EDGE Interview: Derek Hough Happily Pushes Himself with 'Symphony of Dance'

Emmy-winning choreographer and dancer Derek Hough talks about his current touring show "Symphony of Dance," in which the newlywed co-stars and dances with his wife Hayley.

As a three-time Emmy Award winner and twelve-time nominee, Derek Hough is the most nominated male choreographer in Television Academy history. The honors came from his work on ABC'S "Dancing With the Stars," where he was a regular from 2007 through 2016. His mirror ball wins came with celebrity partners that included Brooke Burke, Jennie Garth, Ricki Lake, Nicole Scherzinger, Jennifer Grey, Kellie Pickler, Amber Riley, Amy Purdy, and Bindi Irwin. The handsome, agile dancer joined Jennifer Lopez and Ne-Yo at the judges table for the NBC series "World of Dance," which became the highest rated summer show in over ten years over its four year run. Then, in 2020, Hough rejoined the hit ABC series "Dancing with the Stars" as part of the judging panel alongside Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Toniolo.

His 2014 memoir "Taking the Lead; Lessons from a Life in Motion" hit stands in August of 2014 and rapidly was named to the prestigious New York Times Best-Seller list during two non-consecutive time periods, a rare feat. For his London theater debut in "Footloose: the Musical," Hough was nominated for The Stuart Phillips London Newcomer of the Year in the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards. Amongst his acting roles he had an ongoing role on ABC's "Nashville" as Noah West during the show's third and fourth seasons, and appeared as Corny Collins in the 2016 NBC live broadcast of "Hairspray."

Hough is currently touring for the first time in four years with "Symphony of Dance," which is described as a true fusion of dance and music, in which he explores styles ranging from ballroom and tap to salsa and hip-hop and everything in between. Creative team and two-time Emmy winners Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo, also known as NappyTabs, co-created, directed, and supervised the choreography. Amongst their credits are Jennifer Lopez's "All I Have"' residency and "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour." Joining Hough on stage is his wife, Hayley Hough, formerly Hayley Erbert from "So You Think You Can Dance." The couple married this past August.

EDGE spoke to Hough about the rigors of touring, returning to "DWTS," and what it is like to be dancing with his wife in the show.

EDGE: You've already been on tour for a couple of weeks now. How is it going?

Derek Hough: Oh my gosh, you know, this show has exceeded my expectations. Just the response from the audience has been extraordinary. I've done several tours, but there's something really, really special about this one. The music, the choreography, the costumes, the lighting, the set pieces, the props – just everything about this show feels so much more elevated than anything I've done before in the past. I'm just so proud of it and the people that have been a part of it: The dancers, the band, the live music. It's really amazing, and the response, again, has been extraordinary. One of the things I've found is when I talk to audiences afterward is the emotion. I think that they weren't really expecting to feel emotional, or even cry. There are some really heartfelt moments that were really important for me to include in the show, and I'm just so thrilled that everything is going the way it's going, man. It's been beautiful.

And what was the inspiration for the show? Well, I think for me, the inspiration is the idea [that] a symphony isn't just the music. I think that it's the idea of what a symphony is. It's the idea of a collaboration, and that's what the show is, is a collaboration of so many different moving parts. And, as individuals, we all have our gifts, we all have our talents, but it's when we come together – we join, we unite, and we collaborate – we become something so much greater than some of our parts. We become a beautiful symphony, and that's sort of the idea behind what the show is about, and, obviously, some of the musical aspects of it. But as far as the intention of it, it's the idea of just this beautiful symphony of dance.

EDGE: How is this tour different from other shows you've done?

Derek Hough: The one big difference is that I'm a married man now. I got married a few months ago, and my beautiful wife is on the road with me. She's dancing with me. She's sensational. She's beautiful. To share the stage with her each night is amazing. We met eight years ago, on tour, dancing together, and we haven't been on tour since, and here we are eight years later, and we're on tour together again. It's pretty extraordinary.

EDGE: What styles of dance will you be performing?

Derek Hough: So many different genres: Latin, ballroom, contemporary, tap. There's just so many, you know – tangos and salsas, and so many different genres. The one thing I love about this tour is that it really feels like a Broadway production as far as the lighting, the props, and the orchestration of the music. It's really thoughtful and thorough. It took me seven months to put together the music for the show because I went into the studio with musicians and singers and really built up this music from scratch. You could really feel the sense of everything, there's an intention to every part of the music. I had amazing choreographers come in, and, of course, I choreographed as well. Everything just feels a little bit more elevated and a little bit more thoughtful. I'm very excited for people to see it.