Get to Know More About These DWTS Finalists!
Dancing With the Stars Live! — Light Up the Night is the first show on our main stage in the New Year. It’ll be a hot, sizzling performance of ballroom dancing, just perfect for a cold, icy night. With the finals now over, we thought we’d introduce you to three of the ballroom superstar finalists who’ll be dancing the night away on our stage: Lindsay Arnold, Witney Carson, and Emma Slater.
Lindsay Arnold began dancing at the age of four. Although an expert in Latin dance, she’s incredibly versatile, which was no doubt the reason she landed a spot on season 9 of So You Think You Can Dance in 2012. She also performed in the franchise’s 30-city tour that year.
Her numerous dance awards include 1st place in both the United States Open Youth Latin Championships and the United States Open Junior Latin Championships; top 3 finalist at the World Junior Latin Team Match; top 5 finalist at the World Cup Latin Junior Championships; and top 5 finalist at the United States Junior National 10 Dance Championships.
Lindsay is in her 10th season with Dancing With the Stars and placed first this year with partner Jordan Fisher.
Witney Carson, herself an Emmy-nominated choreographer, trained in ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, lyrical, tap, Latin and standard ballroom and has competed and performed all over the world, garnering attention, awards and scholarships throughout her career.
Before her time on Dancing with the Stars, Carson was one of the top six on season 9 of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance and returned the following season as an all-star. She also performed in the 2015 dance flick Dancin’: It’s On.
On Dancing with the Stars, Carson quickly grew from a troupe dancer in seasons 16 and 17 to a pro dancer in season 18 with partner Cody Simpson, and winner of season 19 with partner Alfonso Ribeiro, making her one of only five dancers in the history of the show to win in their first two seasons.
Emma Slater began dancing at age five and competing in Latin and ballroom dance by age 10. In 2005, at just 16 years old, she and her partner won the 2005 British Under 21 Latin American Championship in Blackpool, England. Now ranked in the world’s Top 20, Slater won the 2006 United Kingdom Under 21 Latin American Championships in Bournemouth, England and appeared on Strictly Come Dancing: South Africa.
In 2007, Emma appeared in the Universal Pictures movie Mamma Mia! and sang on the soundtrack. She’s also performed in several productions in London’s West End: Simply Ballroom (including a world tour), Dirty Dancing, Latin Fever, and Cheek to Cheek.
In 2009, Emma joined the multi-Emmy nominated Latin and ballroom show Burn the Floor for the world tour and Broadway productions. In 2012, she was invited to join season 14 of Dancing with the Stars as a troupe member. Emma progressed to pro for season 17 with comedian Bill Engvall, with whom she reached the final.
Tickets are still available for Dancing With the Stars Live! on January 5th, 2018. But we don’t expect them to last much longer, so hurry and get yours now.
