Dan + Shay Give Exquisite Performance Of "From The Ground Up" To An Engagement, Wedding Inspired Foxtrot On "Dancing With The Stars" Season 22 Finale

For the past 20 years, the reality television competition Dancing With The Stars has been a staple that millions of Americans to watch each season on a weekly basis. Currently marking its twentieth year on the air, the popular show continues to pair celebrities from the world of movies, music, television, sports, social media, and beyond with one professional ballroom and Latin dancer to compete for the now Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, in honor of one of the original judges who passed away on April 24, 2023.

I have watched the show since day one and have not missed an episode. I do not know how to dance, but having viewed every season of this show, it sure makes me want to learn how to someday. I admire all of the hard work the professionals do to teach the celebrities how to dance and I am also always in awe of how dedicated the celebrities are to pull off learning a dance in one week! While they all make mistakes that the judges point out during their critiques, I am always impressed that they all can make it through an entire dance, showing the technique they have learned as well as entertaining the ballroom and at-home audience.

When it came to the season 22 grand finale episode, there were multiple musical acts invited to perform on their own and some of them got to showcase their songs to a dance by selected professional dancers. I was incredibly excited when I found out my favorite country music duo Dan + Shay were invited to shine on this highly anticipated event. 

I thought that they would perform their new single at the time "From The Ground Up" solo on the stage inside the ballroom. When it came time to watch the performance, my prediction was incorrect, but what actually happened was above and beyond what I dreamed of! Dan Smyers wore a white dress shirt and black suit coat with black pants and Shay Mooney wearing a black shirt with a blue suit coat and blue pants for their Dancing With The Stars debut. The duo sang their love song while professional dancers Witney Carson (McAllister) and Artem Chigvintsev accompanied them with a beautiful engagement and wedding inspired foxtrot, a ballroom dance. 

On the musical side of the performance, the producer of the duo (Smyers) sang the most exquisite harmonies alongside the lead vocalist (Mooney) who showed off his impressive vocal range, especially at the end of the second chorus. Smyers and Mooney were shown singing solo for part of the performance and the dancers joined in for portions of the eventual number one romantic song for the duo. 

Chigvintsev was dressed in a white buttoned-down shirt with a black vest over it while Carson (McAllister) wore a gorgeous white dress that was designed to look like a wedding dress. Chigvintsev is seen proposing to Carson during the dance and later on she came back on stage with a veil and the two get married. The beautiful thing about dance is that each one can tell a story. While this specific show does not necessarily focus on that when the celebrities compete with their professional dancer, this dance told a story and it was such a joy to watch for me with Dan + Shay's gorgeous voices accompanying Chigvintsev and Carson's (McAllister) exquisitely choreographed foxtrot.

The duo were invited back to perform on the show again in 2018. Stay tuned in a future post to find out which song they sang, which professional dancers were involved in the performance, and which style of dance they did!

Below is the "From The Ground Up" performance video from the season 22 finale courtesy of Artem Chigvintsev's YouTube channel! Enjoy!