| Alan Bersten | |
| Birth Date: | 26 May 1994 |
| Birth Place: | Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Dancer, choreographer |
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in |
| Years Active: | 2013–present |
Alan Bersten (born May 26, 1994)[1] is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer. He was a contestant in 2013 on the tenth season of So You Think You Can Dance and is currently a professional dancer and choreographer on Dancing with the Stars. He was the winner in 2019 of season 28 of Dancing with the Stars with his celebrity partner, The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown.[2]
Bersten was born and raised in Minnesota. His family heritage is Russian Jewish. He started dancing at the age of 7.[3] He graduated from Hopkins High School in 2012.[4]
In 2018, Bersten was on tour with Dancing with the Stars when he began to have severe stomach pain. A blood test showed he had symptoms of a tumor on one of his parathyroid glands called hyperparathyroidism. He underwent surgery the next day to remove his left parathyroid. Bersten returned to work after only a week of recovery.[5]
As of April 2025, Bersten is in a relationship with fellow Dancing with the Stars member Emma Slater.[6]
Bersten started working on Dancing with the Stars in season 20 as a member of the troupe. He remained in that role for four more seasons until he made his debut as a professional partner in season 25.
During the second week of season 22, Bersten danced a salsa with Paige VanZant, as VanZant's regular partner, Mark Ballas, suffered a back injury during rehearsals. Bersten learned the entire dance routine on one day's notice and performed the dance for the live show the following day.[7] In season 24, Bersten danced with Heather Morris for four weeks while Morris's regular partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, was recovering from an injury.
Bersten was promoted to a professional partner in season 25, where he was partnered with 1980s singer-songwriter and Broadway actress Debbie Gibson.[8] They were eliminated in the second week and took 12th place.[9] Bersten was also featured on the official promotional poster for the show that season alongside fellow cast member Sharna Burgess.[10]
For season 26, Bersten was partnered with Olympic figure skater Mirai Nagasu.[11] They were eliminated in the third week of competition, tying for 4th place with Chris Mazdzer and partner Witney Carson and Jennie Finch Daigle and partner Keo Motsepe.[12]
For season 27, Bersten was partnered with model Alexis Ren.[13] The couple reached the finals and took 4th place.[14]
For season 28, Bersten was partnered with The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown.[15] They reached the finals and were crowned the season's champions on November 25, 2019.[2]
For season 29, Bersten returned to compete again and is paired with Disney Channel star Skai Jackson.[16] They were eliminated week 10, finishing in 5th place.[17]
For season 30, Bersten was partnered with The Talk co-host and dancer Amanda Kloots.[18] They reached the finals and finished in 4th place.
For season 31, Bersten was partnered with country music singer Jessie James Decker.[19] They were eliminated week 6, finishing in 10th place.
For season 32, Bersten was partnered with Zoey 101 actress and singer Jamie Lynn Spears. They were eliminated on the second week of competition and finished 13th; Bersten's lowest placement to date.
For season 33, Bersten was partnered with Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher. They made it to the finale and finished as the runners-up on November 26, 2024.[20]
For season 34, Bersten was partnered with actress Elaine Hendrix.[21] The couple made it to the finals and finished in 5th place.
