Electronic violinist Lindsey Stirling shined in her first appearance as a competitor on Season 25 of “Dancing With the Stars” Monday night.
In her first performance, Stirling performed the cha cha with professional dancer Mark Ballas to “Don’t Worry” by Madcon featuring Ray Dalton. Her judges scores of 7, 8, 7 — totaling 22 out of 30 — tied for top of the leaderboard with “Hamilton” actor Jordan Fisher and ESPN host Victoria Arlen.
Judge Len Goodman praised Stirling’s performance: “It was crisp, it was clean, lovely leg action, nice hip action — that was, for me, the dance of the night.”
As a guest performer on multiple occasions for the show, Stirling expressed in her introduction video how she always desired to be a celebrity competitor.
“I’ve always wanted to do ‘Dancing With the Stars’ because I love dancing and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity, so I’m going to do it,” Stirling said.
Ballas, her partner, is in his 19th season with “Dancing With the Stars.”
“Lindsey has a lot of courage, a lot of heart, and that to me is half the battle,” Ballas said in the introduction video.
The 30-year-old electric violinist posted a tease to her performance a week prior to the show of her and Ballas playing the music that they danced to Monday night.
Before coming on “Dancing With the Stars,” Stirling included Derek Hough, a professional dancer on the show, in her music video, “The Arena.” Hough performed a ballroom dance with Stirling in the video that is for a song in her album, “Brave Enough.”
In 2015, Stirling received her degree in recreation management from BYU. A classically trained violinist from Gilbert, Arizona, Stirling earned her way to fame through her YouTube channel. The BYU graduate has a unique style of music that blends pop and violin — and it is all accomplished while she dances.
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