Ezra Frech has been spending a lot less time doing homework for his business of cinematic arts degree after joining Dancing with the Stars. Now, he studies tango, sashays and partner work.
Paralympic champion Frech was chosen for the 35th season of DWTS, a competition-style show where celebrities partner with a pro dancer to win the Len Goodman Mirror Ball Trophy. Each week, judges and fans score the teams’ performances, and the lowest-scoring pair is eliminated.
Frech, the first above-the-knee amputee to join a Division I track and field program, uses the ballroom stage to champion disability and amputee awareness. Frech has worked closely with pro dancer Daniella Karagrach to creatively work his prosthetic into choreography.
“I was kind of a blank slate,” Frech, who started at USC last year, said. “Everything that I’ve learned is all new and all foreign. I am able to do much more than I thought I was going to be able to do, and that is a direct product of her [Karagrach’s] teaching and her mind, her genius that has created these opportunities for us to excel.”
For example, when practicing the tango in his first week, his knees would buckle on the forward steps, leading to a “chunky” and “sloppy” look, Frech said. Instead, Karagrach adjusted the diagonal movements, resulting in the fluidity that finally made it on stage. From sashays all on the right to cha-chas, Frech and Karagrach have worked closely to create pieces that showcase both of their talents.
“She’s taken so much time to really intricately understand my prosthetic, understand my disability, so that we can best figure out how to solve these challenges,” Frech said in an interview with Annenberg Media. “It’s just about adapting and figuring it out.”
In rehearsals, Frech said his and Karagrach’s knees often knocked into each other, leaving bruises on her legs from his prosthetic. The trust they have built in rehearsal has proven monumental to Frech’s experience on DWTS.
Ella Klein, a freshman studying mechanical engineering, said that she was really impressed by Frech’s choreography in the first two weeks. An avid watcher with her two sisters, Klein said she enjoys watching a celebrity grow as a dancer across a season.
“He has to kind of adapt and make new movements, and he’s working with Daniela to do that, and I think it makes it so much cooler,” Klein said. “It makes it fresh. . .I feel like every single one of his dances and each specific move, it looks different.”
For Charlotte Klein, Ella’s sister and freshman studying biology, she participates in a dorm watch party with her sister for each new airing episode, eager to see what Frech and the other pairs bring to each episode.
“It’s brought USC together a bit more, because everyone’s kind of heard of him [Frech] at this point, and everyone’s excited about it,” Charlotte said. “It’s just fun to have someone that we all love, and we can all talk about.”
Despite competing in some of the largest stadiums for the Paralympic Games, Frech said that performing for DWTS brings a different, more intimate experience. He said that he approaches dancing with the same calm and focus he has when preparing for the Paralympics, but DWTS filming days feel different.
“There’s less people in the ballroom, but it’s so electric, and every single person in there is so happy and excited to be there that there is just a real magic,” Frech said.
The most rewarding part of DWTS for Frech is the massive support he’s gained online within the disabled community. Watching little kids with limb differences jump up and down while watching his performance and little girls dance in wheelchairs fuels him to keep competing.
Amongst all his identities–athlete, advocate and now dancer–Frech said he wishes more people knew about his work with Angel City Sports, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that provides accessible sports for community members with disabilities.
By participating in DWTS, Frech said he hopes to offer authentic disability representation to the screen, where a character’s disability isn’t the focal point of their story. He said he wants DWTS to show that anything is possible for those with disabilities.
Though DWTS does not reveal fan votes, Frech secured his position after receiving a score of 21 out of 30 and tying for first place in week two. Fans can expect to see more of him.