Tatyana Ali offered a brief explanation of how she chose her group for Dancing with the Stars’ Disney Night after viewers discussed her selections on Threads. One commenter questioned why Ali, who had the lowest combined judges’ score, did not pick at least one contestant with a dance background. Another suggested her choices reflected a desire to be intentional about whom she shared the stage with. Ali replied, “Very much so,” agreeing with the latter assessment.
Ali and fellow contestant Connor Wood became captains for the two group dances on the Monday, November 2, episode because they had the lowest combined judges’ scores. Ali selected Maura Higgins first, followed by Amber Glenn and Julia Stiles. Their team, joined by cohost Alfonso Ribeiro, performed a freestyle to “Zoo” from Zootopia 2.
Wood chose Ezra Frech, Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Dewan for a performance of “We Are All In This Together” from High School Musical with cohost Julianne Hough. Team Wildcats received a perfect 40 out of 40 from the judges. Ali’s group, which went by “Slaytopia,” earned 36 out of 40 from Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, Bruno Tonioli and guest judge Cynthia Erivo.
The group scores were added to each pair’s results from the first round. Ali and her partner, Jan Ravnik, had scored 33 out of 40 for a contemporary dance to “Easy As Life” from Aida. They were safe from elimination, while Stiles and her partner, Ezra Sosa, left the competition. Ali and Ravnik’s dance style and song for the next episode’s Grammy Night had not yet been announced.
Sources: Us Weekly.