“Dancing with the Stars” is halfway through their season, and as a long time fan I definitely have some thoughts. These thoughts have been brewing in my brain for a long time, especially in what I deem as the new-era for the show.
First things first, I am getting tired of them performing contemporary and jazz every week. I thought “Dancing with the Stars” was a ballroom dance show, because lately the show is giving more “So You Think You Can Dance” rather than “DWTS” Half the appeal of the show is to see into a side of the dance world that gets little attention. I never minded the occasional Halloween night or Dedication night contemporary, but I honestly miss seeing the actual ballroom dances.
“DWTS” has cast people with dance experience for as long as I have been watching, with some notable people being Broadway star Jordan Fisher, actress Jennifer Grey (who is best known for the movie “Dirty Dancing”), and even TikTok star Charli D’Amelio. My issue is less with dance experience itself, but literal ballroom dance experience. A great example lately has been Hilaria Baldwin, wife of Alec Baldwin, who previously competed on New York University’s ballroom dance team. The star also competed at Blackpool Dance Festival in 2004, which is known as the world’s first and one of the most famous ballroom dance competitions. My problem with just normal dance experience (think competition, broadway, and to some people even gymnastics) is that the show seems to be moving further and further away from standard ballroom dances, with my first point being about the oversaturation of jazz and contemporary especially within this current season.
I believe the amount of contemporary and jazz dances this year is honestly coming from the fact that every night is a theme night, some themes such as Dedication night (formally Most Memorable Year) and Halloween night have been a long part of the show, but honestly as a long-time fan I miss just the random dances. No theme, no need to drastically alter songs to try to fit a dance style to a theme, just let the pros and stars go out and do their thing. I like the themes, but every week is definitely a bit too much, and I think people will still watch and vote even if there is no theme.
Lastly, I think we need a shake-up with the judges panel. I never used to have a problem with her but ABC needs to get rid of Carrie Ann Inaba. She has become so inconsistent over the last few years, primarily within the last two seasons. The panel needs a judge akin to Len Goodman, someone who gives actual feedback to the stars and says plain and simply what they need to improve on. Len was harsh at times, but in the dance world you have to be able to take critiques, because outside of that there is no way to improve. Some additions could be Kym Johnson-Herajavec, who provided this style of feedback when she guest judged Dedication night, and Sharna Burgess, who has proved to fans via her TikTok that she can provide this style of feedback to the stars.
While the show has regained popularity over the last three seasons, there is a lot that I think could be improved upon. I understand that we are in a new “Dancing with the Stars” era, but at its heart it is still a ballroom dance show, so my major complaint is my first one, which is ABC if you do anything, redirect the focus of the show onto ballroom dance.
