How We Made ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in a Pandemic

December 4, 2020February 10, 2021

How We Made ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in a Pandemic

Dancing with the Stars | Carrie Ann Inaba

If there’s one thing that has been getting me through this pandemic (besides quality time with loved ones), it’s entertainment. We’ve all needed a bit of levity in these unprecedented times, and thank goodness that taking a moment to escape into fantasy can be as simple as clicking a button. The entertainment industry has been hard at work to provide audiences with a sense of normalcy, but producing shows in the middle of a pandemic is anything but normal. As a production assistant (or PA) at Dancing with the Stars, I thought I’d walk you through what my not-so-typical day looks like.

As the Dancing with the Stars judges’ PA, my job is to make sure that Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough are on schedule and have everything they need for a smooth day. I work closely with our wonderful judge producer to stay on top of meetings, interviews, and anything else that might arise.

The first step of my day is to check in with our COVID officers, who need to verify that your COVID test was negative and take your temperature before they can let you into the studio.

Dancing with the Stars- Behind the Scenes in a Pandemic — My show day look complete with a face shield and snapchat filter

Next, you’re given a wristband, your golden ticket to walk about the building without security tackling you. It’s far from an all-access pass, however: The show divides employees into different “zones” to limit unnecessary exposure between people. If you’re “Zone A”, like me, you are one of the lucky few that can watch the show from inside the stage.

After getting my wristband I head up to Dancing with the Stars’ production office, which looks a bit different this year. You can’t exactly walk around freely or keep your door open as in previous years. Gone are the days of sharing fun snacks in the kitchen or communal coffee pots. Can you imagine touching the same coffee pot as 50 other people now? Nightmare.

Next comes everyone’s favorite part of the day — getting COVID tested! The COVID logistics team has the daunting job of making sure hundreds of people get tested on time to keep production moving smoothly. Without them, we have no show!

Before and after the Dancing with the Stars goes live, my main job is to keep the judges on time for their meetings and interviews. Most of these now take place on Zoom or FaceTime via our trusty iPads. Usually our social media team will also make a socially distant appearance to get some behind-the-scenes content (namely, Bruno and Derek filming TikToks). During the hours leading up to the show I also make sure the judges get their lunches.

Our craft services department (or Crafty, as we affectionately call it) has seen a lot of updates this year to keep everyone safe. Lunches and snacks used to be served buffet style, a concept that sends shivers down my spine now. Again production has come up with a creative solution, packaging our meals and snacks separately and handing them out to-go style. After you get your meal, you have to stay outside in the designated eating /drinking zones until you’re done.

Once it’s time for Dancing with the Stars to start filming, I make sure the judges are settled on stage. Since there are unmasked dancers and judges around, the HMU (Hair and Makeup) and Wardrobe teams and I have to make sure we are wearing face shields and N95 masks for extra protection. Then comes the actual best part of my day — getting to watch the show!

When the day is over we are exhausted, but we’re all proud of ourselves for pulling together and making things work even in the midst of such challenging circumstances. Through all of the changes, live TV is still a fun, very unique experience. I’m so grateful to be working with such a dedicated team. I hope that our appreciation to be back doing the things we love translates to the viewers at home, because it has never felt more important to bring joy to your screens.

To read more Dancing with the Stars behind-the-scenes coverage, you can find Carrie Ann Inaba’s DWTS Diaries here.

October 14, 2020February 10, 2021

Dancing with the Stars: Carrie Ann’s Throwback to High School

CARRIE ANN CONVERSATIONS | Dancing with the Stars: Breakthroughs All Around

This week on Dancing with the Stars was 80s night, a blast from the past and the perfect trip down memory lane. I graduated from Punahou High School in 1986, and all the songs our contestants danced to brought back some of my favorite memories of growing up in Hawaii and pursuing dance as a career.

CARRIE ANN INABA Dancing with the Stars — A throwback from 1985!

