The Wildcats had no interest in playing it safe with their team dance. They have Jenna Johnson, Shum’s partner, to thank for the bold idea to strip away their costumes onstage.
“Jenna was like, ‘I think we should do rip-aways,’” Karagach told E!. “Genius.”
The HSM routine was not the only memorable performance from Frech and Karagach. The pair also took pride in their individual dance, performing a samba set to “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid.
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“The limits we sometimes place on ourselves—they’re self-imposed limits,” Frech explained. “We literally thought this was off the table. There was no way we could do a samba. But as she learned more about the mechanics of the prosthetic, we became more comfortable with each other. The more we experimented, the more we thought, ‘Maybe we can make this happen.’”
“So, for it to come full circle and for us to put that dance together,” the 21-year-old added, “I can’t believe that happened.”