Daniella Karagach on Dylan Efron, Freestyle Idea, Dream Celeb

Daniella Karagach and Dylan Efron have had an ascending track record throughout season 34 of Dancing With the Stars. It’s something viewers may not have expected, as The Traitors winner and brother to Zac Efron joined the competition with no prior dance experience at all.

Luckily for Efron, he was partnered with mirrorball champion Karagach, who has made a name for herself on the series, beloved for her captivating choreography style. And even though he didn’t come into the series with any idea how to perform a cha cha or execute a samba roll, that hasn’t slowed down his progress or Karagach’s faith in him as a competitor. 

“He really started from the ground up, and the fact that people are recognizing it week to week, it just makes me such a proud coach,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “That is dream partner, for someone to show up and want to be there and work hard. I’ll teach you how to dance, but I can’t teach you how to work hard and be a good person.” 

Below, Karagach speaks with THR about her dance partnership with Efron, who their biggest competition is this season, what viewers can expect from Tuesday’s Halloween Night, how she and her husband, Pasha Pashkov, juggle their busy day-to-day lives as pro dancers and parents and who she’d love to be partnered up with on the show one day. 

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Before you were partnered with Dylan Efron, had you watched his appearance on The Traitors?

I have not. (Laughs.) I actually did not watch. I kept hearing about him and he popped up on my TikTok one time with Boston Rob [Mariano], and I saw him do the TikTok “Anxiety” trend with him. I was like, “Wow, this dude is talented. If he were ever to join the show, he could and would do pretty well.” That was the first time I saw and heard of him. I heard he made a really great name for himself on Traitors, and he was just being himself. I already knew off the bat he was a good dude (laughs), but I still have not watched it. I probably should. 

On Dedication Night, at that time, you two earned the highest score of the season and were the first couple to receive all nines from the judges. What has it been to watch how much Dylan has improved over these past few weeks?

It’s been great because he has no prior dance experience. He really started from the ground up, and the fact that he worked so hard in the studio is finally paying off and people are recognizing it week to week, it just makes me such a proud coach. That is a dream partner. I’ll teach you how to dance, but I can’t teach you how to work hard and be a good person. For him to show up, want to work hard and actually be interested in the technique and do everything he can possible, even on his own time, he goes and rehearses. It makes me feel so good knowing how much he loves it and respects it.

You have to give yourself some credit, as his improvement does boil down to you as his coach. How have you been able to teach and help him grow as a dancer in such a short amount of time?

He is the perfect student. He is someone who, because I don’t have to pull his teeth and force him to want to be there, because he wants it so bad, it’s almost like he takes out all the information that I have and he applies it. I feel like I can give him more when he is able to soak up all that information. In my last rehearsal, I said that he makes me a better dancer and a better coach, because he actually challenges me to make him do better and give him literally the years and years of information I have and transfer it over to him.

Your Halloween night dance with Iman [Shumpert] is so beloved. Because of how iconic that dance is, do you feel pressure moving into every Halloween Night that comes to live up to that dance?

No. Every partner is different. Not everyone can do what Iman did, or what Jason [Mraz] or Dwight [Howard] did. Every single person is different, and there’s no way I can replicate what I did with Iman on anyone else. And I like that, because it pushes me to get creative in other ways. And also, our height difference was pretty drastic —same with Dwight —so it was easier for them to create more death-defying tricks. But with someone more my height, the impact of the tricks is not going to be as high. This year is special because it’s the first time I’m doing a Viennese Waltz for Halloween [Night]. When you compare a Viennese Waltz to a contemporary, a jazz, or an Argentine Tango, in an Argentine Tango, jazz, and contemporary, you’re allowed lifts and tricks. It’s more entertaining. When you’re doing a Viennese Waltz, you’re going back to ballroom —  back to the basics, back to technique. There’s more give and styles that you’re allowed lifts, and in [traditional] ballroom [dances], there is no give. There’s a technique book, so there’s only so much I can do with it. At the same time, I’m excited to get more creative, because I’m not allowed to do tricks and lifts, so it’s going to be more of a storyline. [Dylan] chose this story; he chose the characters, so he’s very excited about it, and I’m very excited to tell the story.

Tuesday night, we also have the dance marathon returning. How stressful is the dance marathon, and how do you shift your training process to prep for something like the dance marathon?

