Dancing With The Stars (2005-present) is back for another season, and I’m making it everyone’s problem. When deciding how I should spend my time this fall, it wasn’t my classes, my thesis, being editor-in-chief of the Voice, having a social life, or caring for my mental health that ranked at the top of my list. Instead, I knew I needed to use my platform at the Voice to give you all my opinions on this season of DWTS.

For the uninitiated: DWTS is a reality competition show in its 34th season where celebrities are paired with professional dancers, competing in both ballroom and latin dances. Dance styles (though they do vary slightly between seasons) include salsa, samba, cha-cha, jive, foxtrot, viennese waltz, waltz, paso doble, argentine tango, tango, quickstep, contemporary, and jazz. The dancers’ overall fates are determined by a combination of the three judges’ scores and audience votes. Contestants are eliminated every week, and, eventually, one champion will be crowned and earn the Mirrorball Trophy. 

My qualifications to judge?

  • I’ve watched on and off for the last 15-ish seasons, and seriously for the past four.
  • I’m an active lurker on the DWTS Reddit page.
  • I did ballet, jazz, and hip hop until I was 10, when I decided I wanted to ride horses instead.
  • I was not the worst dancer in my high school’s production of High School Musical.

Thus, you’re now subject to my recaps, every week. Let’s get into it.

In terms of the episodes themselves, I was not super impressed by either of the opening numbers for this year’s premieres—I enjoyed the feature of Britt Stewart, my favorite pro dancer, to open up night one, but, in general, they were both missing a ‘wow’ factor. The Hough family talent show—performances by both judge Derek Hough and his sister, host Julianne Hough—at the end of each night was also interesting, but hopefully we’ve gotten our fill for the season. This week’s theme of “Song From The Year You Were Born” was pretty weak, and I’m generally opposed to themes on the first week.

Given that scoring is sort of fake on the first night, I’ve decided to not give my own scores for these dances (I will in future recaps) and instead order the reviews of each dance from best to worst on their respective nights. 

Night One: The Men

Daniella Karagach and Ezra Frech | Tango to “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson

This dance was by far the best of both nights. Pro Daniella Karagach is just in a different league, and she rises to the occasion every single time. However, the true MVP here was Ezra, a Paralympic track gold medalist. He brought the exact level of intensity needed for this dance, and his movements were so sharp and precise. His prosthetic blade works particularly well in a tango, where the movement is very linear, and I really appreciated that both the choreography and costume accentuated it. I could totally see him going far in this competition, and with Daniella on his side those chances only grow.

Jenna Johnson and Harry Shum Jr. | Cha-Cha to “Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind, and Fire

Here we wade into the ~discourse~ that emerges every season around those with dance experience competing. This season really takes it to the next level by including two individuals known for their dance experience on the show—Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Dewan (a former Janet Jackson backup dancer), ironically paired with the married pros Jenna and Val. I don’t know that Harry, famous for dancing on Glee (2009-2015) will be able to win, as the tides tend to turn on those with dance experience, but I will definitely enjoy watching him every step of the way. He’s so sharp and absolutely mesmerizing to watch, and this dance was no different.

Britt Stewart and Taylor Hanson | Quickstep to “Tell Her About It” by Billy Joel

Y’all should know right off the bat that I RIDE for Britt and while I’m still a little upset that she didn’t get her dream partner in Harry Shum Jr., I think that Taylor Hanson, who millennials apparently love from his band Hanson, is one of the best shots she’s gotten at the Mirrorball. Quickstep is a hard first dance, and Britt choreographed an upbeat, classic one. Unfortunately, Taylor didn’t blow me away, and he was rather stiff. But, he was also given a harder task than most, and I thought that he ultimately rose to the occasion. Hopefully he will continue to improve, and also get that hair out of his face.

Emma Slater and Jackson Olson | Cha-Cha to “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls

I’m very excited that Emma, who has had a series of elderly partners, finally has a celebrity in their 20s, though the disco ball banana that hung from the dance floor ceiling bordered on being too much for me. Jackson, who is famous for playing on the Savannah Bananas dancing baseball team, definitely has the resume to go very far in this competition. I enjoyed his dance—while it was a tad sloppy and not as sharp as a cha-cha should be, he is super charismatic and can clearly dance. It was exactly what I expected, and I’m excited to see him improve. 

Rylee Arnold and Connor Wood | Cha-Cha to “I Like It, I Love It” by Tim McGraw

This was probably the most pleasant surprise of the men’s premiere night for me! I was not expecting Connor Wood, the co-host of Brooke and Connor Make A Podcast, to be particularly impressive, but he can clearly groove. Rylee’s choreography was really great here and allowed him to shine, combining traditional cha-cha elements with a few great side-by-sides. He could be a dark horse, and I’ll be interested to see if this was just a great first night or the start of something more.

Sharna Burgess and Tyler Cameron | Tango to “Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz 

Besides the fact that Tyler, a Bachelorette (2003-present) runner-up from seven years ago, is a somewhat odd pick in the big year of 2026, I’m thrilled to see Sharna back after taking an extended leave to have a baby. This dance didn’t quite knock my socks off—the choreography was very traditional for a tango (minus that lift), but Tyler definitely struggled, especially in not getting quite low enough to the ground, which in turn made his hold (the framing position between partners) look awkward. I think he definitely has room for improvement and was very fluid with his motion, but it was not my favorite dance.

