Dancing with the Stars may look nothing short of fun and light hearted from all the glitz and glam with the fun celebrities that participate. But one of the show’s professional dancers, Ezra Sosa, explains just how hard on the body all the prep for the weekly shows really is.
“Being a dancer is the perfect balance of artistry and athleticism, and that’s why I love this art so much,” Sosa explains. But being paired with someone who actually appreciates both sides of it, Jordan [Chiles] is an athlete, but also she’s a very artistic person, especially with artistic gymnastics. And so, I definitely feel like our partnership is so special, because when we are together and we do collaborate on these numbers, we are pretty equal, and we always see eye to eye with all the dances. Especially when it comes to the show, my job is to really show different sides of my partner to America through dance.”
After the Tuesday live show wraps, Sosa and Chiles head right back into the studio to get started on the next week. How he prepares them physically all depends on the style of dance they’ve been assigned.
“It’s a lot of, like, hamstring stretches,” the 24-year-old explains of their warmups that take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. “It’s a lot of hip mobility too, because you’re using hip action. And then, for me, it’s different because I have to make sure that my back is solid and my shoulders are strong, because I am leading her through a lot of these dances. But for her, she has to make sure she has a strong core, and she has to make sure she has really good alignment.”
Skipping Cooldown is Never Cool for Ezra Sosa
While prepping for rehearsals is important to Ezra, the cooldown routine is what really counts.
“Your body tends to go [into] shock when you’re going from being so active to not,” Sosa says. “You have to let your body adjust a little bit. It’s relatively the same thing (as warming up), but it’s all about breathwork and breath control, so just like, really just lowering your heart rate. But also, you kind of revisit a lot of the same stretches and exercises that you did before. I think it’s a good way to rev up the engine and then also just to rev it down, too.”
The couple does drills in between dancing at rehearsal that includes many wall handstands to target certain muscles and practice keeping their legs straight for extended periods of time.
“[We do them] for 5 minutes,” he says, adding they are dancing four hours a day while Jordan still spends time working on her own athletic career. “She usually does her gymnastics in the morning, and then she’ll meet with me. When she’s in gymnastics, I’m actually choreographing and prepping the routine with someone else. Especially for a celebrity, it’s quite literally impossible to choreograph a routine for them, especially if they don’t really have dance experience.”
Dancing with a Bunch of Annoying Injuries
Ezra and Jordan are over halfway through the show’s 10-week journey to make a run for the mirror ball trophy. He admits he’s still “feeling physically good,” but it’s come with a lot of wear and tear on the body.
“I’m sore today and I will be very sore this week,” Ezra laughs, adding that he attends physical therapy a couple days a week to help him try and stay healthy. “I’m really proud of myself and how I’ve been taking care of my body, especially this year, because I’m just realizing how important it is for longevity in my career.”
Sosa admits that he has even battled some injuries this season, too.
“Week 1, I had mild, subscapularis tears,” Sosa says. “And then I had a little ligament tear in my chest.”
He adds: “My fridge is full of ice packs. Icy Hot is really big for me. It’s just stretching, I do. I have little PT exercises I do every single day, just to make sure that my body stays in check.”
What really gives Ezra a shot at winning his first championship title in the show’s ballroom is the fact that he is paired with another athlete.
“A lot of people praise her for being an Olympian and for all the accolades that she does,” Ezra explains of Jordan who won medals in the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris games for Team USA. “But the thing I love about her is her work ethic, her drive, her determination, and ultimately, that’s what got her where she is today.” Prep, rehearsals and recovery are important to Ezra, but so is his diet when burning all those calories during the show’s season which is why he’s teamed up with Carl’s Jr. for a special partnership to keep his energy up.
“I honestly kid you not, am not a fast food girlie,” Ezra, who loves the company’s Bacon Western Cheeseburger for a well-rounded meal, says. “But my partner this season is, so she got me back on my fast food kick, and Carl’s Jr. has been my go-to ever since. I need to eat my calories, but also there’s a lot of protein that is in their hamburgers, so it’s really good for me to have good protein as well.”
