The Dancing With The Stars Season 22 Troupe – Photo
Check out the instagram below. It appears this could be the troupe for Dancing With The Stars Season 22. The Troupe members in this photo are Hayley Erbert, Jenna Johnson, Alan Bersten, Kiril Kulish, Dennis Jauch, and Shannon Holtzapffel. Thanks to all the fans sending this photo today.
great troupe! I’m gonna send this to my friends because they always are super excited by the troupe and in particular this go around Shannon and Kiril.
The troupe has the best pic out of all of them. It’s super intense.
Hmmm this is interesting. I saw a photo of Brit at the studio on Instagram but she isn’t in the picture. I wonder what her status is?
It looks kind of off with four guys and only two girls??!! What did brittany do to let be let go of again? And why so many guys? And hayley isnt even a ballroom dancer blehhhh, so to me its just jenna and four guys ?
While neither Jenna nor Hayley appeal to me, I am very much looking forward to watching the new male members of the troupe. And is it me or does Dennis startlingly resemble Henry here?
I may not be the biggest Jenna fan, but at the very least, she’s a career ballroom dancer with a lot of cross-training in contemporary/tap/hip-hop/etc. – which is exactly what this show needs.
Hayley, on the other hand, is a contemporary dancer with a crash course in ballroom, who visibly struggled with ballroom technique last season. WE DO NOT NEED CONTEMPORARY DANCERS WHO PRETEND THEY KNOW BALLROOM, regardless of whoever they may or may not be dating or who they have toured with. I get it, she’s eye candy – but there’s plenty of ballroom eye candy out there with a decent degree of cross-training in other styles. Go shop around at VIBE and stop trying pass her off as being every bit as good as the pros who have been dancing ballroom their entire lives. It’s an insult to their talent and my intelligence.
And while we’re at it – why not up the diversity factor and grab Marquet Hill from the VIBE group? Hell, he’s gotta be better than Keo in terms of teaching skill. And I still say Tanisha Belnap would dance CIRCLES around most of the female pros on this show.
Random: Kiril looks like the dude that plays Christian’s brother in the 50 Shades movie.
Wynn #5 – I was going to post the exact same thing about Dennis looking scarily like Henry. I had to do a triple check, but thankfully it’s not him – a good thing, because Henry’s busy taking icky selfies and we wouldn’t want to distract him from such noble work.
All male pros look similar to me in that pic tbh, kinda scary.
I think Jenna would make an interesting pro, and she’s a beautiful dancer, but dear God I just really don’t find her attractive. Agree with what Court says about Hayley. Nothing else to say about the guys.
Fig, have you noticed a lot of your comments getting stuck in moderation? Seems like it’s happened a couple times in the last few days and I can’t see a reason why it’s happening.
Lol i showed my sister this pic shes a mild dwts fan, and she was all, why do all the guys look like italian val groupies? Lol i didnt think that but it made me laugh.
That guy does look like henry!
Yes courtney the hayley thing drives me insane plus there are TONS of cute brunette ballroom dancers out there hellooo
As stated by Jeny above, I, too, find it pretty unfair that they’re apparently cutting Brittany this season. She’s such a great dancer and I believe she’d be a pretty good pro if given the chance to be promoted. With this new 2:4 girl-to-guy ratio the troupe just feels unbalanced now. #JusticeForBrittany
I don’t get why there are TWO girls. Brittany Cherry is another case of getting kicked around.
I LOVE that idea Courtney. Love Tanisha and Marquet.
On the bright side I really like Hayley’s costume! At first sight it kinda brought Swan Lake to mind because the big side ruffle looked a bit like a wing.
PH – yes ALL of my comments have been going to moderation – I thought you guys had the place on lockdown so I didn’t even bother asking about it. Doh! I’ve been a bad girl!
