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Harry Shum Jr.\u2019s sudden scream in the middle of his Dancing With the Stars<\/em> Viennese waltz looked spontaneous on television. Jenna Johnson says the explanation existed all week in rehearsal, it simply did not make the final package.<\/p>\n Shum and Johnson performed a Viennese waltz to the Goo Goo Dolls\u2019 \u201cIris\u201d during Sept. 22\u2019s Viral Hits<\/a> Night. Near the climax of the routine, Shum broke away, faced the camera and let out a full-throated scream before Johnson pulled him back into the choreography.<\/p>\n A day later, Johnson explained that the moment grew out of a much longer rehearsal conversation about anxiety, pressure, self-doubt and the feeling of reaching an emotional breaking point. With 14 couples still competing, she said the packages shown before each performance had been shortened and much of that discussion never aired.<\/p>\n Speaking with Entertainment Weekly<\/a>, he called the scream \u201ctherapeutic\u201d and said it gave him a chance to audibly release emotion that dance usually asks him to express without words.<\/p>\n Johnson jokingly introduced her explanation as the story behind \u201cthe scream that was heard around the world.\u201d Then she explained what viewers had missed.<\/p>\n There were still 14 couples entering Week 2, something ABC<\/a> confirmed in its official preview. Johnson said that made the rehearsal packages unusually short.<\/p>\n She and Shum had spent time discussing the emotional meaning they wanted to attach to \u201cIris,\u201d including feelings of anxiety, pressure, doubt and not belonging. Us Weekly<\/a> also reported Johnson\u2019s explanation that their conversation eventually turned to what happens when those emotions build until someone feels close to breaking.<\/p>\n Johnson said her own instinct in those moments is sometimes to scream whether into a pillow, alone in the car or anywhere she can physically release the tension. That idea became part of the choreography.<\/p>\n Before committing to it, Johnson asked Shum whether they should \u201cgo crazy.\u201d He was willing to follow her there. Johnson later told Entertainment Weekly that Shum\u2019s willingness to commit fully to unusual creative choices is one of the things she values about their partnership.<\/p>\nThe Conversation Behind the Scream Never Made It to Air<\/h2>\n
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The Scream Comes Near the End of Their \u2018Iris\u2019 Waltz<\/h2>\n