Eric McCandless // Getty Images Dancing With the Stars makes a point of hiring pros with a wide range of dance backgrounds, but one thing they all seemingly have in common? Utah. While not every pro comes from Utah, a large number of them grew up there. Is it a coincidence? A conspiracy? Or do the DWTS powers that be simply love hiring people from the Beehive State? Let’s dig into it.
This season seemingly features 6/16 pros from Utah: Hailey Bills, Jenna Johnson, Brandon Armstrong, Witney Carson, Ezra Sosa, and Rylee Arnold. So, about one-third of the cast.
And since the show’s first season in 2005, at least 13 pros have been from Utah. The full list (and this doesn’t even include all the troupe members over the years):
Jenna Johnson (born in California, raised in Utah)
Chelsie Hightower (born in Nevada, but raised in Utah)
Brandon Armstrong (born in California, partially raised in Utah)
There’s a huge dance community in the state. As Lindsay Arnold told the Hot Smart Rich podcast (via Today ), “I feel like in Utah, it’s very common, parents definitely want their kids to be doing an activity. That’s just kind of something that is, like, very prominent. Like, you put your kid in something and you really put them all in.”
She added that “The Mormon culture is very much, like, we want our kids to be good kids and to not get into trouble and to not explore different things that could lead them in troubled areas. So I feel like a lot of parents put their kids in something and then push it hard.”
Lindsay also explained that the Utah dance scene is “very intense in the best way,” and that “There’s been so many of us that have kind of paved the way that these dancers and parents see what’s possible. So they’re more willing to put money, time. Because dance is a full-on investment.”
Witney Carson touched on this in an interview back in September, telling The Running Interview Show (via EW ) that watching fellow Utah dancer Julianne Hough on DWTS inspired her to dance. “Oh, yes. Julianne was like my idol. That was who I looked up to, like I wanted to be her so badly,” she said. “And I think it looked just so attainable, because she was coached by the same people as we were, and we were just watching her career like little girls, just like dreaming of being her. So, yes, I definitely knew them.”
Brandon Armstrong also once joked that "There’s nothing else to do. What else do you do in Utah? Come on, our biggest cities, like Salt Lake, there ain’t nothing there. You play sports, go to school, date super young — these guys get married when they’re 19, 20 years old — and then you dance.”
A studio founded by none other than former DWTS pro Ashly DelGrosso’s mom, Kim DelGrosso, who’s responsible for training the likes of Derek Hough, Julianne Hough, and Witney Carson (to name a few!) at her studio, Center Stage Performing Arts.
According to Deseret News , after Ashly’s success on the show’s first season, “a long-standing relationship” between Kim’s studio and ABC followed, as did a “reputation for Utah dancers’ renowned talent and discipline.”
“We were just positioned beautifully when ‘Dancing With the Stars’ opened,” Kim explained. “The reason that we’re hired, the reason that Utah has this culture ... is that these are cross-trained dancers. They put in the work. They are ready for the auditions, and they can do anything.”
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Source: Entertainment
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