Adele Zaikman and Conner Leavitt | Salsa to “Whoomp! There It Is” by Tag Team

WHOOMP… there this went. Conner was the male celebrity with the least fans—he’s famous for being on Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (2024-present) and he’s not even a wife—so I knew he either had to dance for his life or go home. He certainly danced, but it wasn’t enough to avoid his fate (it may have actually accelerated it). I’m sad that Adele, the winner of The Next New Pro (2026) competition show, went home so early, but I’m excited to continue watching her dance with the troupe this season. In her choreography, she packed the dance with tricks and overcompensated by dancing around Conner, which new pros often do. Now that she’s paid her dues, perhaps next season she’ll get a partner with a little more longevity.

Witney Carson and Guillermo Rodriguez | Cha-Cha to “Mr. Big Stuff” by Jean Knight

I think we all know that Guillermo, the emcee at Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003-present), is here for a good time, not a long time. His slide at the beginning of the dance was quite good and very charming, and Witney, a veteran pro, does a good job of avoiding dancing around her partners. It wasn’t the best, but I also wasn’t expecting much more. He’s a joy to watch!

Night Two: Ladies’ Night

Mark Ballas and Maura Higgins | Foxtrot to “Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles

Traitors (2023-present) and Love Island UK (2015-present) star Maura Higgins already had my vote on the basis of being Irish alone, but no shared heritage was needed for me to love this dance! She was far and away the (literal) dark horse of the night—her foxtrot was beautiful, and she really mastered the rise-and-fall motion of the dance in a way that made her look so natural. Given that her first dance was in hold, I’ll be interested to see her in a Latin style or anything slightly more loose, but she was certainly the MVP of the night, and her scores reflected that.

Pasha Pashkov and Amber Glenn | Cha-Cha to “Smooth” by Santana feat. Rob Thomas

Olympic gold medalist and gay icon Amber Glenn is arguably the celebrity I am most excited about this season—I am absolutely obsessed with her in pretty much every way, and I never thought we’d be lucky enough to get her on DWTS because figure skating’s Grand Prix season is coming up. She really killed this first dance, and I agreed with judge Carrie Ann Inaba that the most impressive part was how she attacked each and every move (hence why I’m really looking forward to her paso doble). She was underscored by the judges, but I consider the first week a wash anyways. I’m excited to see where she goes—she’s a fighter, and I can easily see her in the finale. 

Ezra Sosa and Julia Stiles | Quickstep to “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton

The gasp I gusped when I found out that Julia Stiles (of 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) fame) was on this season (from Reddit a week before it was announced), and that fEzra is her partner? Chills. This dance was great, although it was certainly a little slow for a quickstep. Julia was extremely charismatic, and Ezra (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite choreographers on the show) really killed it as well. I think these two have a golden ticket to the finals, if they play their cards right.

Val Chmerkovsky and Jenna Dewan | Tango to “Call Me” by Blondie

Jenna (Dewan) is the other contestant most famous for her dancing, including as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson, and it showed in this number. She was crisp, purposeful, and perfectly in tune with Val. This dance didn’t speak to me quite as much as others because I expected a great dance, and that’s what I got. Similarly to Harry, I don’t know if viewers will be turned off by Jenna’s dance experience, but it will certainly be fun to watch her while she’s around.

Brandon Armstrong and Ciara Miller | Foxtrot to “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” by Whitney Houston

I was very confused by Ciara and multiple other people crying to this dance: I love Ciara and I love Brandon, and perhaps if I was fully plugged into the Summer House (2017-present) drama I might feel differently, but this was just, like, a good dance. Why was everyone crying? Compared to Maura’s foxtrot, Ciara felt stiff and there was definitely a small stumble in the middle. Her lines were very pretty and she clearly has natural talent, but she was also very stoic throughout. I’m expecting Ciara to stick around a while, and maybe her next dance will hit me as hard as this one hit Carrie Ann.

Hailey Bills and Sarah Jane Nader | Jive to “Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne

This is quite a tragic one—when a new female-female partnership was rumored I was excited, but I was pretty quickly bummed when I saw it was with a brand-new pro and the least famous person from the cast (said with love). Sarah Jane is most famous for being on a reality show with her sister, who is most famous for being a model that went on DWTS and got with her partner. I knew that these two would be eliminated night one, regardless of their dancing abilities. This was a lovely dance and certainly not as bad as the judges made it out to be, but Hailey also fell victim to the new pro tendency to jam-pack the dance full of content instead of letting it breathe. The drag at the beginning was fun too. I’m sad to see them go—may Amber Glenn carry on the lesbian flame.

Alan Bersten and Giada Di Laurentiis | Tango to “Venus” by Shocking Blue

Celebrity chef Giada was a delightful surprise! She could really move, and was also super charismatic on the dance floor. This is a super young cast, and she is the oldest woman competing. I definitely don’t see her getting as far as the finale, but I would love to see her compete for a while longer. However, I ask for no more cooking references in her dances—Alan is a cornball to the extreme (again, said with love), and the whisking motion while running was more than enough for the entire season.

Jan Ravnik and Tatyana Ali | Jive to “Knock on Wood” by Amii Stewart

Jives are fully dependent on energy to propel you forward, and unfortunately Fresh Prince star Tatyana’s small hiccups in the beginning seemed to hold her back for the rest of the dance. They started to put the pieces back together in the middle section, and the side-by-side really showed that she’s a lovely dancer! I’m glad that we’ll get to see her another week, as I think that she has real, raw skills, and I’m hoping that another dance will show off her abilities.  

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Sydney Carroll
Sydney (she/her) is the editor in chief and a senior in the college. She likes her two dogs, cat, and guinea pig, sushi, Taylor Swift, public transportation, and Tennessee sunsets. She dislikes math, whichever team is playing the Buffalo Bills this week, the patriarchy, and carbonated beverages.

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