Jan 15
Newest 'DWTS' Pro Dancer Erza Soza Is Pumped for Tour
Steve Duffy READ TIME: 6 MIN.
Last September it was announced that "Dancing with the Stars" troop dancer Ezra Sosa was promoted to being a full time dance pro on the show's 33rd season. When the announcement was made, Sosa said he was excited to be representing the LGBTQ+ community on the show, which wasn't the case when he joined the show in 2021. "I had a huge sense of imposter syndrome because at the time, I wasn't out... and it wasn't until this year when I realized the power, the power of being fruity and the power of just truly just being yourself," he told GLAAD.
And he added that it was pop star and dancer JoJo Siwa, with whom he had toured, who gave him the courage to come out. "When I first met (JoJo Siwa) on the show, she knew I was in the closet, she knew I was gay, but she also knew how uncomfortable I was in my own skin."
He is part of the current "Dancing with the Stars" tour, which kicked-off earlier this month in Richmond, VA and visits 68 cities in the upcoming months. For a full list of upcoming dates, click here. Next up is Boston's Boch Center Wang Theatre on January 16.
Ezra Sosa joins the newest DWTS champion Joey Graziadei and his partner Jenna Johnson, along with Emma Slater, Alan Bersten, Brandon Armstrong, Britt Stewart, Daniella Karagach, Gleb Savchenko, Pasha Pashkov, and Rylee Arnold. In addition there will appearances by Season 33 contestants Stephen Nedoroscik, Chandler Kinney and Ilona Maher at some dates on the tour.
On the show, Sosa was paired with Anna Delvey, the convicted con artist made famous by the 2022 mini-series "Inventing Anna." They were first couple eliminated, and when asked by host Julianne Hough what she got from the show, Delvey answered "Nothing." Sosa later told People that she was actually "livid" at being eliminated. "So when we're walking right next to Julianne, she asked her that question, I was – I'm not going to lie – I was a little nervous what she was going to say," he recalled. "But with what she said, I think it was very iconic."
He also is proud to be bringing Latin inclusion into the ballroom this season. He tells GLAAD: "Growing up in Utah, I wasn't really exposed to my culture and my grandma always called me 'gringa,' and I had a hard time just diving into it." He says, "When I moved to L.A., I started going to Salsa Clubs, started taking salsa class and I really just understood how amazing it is to be Hispanic and how much extra rhythm I got in these hips."
EDGE spoke to Sosa about becoming a dancer, working with Anna Delvey, and how JoJo Siwa helped him come out.