Court, two questions for you:
1. Do you think this influx of non-ballroom dancers is being driven by Mandy Moore? All her numbers look the same to my admittedly untrained (and ballroom-biased) eye. She seems to choreograph nothing more than bump and grind numbers or the kind of street-wise stuff that back-up dancers for pop singers do.
2. Do you think the reason TPTB went with 4 men and 2 women in Troupe is they didn’t want the troupe to be too large and they have a stronger need to test drive male dancers for pro spots? They seem to have a reliable cadre of female pros to draw from, but now that Derek’s gone and Mark and Tony could say “I’m done” pretty soon, they could end up in a bind for male pros.
I am curious as to the “why” Hayley is there in the place of ballroom dancers. Derek is gone – she’s still dating him, but he’s not on the show (and I don’t believe he’ll be back although I wouldn’t be surprised if he made a liar out of me). She is gorgeous – but there are lots of gorgeous girl ballroom dancers. So, is there some larger plan? I suspect Allison will have a spot when she’s ready to come back and I’ve always questioned that move as well – although her personal/familial fanbase makes it somewhat more understandable.
But instead of focusing just on Hayley and Allison – are all of the male troupe member strictly ballroom? And why so many new faces? I speculated yesterday on twitter that they were once again using the troupe as a testing ground for potential new pros…so I suggest that our current men watch their backs. But are any of these guys “just” contemporary dancers?? If not, WHY not? Why are they very obviously picking out female contemporary dancers and not male ones? Lord knows, some of our male ballroom pros could use some help in the contemporary area.
There is nothing “unfair” about cutting Brittany. It’s show business. There was likely a reason for it. Clearly, she didn’t get ousted in favor of anyone else, since there is a very obvious hole (or two) in the female half of the trouple line up.
And you DO realize if they bring on Tanisha and Marquet (something I was rooting for a few seasons ago), that very much lessens the odds of Brittany coming back.
From what I understand, Brittany was already actually given the heave-ho last summer, but was brought back at the last minute due to the pinch TPTB ended up in when Peta had to drop out in season 21, thereby shifting Lindsay to pro and leaving a vacancy in the troupe – which had to be quickly filled, and Brittany was available.
This is probably not going to make me very popular, but from what I’ve heard from DT, Brittany had “maturity issues” and “wasn’t always the brightest bulb in the package”. And if they’re using the troupe as a breeding ground for future pros, I can kinda understand why those two issues in particular would be deal-breakers for TPTB. But Brittany seems like she’s got other irons in the fire, so she’ll be ok.
As for Tanisha – she was half of Mark’s couple for the ballroom battle back in season 14 (which was actually taped in season 13, but didn’t air due to time constraints), and was described to me by DT as “by far the most mature AND the most talented of the bunch”, and Mark had been pushing hard to get her a spot in the troupe. But DT’s suspicion (and they might not be too far off on this, given what we’ve seen) is that TPTB don’t find Tanisha “traditionally attractive” enough for TV – which SUCKS. I don’t see it as so much of an issue for male troupe members, who I find come from a larger range on the “attractiveness” scale (the general criterion seem to be “Do you look good with your shirt off?”, and less attention is paid to facial attractiveness), but it seems like TPTB really push for their troupe girls to be drop-dead gorgeous. I think of SYTYCD Jenna (long hair, freckles, more natural makeup and an overall more youthful look) vs. DWTS Jenna (sexy, shaggier ‘do; smoked-out eyes; skimpier costumes; covered freckles) and I feel like they really sexed-up her look. Ditto for Witney & Lindsay, who I feel had a much more wholesome look on SYTYCD that rapidly matured once they joined SYTYCD. And hell, that could explain why Hayley still has a spot, despite being woefully underqualified in her ballroom training – she’s gorgeous, and they want gorgeous girls in the troupe. Sex sells, I guess, and it may play a more important role in casting the troupe than we thought.
@Cidra – To answer your questions:
1. Possibly, plus it seems like Derek & Julianne have had a bit of a hand in “suggesting” some non-ballroom dancers that they have worked with in the past – Hayley, Allison, & Tyne were all cast as a result of suggestions made by Derek & Julianne. But who knows, Mandy may be throwing names out there, too, to suit her flash-and-trash choreography style.
