Photos courtesy of Dancing with the Stars
Alan Bersten and Alexis Ren dancing
Parents buy their kids things like basketballs, bikes, and trampolines to engage them athletically. Alan Bersten’s parents bought him a dance studio.
“My parents wanted me and my brother and sister to start dancing, but they had never danced in their lives,” he says. “They found a ballroom dance studio, but it really wasn't good enough. So they took a weird risk and opened a dance studio for us.”
Chancy? Sure. But sailing past ‘nudge’ to full-on sport submersion ended up panning out. All three kids fell in love with the sport, kept with it, and Alan’s older brother still manages and teaches at the studio today—now in Southdale Center. Alan pops in when he can, but most days, he’s tied up with a little thing called Dancing with the Stars.
Alan Bersten and Aleix Ren seated
That’s right. The now 24-year-old from Minnesota, who started dancing when he was 7 years old only because his parents made him, did the thing, and did it big. But while it’s all smiles and gorgeous costumes now, the days leading up to his turn on the big stage haven’t all been quite so glittery. It’s taken harder physical training than he thought possible, sacrificed friendships, a gruelingly competitive run on So You Think You Can Dance, and years spent working just as hard as the other DWTS pros (only to sit on the sidelines) before the spotlight was his.
But it was totally worth it. And as Alan prepares for the kickoff of Season 27—this time, as one of the 13 featured professionals, paired with Alexis Ren—you won’t find a more grateful, humbled guy. “Just to live your dreams is such a—,” he pauses. “Words just can't describe how awesome to live your dreams.”
We caught up with our hometown hero before the first episode airs on Sept. 24 and learned a little more about his journey to ABC’s hit show and what it takes to maintain this career.
We know the how of your introduction to dance, but we’re curious about the why.
We're Russian, and I feel like just dancing is such a beautiful art form and sport, so my parents were like, why don't we just try it? My brother is seven years older than me, my sister is two-and-a-half years older than me, and they forced us all to go in together. It was just a big family community we had, and it was a lot of fun. I've never looked back.
Is dancing one of those sports where the truly talented kids stand out early on?
I think there's natural ability in everything, but I feel like dancing is like any other sport—if you put in the work, you will get results. If you're dedicated and you work hard and you just love dance, then you naturally will gravitate toward more dancing and having a better time out there. That’s not to say there’s not a technique to it. It is something that you learn, anyone can do it, but I feel like if you have a natural ability, that definitely helps.
Were you one of those naturals from the start?
In ballroom dancing, there are competitions every weekend, and I really didn't even think I was that good when I was younger. Looking back on it, it was just something that I did, I didn't think of making a career out of it. Then I auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance Season 10, and I made it to the Top 20. At that point I was like wow, maybe I could do this, I could pursue this as a career.
But before that, I never even dreamt about it. It was a dedication of mine, I spent every free minute dancing, but that was just because I loved it.
So it’s never felt like work to you?
I truly believe that. It wasn't like, oh I have to go to the studio. After school, I got to go to the studio and spend my whole day there. And it was just so fun.
But then when you decided you did want this to be your profession, what sort of changes in your training and your mentality did you have to make?
To get to that level, there's a lot of sacrifices you make. I didn't have many friends growing up just because I was in the studio all the time and I was training.
But these shows didn't even exist until 2005, and once they started to pick up and I did start to watch them, it was like, 'what if one day I was on that?' And to me, that's just crazy that you can manifest something like that.
And to do it twice, now that’s just showing off! How have your experiences with So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars differed?
The audition process for So You Think is extremely difficult, you go through multiple rounds of dancing. And then once you get on the show, it's very competitive. To be honest, I didn't love it as much as I love Dancing with the Stars.
It's just, on Dancing with the Stars, you get this ability to create and inspire people, whereas on So You Think, it really felt like a competition. It was really cutthroat. I loved it, and it lead me to Dancing with the Stars, but it wasn't as fulfilling as Dancing with the Stars is.