The 80s were such an important decade for me, containing some of my favorite memories both of my home in Hawaii and my brand new career in entertainment. It was the decade that I toured Japan as a performing artist and started investing in what has become a lifelong love of dance. My team and I wanted to do justice to his fabulous era in fashion, and we went to town bringing the 80s to life in my look this week. To read more about it you can check out my getting ready diary at People.com.

First, I’d like to give a big congratulations to Johnny Weir and his partner Britt for their artistic and passionate contemporary dance. Britt’s choice to take Johnny back on the ice was incredible strategy as his mentor and partner, and I really think it helped him tap into something major in this season of Dancing with the Stars. This season has been potentially the most competitive one I’ve ever seen; we’re seeing a lot of great dancing, and there are so many couples that could be contenders. This has been a strong moment for breakthroughs; I can see so many of our performers making new connections and reaching new levels in different ways. Last week I felt Nelly had a real breakthrough performance with his paso doble only to have another breakthrough this week. He finally seemed so relaxed and comfortable, like he had found his range of movement in this samba. I think we tend to forget that dancing is not only sport, but it’s art and communication and entertainment as well. This week Nelly really tapped into that entertainment side, and we all enjoyed watching him.

As judges, we love to see our contestants have breakthroughs, which is why it can be so heartbreaking to have to say goodbye to someone when their breakthrough might be right around the corner. It was so hard to have to send Jesse Metcalfe and his partner Sharna Burgess home because after 29 seasons, I can tell when things are starting to click into place for contestants. My judge’s comments are always geared towards helping people reach that next level; I always want to invest in the growth and the evolution of the celebrities who have decided to take the chance and appear on Dancing with the Stars. It can be so challenging to lean into an experience like this one, and I always want to give advice that encourages them on their journey.

It was so difficult to have to make the choice between Jesse Metcalfe and Vernon Davis, but it was clear to me that Vernon was closer to his breakthrough than Jesse at this point. That being said, I truly hope Jesse has found a love for dance in this process and I hope he can incorporate some of what he learned into his future endeavors. He seemed to really be learning to love dance and I hope this isn’t the last we see of that side of him.

I know that Dancing with the Stars is a show crafted to entertain and delight, but I also think it’s such an incredible vehicle for everyone who makes it into our ballroom. Even if people go home earlier than we’d hoped or we don’t get to see them do things we thought they could, DWTS can be such an amazing platform for celebrities to let the audience see a different side to themselves. For instance, just last week Anne Heche told a story she’d never told before about her relationship with Ellen and got to be real and vulnerable with all of us. I’m always proud to be on a show that gives people a place to grow and evolve and courageously face their fears. Dancing with the Stars is total entertainment, but it also creates change for people. It allows evolution. And it gives people hope, I think, when they watch other people face their own fears or tell their own stories. We get to know our contestants better and that helps us get to know ourselves better.

I’m already looking forward to next week and all the fresh growth it will bring. I’m truly so proud of each of our performers and all they’re accomplishing, even though I didn’t get a chance to mention every one of them by name here. Next week I’ll feature a few more of our couples and share my deeper impressions of them so you can get an inside look at my perspective of the competition.

Thank you for watching and for reading, and I hope you’re enjoying the process as much as we are! Halloween night is coming soon, and we’re all hard at work deciding what we’re going to be. We try to top ourselves every year, and I know that with Tyra’s fashionable influence our costumes are going to be on a whole new level!

For previous entries of my DWTS Diary, click here!

October 4, 2020February 10, 2021

Reflections on Disney Night at Dancing with the Stars: Who’s Stood Out and Why

CARRIE ANN CONVERSATIONS | Carrie Ann's DWTS Diary

Disney Night is a Dancing with the Stars fan favorite, and it’s one of my favorites as well. I want to give a huge shout out to the production crew and creative team at DWTS, the hair and makeup team and every single person who worked to create the magic of Disney right in our DWTS ballroom. All the Disney princesses were taken by the dancers, so I chose to make up my own princess. I decided to wear pink because it’s the color of the heart chakra, and everything I do right now comes from my heart. The makeup for this episode was beyond anything we’ve ever seen in the past— Carole Baskin and her partner Pasha brought The Lion King to life with a very special flair. Sadly, Carole is not moving on to the next round, but I want to say that I have a lot of respect for her coming on the show and doing something so outside of her realm while spreading the word about her mission of saving big cats. I’m thankful for the production numbers she brought to the show, which will live on in DWTS history for many years to come. My favorite will always be the Viennese Waltz she and Pasha performed last week to Tom Jones’ “What’s New Pussycat?”

