Derek Hough is bringing Symphony of Dance to Rochester on July 25. The show is set for Kodak Center, and Tickets for the July are on sale now, giving local audiences a fixed date to catch his touring production in person.
Derek Hough at Kodak Center
The July 25 stop matters because the tour is built around a direct audience connection that television cannot match. Hough said, “It is that shared experience. You can't replicate that in any way,” and added, “When you're on TV, you're sort of in this bubble, but when you go on the road, you see people up close and personal, you hear their stories.”
That travel-first setup gives Rochester a live version of the show rather than a screen-bound one. For people deciding whether to buy now, the practical point is simple: the date is fixed, the venue is set, and tickets are already available.
Family show, changing nightly
“It really is a show for the entire family,” Hough said, and that family framing comes with audience participation moments that change from night to night depending on the people in the room. The show also includes several genres of dance, a new cast and a Broadway-style production number inspired by his role as a judge on Dancing with the Stars.
Hough said Symphony of Dance is structured like a symphony, with movements inspired by brass, wind, strings and percussion. That structure gives the production a repeating frame while leaving room for live variation, which is where the audience interaction becomes part of the performance instead of a fixed add-on.
So Small and personal material
One of the new routines uses So Small, the song written by Mark Ballas and BC Jean, and Hough said the track was arranged with a more orchestral feel for the show. He also described one emotional routine as deeply personal, tying it to marriage, his wife Hayley Erbert’s health scare and the couple becoming parents.
Hough said of the younger dancers in the touring cast, “Seeing their enthusiasm, their excitement, their passion, their love, and they're just beginning their careers, it's exciting,” and he added, “I really hope they leave feeling inspired.” That leaves Rochester with a straightforward choice: buy for the July 25 date if the live, audience-driven format is the draw, or pass on a production that is built to feel different every night.
