Hough dancing with the Stars returns to Kirby Center
Derek Hough dancing with the Stars fame is headed to Wilkes-Barre: the six-time champion and Emmy winner will stage Symphony of Dance: Encore at the F.M. Kirby Center on Wednesday, July 29, at 8 p.m., bringing ballroom, salsa, hip-hop, and contemporary—plus wife Hayley—to a high-energy live show built on connection.
For local dance fans, the booking lands on familiar ground. The same Kirby stage that hosts the Dancing Stars of Wilkes-Barre fundraiser for the KISS Theatre Company will, for one night, belong to one of ballroom’s biggest TV names. Newswatch 16’s Jeremy Lewan spoke with Hough over Zoom while the star was backstage before a Northeast show stop.
Key Takeaways
- Derek Hough brings Symphony of Dance: Encore to the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday, July 29, at 8 p.m.
- The high-energy live show mixes ballroom, salsa, hip-hop, and contemporary, with new routines and songs—including one Hough wrote about judging Dancing with the Stars.
- Wife Hayley dances in the cast after recovering from a near-fatal brain injury about three years ago, and the couple’s baby daughter is on the road with them.
- Hough plans meet-and-greets before the show and time with fans afterward, calling connection the heart of the night.
- Offstage, longtime friend and fellow DWTS pro Mark Ballas recently ribbed Hough as a “messy house guest,” underscoring a friendship that began in mid-’90s London dance training.
When and where is Hough dancing with the Stars energy live?
According to reporting carried by Yahoo Entertainment, Hough’s Kirby date is set for Wednesday, July 29. Doors open on a packed evening: the show starts at 8 p.m.
Hough is a six-time Dancing with the Stars champion from his years as a pro and now also works as a DWTS judge. He is also an Emmy Award winner and, as the interview notes, holds the record for the most choreography nominations in Television Academy history.
That TV résumé is why this regional stop matters. Fans who know him from ABC can see the same performer reshape that polish into a full live concert—not a clipped TV package. For more stories that connect past fame to present-day stages, browse BlasterPost’s Nostalgia: Then & Now hub.
What makes Symphony of Dance: Encore different this time?
Lewan asked the question fans ask first: if you caught the earlier Symphony of Dance tour, what is new? Hough said the encore version has drawn people who have seen the show five times and now call this “the best version I’ve ever seen.”
He described a night with “a lot of comedy, a lot of fun,” but also “a lot of heart.” The production is emotional and vulnerable, he said, and “it takes you on a ride.”
Hough had a big hand in the choreography and stars in the show himself. He told Lewan he has added new routines and new songs, “including one that I wrote!” That original number is about being a judge on Dancing with the Stars. He sings it and brings a guest up on stage to judge with him—a wink at the TV format that made him a household name.
Style-wise, the program blends ballroom, salsa, hip-hop, and contemporary set to a mix of music. That range is the point: Symphony of Dance: Encore is built as a live dance experience, not a single-genre showcase.
Who shares the stage with Derek Hough now?
Among the supporting dancers is his wife, Hayley. About three years ago, she survived a near-fatal brain injury. Hough spoke with clear pride about watching her return—not only after that recovery, but as a new mom “6 months post-partum,” still dancing onstage.
“For me it’s a reminder of how fortunate and how thankful I am that I get to share that stage with her,” he said. New-dad life is woven into the tour: Hough called having their daughter on the road “the best.”
That family thread fits the nostalgia lane. The London-trained dance kid who once shared studios with the Ballas family is now a touring husband and father, still chasing the same craft—only the stakes and the audience feel bigger.
Will fans meet Hough dancing with the Stars star after the show?
Lewan, a longtime Instagram follower of Hough since age 14, pressed him on meet-and-greets and post-show moments. Hough’s answer was direct: “Absolutely.”
He said he comes out before the show and, after performing—and after his ice bath—goes back out to see “whoever’s out there” and take his time. “That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “It’s all about connection.”
Fans at the Kirby can expect the same approach he has used on other tour stops: greetings beforehand, roses and dancing for audience members who join him after the curtain, and unhurried time outside once the show ends.
How does Hough’s then-and-now friendship with Mark Ballas fit the story?
While the Kirby booking is the headline, a separate snapshot from July captured the offstage bond that longtime DWTS viewers still love. As E! News reported, Ballas posted July 22 that Hough left a mess while visiting him in New York City during Ballas’s run in Chicago on Broadway.
Ballas listed an unmade bed, empty coconut water and protein smoothie bottles, pillows on the floor, a lollipop wrapper near the trash, and the toilet seat left up—capping it with, “I’ve been dealing with the BS FOR 30 YEARS!!!!!!”
Hough replied with a laughing-crying emoji and “Office Revenge.” Hayley jumped in on the sucker wrapper. Days earlier, Hough had filmed a Tiger Balm prank aimed at Ballas’s Broadway underwear, captioning it with a “razzle” on his “dazzle.”
The ribbing lands because the friendship is real. The two met in the mid-’90s when Derek and his sister Julianne began training with Ballas’s parents, Shirley and Corky Ballas, in London. In a May birthday post, Hough marked “thirty years of friendship,” from getting into trouble growing up in London to becoming “dads and husbands.”
That arc—London dance kids to DWTS legends to touring parents—is why a Wilkes-Barre date feels bigger than a single calendar line. Hough dancing with the Stars history is not frozen on TV; it is still moving, still messy, and still showing up live.
Symphony of Dance: Encore hits the F.M. Kirby Center on Wednesday, July 29, at 8 p.m. Ticket details were pointed to the venue’s website in the original Newswatch 16 report.