Several Dancing With the Stars pro dancers began their journey in the ballroom in the troupe.
The hit dance competition first introduced its troupe during 2011’s season 12, featuring a selection of performers who didn’t have a celebrity partner but still appeared in group numbers and their own “bumpers” between competitive routines.
“When I first started [in the] troupe, I never had professional ballroom training before,” Britt Stewart said on “The Squeeze” podcast in October 2025. “I was trained in ballet and jazz and contemporary and tap.I was not expecting to get a call from Dancing With the Stars for that one reason.”
Stewart, however, had worked with choreographer Mandy Moore on one of Derek Hough’s outside dance gigs that piqued Moore’s attention. (Moore often crafts pro numbers, while former pro dancer Hough is now a judge.)
“Last minute, Mandy was like, ‘Britt, go dance with Derek,’” she recalled. “That [rehearsal] video, Mandy sent to all the Dancing With the Stars producers, ABC, Disney and I got my audition for troupe from that video. … They knew I wasn’t trained, but they knew I could do it.”
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Stewart performed in the troupe for five seasons before she was promoted to a pro in 2020.
Other stars, including Rylee Arnold and Jan Ravnik, were cast as pros without appearing in the troupe first. Ravnik, who gained global recognition as one of Taylor Swift’s backup dancers on her Eras Tour, was cast on DWTS for 2025’s season 34. His inexperience in the ballroom led to some criticism about his dance résumé.
“I mean, look, I am new so I’m gonna take every note that they’re giving to me,” Ravnik exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2025 of the judges’ feedback. “I don’t think it’s in a bad way that they’re always saying.”
Keep scrolling to see which DWTS pros got their big break in the troupe — and who went right to competing with a celebrity partner:
Who Were the First Members of the ‘DWTS’ Troupe?
The group was first formed during season 12 and featured Oksana Dmyrenko, Peta Murgatroyd, Nicole Volynets, Tristan MacMahon, Kiki Nyemchek and Ted Volynets. Out of this squad, Murgatroyd was the sole star to eventually be bumped up to a pro — and later won two mirrorball trophies.
Which ‘DWTS’ Pros Got Their Start in the Troupe?
Many of the most recent pros got their start in the troupe, including Stewart, Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Sharna Burgess, Witney Carson, Artem Chigvintsev, Sasha Farber, Jenna Johnson, Daniella Karagach, Tristan MacManus, Keo Motsepe, Emma Slater and Ezra Sosa.
The troupe also notably featured dancers including Hayley Erbert, Brittany Cherry, Alexis Warr, Marcquet Hill, Roman Nevinchanyi, Kailyn Rogers and Stephani Sosa, none of whom were ever promoted. Warr, meanwhile, is now a pro on the U.K. precursor of the franchise, Strictly Come Dancing. The season 34 class stars Hailey Bills, Onye Stevenson, Carter Williams and Jaxon Willard.
Are There Any ‘DWTS’ Pros Who Did Not Join the Troupe First?
Aside from the OG pros cast before season 12 — including Derek and Julianne Hough, Maks and Val Chmerkovskiy, Mark Ballas, Louis Van Amstel, Cheryl Burke and more — there have been instances of dancers bypassing the troupe. In addition to Ravnik, stars Pasha Pashkov and sisters Lindsay and Rylee Arnold got star partners when they were first hired. Lindsay, however, later claimed she was “demoted” to the troupe after season 16.
“I was given the boot down to troupe for four or five seasons, and then brought [back] up to pro,” Lindsay said on a 2022 episode of the “Trading Secrets” podcast. “I just was not ready. Honestly, that was probably one of the hardest parts of my career even though it’s such an incredible job; it’s an amazing job.”
She added, “You put in more hours on troupe sometimes than you do as a professional because you are basically on call 24/7. You’re on the show’s schedule, always on call, ready to go. As a backup dancer, back when I did it, yes [the salary was livable], because there were two seasons a year.”
