2^0 + 2^5 (20 Years of Formats)

Welcome back to another entry in "2^0 + 2^5!" It's time to continue where I left off and focus on formats! Now, "format" is a very vague term when describing Dancing with the Stars since the show itself is a format. However, "format" in this situation is really used to describe any competition dance on the show that isn't performed strictly by a celebrity and a pro that's subsequently scored by the judges on a scale from 1-10.

Different types of formats have been added to the show over the course of the 20-year time span ranging from group performances to all out head-to-head battles. Much like previous entries in this series, I'm going to go over them for the sake of celebration, and who doesn't love to celebrate? Away we go!

Group Dance

A group dance is a dance where all couples perform as one unit. Group dances are usually unscored and center around one style that isn't part of the ten dance styles couples perform individually. Group dances were more prominent in the early seasons, but they've since been overshadowed by the team dance format (though there have been times where both group and team dances were present within the same season).

Team Dance

A team dance is a dance involving a few couples performing together as one unit. Team dances are usually scored with everyone participating getting the same score applied to them regardless of whatever critique may come their way. Earlier seasons had team dances tasked with performing one style, but they've since been more open to having them perform a freestyle dance as one unit. A team name is often attached to the team during this round. Sometimes, they've given to the team. Other times, the team gets to come up with their own.

Group dances and team dances are typically done as the competition gets closer to finishing up

Trio Dance

The addition of a third person can make the routines more complicated for the celebrity to keep up with, but if executed properly, they can really shine as excellent dancers

A trio dance is a dance involving a third partner alongside the celebrity and their pro. The third partner could be another pro, a troupe member, another celebrity (typically someone who's done the show before), or even someone associated with the celebrity. Obviously, the third person isn't being scored, but they do aide in the celebrity getting a good score for their dance.

Side-by-Side

A side-by-side dance is a dance where two professional dancers perform the same dance as the couple at the same time. The professional dancers can come from either the show's lineup of pros (competing or non-competing) or from the dance troupe. The two professional dancers aren't being scored, but they are used to compare how well the celebrity and their pro are doing at the style they've been given. The professional dancers don't share the stage with the celebrity and their pro the whole time. Rather, they come in and out of the performance.

Double-Scored

A double-scored dance is a dance that's given two sets of scores. One score is based solely on technicality and the other score is based solely on performance.

Fusion

A fusion dance is a dance that combines two styles for the couple to perform. The styles in question come from the Ballroom and Latin categories or from styles outside those categories.

Derek Hough and Amber Riley transitioning from the quickstep to the samba in their fusion dance

Instant

An instant dance is a dance where the style, song, or both aren't given to the couples until they perform. Without a song to work on, couples practice move sets in advance so that they can weave their way into performing smoothly once showtime starts. Cases whenever the style isn't given are cases where multiple styles are up for contention, and the couples practice move sets for all the styles available in order to be prepared for whatever style is handed to them. (The style is picked by the celebrity in advance, but they don't know what it is until showtime as it's kept away from their sight once picked).

Ranked

A ranked dance is essentially the same as any typical performed dance on the show. The difference with it lies in the scoring. Rather than giving a score from 0-30, the judges compare each dance from those of its competitors under this format and rank them from best to worst. Best receives the highest amount of points given under this format while worst receives the lowest.

Relay

A relay is a competition where couples perform one after the other. Bonus points are awarded at the end of the relay though the format in that aspect varies. Sometimes, everyone gets points while other times points are awarded to certain couples who they deemed were the best among their peers.

Regardless of how many couples are participating, relays always consist of transitions where one couple enters the ballroom floor as another exits

Marathon

Marathons elicit the most realism to actual ballroom competitions since they involve multiple couples dancing on the ballroom floor at the same time

A marathon is a competition where all couples perform on the same stage against one another for bonus points. As the competition continues, couples are knocked off one by one until there's one couple remaining. While the marathon starts all couples in their own designated area, the floor becomes open to use for whatever couples remain standing.

A variation of this format was seen in season 17, but the participants were split into two groups, and it relied more on the ability to interpret the music (which changed style and tempo every so often).

Dance-off

A dance-off is a competition where two couples compete against each other. Though this format has been seen in different variations among the 20-year time span, the most common variation involves couples competing at the same time to the same style (with the floor split in two sections for each couple to have as their space for the battle).

If there's an odd number of couples remaining by the time a dance-off occurs, one of them will be immune from partaking based off point total

It's really interesting to see how Dancing with the Stars has tried to expand itself with all these formats in the name of television. Speaking of expanding, we're gonna explore the different types of merchandise Dancing with the Stars has offered from this 20-year timespan in our next blog entry. Remember when we mentioned those workouts DVDs in our first blog entry? Yeah. It's that time. Catch you then!