“Dancing with the Stars” winner visiting Ames

A “Dancing with the Stars” icon will visit Ames this week, bringing a night full of dancing and music.

Derek Hough, six-time winner of the popular dancing show, will visit Stephens Auditorium Thursday. The show will commence at 7:30 p.m. and will be directed by the two-time Emmy-winning duo, NappyTabs. Audiences can expect a wide range of dance styles including salsa, tap and ballroom. The event is part of Hough’s Derek Hough: Live! The Tour, his first solo tour. 

Hough will be accompanied by a group of background dancers and will perform several genres of dance, according to his website. Doors for the event will open at 6:30 p.m. for the north entrance and 7 p.m. for the southeast and southwest doors. Tickets for the event start at $49.50 and are available through the Stephens Auditorium box office or Ticketmaster.com.

“The show features brand-new stage production, astounding versatility and, as always, Derek’s magnetic stage presence,” Hough’s website reads. “Fans will journey through a true fusion of dance and music, as Derek explores styles ranging from ballroom and tap to salsa and hip-hop and everything in between.”

The show is making its first stop in Ames Thursday, coming in well-received by audiences.

“I worked hard on the set list that includes everything from Motown to big band music,” Hough said in an interview with Haute Living. “It covers several different genres. The audience response has been incredible. From a musical standpoint, people love the music and we infuse it with world class dancing. It has been a really amazing response so far.”

Derek Hough: Live! The Tour marks Hough’s first solo tour. Previously, Hough co-headlined with his sister, Julianne Hough, in the Move Live on Tour in 2014. The tour consisted of 40 stops in the U.S. and Canada and became so successful that another Move Live on Tour was announced in 2015. Hough also embarked on the MOVE BEYOND Live on Tour in 2017 with his sister.

Hough has been a constant figure on ABC’s hit show, “Dancing with the Stars.” Hough joined the show for its fifth season after serving as a guest instructor for his sister and her partner, Apolo Anton Ohno. Since joining the show as a professional dancer, Hough has won the Mirrorball trophy six times. During his career on the show, Hough and his partners have never placed lower than sixth place.

In addition, Hough has finished in the top three nine times and stands as the record-holder for most victories on the show. His partners on the show have included Bindi Irwin, Nicole Scherzinger and Shawn Johnson. Hough has also been nominated for nine Emmys and won two.

Hough said he hopes that the audience has as much fun watching the show as he does performing in it.

“You know what’s bad is always available, but so is what’s good,” Hough said in a Broadway World Detroit interview. “We want to have a great time; we want to just get people dancing, get people singing, get people moving.”