If you go
› What: “Dancing With the Stars”› Where: Memorial Auditorium, 399 McCallie Ave.› When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20› Admission: $49.50, $66.50, $79.50, $99.50 plus fees› For more information: 423-757-5580
Your favorite dancers from ABC's hit show "Dancing With the Stars" - Whitney Carson, Val Chmerkovsky, Emma Slater and husband Sasha Farber - will perform live in Chattanooga on Thursday, Dec. 20, when the "DWTS" tour "A Night To Remember" waltzes into Memorial Auditorium.
Glittering costumes, the spray tans and all the exciting footwork seen on television will be part of this dancing extravaganza.
"We travel with three trucks, three buses, wardrobe team and crew," says dancer Emma Slater in a phone interview. "There are several stage levels, LED screens, a video wall and, of course, fabulous costumes. The beginning of Act 2 is high-energy and a lot of sequins."
Female "DWTS" cast members on the tour along with Slater are Hayley Erbert, Jenna Johnson, Whitney Carson and Britt Stewart. The male dancers along with Farber and Chmerkovsky are Brandon Armstrong, Gleb Savchenko, Artem Chigvintsev and Alan Bersten.
Slater says that, with the exception of a couple of numbers, the cast performs two acts of all new dances to tracks. The dances are choreographed by Mandy Moore (not to be confused with the "This Is Us" actress). Moore choreographed "La La Land" and has choreographed numbers for "Dancing With the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance."
At each stop, the tour cast is joined by a featured celebrity dancer from the show. Season 27 winner Bobby Bones was the guest at the first shows in Augusta, Georgia, and Birmingham, Alabama.
Rashad Jennings, who won Season 24 with Slater, joined the cast on Dec. 19 in Huntsville, Alabama, and will be with them at Memorial Auditorium tonight and on Friday in Knoxville.
"Rashad will host the show. He will not be dancing," Slater explains.
Slater, as fans of the show remember, was paired with "Dukes of Hazzard" star John Schneider in the season that just concluded. The couple came in seventh.
"His personality was his strong point," Slater says in praise of her partner. "He has such a charismatic personality about him, such a way. He was a star student, always practicing. He would listen to every word I said and really work on his dances."
Her partner in life, husband Sasha Farber, is also a star on "DWTS," as fans know. He proposed to Slater on the show in 2016. Between career and home life, they are together 24-7.
"Having the same interest is pretty amazing because we spend every minute together," says Slater. "We get to share our life story with everybody. We get to travel the world and explore it with our best friends. We can get really competitive, because you want to do the best you can with your celebrity partner, but we're lucky to do what we do."
Slater says tonight's audience should expect to be dancing by the time they leave.
"They will see a show full of positivity and full-on entertainment. We want them to forget their worries for two hours and just be entertained. We want to give them something they can remember - that's why we called it "A Night To Remember."
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.