Dancing With the Stars hit a major milestone on Tuesday night — and I don’t mean its 500th episode.
OK, that’s a lie. Episode 500 is a major milestone, and the ABC reality competition hit it in style this week, with appearances from series alumni (we miss you, Sharna Burgess!) and performances inspired by routines from seasons past.
But the show also hit another benchmark, and that would be its Most Insane Round of Dance Ever. In addition to performing a regular routine, each couple had to participate in the Instant Dance Challenge, in which they’d perform a second number only five minutes after learning what dance style and song they’d been assigned. In a word: ?!?
To be fair, the Instant Dance performances weren’t entirely improvised, as I initially thought they might be. Earlier in the week, each duo was given advance notice about four styles they could be assigned, and they practiced a little choreography for each style during their usual rehearsal time. That said, they still had no idea what style they’d actually perform until moments before they did the damn thing, so it was no small feat to complete this round — and there were no massive stumbles, amazingly!
Which five couples are headed to next week’s semifinals? Who turned in the best Instant Dance? And which pair (finally!) earned the season’s first perfect score? Read on for a recap of Tuesday’s performances and results, then drop a comment with your thoughts!
SAFE: Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson
DANCE STYLE: Contemporary inspired by Season 20’s Riker Lynch and Allison Holker (watch the original here)
The contemporary style tends to be very lift-based, so I was happy to see Joey’s confidence with those acrobatics improve after some shakiness in his Halloween number. Unfortunately — and I’m not sure if this was a matter of choreography, or Joey’s performance, or a little of both — but it often felt like there were gaps in this routine where Joey was simply waiting for the next thing to happen, instead of moving through the empty space more lyrically and purposefully. A shame, too, when this could have been a breakout performance in a pivotal stretch of the competition. (Still great, though!)
JUDGES’ SCORE: 28 out of 30
INSTANT DANCE SCORE: 27 out of 30 (rumba)
TOTAL SCORE: 55 out of 60
SAFE: Danny Amendola and Witney Carson
DANCE STYLE: Quickstep inspired by Season 5’s Hélio Castroneves and Julianne Hough (watch the original here)
The two-week gap between the Halloween episode and this week’s episode seems to have done Danny a world of good: He cracked a smile throughout this whole routine, and he brought those stiffness levels way, way down. There were a couple of out-of-sync moments here, including Danny and Witney’s opening sequence on the stairs, but Danny recovered quickly and turned in something wholly entertaining.
JUDGES’ SCORE: 27 out of 30
INSTANT DANCE SCORE: 24 out of 30 (jive)
TOTAL SCORE: 51 out of 60
SAFE: Stephen Nedoroscik and Rylee Arnold
DANCE STYLE: Viennese Waltz inspired by Season 31’s Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas (watch the original here)
Yay, Stephen! This felt like more of a breakthrough for him than even his Halloween contemporary, thanks to the lyricism and quality of movement he brought to this performance. I do wish there’d been a bit more emotion in his face; Charli and Mark’s original number was elevated hugely by the hurt and longing written on their features, and though Rylee delivered some of that, Stephen looked to be in full-blown concentration mode. Still, the dancing is what matters most here, and Stephen crushed it.
JUDGES’ SCORE: 29 out of 30
INSTANT DANCE SCORE: 25 out of 30 (jive)
TOTAL SCORE: 54 out of 60
SAFE: Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong
DANCE STYLE: Argentine Tango inspired by Season 16’s Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough (watch the original here)
This was perfection, and I’m so delighted the judges’ scores reflected that. Chandler has had a tough couple of weeks with meandering critiques from Carrie Ann, but she spun that frustration into passion and intensity for this flawless Argentine tango. Chandler’s lines were so clean here, and she delivered a leg sweep in the first half of the number that might have been the most confident two seconds of choreography she’s performed all season.
JUDGES’ SCORE: 30 out of 30 (the season’s first perfect score!)
INSTANT DANCE: 30 out of 30 (cha-cha)
TOTAL SCORE: 60 out of 60
SAFE: Ilona Maher and Alan Bersten
DANCE STYLE: Quickstep inspired by Season 25’s Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold (watch the original here)
Those extra seven days of rehearsal also seemed to help Ilona quite a bit, as this might have been her strongest performance yet. The choreography was executed confidently from start to finish, and there was a joy and lightness in Ilona’s movements that had been missing for a couple of weeks. Up against the true frontrunners of the season, I’m not sure this quickstep made a strong enough case for Ilona to grab that Mirrorball in two weeks, but she should be enormously proud of her work here, and there’s still time to realize her full potential.
JUDGES’ SCORE: 28 out of 30
INSTANT DANCE SCORE: 24 out of 30 (salsa)
TOTAL SCORE: 52 out of 60
ELIMINATED: Dwight Howard and Daniella Karagach
DANCE STYLE: Argentine Tango inspired by Season 23’s James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess (watch the original here)
JUDGES’ SCORE: 26 out of 30
INSTANT DANCE SCORE: 22 out of 30 (paso doble)
TOTAL SCORE: 48 out of 60
Unfortunately, yeah, it was time for this elimination. Dwight may have been the one hoisting his partner in the air for that Argentine tango, but let’s be real: Daniella was doing all the heavy lifting in that routine. Though Dwight told us in his pre-performance package that he was learning a lot of steps this week, I’m not sure I saw him do a single leg flick, even when he was probably supposed to. Plus, even though it would have been a stretch for Daniella to be blindfolded for this entire dance, the blindfold was a key component of James and Sharna’s original; I was bummed not to see it play any role here.