We’re in the midst of a Dancing With the Stars renaissance. Two decades and 34 seasons into the live reality competition show, it’s experiencing a massive surge in viewership. In fact, it’s currently the most watched unscripted reality show on television, largely thanks to savvy marketing moves that have pulled in Gen Z viewers in hordes. The series, which pairs celebrity contestants with professional dance partners, will air this season’s finale on November 25.
Those who have been tuning in to see fan favorites like Alix Earle and Robert Irwin enchant viewers with their foxtrots and waltzes have likely also noticed that the custom stage sets that accompany each performance have grown more elaborate. As Dancing With the Stars’ success rises, it pushes its designers and decorators to “think outside of the box, to do bigger and better,” Natacha Hatch, the show’s art director, explains to AD. Each week, they bring mini scenes to life, grounding dances in physical spaces that help tell the story of each performance. And as it turns out, it’s its own kind of delicate dance to get these scenes created each week.
A frequently recurring episode theme throughout the ABC series, “Disney week” presents an opportunity to go big on these immersive, world-building sets. This season saw gymnast Jordan Chiles dressed as Tiana from The Princess and the Frog quickstepping in front of a façade straight out of New Orleans’s French Quarter. Hilaria Baldwin danced in front of a set inspired by a cantina from Star Wars (complete with a band of creatures playing alien instruments), while Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel began her dance perched atop a recreation of King Louie’s stone-carved throne from The Jungle Book.
But the most detailed set of the night came with Dylan Efron’s dance to “Life is a Highway” from Cars. The performance began in a fully dressed mechanic’s garage, replete with oil cans, time-worn signage, and toolboxes, giving the space a surprisingly lived-in look for such a short amount of time on screen—just enough to establish the scene. “Every object in there tells a story,” explains Hatch, who collaborates with set decorator Rebecca Contreras to make the vignettes come to life each week. “She’s very good with the details,” she adds.
Though a lot of care goes into it, the set dressing is meant to fade into the background. “The dancers and their performance are the main characters,” says Hatch. “We are just the little elves trying to help them tell the story.” On Thursdays, the team meets to discuss sets for a live show that is about a week and a half away. They receive videos of rehearsals and use those to map out the set design. “Monday is the first time everyone sees everything together—set, lighting, effects, choreography, graphics and cameras,” Hatch explains. “This is when we fine-tune and make any necessary adjustments. It does not go the other way around; the choreography never adapts to the set.”
The live show is the following day, but the challenge doesn’t end when the cameras start rolling. “We have three minutes, when we’re lucky, to set up everything,” Hatch says. One of the more recent additions to the ballroom (which is actually a gigantic soundstage set) provides a workaround. The space, tucked below the elevated platform where performers await their scores, is dubbed the garage; it allows for scenery to be set up in advance—like the Cars set—without taking up space on the dance floor, explains production designer James Yarnell. After the performance, “we close the gate and it’s gone.”
For Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Whitney Leavitt’s dance for a Wicked-themed week, the garage was transformed into Glinda’s pink bedroom, lined with botanical wallpaper and overflowing with perfume bottles and pastel-hued trunks and clothing racks filled with gowns. “We are so blessed to be able to be trusted with recreating those insane looks [from] the movies,” says Hatch. “We really put a lot of pride into recreating it the best that we can.”
It’s a weekly challenge, but one that can have a big payoff for the fans of the show. “It’s a dance,” says Hatch of the job’s collaborative and quick nature. “We’re all dancing. I’m a pro dancer now.”
