'World of Dance' Judge Derek Hough Prepares for His First Solo Tour
World of Dance judge and six-time champion of Dancing With The Stars, Derek Hough, will head out [...]
World of Dance judge and six-time champion of Dancing With The Stars, Derek Hough, will head out on his first solo tour in three weeks!
"This is my first sort of solo tour where it's just me," Hough told PopCulture.com in an exclusive interview.
The professional dancer has been on several tours throughout his lifetime, but none of which featured just him. Fans can expect to see Hough and the rest of his crew perform a range of dancing styles like Ballroom, Tap, Salsa, Hip-Hop and everything in between.
Something else that's new for the professional dancer is the live band that will perform during his show performance — it's also one portion that excites him the most simply because he's never experienced it before.
"I think the live music, I think is one of the things I'm really looking forward to because I haven't done that before," Hough said. "I'm excited to have that sort of live saxophone where he rips into this amazing saxophone solo."
Former contestants from World of Dance Season 2 will grace the stage on his 59 city tour.
"I work with Charity Anderson — she's an amazing dancer — she was on World of Dance Season 2," he said. "And Daniella [Karagach] who's a current champion ... in the Latin world."
Hough describes dancing with Karagach like "dancing with a Ferrari."
Anderson and Karagach aren't the only former contestants to gain exposure from the popular reality competition. The NBC show is a platform to launch dancers careers, or at least kick-start it.
"It's really sort of this amazing showcase as well as competition," he said. "J-Lo [Jennifer Lopez], she's used choreographers from the show, or she's used talent from this show for her music videos. So it's sort of a great opportunity not just for the opportunity to win a million dollars, but also to be sort of exposed and have other opportunities within the dance community."
Hough's cast for his solo tour is one he would pat himself on the back for.
"The cast that I have assembled, is truly an all star cast," he shared. "I was just choreographing a piece yesterday and I was just like, 'Do this flip here and do this little thing,' and they could do everything. It was amazing. It was so great!"
Something else keeping the Emmy Award winner busy is his work with U.S. Cellular to highlight The Future of Good program. Sixteen humanitarians under the age of 16 have been recognized for their positive impact in their communities. Each child honored was given $10,000 to further their extraordinary work.
Hough was able to honor a young youth named Cayden with a check.
![Derek Hough - 16 under 16 10 Derek Hough - 16 under 16 10](https://media.popculture.com/2019/03/derek-hough-16-under-16-10-20056697.jpeg)
The 8-year old was diagnosed with Immune Thrombocytopenia Purpura [ITP] when he was just 6 years old.
![Cayden Cayden](https://media.popculture.com/2019/03/cayden-20056696.jpeg)
Cayden raised over $23,000 for the Platelet Disorder Support Association and will continue his journey to help others with the funds he was awarded with.
"I think it's really important for us to focus and to award and to acknowledge and to encourage, especially these young kids who are doing good, because they're our future," he expressed. "Hence the name 'Future of Good.' It's a pleasure to be a part of something that's like this."
Hough makes it a point to "align" himself with causes that are positive and that spread awareness.
For more details on his upcoming tour visit his official website.
World of Dance airs every Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.