Skip to footer

DWTS recap: Who performed best during an inspirational evening

On the latest episode of 'Dancing With the Stars,' contestants performed routines based on a memorable year in their lives.

|
ABC
'Dancing With the Stars' contestants Terra Jolé (l.) and Sasha Farber (r.) perform on the program.

The latest episode of “Dancing With the Stars” included the return of a theme in which contestants base their routines on the most memorable year of their lives, and reviewers called the evening “poignant” and “heartfelt.” 

Contestant James Hinchcliffe, who is a race car driver, and his partner, Sharna Burgess, received the highest score of the night, getting a score of 29 out of 30 after dancing a tango. Mr. Hinchcliffe said he based his routine on his recovery from a car accident in 2015.

Hinchcliffe and Ms. Burgess were followed by actress Terra Jolé and dancer Sasha Farber, who performed a contemporary routine, and “Taxi” actress Marilu Henner and dancer Derek Hough, who performed a Viennese waltz. Both pairs received a score of 27 out of 30. 

Some reviewers felt that this episode was memorable for highlighting inspiring stories, with USA Today critic Erin Jensen called the the episode “incredibly moving and heartfelt” and TVLine writer Rebecca Iannucci writing that Ms. Jolé’s performance, which was based on the loss of her father, was “a deeply poignant number that perfectly capped the emotional evening … their performance was far more meaningful than a number on a paddle.” 

Meanwhile, Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez and dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy received a score of 25 out of 30 after performing a paso doblé. “The Brady Bunch” actress Maureen McCormick and dancer Artem Chigvintsev, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte and dancer Cheryl Burke, actress Amber Rose and Maksim Chmerkovskiy, and football player Calvin Johnson Jr. and dancer Lindsay Arnold all received a score of 24 out of 30 after performing a foxtrot, a contemporary routine, a samba, and a jazz routine, respectively. 

Other stories that were told on the most recent episode of “Dancing” included that of Ms. Hernandez, who shared her struggles to reach the Olympics, as well as Ms. Kramer, who shared how she left an abusive relationship.

In line with the positive tone of the evening, all contestants proceeded to the next week rather than a pair leaving the show.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to DWTS recap: Who performed best during an inspirational evening
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/TV/2016/1011/DWTS-recap-Who-performed-best-during-an-inspirational-evening
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe