(KVELLER) – This week, one of the nation’s biggest shows had its first Hanukkah moment. I’m talking about ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” of course, the most-watched unscripted reality TV show in the United States, in which seasoned dancers team up with celebrities to compete for best duo.
The show is currently in its 34th season, and its holiday special this past Tuesday, Dec. 2 featured a very special Hanukkah dance.
Set to the song “Miracle” by Matisyahu, the number was choreographed by Jewish dancer Alan Bersten, who took some time on the show to talk about his holiday tradition. “Everyone celebrates holidays in a different way,” he mused. “Growing up Jewish you don’t really see a lot of Hanukkah representation, so today we’re going to do a special dance to represent Hanukkah.”
As Bersten, 31, spoke, pictures of him celebrating Hanukkah as a kid in Minnesota adorned the screen; first he’s holding a Hanukkah present with a poster of Hebrew letters in the background, next he’s dressed up as a shamash.
Bersten incorporated elements of the holiday into the performance. The dancers evoked the imagery of a menorah and moved in a way that resembled spinning dreidels — and of course, there was also some horah, too. “We are doing fun surprises and if you’re Jewish you would definitely recognize them,” Bersten, who was the champion of season 28 of the show with Hannah Brown, explained.
Val Chmerkovskiy, who is also Jewish, participated in the number, along with Hailey Bills, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater and Onye Stevenson. The dance definitely required a lot of preparation. Bersten joked that they “need a miracle to pull it off.”
But pull it off they did! Wearing silvery and blue shiny numbers to evoke the holiday lights, the men spun the women like tops as big sculptures of dreidels turned in the background as the song about “eight nights and eight lights” played.
“Beautifully done, and a wonderful reminder that the holiday season is for everyone,” show host Alfonso Ribeiro said at the end of the sparkly number.
On Instagram, Bersten shared a clip from the dance, saying that he is “so proud of this one” and thanking the show “for giving me this incredible opportunity… to be able to create a dance for Hanukkah on the biggest show on TV means the world to me.”
“Hopefully, a Jewish kid can watch this and they can feel proud,” Bersten said during the preparations for the dance. We have no doubt many, many Jewish kids watched and felt so much pride. Yasher koach, Alan, you did amazing. Thank you for giving us a little Jewish pride amidst all these Christmas numbers.
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