go on a date with, but there was no love connection.
“The whole concept is people can find a romantic connection through dance,” she said. “All the lead up to dance days, I never saw these guys. When we are doing the dances, we can’t talk to each other.”
A woman in a Facebook group posted about Fox looking for singles who love to dance. Zigmond went through a series of interviews before a dance audition to see if she could pick up choreography.
“I was asked in October (2019) to be on the show, and we shot the first week of November for a full week,” she said. “I had 2 1/2 days to learn two dances.”
Zigmond said she was amazed by the production of the entire show.
“It looks like ‘La La Land.’ It felt like a fairy tale,” Zigmond said. “I think I was the only one in the entire series that had kind of a dance background. Even the two guys I danced with had never danced before. One guy was a substitute teacher and one was a stuntman.
“We all had positive experiences. I got to work with professional dancers. My choreographer (Val Chmerkovskiy) is on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’”
Zigmond grew up dancing at studios, including stints with Academy of Dance Arts, Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre and Performer’s Edge/Ballet Theatre of Carmel.
Zigmond, a 2017 Indiana University graduate, is a freelance writer for a food magazine.
“I do a lot of copywriting projects,” she said. “In the episode, I say I’m a part-time nanny, which isn’t totally accurate, but I do a lot of babysitting out here. I’m transitioning to do more in entertainment. ‘Flirty Dancing’ was a fun kickoff for that new chapter in my life.
“I would do ‘Flirty Dancing’ again. I don’t think I would do any other reality TV show. It’s positive and it’s focused on meeting people through dance.”
