SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 10, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — “Dancing with the Stars” is a popular TV show with legions of fans, and it may or may not surprise you that many of its pro dancers received their training in the Beehive State.
Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem was the home to not only Derek and Julianne Hough, but Jenna Johnson, Lindsay Arnold, Witney Carson and Brandon Armstrong, the latter of whom took time out of his very busy schedule to chat with Gephardt Daily.
Armstrong, along with other pro dancers and stars, begins a 73-date “DWTS” tour tomorrow, Jan. 11, in Richmond, Virginia. The tour runs through March 27, where it will conclude in Los Angeles. The tour, which will hit 64 cities, will make a stop in Utah at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 8, with shows at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Armstrong, who joined “DWTS” as a troupe member in season 24 and was promoted to a pro in Season 27, will be performing alongside dancers including Rylee Arnold, who is also from Utah, Daniella Karagach, Britt Stewart, Alan Bersten, Pasha Pashkov and Gleb Savchenko. They will be joined on some dates by Jenna Johnson, Val Chmerkovskiy, and Artem Chigvintsev. Pro dancer Emma Slater is hosting and on certain dates “DWTS” host Julianne Hough will be appearing, as well as season 32 winner Xochitl Gomez, and season 32 cast members, reality stars Charity Lawson and Harry Jowsey.
Armstrong was born and raised in California and then moved to Utah, where he began his dance training. He trained in all styles including jazz, hip hop, and contemporary, and he has traveled all over the world to compete professionally, specifically in Latin Ballroom. Armstrong officially joined the cast of “DWTS” as a troupe member in 2017. Since becoming a pro, he has been partnered with stars including singer Tinashe, The Supremes’ singer Mary Wilson, television host Jeannie Mai, actress Kenya Moore, and singer-songwriter and actress Jordin Sparks. On the most recent season, season 32, Armstrong was paired with social media personality Lele Pons, and they finished in 8th place.
Armstrong, who talked to us over the phone from Utah where he was spending a few days with his wife Brylee before he begins the tour, told us more about growing up in Utah, his season 32 journey, the tour and his plans for 2024.
“I leave Saturday morning (Jan. 6) for tour so I’m just here with my wife; we’re gonna be over the next two days kind of relaxing, getting ready and then out on the road,” Armstrong said. “Rehearsals have been incredible for the tour; so we obviously have Miss Mandy Moore, she’s the creative director and choreographer. And anytime you have the opportunity to work with somebody of that caliber, it makes your job really, really easy. So it’s easy as these professionals we come in and we kind of give some ideas to her, and she has, I guess like a director’s eye, and she put all these ideas together and made everybody happy. And so the rehearsals were great, they’re always a little bit physically hard, you know? You’re rehearsing a lot, start at 9 a.m., you won’t finish till 6, 7, 8, 9 o’clock at night. So basically, it can be really challenging, but as far as the process and the creativity and the artistry of it, it’s some of my favorite time during the year.”
Armstrong explained that usually they would have two weeks to rehearse for the tour, but this time it was a little less.
“Normally, we do about two weeks, 14 days,” he said. “This year was actually pretty short. We were only down there about 11 days, 12 days. Our season for the actual show ‘Dancing with the Stars’ lasted a little bit longer. We have less time between the end of the season and the holidays. And so we obviously all want to be able to get home and spend some time with our families. We’ve been away for a few months. And so we were about 11 days, 12 days.”
I mentioned to him that that seems like a quick rehearsal period.
“Luckily, we’re not working with celebrities to the same extent that we are while we’re on the show,” he said. “And so having you know, eight pros, four girls, four boys come in and be able to learn it, we’re able to learn pretty quick, but it’s fast even for us.”
Armstrong told us more about how he got his start in dance.
“So my dad actually is in the military, so that’s what really brought us out here to Utah,” he explained. “I went to the same studio that Derek and Julianne went to, it’s called Center Stage Performing Arts and Lindsay Arnold, another one of the pros, Witney Carson, myself, Jenna Johnson, there was a ton of pros from the same studio here in Utah. We actually all grew up within like 30 miles of each other. I always make this joke that you could spit, you would hit 10 professionals on the show, there are so many of us. One of my first seasons on the show, like six out of 12 pros were from the same studio. I mean, there must be something in the water here or something. I don’t know what’s happening.”
Armstrong was partnered with Arnold for competitions from the age of 15.
“So, Lindsay Arnold was actually my competitive ballroom partner all growing up,” he said. “And we danced together until she was on the show at 18. And then there was, ‘Dancing with the Stars’ tried to do this, it was kind of like an online mini version of the show that they called a ballroom battle and Lindsay and I were partners at the time. And they put existing pros on the show, and assigned them a young couple. Neither one of us were celebrities, right, just a young dancing couple. And they had this competition, and Mark Ballas was our professional. And so they flew him to Utah, he worked with us for a few weeks, and we competed in this thing with him. And even before that, when I was 13, I actually won the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ version that was a junior show. So it was three weeks, and me and my partner at the time, Brittany Cherry, won that, and that’s kind of how I got on the show’s radar.”