| Season | Partner | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Debbie Gibson | 12th | |
| 26 | Mirai Nagasu | 4th | |
| 27 | Alexis Ren | 4th | |
| 28 | Hannah Brown | 1st | |
| 29 | Skai Jackson | 5th | |
| 30 | Amanda Kloots | 4th | |
| 31 | Jessie James Decker | 10th | |
| 32 | Jamie Lynn Spears | 13th | |
| 33 | Ilona Maher | 2nd | |
| 34 | Elaine Hendrix | 5th |
With celebrity partner Debbie Gibson
| Week | Dance | Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | ||||||
| 1 | Foxtrot | "Lost in Your Eyes" — Debbie Gibson | 6 | 5 | 6 | 17 | No Elimination | |
| 2 | Quickstep | "This Is My Time" — Amy Stroup | 7 | 6 | 7 | 20 | Safe | |
| "Havana" — Camila Cabello, feat. Young Thug | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | bgcolor=f4c7b8 | Eliminated | ||
With celebrity partner Mirai Nagasu
| Week | Dance | Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||||
| 1 | Salsa | "No Excuses" — Meghan Trainor | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 | Safe |
| 2 | Foxtrot | "It's a Small World" — The O'Neill Brothers | 9 9 | 9 9 | 9 9 | 37 | Safe |
| Team Freestyle | "Instant Replay" — Dan Hartman | 9 | 9 | 9 | 37 | ||
| 3 (Semifinals) | Quickstep | "BO$$" — Fifth Harmony | 9 | 8 | 9 | 35 | Eliminated |
| Jive Dance-off | "Johnny B. Goode" — Chuck Berry | 0 | |||||
With celebrity partner Alexis Ren
| Week | Dance | Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | ||||||
| 1 | Jive | "Good Golly, Miss Molly" — Little Richard | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | bgcolor=lightblue | Bottom Five |
| Jive | "Shake the Room" — Gamu | 7 | 8 | 8 | 23 | Safe | ||
| 2 | Argentine tango | "Swan Lake Suite" — Ray Chew | 8 | 9 | 8 | 25 | No Elimination | |
| Salsa | "Booty" — Jennifer Lopez, feat. Iggy Azalea | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | Safe | ||
| 3 | Contemporary | "How to Save a Life" — Ray Chew | 9 | 8 | 9 | 26 | Safe | |
| 4 | Trio Tango | "Move Your Body" — Sia | 8 | 8 | 9 | 25 | Safe | |
| 5 | Foxtrot | "Just Around the Riverbend" — Judy Kuhn | 10 | 9 | 10 | 29 | No elimination | |
| 6 | Jazz | "Candyman" — Christina Aguilera | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | Safe | |
| 7 | Samba | "Ladies in the ’90s" — Lauren Alaina | 9 | 10 | 10 | 29 | Safe | |
| Team Freestyle | "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)" — Luke Bryan | 9 | 8 | 8 | 26 | |||
| 8 (Semifinals) | Waltz | "Water" — Bishop Briggs | 9 | 9 | 10 | 28 | Safe | |
| Jive | "Yes" — Merry Clayton | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | |||
| 9 (Finals) | Argentine tango | "Swan Lake Suite" — Ray Chew | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | Fourth Place | |
| Freestyle | "Head Above Water" — Avril Lavigne | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | |||
With celebrity partner Hannah Brown
| Week | Dance | Dance / Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||||
| 1 | Cha-cha-cha | "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" — Whitney Houston | 7 | 7 | 6 | 20 | No Elimination |
| 2 | Viennese waltz | "Lover" — Taylor Swift | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | Safe |
| 3 | Rumba | "Hold On" — Wilson Phillips | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | Safe |
| 4 | Paso doble | "I Love It" — Icona Pop, feat. Charli XCX | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | Safe |
| 5 | Foxtrot | "A Whole New World" — Zayn & Zhavia Ward | 9 | 7 | 9 | 25 | No Elimination |
| 6 | Samba | "Southbound" — Carrie Underwood | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | Safe |
| 7 | Jazz | "Bad Girls" — Donna Summer | 8 | 9 | 8 | 25 | Safe |
| Team Freestyle | "Somebody's Watching Me" — Rockwell | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | ||
| 8 | Quickstep | "American Girl" — Elle King | 10 | 9 | 10 | 29 | Safe |
| Salsa Dance-off | "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" — Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine | 2 | |||||
| 9 | Salsa | "No Scrubs" — TLC | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | Safe |
| Tango | "Boy with Luv" — BTS | 10 | 9 | 10 | 39 | ||
