A Review of Dancing Queens Episode 1

Dancing Queens, a new reality show on Bravo about pro-am ballroom dancers, premiered last Tuesday. There was a lot of anticipation leading up to the first episode, after the trailer riled some people up. Personally, I was so curious to see how Bravo, a network known for melodramatic reality shows like The Real Housewives franchise, would portray this world. There is plenty of drama naturally in pro-am ballroom, but would it be enough for television or would Bravo’s producers need to amp things up a bit?

I had to wait until Wednesday to watch the replay of Episode 1 on Peacock+. It was not what I expected!

In short, it was actually realistic!

The show opens with a variety of intro clips: quotes from interviews cut together with clips of dancing, all to set the stage. And what do they cover first? What it costs to compete!

It felt so appropriate because it is no secret to those of us in the ballroom world that competing as a pro-am dancer (when you’re the amateur) takes $$$$$. It is usually the main factor that determines how often a pro-am student competes and even how long they stay in the ballroom world. As you advance as a dancer, the cost often increases for a number of reasons. You may invest in more lessons and/or more coachings. You may invest in a custom-made dress (even more than one) instead of…