Dancing with the Stars: Are Celebs with Dance Experience CURSED?

The Advantage Debate

Look, we’re not denying that having a dance background is a massive advantage on a show like this. You’re coming in with a deep understanding of musicality and how a body actually moves, from core strength and posture to spatial awareness and control. That usually helps you learn choreography way faster, leaving extra time to polish the technique. Plus, it means you can deliver higher-quality routines right out of the gate, letting your partner and choreographers be much more ambitious with what they put together.

Often, that edge doesn’t just stay in the training room; it carries right over to show night, too. These celebs are usually pop stars or stage veterans who already know how to work a live audience. They’re used to the drill with hair, makeup, and costumes, performing under glaring lights, and keeping their cool with millions of eyes on them. They also tend to grasp that a great performance is about way more than just hitting the steps; it’s about selling every single moment. And that is a whole lot easier to do when your brain isn’t fried from trying to remember everything you drilled all week.

The Muscle Memory Trap

Here’s the thing though. For the average “Dancing with the Stars” contestant, this is their first foray into the dance world. They’re a complete blank slate, building their foundation from the ground up. But for someone with years of dance experience, the challenge often isn’t learning how to move; it’s teaching their body to move in a whole new way.

If you’ve spent years doing commercial dance, hip-hop, or jazz, your body has deeply ingrained muscle memory. Things like turning in, breaking your frame, or dancing into the floor might work perfectly in other styles, but they can completely sink you in ballroom. The lifted posture of a Cha-Cha, the expansive frame of a Waltz, or the rigid, matador-like structure of a Paso Doble all demand something completely different from your body.

Then there’s the counting. Think every eight-count phrase is counted the same across the dance world? Think again. Even seasoned dancers can find ballroom timings completely bizarre because styles like the Cha-Cha and Foxtrot don’t always follow the rhythms they’re used to. You’re suddenly having to retrain your instincts, like starting a Cha-Cha on beat two instead of the downbeat. Oh, and if you’re a follower, those counts are essentially for the lead anyway.

Which brings us onto a whole other issue: partnering. If you’re used to dancing solo, factoring in another person is a completely different beast. Now, you’re sharing your center of gravity, reacting to someone else’s momentum, and relying on subtle physical cues instead of simply moving because you know what comes next in the choreo. Movement is no longer just about what your body is doing; it’s about communicating with someone else’s.

And for seasoned performers who are used to hitting every beat on autopilot, learning to actually follow can be a massive hurdle. Instead of jumping ahead and moving on count one because you know the music, you have to stay reactive and wait for the physical cue from your partner. It’s a skill that might look simple from the outside, but it requires a completely different kind of awareness.

Live Stream CTA: Love sharing your opinions on pop culture’s biggest debates? Chassé into the conversation by joining MsMojo’s 24/7 livestream! Scan the QR code on screen to join us live for nonstop pop culture fun!

The Underdog Bias

But if we’re being totally honest, what exactly is it that audiences tune in for? Say it with us now: the journey. Who doesn’t love the classic underdog story of the celeb who came in barely knowing their left from their right, slowly grew throughout the season, and then lifted the Mirrorball at the end? After all, isn’t that what “Dancing with the Stars” is all about?

If we wanted to watch Heather Morris dance, we could just re-watch “Glee.” If we wanted to see Sabrina Bryan or Corbin Bleu perform, we could have a “Cheetah Girls” or “High School Musical” movie marathon. Or, if we wanted to watch Joey Fatone or AJ McLean bust a move, we could revisit their boy band days. The point is, viewers don’t just want to see someone who can already dance. They want to watch someone transform into a dancer.

The viewers certainly draw a hard line when it comes to true ringers. Where’s the fun in seeing someone like Hilaria Baldwin quickstep ahead of the competition with a literal ballroom background? And if the producers won’t draw that line themselves, you better believe the audience will.

Short of that extreme, though, the fandom has made its feelings known through multiple shock eliminations over the years, from Sabrina Bryan and Heather Morris to Elizabeth Berkley, Brandy and Tinashe. Then there are those who made it to the finals but couldn’t clear that final hurdle, like Normani, Mel B, Jo Jo Siwa, Mýa, and Zendaya.

Yet, strangely enough, that’s not always the story. Nicole Scherzinger, Jennifer Grey, Jordan Fisher, and Charli D’Amelio are among the stars who managed to make viewers overlook their experience and win their respective seasons. How did they do that? By understanding that while yes, this is a dance competition, viewers are often just as invested in the partnership behind the scenes.

Ultimately, fans vote for emotional transformation and human connection just as much as technical perfection. We’d rather watch a powerful story unfold than a flawless machine perform. Plus, let’s be honest: how many of us actually know whether they executed that fleckerl correctly or whether those bachacadas were technically perfect? If it looked good and they sold the performance, that’s usually enough for us.

The Impossible Scorecard

We’ll tell you who does know their stuff, though, from frame to footwork: the judges. They’re there scrutinizing every heel lead, head position, line, timing, and piece of musicality. And it doesn’t take them long to gauge a celeb’s level and whether they’re doing their personal best or whether there’s another gear they could find.

That’s where experience can become a double-edged sword. Someone who starts from zero might score highly because they’ve made a huge leap from where they began, whereas someone coming in at an eight or nine is expected to keep pushing further. The judges aren’t necessarily being harsher; they simply have a different level of expectation because they know what these contestants are capable of.

Don’t get us wrong, these contestants will often still find themselves near the top of the leaderboard, if not sitting comfortably at the top. But the feedback tends to get much more technical. And while not all of us understand every correction about frame, footwork, or timing, we do understand when the judges are saying, “That wasn’t quite good enough.” And after all these years, viewers know they usually know their stuff.

The Verdict

So, yes, of course, having dance experience absolutely helps. Nobody is arguing otherwise. But history has shown that it’s a long way from a guaranteed Mirrorball. Once the judges raise the bar, the audience starts looking for a journey, and you’re battling years of muscle memory while trying to master the mechanics of ballroom partnering; that so-called “unfair advantage” suddenly becomes a lot more complicated.

But is having dance experience a curse? Of course not. These are still elite, incredibly talented performers. But maybe next time the lineup drops and the internet starts screaming about an “unfair advantage,” it’s worth taking a step back. Behind all that technical know-how, these contestants are carrying a unique set of challenges that total beginners never have to face.

And maybe they deserve just a little more appreciation and grace for the different weights they’re carrying all season long, too.

Which side of the debate do you sit on? Let us know in the comments