| 10 (Semifinals) | Rumba | "Dancing with a Stranger" — Sam Smith & Normani | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | Safe |
| Contemporary | "Lose You to Love Me" — Selena Gomez | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | ||
| 11 (Finals) | Viennese waltz | "Lover" — Taylor Swift | 10 | 9 | 9 | 28 | Winners |
| Freestyle | "Girl on Fire" — Alicia Keys "Hollaback Girl" — Gwen Stefani | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | ||
With celebrity partner Skai Jackson
| Week | Dance | Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inaba | Hough | Tonioli | |||||
| 1 | Tango | "Super Bass" — Nicki Minaj | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | No elimination |
| 2 | Samba | "Miss Independent" — Ne-Yo | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 | Safe |
| 3 | Jive | "Almost There" — Anika Noni Rose | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | Safe |
| 4 | Foxtrot | "Ordinary People" — John Legend | 10 | 9 | 9 | 28 | Safe |
| 5 | Jazz | "The Power of Love" — Huey Lewis and the News | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | Safe |
| 6 | Cha-cha-cha | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | Safe | |
| 7 | Argentine tango | "Everything I Wanted" — Billie Eilish | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | Safe |
| 8 | Salsa | "Work It" — Missy Elliott | 8 | 9 | 8 | 25 | Bottom Two |
| Samba Relay | "Levitating" — Dua Lipa, feat. DaBaby | 2 | |||||
| 9 | Paso doble | "If" — Janet Jackson | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | Safe |
| Salsa Dance-off | "The Cup of Life" — Ricky Martin | 2 | |||||
| 10 (Semifinals) | Cha-cha-cha | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | Eliminated | |
| Viennese waltz | "Lonely" — Noah Cyrus | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | ||
With celebrity partner Amanda Kloots
| Week | Dance | Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inaba | Goodman | Hough | Tonioli | |||||
| 1 | Tango | "Dance Again" — Jennifer Lopez & Pitbull | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 | No Elimination |
| 2 | Foxtrot | "It Had to Be You" — Ray Chew | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | Safe |
| 3 | Cha-cha-cha | "Circus" — Britney Spears | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | Safe | |
| 4 | Rumba | "You'll Be in My Heart" — Phil Collins | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | No Elimination |
| Paso doble | "Call Me Cruella" — Florence and the Machine | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 | Safe | |
| 5 | Viennese waltz | "Beauty School Dropout" — Frankie Avalon | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 39 | Safe |
| 6 | Argentine tango | "Paint It Black" — Ciara | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 38 | Safe |
| 7 | Jive | "Don't Stop Me Now" — Queen | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 33 | Safe |
| Viennese waltz Relay | "We Are the Champions" — Queen | 1 | ||||||
| 8 | Jazz | "Miss You Much" — Janet Jackson | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 | Safe |
| Cha-cha-cha Dance-off | "Together Again" — Janet Jackson | 2 | ||||||
| 9 (Semifinals) | Tango | "Titanium" — David Guetta, feat. Sia | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | Bottom Three |
| Contemporary | "Live Your Life" — Lenii | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 | ||
| 10 (Finals) | Viennese waltz & Paso doble Fusion | "Never Tear Us Apart" — Bishop Briggs | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 38 | Fourth Place |
| Freestyle | "A Sky Full of Stars" — Coldplay | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 | ||
With celebrity partner Jessie James Decker
| Week | Dance | Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inaba | Goodman | Hough | Tonioli | |||||||
| 1 | Cha-cha-cha | "Sweet Home Alabama" — Lynyrd Skynyrd | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 | Safe | ||
| 2 | Foxtrot | "Trouble" — Elvis Presley | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 25 | Safe | ||
| 3 | Rumba | "Goldfinger" — Shirley Bassey | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 26 | Safe | ||