2. Honestly, I think the troupe situation was pretty fluid up until about a week ago – I think Hayley was maybe not a done deal yet, and they may have been shopping around for other female troupe members and just came up empty-handed. Could be that they’re cultivating more stallions in the DWTS stable, once the old male guard gets put out to pasture (I can’t imagine Tony has too many more seasons left in him, and Mark seems like he might have one foot out the door already). The thing that gets me, though, is that they seem to be casting more of the brooding Russian types – rather than expanding their horizons. Do they really want an army of Val clones? Cause if not, I’d advise them to start diversifying – grab Marquet, grab Landon (Jenna’s old partner that auditioned for SYTYCD), grab some more VIBE pupils.
And is that, superficial, conventional sexiness, why TPTB are cooler on Emma Slater and Sasha Farber vs. some other less proven “pros?”
I’m interested on seeing the male troupe dance and who stands out the most. I agree with the mods, I think they are the testing ground for a male pro. Why would they brought someone like Kiril, a Tony award winner, and put him in a troupe? He’s over qualified.
As for Hayley, the underline words are she’s still dating Derek. I doubt she’ll be back as a troupe once Derek starts his 70 cities tour next year. She might not even coming back fall season. Who knows. So for now I just focused on the pros and their stars although it’s hard not to notice a struggle in the background.
I do wish they kept Brittany over Hayley. She is a cross trained dancer, so she fits both the ballroom and contemporary mold. Also, I figured with her being deaf in one ear, she could have been a helpful resource for Peta with training techniques for Nyle. But she always does seem to be on the chopping block.
As for Tanisha and Marquet, I think Tanisha would be a phenomenal addition particularly because she does adapt to a variety of styles so well. Lindsay’s mother even said that Tanisha should have been labeled as a contemporary dancer as opposed to a ballroom dancer on SYTCD, where she was hands down a stand out for me in every genre. They also ended up using her for so many genres of dance on the SYTYCD tour to fill in for the eliminated contestants and the allstars. I wish I had seen more of Marquet, but from what I did see, he was solid in ballroom, contemporary and hip hop, so he could be a fun addition as well.
Well, I’ll look into it and see if we did something on the back end that might be causing it, Fig.
It seems rather shortsighted and kinda stupid to stock the troupe with all of those particular men when their most popular pro EVER (and I’m not even going to say “arguably” cuz I don’t believe it is) is a blue eyed, blonde sweetheart. Um…hello?? You might try a bit more diversity even beyond skin color. I have no interest in Val or Henry clones. I don’t believe I’m alone in that, considering that Derek and Julianne sold out theaters TWICE the size of Maks and Val’s tour or the DWTS tour.
Kinda like their obsession with blonde women dancers. They all look a like and aren’t particularly interesting. Lucky we have Sharna.
I agree that it’s shortsighted. Witney and Lindsay have that fair, wholesome American but also drop dead gorgeous faces vibe of Julianne. (Not considering personality.) Peta, Sharna and I think Edyta have more of a foreign, vixen allure. Not sure that Allison, Karina or Emma fit those “types” as squarely.
I guess Val was insurance for when Maks, tall, dark, handsome, broody bad boy left. ‘Cept Val is the discount knock off. Shorter, less handsome and whiney. However, he stuck to DWTS like glue and he has his fanclub. Tony, fortunately, has mellowed out a bit since he got his mirror ball but he’s not far off that type. And I’d take Artem in a heartbeat instead of Val but since it’s not a trade, it looks almost like 3 of a kind with Tony, Val and Artem. Derek and Mark were both different but now there’s only one of them. Tristan provided another flavor but it doesn’t look like he’s coming back. Sasha seems to provide positivity like Derek and he has a boyish vibe sorely missing for me. But with new male troupe members, especially Kiril, Tony Award winner with ambitions, it looks like TPTB ARE new male pro shopping. And so far, I’m feeling less than thrilled.
