I don’t think it’s just me that’s recently been missing the sweet sound of “Live from Hollywood, it’s Dancing with the Stars” coming from my T.V. on Tuesday nights. The energy that buzzes through a college girl’s apartment at 8 p.m. every Tuesday is something that is single-handedly responsible for beating the Fall semester blues for many of us, and after the conclusion of Season 34, I think it’s safe to say we’re all in need of an Alfonso-style pick-me-up! Thankfully, this need for content was satisfied by the start of the show’s North American Tour of Dancing with the Stars: Live! I’m happy to report the feelings we get through the screen every week are multiplied tenfold when getting to witness the professionals hit their marks on stage in real-time, and getting to experience it with your best friends in the stands next to you really seals the deal. My experience at the show was nothing short of wonderful, witnessing the electric atmosphere and spellbinding dancing, and then running into four cast members on the street after the show was just the icing on top of a perfect night.
The Dancing with the Stars: Live! tour consists of the show’s well-loved cast members hitting the road and stopping through North American cities, showcasing their classic skills on the stage. Whether it’s a packed group number or an intimate duet, the various exhilarating, creative, and intense dance numbers make you want to get out of your seat and jump right up on stage next to them. Each city includes the stars of the show we know and love, with alternating celebrities from the show’s 34th season making appearances hosting, and lacing up their dance shoes to join the pros on stage once again. The tour kicked off in late January of 2026 and will be quick-stepping across the globe until mid-May, making its way through 74 cities. Familiar faces can be seen at each city of the tour, with pro dancer Emma Slater continuing her co-hosting role with the guest celebrities at each show. Slater is accompanied by her fellow pros: Val Chmerkovskiy, Britt Stewart, Alan Bersten, Brandon Armstrong, Jenna Johnson, Daniella Karagach, Pasha Pashkov, Ezra Sosa, and Hailey Bills, with Season 34 winner Witney Carson at select shows. Celebrities joining the dancers throughout the tour include finalists, Robert Irwin, Alix Earle, Jordan Chiles, Dylan Efron, and Elaine Hendrix making appearances, along with contestants Danielle Fishel and Andy Richter.
My love for Dancing with the Stars has been present for decades as my sister and I sat up every Tuesday night waiting for the broadcast to begin. I have happily extended my interest to my college dwellings, creating a household that knows not to let the show start until every roommate is home from class and sitting in front of the T.V. In a wonderful combination of my two worlds, and in an extremely gracious move from said sister and roommates, I was surprised on my 22nd birthday this year with tickets for all of us to attend the tour stopping through Williamsport, Pennsylvania on Feb.13. My experience was nothing short of magical, and that isn’t solely because I had the pleasure of running into four of the cast members on the streets of PA after the show – but it definitely didn’t hinder the experience!
The show was set to begin at 7:30 p.m., which worked perfectly with our scheduled roadtrip from NYC to PA with my sister and her boyfriend – who has happily integrated himself into the DWTS world, and who’s only statement after the show was a continuous “I want to be Val.” The excitement of the trip began the moment I was gifted the tickets, but was multiplied when after reconvening in our hotel room and an (extremely) brief moment apart, my roommates and sister informed me that they had run into a certain talented Russian dancer on the street moments after I left to help park the car. My disappointment was masked by the photo Chmerkovskiy was kind enough to take with them, and the excitement my fellow Russian roommate had after getting to speak with him about the home country they both share. Little did we know at the time, following a comment on Chmerkovskiy’s TikTok about his walk that they had met during, the dancer himself would reply to my roommate’s comment of the photo they took together during his brief intermission off stage during our show. Our entire section of the theatre became aware of this fact as my roommate essentially began hyperventilating, reading his response to her “Sorry for interrupting your walk king” comment on TikTok: “Not even a little! My pleasure always. ♥️”
Chmerkovskiy’s kindness aside, the show was absolutely incredible. With the first and second act consisting of over 40 separate numbers, the show was jam-packed with beautiful, fun, and enthralling moments from each dancer. If I were to explain how enjoyable each number was in the excruciating detail I’d like to, this would turn into a novel, so I’ll stick to sharing some of the pieces that stuck with me.
