Dancing with the Stars contestant Robert Irwin and his partner, Witney Carson, made a lot of people cry when they danced on Dedication Night. It aired on Tuesday this week, when he put so much passion into his contemporary dance set to Phil Collins’ song, “You’ll Be in My Heart.”
The Magic Shone Through
Ahead of his performance, Robert Irwin opened up about how hard things had been. He shared that his pup, Stella, had cancer and surgery to remove a tumor, so his week had been emotional for other reasons. On TikTok, he elaborated on how he wanted to honor his mom, Terri Irwin, with his dance. Of course, with his dad passing away when he was so young, that also factored in.
When he and Witney took to the dance floor, it immediately became obvious that passion, emotion, and very real feelings came through. It was in his face, in his gestures, in every step, in every breath that he took. Many Dancing with the Stars fans claimed they bawled like babies from the first step. But the ending had them sobbing.
Terri Joins Her Son
The moment that broke hearts was both beautiful and heart-wrenching. As the lights faded, Witney disappeared, and when they came back, he was dancing with Terri. As he moved to embrace her, he cried. And, for such a young Australian hero, that seemed beyond beautiful.
Judges were teary-eyed, although Carrie Ann Inaba could only find it in herself to give them an 8 for the performance. While many people complained about that on social media, the duo still scored 35 out of 40, their highest points so far.
The Primordial Power of Dance
When Dancing with the Stars shared Robert Irwin, his mom, and Witney Carson on YouTube, ABC fans literally cried rivers of tears. And, isn’t that what dance is meant to be? We dance for joy, we dance with love, and at the end of the day, dancing is a whole world of emotion that stretches back into the mists of time.
Possibly, ancient humans were brought to dance to share their joy of the hunt, the sorrow of death, and hope for the next spring harvest. The passion of the dance touched people so deeply, that young and old, the bereaved and thirsty fans, all shed tears.
Thousands Of Reactions
Hundreds of comments spoke of how deeply people were touched. The video has been up for 22 hours at the time of writing this. Over one and a half million fans viewed it. And so far, over 18K comments arrived. Not a single one of them had anything bad to say. Finding the best example of how moving the performance was wasn’t hard.
One DWTS viewer wrote, “When he started to tear up before his mom even got to him, my momma heart broke… that woman took a home that was broken to pieces after losing the love of her life, and put it back together, raised 2 of the most incredible humans in the world! Terri is such an amazing and strong person.”
Here are more reactions from the discussion area:
- It’s soo weird being proud of a stranger you will never meet in your lifetime, like I’m in tears watching him blossoming into the man he is today. His mom is genuinely an inspirational woman.
- Not only is Robert funny, intelligent, kind, gorgeous… he’s vulnerable enough to cry in front of the whole world. The strength of that family is incredible. We all cried with ya buddy.
- You don’t dance with your feet, you dance with your heart. I lost my mom. I felt every word. Stay amazing, your dad would no doubt be so proud.
- Honestly – that Robert can show such vulnerability and emotion on stage, in public – shows what an incredible young man he is – and trust me dude – we were all sobbing along with you!!!
What really summed it up was another commenter who opined, “What was on display was a son’s love for his mother, and it’s so pure. Robert has really embraced dance as a form of expression here, and it’s so beautiful.”
What did you think of the dance on Dedication Night? Let us know in the comments below, and come back here often for all your Dancing with the Stars news and updates.