Amy Purdy On Her Emotional Contemporary DWTS Performance: 'It Was An Intensely Emotional Week'

Amy Purdy gave the performance of a lifetime on Monday night’s Dancing With The Stars.

Now the 34-year-old Paralympian is opening up in her LA Times blog about the dance, the switch that the dancers and audience have been dreading and more. Check it:

On her contemporary dance: “It was an emotional night…actually, it was an intensely emotional week, that’s for sure, but when it came time to dance I was just trying to focus on this beautiful dance that we worked on together and the motivation behind it which was giving gratitude to my family and my dad for their support through my toughest time. Derek and I do these great exercises backstage before going on that help to put us in the right emotional space for our dances. Here, I’m the motivational speaker yet he has taught me so much about myself, life and how to harness and channel your energy in a performance direction.”

On partner Derek Hough: “I can’t say enough good things about Derek, there just aren’t words for how inspired I am by him. He’s obviously an incredibly talented dancer, but I’m equally impressed by the creative things he comes up with. The way he helped me express this incredibly important year of my life was genius. I don’t know how tough an adjustment it will be to work with a new partner but I am looking at it more as an amazing opportunity to completely jump into something new just as I did when I started the show with Derek….although, I can’t lie, I’m already missing Derek, we have been together for three weeks straight building trust and supporting each other. He’s my partner.”

On her fellow competitors: “I love to watch the other dancers and you’re right, the competition is incredible. Meryl was amazing this week, her grace on the dance floor is stunning. It’s been fun to watch the other dancers progress so much in just the first few weeks that I find it really inspiring. I know everyone is working so hard that it pushes me to continue to give it my all. I’m in it to win it but so is everyone else so it really comes down to just focusing on your own dance and progression throughout the week.”