We asked him if it was his goal at that time to eventually go pro.
“You know, it’s so funny, people ask me that all the time,” he said. “It’s funny because I don’t even know if I believe it now that I’m a pro on the show, you know, I never grew up having this goal or this desire in my mind that I was going to be a professional dancer on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ I was going to school; even when I was 18, 19, I went to college. I wanted to be a doctor. It just wasn’t really on my radar. And then I saw like all the people that I grew up with having this opportunity and I was like well hold on, hold on, hold on. Do I think I could do this? Like, am I somebody that could join, you know, that show? And so I was in Vegas dancing for like Cirque du Soleil and ‘Le Rêve,’ different companies and different shows out in Vegas, and the show called me and was like, look, we’re interested, we would love you to send in some audition stuff. And so I actually got a hold of Lindsay and she helped me, she danced with me to fill my audition reel. We sent it into the show and I got picked up later that year. And I’ve been doing it ever since. And now I can say it’s like a dream come true. But it was just something I didn’t know if it was obtainable for me when I was young. I mean, I’m so grateful for the opportunity and I love it to death, it’s incredible.”
We asked him what this season was like for him, being paired with Pons, a Venezuelan-born American YouTuber, actress and singer.
“This was one of my favorite seasons; to be honest, I think I have a hard time showing my personality on screen because we have so short a time, right?” he said. “There’s not a lot of time given to the couple. As a professional you give most of that time; you’re trying to give most of that time to your celebrity. You want people to get to know your celebrity and to see how hard they work and the progression and the journey of what it’s like to be on the show. It’s so much more than just the minute 30 that you’re dancing on the floor. It’s everything else that happens from Tuesday to Sunday. So you’re really, really trying to show that off.
“And so Lele; I feel like it was such a blessing to me because she was able to show my personality and have people get to know me so much better than I’ve been able to in the past, and then being able to work with somebody like her; she’s so talented, and so fun. And I think that she was one of those few celebrities that comes in with no dance training, and you’re able to see her get better from week to week to week. Obviously she has her flaws as a dancer; she’s not a professional dancer. And so for her to be able to show those off though, and show herself getting better; it was so fun, and again, I think that we had so much more to offer on the show. It was such a bummer when we went home. But the dances that we did have together, I feel like all of them were memorable, people loved watching them, watching her on the floor. So overall for me it was one of my favorite seasons.”
He added: “Every time we were in the room together, we were just dying laughing. We would sit, like we would finish rehearsals, and we would sit and talk forever; she got to know my wife really well. She’s actually going to travel to Utah after we’re done with tour, and she wants to come out and see us. I was in Miami for quite a bit of the season for training with her at the beginning; I got to know her husband and I just felt like we have some lifelong friends, and that to me was most important.”
We also asked Armstrong how he paces himself physically and mentally for tour.
“That’s a great question,” he said. “And honestly, I think you could ask every pro that that does the season and goes on tour and they would probably have a different answer for you. For me, I think that this season, and this tour, has been the most difficult for me in regards to that. You know, I’m sitting here, I’m thinking about it. I’m the most physically and mentally tired right now going into a tour that I’ve ever been because we’ve got the shortest turnaround and you’ve got to stay in shape. Your cardio has to stay hard because the cardio demand of the show is just incredible. Last time I went on tour I lost 40 pounds. I left weighing about 200, 205 and I came back just skin and bones; my wife gave me a hug and noticed right away just how little I was.
“It’s hard; you obviously trying to eat clean, obviously try to hit the gym; stay physically fit, and as far as mentally goes, it’s making sure that I check in with the people that I care about most in my life. My wife and my family and friends back home; making sure that I’m talking to them often and seeing them as often as possible. I got home; my wife and I drove home from LA to Utah, one day after the finale of the show, so on a Wednesday, and we didn’t get home until like two or three in the morning. The drive took us forever. We just bought this new car and we had to stop and charge it blah blah blah, so it took forever for us to get home and since we’ve been home it’s just yeah, spending as much time with her, and her family, and my family, doing the things that we love to do. But we’ve only had a few weeks off, not even two weeks, I leave on Saturday morning (Jan. 6) so it’s been hard, but it makes it so worth it when we’re able to get out on tour and perform for people that have watched and supported us, follow us on social media. It’s so nice going out there, and being able to put these names to faces, and it’s my favorite time of the year is being able to perform live for these thousands of people every night, I’ll never complain because I just can’t take it for granted.”