In week three, all the couples seem to have found their stride. In past seasons, there have been a lot of elements that could help distract from any flaws in couples’ performances. We’d have fantastic production numbers with backing dancers that would frame the couple and sometimes this would help to mask the couple’s weaknesses. This year, with no backing dancers, we get to focus on the growth of the actual contestants themselves. For me that’s what DWTS is all about.

When I think about the growth I saw this episode, Johnny Weir is the first name that comes to my mind. Johnny is a two-time Olympic skater who’s trained his whole life to do something that is very similar to dance but is not quite dance. His challenge this season has been to learn to use his feet for dancing instead of skating. Johnny has brought so many strengths to this competition; we already know that he knows how to perform, we know he has lyricism. But now we’re watching him make the challenging transition from skating to dancing and I believe we saw his work pay off in this episode He’s traded in his skating feet and finally found his hardwood floor feet, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Another breakthrough I saw was in Jeannie and Brandon’s performance to ″Married Life″ from Up. When a celebrity truly learns to trust their pro partner, and the couple finds its energetic balance, that’s when the magic starts to happen. During their ballroom dance I saw this balance and connection manifest for the two of them. I spoke of balance a lot this episode because week three is when the couples start to really become partners. The first two weeks of Dancing with the Stars are always a process for the newcomers to find their bearings, but this year even the pros had to reorient themselves. Our dancers are used to performing to a live audience. Now that the only audience in the house is the three judges, there’s been a dynamic shift. In previous seasons, the audience might go crazy for a couple’s number, even if the technique was wrong. The dancers might have had a hard time listening to our notes while they were receiving such a positive reaction from the crowd. This year, our feedback is the only input the dancers receive, and it’s made for an interesting dynamic between the judges and the dancers.

While I’m talking about balance, I have to acknowledge the growth I saw in another one of our couples: Vernon and Peta. There’s a huge height difference between them which can be a major obstacle for some couples, but their quickstep to “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast showed that they’ve not only found a balance between their heights but found balance in their energies as well. That is the goal for every couple, to first find their balance with each other and create a connection so they can dance as one, and then to start building off of that structure. We should start to see even more “wow” moments as the couples deepen their trust for each other and keep building their partnerships.

I want to congratulate all of our couples; I respect them for all the hard work they’ve been putting in.

Disney Night is such a special night for us, and I feel so fortunate to be on a show that makes time to celebrate the wonder and magic that Disney represents. So many of us grew up with these fairy tales, these heartwarming stories, and all of us can benefit from taking a moment to believe in the magic and whimsy from our childhood. In bringing these stories to life, from Moana to Up to Disney’s upcoming film Soul, I really believe Dancing with the Stars is uplifting our audience and I’ll always feel that it’s important work. Throughout history, dance has always been a source of escapism and joy during difficult times, and that’s exactly what the world needs now. I want to thank my team for helping me be a part of the magic by putting together such a fun look, from the crown to the dress to all my glittering jewelry. I’d like to thank my designer, Steven Khalil, for the perfect fairytale dress, and Dena Kemp and Lafonn for the gorgeous jewelry. To find out more about this episode’s look you can read my Getting-Ready Diary on People.com. Now it’s time to get back to work on The Talk; you can join me there Monday through Friday at 1pm, or streaming online at CBS.com. Be sure to keep following our journey on Dancing With The Stars on ABC every Monday at 8pm, because it’s only getting better from here.