I’ll take a thousand Tristans before another single Val-clone, please.
That being said, as much as I prefer diversity in skin color/looks, I think just as important is diversity in temperament and style. Certainly, Derek was not just successful/popular on the show because of his looks, but his talent and approach. I’d take a guy that looks like one of the Russian clones, but in actuality is a great teacher, good person, and has creative vision. I really think it’s a shame they don’t give Gleb another shot, given his success overseas.
I also think Mark has tough shoes to fill – avant garde, quirky, with a balance of good personality, creativity, and competitiveness, but most importantly game for anything (which I think Sasha is as well).
I agree Fig. I’m more interested in personality types, patience and creativity than faces and what these guys look like without a shirt! Same with the girls. ALL of them are exceptionally lovely looking with fantastic figures. But what can they bring to the ballroom as pros beyond beauty and sex appeal?
I agree too that no one, so far, can replace Derek. He is quite the talented package! I’m also dreading Mark’s inevitable departure from DWTS. He’s also one of a kind.
I like the new guy additions to the troupe. GREAT PHOTOS! It’s like they needed Sasha out to re-vamp it, so, hopefully Sasha stays a pro.
Reading the comments above, Shannon doesn’t seem to have any explicit ballroom training so it’ll be interesting to see him. Though, like Tyne, he was picked for the This Is It tour which I think is a really high honour and speaks endlessly of his talent.
I’m surprised they haven’t gotten Kiril earlier. He already has a career but DWTS will help get his name known, like a celebrity status, which I’m sure helps in getting jobs and getting paid better.
Dennis just seems to be lacking footing in the US which DWTS will help him with. His training seems legit and it doesn’t hurt that he has ballroom dancing parents.
I agree with the comments on Marcquet. He already helps out Witney, why not just add him in? If Lindsay is prime example of what VIBE teaches, I’m sure Marcquet would be a great fit. Also for diversity reasons, I’m shocked they don’t since they want to keep Keo so bad. I think they could hold of on Tanisha for a bit since she just got engaged and a wedding will probably be near and take up lots of her time. She’s great too though.
I’m sure Maks will be back as pro soon anyway since he spends most of his time at McCadden these days rather than trying to rescue his budding movie career. Typical that the two ballroom male troupers are the ones I don’t like. Alan is an immature Val wannabe with a penchant for shirtless selfies on the Henry scale of cringe. And Kiril, who comes off proper arrogant from his interviews and photos. Shannon is probably the my favourite addition as he looks a good guy and also has a strong CV (although I don’t think he’s ballroom trained). I have no idea whether Dennis is ballroom trained or not but I do know he’s German. So TPTB are looking to add to their influx of European pros. I worry that these additions perhaps indicate that Mark will be following Derek out the door soon and that Sasha’s position isn’t solidified at all.
Thanks, Court!
If TPTB didn’t really explain what they wanted and just said to Derek/Julianne “can you give us the names of some dancers with good contemporary skills” I can see how they’d recommend Hayley, Allison, and Tyne. However, I’d be a tad disappointed if the Houghs knew that TPTB wanted dancers to groom for pro spots and didn’t think credible ballroom skills were necessary.
As for the brooding Russian types in the Troupe, the answer might tie into their sex sells mentality. Isn’t “tall, dark and handsome” the male equivalent to “sexy blonde bombshell”? TPTB must still be working off the 20th Century mentality that women find dangerous brooding men sexier than the cheerful boy-next-door type. They either explain away Derek’s massive appeal as the exception that proves the rule, or they figure you only need 1 or at most 2 “nice guys” to balance out all the “bad boys”. They always seem to get rid of the “nice” men (e.g., Damian and Tristan).
