Choreographing a quantity in honor of Dancing With the Stars’ twentieth anniversary was an order solely Derek Hough may fill. Hough joined the ABC sequence as an expert dancer in 2007 earlier than transitioning to host in 2020. The newest season of the fact competitors sequence celebrated twenty years on air with a birthday party-themed episode wherein Hough was tasked with choreographing a gap quantity that may not solely commemorate the present’s previous however mark its future.
“It was really important to [embody] this idea of passing the torch from the pros that really began this all to this new cast of dancers,” says Hough of the efficiency, which was launched by the unique dancers from the present’s first season: Edyta Sliwinska, Ashly DelGrosso, Louis van Amstel, Jonathan Roberts, Charlotte Jorgensen and Alec Mazo.
The act was set to a remixed model of the present’s basic theme track, with various sections carried out in numerous dance types. “The theme song is the one constant that’s been a throughline of all these seasons, so I thought, ‘Why don’t we dance to the theme song? But let’s mix it up and honor the different genres and styles that Dancing With the Stars showcases,’ ” Hough explains.
One other nostalgic factor of the efficiency noticed former host Tom Bergeron make his return to the ballroom. “The very first thing that came to my mind was Tom Bergeron,” says Hough. “When I knew that he was coming back, I was like, ‘There has to be a moment within the number where there’s a reveal of him, and it needs to be the right setup to lead him into this moment.’ ”
From left: Derek Hough, Robert Irwin and Witney Carson.
Courtesy of TH Studios
That setup was a sequence choreographed and danced by Ezra Sosa and Rylee Arnold paying homage to the late Len Goodman, who served as a choose on DWTS from 2005 till 2022. A lightweight shined straight onto Goodman’s empty seat as a sequence of paired ballroom dancers carried out in white robes and tuxedos to an instrumental model of Woman Gaga’s “Always Remember Us This Way.”
“The way I described it was this moment where we’re thinking of Len and we’re thinking of this beautiful ballroom show, and then there’s this figure that walks through that’s backlit with smoke, and we’re not sure who it is, because we’re in our Len feelings, and then we see Tom,” Hough explains. “When I was told to do this piece, I really took it to heart. I wanted to hit those different moments that really honor the show and capture the essence of 20 years.”
With a record-breaking thirty fourth season, quantity 35 will likely be one other landmark for Dancing With the Stars. It’s unclear whether or not the upcoming installment will embody one other anniversary celebration, although Hough is admittedly “excited” about how plans are shaping up.
“We have a really good cast. There are some people that I know are waiting in the wings. I’ve been told some of the people that are going to be on the next season. It’s going to be a great one,” he teases. “We’re having this momentum from the past two seasons. The celebrities are so excited to be on the show, to dance, to compete, to really get the full experience, and that dynamic of a celebrity who is wanting [to win] and really embracing it, that’s what creates great seasons.”
This story first appeared in a June stand-alone challenge of The Hollywood Reporter journal. To obtain the journal, click here to subscribe.