| 4 | Jive | "One Way Or Another" — Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker & Kathy Najimy | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 31 | Safe | ||
| 5 | Tango | "Blue Jeans" — Jessie James Decker | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 29 | No Elimination | ||
| Viennese waltz | "Breakaway" — Kelly Clarkson | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | Safe | |||
| Hustle & Lindy Hop Marathon | "Hot Stuff" — Donna Summer "Jump, Jive an' Wail" — The Brian Setzer Orchestra | 11 | ||||||||
| 6 | Salsa | "Come Dance with Me" — Michael Bublé | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 41 | bgcolor=f4c7b8 | Eliminated | |
With celebrity partner Jamie Lynn Spears
| Week | Dance | Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inaba | Hough | Tonioli | |||||||
| 1 | Tango | "Don't Call Me Up (Zac Samuel Remix)" — Mabel | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 | Safe | ||
| 2 | Cha-cha-cha | "Shake Señora" — Pitbull, feat. T-Pain & Sean Paul | 6 | 5 | 5 | 16 | bgcolor=f4c7b8 | Eliminated | |
With celebrity partner Ilona Maher
| Week | Dance | Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inaba | Hough | Tonioli | |||||
| 1 | Cha-cha-cha | "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" — Shania Twain | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | No Elimination |
| 2 | Salsa | "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" — Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | Safe |
| 3 | Foxtrot | "Lady Marmalade" — Labelle | 8 | 7 | 7 | 30 | Safe |
| Jive | "Cum On Feel the Noize" — Quiet Riot | 7 | 6 | 6 | 26 | ||
| 4 | Rumba | "My Way" — Yseult | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | Safe |
| 5 | Jazz | "Surface Pressure" — Jessica Darrow | 9 | 8 | 8 | 25 | Safe |
| Team Freestyle | "I 2 I" — Tevin Campbell & Rosie Gaines | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | ||
| 6 | Tango | "Psycho Killer" — Miley Cyrus | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | Safe |
| Cha-cha-cha Dance-off | "Ghostbusters" — Ray Parker Jr. | 0 | |||||
| 7 | Quickstep | "Chuck Berry" — Pharrell Williams | 10 | 9 | 9 | 28 | Safe |
| Salsa | "Da' Dip" — Freak Nasty | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | ||
| 8 (Semifinals) | Paso doble | "Unholy (Orchestral Version)" — Sam Smith & Kim Petras | 9 | 10 | 9 | 28 | No Elimination |
| Viennese waltz | "Golden Hour" — Jvke | 10 | 9 | 10 | 29 | ||
| 9 (Finals) | Jive | "Shake a Tail Feather" — Ray Charles & the Blues Brothers | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | Runners-up |
| Freestyle | "Femininomenon" — District 78 feat. Mona Rue | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | ||
With celebrity partner Elaine Hendrix
Bersten joined the first season of Dancing with the Stars spin-off series as a professional mentor.[22] He formed Team Alan with junior professional dancer JT Church and 10-year-old professional skateboarder Sky Brown. Team Alan ended up winning the Juniors Mirrorball trophy on December 9, 2018.
| Week | Dance | Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chmerkovskiy | Moore | Rippon | |||||
| 1 | Salsa | "Light It Up" — Major Lazer, featuring Nyla & Fuse ODG | 8 | 7 | 7 | 22 | Safe |
| 2 | Cha-cha-cha | "Just Dance" — Lady Gaga, featuring Colby O'Donis | 7 | 7 | 8 | 22 | Safe |
| 3 | Contemporary | "How Far I'll Go" — Auliʻi Cravalho | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 | Safe |
| 4 | Jive | "Little Shop of Horrors" — Kidz Bop | 9 | 9 | 8 | 26 | Safe |
| 5 | Samba | "The Greatest" — Sia | 8 | 8 | 7 | 23 | Safe |
| 6 | Foxtrot | "Unconditionally" – Katy Perry | 9 | 10 | 10 | 29 | Safe |
| 7 | Charleston | "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)" — Fergie, featuring Q-Tip & GoonRock | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | Safe |
| 8 | Argentine tango | "Thunder" — Imagine Dragons | 10 | 9 | 10 | 29 | No elimination |
| Jive and Foxtrot Fusion | "369" — Rhett George | 10 | 9 | 9 | 28 | ||
| 9 | Salsa | "Light it Up" — Major Lazer, featuring Nyla & Fuse ODG | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | Winners |
| Freestyle | "Underneath the Tree" — Kelly Clarkson | 10 | 10 | 10 | 30 | ||