Maks fit the tall, dark and handsome type, I think. As does Tony. Also the foreign and bad boy troupes (more so Maks). But the others aren’t tall or what I would call “dark.” I don’t find them as handsome as Tony/Maks either. Mayyyyyybbbbbeeeee Artem ’cause he comes across better in interviews to me yet.
The trope guys DO resemble Val clones to me now and he doesn’t cut it for me looks wise (too John Travolta with close set eyes and a lantern jaw) or temperament wise. Very immature, comes off as uneducated, and whiney.
Keo fills a tall, dark and handsome spot for me but so far, he’s a dud as a pro.
We only know that Tyne was recommended by Derek. I don’t think Derek had to recommend Allison at all – they’ve been watching SYTYCD for ballroom pros for YEARS. I’m not even sure that Derek didn’t meet her from DWTS, as opposed to her coming to DWTS from Derek, if that makes sense. The dance community in LA seems to be VERY small – and unlike some of the DWTS pros, Derek is likely to approach people he feels the need to work with. Hayley?? She isn’t the only one who was on MOVE who showed up on DWTS multiple times the last few seasons. Paul Karmiyan and Jason Glover were both on a number of times. So, either the community is quite small and the producers are always looking, or they were specifically watching who Derek and Jules hired for their tour. Neither would surprise me.
That said, Derek seems to be the pro most involved in the production side of the show – he talks to the producers a lot more (from what I’ve seen), and he’s involved in the total production of his dances, right down to the music arrangement. Derek thinks of a cool “challenge” – it’s used the next season on the show. He talks about Tyne – she becomes a pro on the show. Seems like he does have a good deal of influence. And that says a lot about him, I think. They seem to trust him. And THAT said, I think the fact that they added contemporary and Jazz to a ballroom show that them hiring contemporary dancers is hardly a fluke.
To Courtney regarding the looks of the male/female pros: I dont think tptb would even hire Mark Ballas at this point. He is already in and he has the name from his parents but 2016 dwts would not hire a new guy like him. And that is disappointing. I am not familiar with Tanisha but it makes me sad if they would pass up on truly skilled creative people who sound like they would be a joy to watch.
@PH (and Court) – How did Derek and Tyne know each other? Was it just from being in the LA dance community or something specific? I’m not questioning the accuracy of what you’re saying, I’m just curious since this is the first I’ve heard of this (I wasn’t paying attention back then).
As for Allison, she was in Derek’s movie (she was a member of the COBU dance crew), so I assumed that’s how they met. Did she appear on DWTS before she danced with Derek in Season 13? I know she had been completely out of the dance world for 1.5-2 years before she came back to SYTYCD as an All-Star in 2010 (according to an audio interview from 2013 with her and tWitch on Kristyn Burtt’s website).
I’m not sure how they (Derek and Tyne) knew each other, Sonic. If I ever knew, I’ve forgotten. I suspect that Derek knows EVERYONE. He and Mark were much more in the music/dance/acting scene around LA than many/most of the current pros are – I’m continually surprised by who he knows.
Allison…hmmm. I honestly can’t remember. I seem to recall that DWTS and SYTYCD tape in the same stage at CBS and Derek was there a lot in the off season. For some reason, I thought he knew her before the movie – but maybe not. I’m sure someone with a better memory than me can fill in the holes here.
I can’t really imagine how this four guy/two girl is going to look like when the show airs. I think there going to use Alan and Jenna the most because they are the most senior and ballroom. I welcome the new guys and look forward to seeing them dance. I’m not excited that Hayley is back. I found when she danced last season she didn’t have much of a presence although I know she’s very attractive. Also not that sad to see Brittany go although I wish they would have replaced her with someone as skilled as she is. I found the Brittany, Jenna, Witney and Lindsay posse a bit of an overload on young Utah girls that are they same age with the same life experience too much. So I was happy when the didn’t promote Jenna and brought back Edyta and Karina. I know the show needs well trained dancers but I also enjoy a little bit of life experience.
I think they might pair Jenna with Kiril since they competed together.