The dance marathon is extremely stressful, just because now, not only are you dancing one dance, you’re learning two dances extra on top. So you’re doing three dances total that you’ve never danced before, and you don’t know when you’re going to be tapped on the shoulder and tapped out. You have to prepare for four minutes, [and] four minutes worth of dancing is a lot of dancing, especially for someone who’s never danced before. So it’s stressful (Laughs).

You are known for your freestyle routines. In THR’s Dedication Night interview with the pros, you said that it’s the night that, if you make it, you’re most looking forward to. If you and Dylan make it there, what would a Dylan Efron Dancing With the Stars freestyle look like?

We talked a little bit about it. We have no idea if we’re going to make it even past Halloween Night; we have no idea how far we’re going to make it, period. But we did have an amazing idea. And I don’t think it’s ever been done before [on DWTS]. It would be absolutely insane (laughs), that’s all I can say. And if we pull it off and we get the right help and people to make my vision come to life, oh my gosh, it would be just so much fun.

Looking back at season 34, what has been your favorite night of the competition thus far?

Dedication Night, because we got to have his sister in it. She is the absolute cutest. Just watching her confidence and watching how she demanded the stage at five years old was so special. And watching Dylan, how much love he has for his sister, was just so beautiful. It was nice for me to step away and just let them have their moment. That was really a special moment for me to watch them dance together, on time, without me and so confidently.

Do you have a favorite dance you and Dylan have done so far this season? 

I love the [One-Hit Wonders Night] samba. The samba was such a fun moment, and he really worked hard for that and did a few moves in there that, first of all, went viral on TikTok, his Samba whisk. But also, [doing] samba rolls and all those moves that are so difficult in ballroom, he did it, and it was just a proud moment for me to watch him own the samba. The samba is the hardest dance you’ll ever learn on the show, and he had a week [to learn it], so it was fun for me to watch him do that.

Who are you and Dylan’s biggest competition this season?

Honestly, not gonna lie, ourselves. We have no time to watch anyone else dance, literally. On show day, we make it a point not to watch anyone else and just have fun, be in the moment and tune in and be locked in with each other. Because when you watch everyone else, it distracts you a little bit. It gets you out of your zone. I’m gonna say ourselves, [because] we are working so hard to make sure that we’re better than the week [before]. I’m sure everyone’s killing it. (Laughs.)

You and your husband, Pasha, are both pro dancers, you’re both parents and you’re both going on the Dancing With the Stars tour coming up. You have so many things on your plate, how do you juggle it all?

Oh, boy. It’s hard, honestly, being a mom and being the best I could possibly be being as a wife. What’s good is that my husband is in the same situation I’m in. So the best part is that we understand each other. You know, sometimes he comes home late and he’s with Danielle [Fishel] all day, and same thing with me, I’m with Dylan all day, and there’s just an understanding of, “Oh my gosh, we really miss each other.” We haven’t seen each other all day, but the five minutes we have at night is the best time, because we’re able to just hug each other and just be together and eat dinner together. Sometimes it’s a lot, it’s a lot emotionally too, because I miss him and I miss my baby, and you want to be the best that you can possibly be. Everyday I have mom guilt because I’m like, “Well, I’m spending all this time with my partner and the show, but it’s taking away from my family.” But at the same time, I’m like, “Well, I’m doing something I love.” Hopefully, one day my daughter can see that and be inspired by what I’m doing. And I’m providing for her, I’m providing for my family. Same thing with my husband, he’s providing for our family. So it’s never like, “Oh, you didn’t spend all day with me. I’m mad at you.” It’s like, “Oh my gosh, babe. Let’s spend five minutes together, even if it’s in the morning. Let’s soak it all in.” We’re trying to make sure our partners have a good season. We’re both so lucky because both Dylan and Danielle are just so sweet and so hard working and so easy to deal with. We’re really lucky this season.

Do you have a dream celebrity dance partner that you would like to be partnered up with on Dancing With the Stars?

Realistic, I feel like Kane Brown would be really fun, because he’s country, he has some swag to him, he knows how to move a little bit. Unrealistic will probably be [Lionel] Messi. Leo Messi, just because my husband is obsessed with him, and I would love for my husband to meet him. (Laughs). I’ve never had anyone with dance experience, ever. So it could be nice to have [a partner] with dance experience. I don’t know who that is, but maybe Justin Timberlake.

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New episodes of Dancing With the Stars season 34 air and stream on ABC and Disney on Tuesday at 8 p.m., and stream the next day on Hulu. Read more of THR’s DWTS season 34 coverage here.