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How Dancing With the Stars Takes the Ballroom on the Road With Its Traveling Extravaganza

As part of E!'s Backstage Pass, Gleb Savchenko and Emma Slater take fans behind the scenes of Dancing With the Stars' latest live tour.

By Mike Vulpo Jan 27, 2022 2:00 PMTags
Watch: Gleb Savchenko & Emma Slater GUSH Over "DWTS" Family

Congratulations! You just scored a backstage pass to the hottest tickets in town.

After COVID-19 put a pause on live entertainment, your favorite artists are ready to hit the road and entertain audiences safely with brand-new tours and experiences. And regardless of where you are, we're offering an all-access ticket to every must-see concert of the year. Welcome to E!'s Backstage Pass.

Impressed with the Dancing With the Stars cast on the small screen? Wait until you see them in person.

For those missing their weekly dose of the tango, foxtrot and everything in between, there's a show coming to your town. Welcome to the Dancing With the Stars: Live tour.

From now until March 27, your favorite professional dancers and even a few impressive contestants will travel the country and put on an unforgettable show filled with music, dancing and glamour. But where does it all begin? In the wardrobe department, of course!

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"The costumes are amazing. Each person probably has 17 to 20 changes during the whole show," Gleb Savchenko exclusively shared with E! News. "Sometimes there's a moment where I'm barely making it to the point where I can't even button up my shirt. I'm barely making that change."

Marcello Ambriz

With help from costume designers Steven Lee and Daniela Gschwendtner, every dancer can look and feel their best as soon as they take the stage and perform for thousands of fans. 

"It's all so expertly tailored to each of our bodies," Emma Slater told E! News. "There's so many moving pieces, so they're really phenomenal at what they do."

Credit also has to go to each and every dancer who piles into a tour bus and travels cross-country to deliver a show worth celebrating. For this year's shows, guests can enjoy everything from jazz and Janet Jackson to a Grease throwback. And perhaps the best part of the whole experience is every cast member is thrilled to be a part of it. 

Watch: Inside the "DWTS" Tour With Gleb Savchenko & Emma Slater

"This is like our ninth tour and it's not just work with these people. They are very special and you know everything about them," Emma said. "Everyone supports each other. We throw our arms around each other."

Gleb added, "It's a family. I don't know what I would do without them. It's really special."

Go online to see if the Dancing with the Stars: Live! tour is coming to a city near you. And keep scrolling to see more behind the scenes moments with the cast.

Back in Action

For Dancing With the Stars' live 2022 tour, former contestants including Kaitlyn Bristowe, Amanda Kloots, Jimmie Allen and Iman Shumpert will serve as special guests on select nights. 

Practice Makes Perfect

"There are a lot of different pieces in the show that we haven't done before," Emma Slater teased to E! News. "That's what makes it special."

Greatest Stage

"We haven't been on the road for two years and it's such an amazing thing to perform in front of the actual live audience instead of being in front of the camera," Gleb Savchenko told E! News. "You see smiley faces, people cheer for you, you see the reactions and how much they love what we do and we appreciate it so much. This to me, this is the biggest dream."

Preshow Rituals

It's not a tour without loyal fans! "Right before the show, we have a big meet and greet and that's an opportunity for the people that have purchased the VIP packages to come and sit down with us and ask questions," Gleb said. "It's a really great chance for us to talk to people." 

Tour Bus Secrets

What's it like traveling venue to venue on a mobile bunk bed? According to Gleb, it's actually "pretty comfy."

"I have a heated blanket. I have my iPhone holder where I can watch something and I close my curtains so I have like my own little crib for the night," he said. "I love it, but then on the front of the bus, that's where the whole thing is happening. We have TVs. We vibe after the show. We eat dinner together. It's just such a good energy." 

Together Forever

After working together for so many years in so many cities, it's no surprise that the cast feels so close. As Emma explained, "You just get a very, very in depth look of what these people are." 

Encore

For guests lucky enough to score a ticket, Gleb has one wish for attendees watching. "I hope the energy that we perform on that stage, that positivity, light and happiness, we can just share that with them and give a piece of that to them so they can have that little warmth and happiness when they walk out of that door," he said. "They have satisfaction that they haven't seen."

Dream Big

"I really hope that we as a dance community get a chance to inspire somebody to not even dance, but to do something that they're really passionate about," Emma said. "I think that when you see somebody who's passionate do their passion, no matter what level of success they are, it inspires you to do the same thing."

Want more inside access? Go inside Chris Lane's life on the road during his Fill Them Boots tour. Plus, here's how Big Time Rush was able to reunite after eight years. 

For the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic and for tips on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19, please visit The Center for Disease Control and Prevention at https://www.cdc.gov. To plan your vaccine, head to NBC's Plan Your Vaccine site at PlanYourVaccine.com.