We also asked Armstrong what his plans are after the tour finishes at the end of March.
“We want to actually fly into London from LA, we want to do, there’s the Blackpool championships for ballroom that’s like our Olympics, and I grew up competing at it, and it happens around the time that we’re trying to go,” he said. “So we want to fly into London, do two days in London, take the train or sleeper down to Paris, do a few days in Paris. But we want to end up in Italy on the Amalfi Coast. And we want to spend a few days just relaxing out in the sun sometime right after tour. My wife has never been to Europe. I spent quite a bit of time out in Europe, so I just want to be able to get out there and show her.” Armstrong’s wife Brylee was born and raised in Utah, he added.
Armstrong also talked about what his medium to long-term goals are.
“A medium-term goal would be for me to win the show,” he said. “I’d love to win ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ I would love to get a partner that not only is a good dancer and also has that social… just the ability to connect socially because I think now more than ever, you’ve got to be popular to win the show; there’s a lot of evidence of that, especially these past few seasons. Being a good dancer is not enough because I feel like Lele was one of the best dancers. I think we were putting together some great routines. Yeah, it was a great season. It’s just you have to be able to have that following. Unfortunately, her following predominantly comes from the Latin American side of the world and so it wasn’t a huge help to us. Medium term goal, hopefully short term goal, hopefully next season, to win the show. And then long term would be, I would love to change my talents, and turn my talents more to the choreography and directing side of things. I want to start a family, be a Dad, buy a home, I’d love to have a home out here in Utah, just some of the things, I guess the old saying of settling down, I would love to start doing that.”
We asked Armstrong if he would like his future kids to be dancers.
“It’s so funny, you ask me my and wife that; we have two different answers,” he said. “For me, I’m like stay as far away from dancing as you can because it’s so hard to have any of these opportunities that I’ve been blessed with. You know, I look at myself and I consider myself a very middle of the lane average talented dancer, that’s been blessed with some great opportunities. And I see just, it’s so hard to make it in this industry. Now if you ask my wife, all she wants to see is our little daughter or our little son in a little bow tie, little white socks, in Blackpool, England training and dancing their little butts off in the ballroom. I’d love my boys to play sports, my girls to play sports, and I just want whatever my kids show interest and talent in, that’s what I’m going to try to support them and let them be the best at; that’s been my mindset is, you can scoop poop for a living but you better be the best at it.”
Finally, we asked Armstrong who his dream partner would be.
“I mean, listen, my dream partner, somebody who they would never get would be Beyoncé,” he said. “But somebody that would actually do the show and would be talented, like, Sofia Wylie, she’s a Disney girl. Very talented dancer, popular. Any artist, like young artist, you know, I think would be great. I don’t know, there’s just so many people, and also the format and kind of what’s important on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is shifting the landscape; ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is shifting. It’s becoming more and more popular. I feel like there was like a golden era, of like the Dereks and the Marks and the Maks’, and all these pros, and then it just kind of shifted and now because of Disney+ I feel like it’s coming back to, this is another great era of ‘Dancing with the Stars’. And so, again, just somebody who’s popular, has great social skills. And I mean if they can dance that there’ll be a bonus.”
We also spoke with Kim DelGrosso, who is the co-owner and creative director of Center Stage Performing Arts Studio, about her memories of Armstrong.
“I have great memories of young Brandon,” DelGrosso said. “He has so much talent and it was apparent immediately. We have performing companies and he was a strong member of those companies. He trained in many dance forms. He, like many others, started competing in ballroom competitions from the beginning. With so few boys he had many offers to compete with many girls. The young Brandon worked hard, shined on stage, and was a strong technician.”
She also spoke about Armstrong and Arnold’s partnership. “Brandon and Lindsay had all the elements needed for an outstanding partnership. They trained hard, traveled to compete at all the most important competitions, and had impeccable grooming. They were very artistic and technical. They set the ‘barre’ for other couples. They embarked on the path of becoming professionals. Such a wonderful story of partnership.”
We also asked DelGrosso what she thinks it is about the Center Stage environment that produces such exceptional talent.
“I am asked this question a lot,” she said. “Center Stage is a performing arts studio. We believe strongly that the training of young dancers is a privilege. We have an amazing faculty. Many directors and coaches started young with us and have returned to create the same opportunities for the next generations. Our alumni understands that their support for young dancers creates the contacts needed to achieve success. We have a large facility and that creates good training schedules. The community is one that loves and supports the arts. The talent of the upcoming generations, along with community and family support joined by the best teachers, coaches and support staff is what I feel is the formula of success.”
For more information about the “DWTS” tour, and for tickets, click here. “DWTS” the TV show is on ABC 4 and Disney+.