It’s easy to imagine that essentially being judged for a living can take its toll, mentally. What sorts of things do you do to keep your mind healthy?
I call my mom every day! She really keeps me level. But also, I'm just a super grateful guy. I feel like with anyone who's successful, they have to understand that luck does play into it. And luck in the sense of being in the right place at the right time with the right training.
So I never really take it for granted. Which I think is odd. I personally am so proud of myself that I don't take it for granted. I work hard every day to stay here. It's been a dream of mine since I found out about the show. And now I just try to continue to do everything I can to stay in my dream.
On the flip side, what's something you do every day to take care of your body?
It's funny because when I was younger, I used to never work out. I had been training so long in dance that my body kind of adjusted to that, and that became the norm. I wasn't really losing weight anymore dancing, and I had do something else. So I started going to the gym every day. I do cardio, I lift, I do a full routine at the gym.
How do you recover from a long day of workouts and training?
Something that really calms me down, something that recovers my body well—I love ice baths. There's actually a spa here in L.A. with a 200-degree sauna and an ice bath right outside. Every day after rehearsals, I go there for 15 minutes in the sauna and 10 minutes in the ice.
It's so important to take care of your body. In dancing, the smallest injury could lead to the biggest life-changing experience, in a horrible way. Knock on wood!
What are you eating throughout the day to keep up the energy you need?
I'm trying to eat healthy, but I love turkey bacon too much. Every morning I make myself some eggs and turkey bacon. I would miss that. Anything else, I can try to give up, but the turkey bacon and the eggs, that's my staple.
Favorite cheat meal?
My weakness is bagels and cream cheese with lox. When I get home sometimes I'll eat a full bag of bagels and a full tub of cream cheese.
It's nice to come home to Minnesota, but that almost makes me not want to come home! Because I work so hard here [in L.A.] and then I get home and my mom has a bunch of bagels waiting for me. I'm like, 'oh god.'
How do you stay active off the dance floor?
To be honest, I love escape rooms! I love to do puzzles, and these escape rooms get the mind working. Some people don't know this, but in dance, there's so much choreography that you have to remember, so it’s important to keep your mind sharp.
A few of us here at Dancing with the Stars, we'll randomly text each other at 8 p.m. like, 'let's go to an escape room.' It's so fun! It's a way to relive stress a little bit.
The secret society of DWTS escape room artists—that’s a club we’d like to be in. As a seasoned vet, can you offer us novices any advice on strategy?
I'm constantly running around the room. I don't know if you're supposed to? (laughs). It’s not vigorous activity, but you can't be sitting. You gotta be walking around.
Which room has been your favorite to escape from?
I have done a few in Minnesota at Mall of America. That was a really good one! That was three months ago.
Then back to business in L.A. How’s the partnership with Alexis Ren been going so far? You two all set for Season 27 to start?
Our first dance is the jive, and it's extremely vigorous on the body. It's the highest energy dance you could have, but it's been going really well! I'm really proud of Alexis. She's been working super hard.
But it's not easy. I've been making really hard routines for her just because I feel like she's young, she's fit, she has a higher expectation than some others. It's gonna be a really good, fun dance.
Even for someone who's young and in shape, what has surprised her about the true difficulties of dance?
She’s really active and really into working out, and the first day, she was like, 'my muscles hurt, and I didn't even know I had these muscles.' It's truly a full-body workout. If I run for 30 minutes on a really high speed, and I start to sweat a little. If I'm dancing for a minute and a half, I am drenched. It is crazy.
I remember when Antonio Brown and Von Miller were on the show—they came back after the show and said how much better they feel playing football, just because of dancing. And now you hear that all these football players take ballet! It's really important.
Any advice for someone who wants to incorporate dance into their workout schedule?
Check out my brother’s studio in Southdale Center! Any dance you wanna do is gonna be a workout. And at the studio we do everything. Most people start out with a salsa or a cha-cha, just because it's a little bit easier to learn, and it's a faster dance, but whatever you do will be a workout.
Season 27 of Dancing with the Stars premieres Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. CT on ABC.
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