Review: DANCING WITH THE STARS: LIVE! TOUR at Proctors Theatre

Dancing with the Stars had another record-breaking year on their hands with Season 33. Views climbed and votes skyrocketed with this season’s competitive group, big personalities, and fan-favorite theme nights. This year’s Dancing with the Stars: Live! Tour is no different, as this is an abnormally long tour for the dancers packed with sold-out venues, meet and greets, and thousands of adoring fans.

The energy in the audience at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, NY was palpable and electric on Wednesday night. People were decked out in their DWTS merch, flipping through twenty five dollar programs, and buzzing with excitement.

The show began with a bit of a lower energy from the dancers, despite their show the night before in Buffalo, NY being cancelled due to weather. They quickly turned up the juice once realizing how thrilled the audience was to see them, and the vibrancy spiked. The cast is stacked with pro dancers that make the viewers go crazy with idolization. 

The Pros are introduced each show, starting off with Alan Bersten, followed by Rylee Arnold, GLEB SAVCHENKO, Brandon Armstrong, Britt Stewart, Daniella Karagach, Pasha Pashkov, EMMA SLATER, and Ezra Sosa. It’s clear that Daniella and Ezra are especially beloved in the community when the crowd roars upon their reveal. While EMMA SLATER is a longtime host, this year she is splitting that duty with Season 33 finalist, and 2x Olympic Medalist, Stephen Nedoroscik. After Stephen’s introduction, the fans were delighted that the most recent DWTS Mirrorball Champions - Bachelor star Joey Graziadei and pro-partner Jenna Johnson were joining the tour for the first night in Schenectady. 

As one would expect, the evening is filled with dance numbers, but there are also many moments of comedic bits, mini-sketches, and a dash of audience participation. Co-hosts Emma and Stephen do an excellent job of keeping the venue engaged and feeling good. Though these moments are enjoyable for a laugh and to add in a splash of variety outside of dance, I prefer the storytelling aspect to really be seen through the art of dance rather than by script. 

The pros truly are artists though, and they bring a strong sense of individuality as performers while also knowing when to blend into the group through synchronicity. It’s interesting to see how these dancers get to really show off their skill and technique when they are dancing opposite another professional, and it’s something I greatly appreciate about the tour. It can be almost entrancing to watch how they extend through their full range of motion, and finish out every step with utter finesse.

The numbers range not only in music genre, but dance style as well. There are many styles that they demonstrate, from Latin and American ballroom, to jazz, contemporary, and everything in between. Oftentimes, the dances are choreographed to meld and fuse a plethora of styles into one. 

Many of the performances had the audience enamored. Some standout pieces include Born to Hand Jive, laregly known from Grease the Musical, where they cleverly incorporated balloons into the choreography, Brandon and Rylee’s paso doble to Eye of the Tiger, a jazz-funk-vogue-extravaganza to Ariana Grande’s "yes, and?" featuring Ezra, Britt, Jenna, and Rylee, and my personal favorite of the evening, a slinky yet vigorous jazz to It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World, which highlights Britt amongst Alan, Ezra, Brandon, and Pasha. The standout performers were Britt and Daniella. The athleticism and performance quality is simply undeniable, especially in their unbelievably difficult lifts and tricks. 

It was also quite enjoyable to see that Ezra, was often incorporated into some of the female sections, and there was a moment sprinkled in of the men dancing together in hold, which was launched on a greater scale to the DWTS watchers this season with an unforgettable traditional Argentine Tango between Derek Hough and Mark Ballas. 

I appreciate the simplicity of the set, designed by Melody Tseng, this year with two small movable staircases and an upper level toward the back half of the stage. There were many projections utilized throughout the evening, covering the screens that flanked the sides of the stage, as well as the entire set platform. They added to the visuals and fun, complimenting the costumes which are always exquisitely done. The greatest tech component, has to be the lighting design by Nathan W. Scheuer, which seems to be impeccable every year. It is brilliantly created to highlight the mood of each piece.

Overall, the evening was packed with laughter, artistry, athleticism, and a deep love for dance. I encourage everyone to go out and see the Dancing with the Stars: Live! Tour in a city near you. Grab those tickets before all of the venues sell out, because this is an event that people greatly enjoy attending. 

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