For many years, Monday nights at 8pm the girls in my house which included me, my mom and my two daughters would gather around our biggest and best TV to watch Dancing with the Stars. We began watching the very first season back in 2005 and we were loyal fans for many years. We would pick our favorite couples, vote and never miss it. It was something we really enjoyed doing all together. We were super excited when they started doing live tours, and we went many times over the years. We first went in 2008 and really enjoyed it. In 2009 we went again, got all dressed up, and had great seats on the edge of the dance floor. Both of my girls were taken out to dance with the professionals that night. It was so exciting!! (not the best quality photo below...but there they are at ages 8 and 6 with the pros!)
My younger daughter was with Mark Ballas that night, and it was such a thrill to meet him 8 years later in 2017 at the stage door when he was starring as Frankie Valli in "Jersey Boys"on Broadway. She brought a photo collage of them from that night in 2009 and he was so excited to see it and autograph it for her! A truly unforgettable moment.😊
Many of the pros did other live shows besides the official Dancing with the Stars tour, and my mom and I went to several of them. They were always fabulous, and we were fortunate to have several "meet and greet" opportunities!
The kids enjoyed coming to the tour live shows especially when celebrities were on tour they wanted to meet. We were able to meet Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez (2016) and movie and Broadway star Jordan Fisher (2017).
If you have followed this blog, you know that after having been a fan of watching ballroom dance for many years, I actually started taking lessons and participating in pro-am competitions with my instructor in 2018. I was then able to meet some of the pros I had watched on TV at competitions where they were judges. Photos below are from two different competitions in 2018 with Karina Smirnoff and Tony Dovolani. Ballroom dance has definitely been a big part of our lives over the years, so I wanted to share a glimpse of some of the many wonderful moments we have had and wonderful people we have met as a result of this.