The first act starts with an exciting number introducing all of the professional dancers, and the guest star of the night. We had the pleasure of our show being co-hosted by Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel, and her sweet and passionate spirit made the show so special. Pros Brandon Armstrong and Hailey Bills, perform a stunning piece to a rendition of Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends,” that almost brought me to tears. This was perfectly contrasted by a later number’s extremely joyous moment, where the cast includes the camera-person on stage, and we get a line of vision into the back stage process and an extremely entertaining point of view as the camera weaves in and out of the dancers on stage. The first act concludes with another showstopping group number to “Copacabana,” which left us dancing in our seats waiting anxiously to see what more they could possibly bring in the second act.
The rest of the show continued in its captivating fashion, bringing back-to-back numbers that never let up in their impressive natures and bewildering quick changes. One of the most prominent aspects of the show for me was the incredible stamina and seamless transitions between numbers, often including the same dancers back-to-back, in completely different costumes (and shoes) than they had been wearing only seconds before. This aspect of the show encapsulated all the magic we see on our T.V.s during the traditional seasons, and the choreography between pros showcases just how professional and amazing these dancers really are. It was so exciting to get to see these dancers do what they do so well with people in their field that are able to match their talent.
One of the reasons I think we all find the show so magnetic is because it paints the celebrities and stars that we’re used to seeing in their perfect professional lights, in a way that makes them more akin to the everyday, normal human being. The idea that one of us could join the show with no prior experience and somehow begin to perfect these technical moves that seemed impossible, and win the hearts of millions week after week, is a cozy feeling, and is what keeps me watching each week. The tour allows fans of the show to see those professional dancers we watch each season in their prime, hitting tricks, flips, spins, and techniques we sometimes don’t get to see as they have to prioritize their patience and teaching abilities each season. This concept is illuminated through Emma Slater during this tour, as we get to see her beautiful technique and style shine in ways we often don’t get, and haven’t been able to enjoy as much with her recent partners. The tour is the perfect opportunity for moments like this, and her second act group number to a cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” showcases just how beautifully these pros are able to work together to create something incredible. This piece transitioning directly into the “Defying Gravity” number stood out to me as some of the most beautiful moments in the show, and I found the harmony and gratefulness each and every pro conveyed on stage to be breathtaking. This is in large part to Ezra Sosa, a newer and quickly well-loved pro on the show, known for his creative choreography and compelling personality. I found my eyes landing on Sosa in almost every dance he was a part of, and a sense of pride in his incredible work and energy he exudes throughout each dance.
Being stunned by these stars lasted throughout the entire show, and I never wanted the numbers to stop. After a night of debriefing our favorite numbers and ruminating on how strongly we all want to become Daniella Karagach when we grow up, we made our way back to our hotel from a restaurant around the corner. To my amazement, shock, and pure luck, I froze steps away from our hotel (which was conveniently also located around the corner from the theatre itself), and was greeted by pros Val Chmerkovskiy, Ezra Sosa, another crew member, and none other than Topanga Lawrence herself, Danielle Fishel. In our best attempts to remain respectful, but somehow convey to the group our gratitude for their incredible performances, I expressed a “great job tonight guys!” and was met with the nicest interactions possible from everyone involved. After laughing with Chmerkovskiy and Sosa about his response to my roommate’s TikTok comment (a sentence I never could’ve even dreamed up as a possibility), we wished them good luck on the rest of their tour, and told them to look up Her Campus Pace to hear my thoughts about the show.
So, in the far-fetched hopes that one of them remembered, and made it through to the end of my awe-struck summary of their everyday worklife, I’ll conclude my remarks with a simple: thank you. The tour is everything and more, and holds a space for such joy, hard work, and beautiful presentations of artistry that are coming to be acknowledged and appreciated in ways they always should. So, do yourself a favor and go ahead and book those tour tickets before May. I can’t guarantee you’ll become best friends with the members of the show (because that’s obviously what happened here), but I can promise you’ll leave overjoyed, inspired, and not-so patiently waiting for Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars to grace our screens once again.