On Dancing with the Stars season 33’s September 24, 2024, Oscars Night episode, Olympian Ilona Maher and her professional partner, Alan Bersten, performed a salsa to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.” Their twist on the lift associated with Dirty Dancing: they lifted each other. TheWrap described the lift as reciprocal, rather than a moment in which Maher alone lifted Bersten.
What was the twist on the Dirty Dancing lift?
The reference was the signature lift from Dirty Dancing; the DWTS routine adapted it into a two-way exchange. According to TheWrap’s coverage, Maher and Bersten lifted each other during the salsa. The key detail is reciprocal choreography: both partners took a turn lifting the other.
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Who lifted whom?
Both did. The reported description is not that Maher lifted Bersten alone, but that Maher and Bersten lifted each other. The available coverage establishes that choreographic choice, not a technical breakdown of how the lifts were executed.
Which DWTS performance was it?
It was Maher and Bersten’s salsa on the September 24, 2024, Oscars Night episode of season 33. Forbes identifies the dance as a salsa to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” the song associated with Dirty Dancing, and reports a score of 21 out of 30 for the routine.
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#1 Best Overall
- Baby is becoming a young woman in the summer where she meets Johnny Castle who teaches dance at a family Summer Camp and in his off hours Dirty Dances with the other dancers. She learns a routine so that one of the women can recover from an abortion and becomes Johnny's lover. As the summer winds down, Each must come to grips with responsibility and love and others' expectations.
That 21/30 was the salsa’s score. Forbes separately reported a combined total of 39 across the two competition nights; it is not the score for this dance alone. For the season and pairing, ABC’s season 33 announcement lists Maher with professional dancer Bersten.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How it differs from the later TikTok lift
The Oscars Night salsa is separate from an October TikTok attempt involving Maher and Bersten. In its October 22, 2024, report, Good Morning America covered the pair attempting to recreate a different floor lift: the one performed by Witney Carson and Danny Amendola. That article reported a score of 35/40 for Carson and Amendola’s routine, not for Maher and Bersten’s September salsa.
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![Dirty Dancing: 30th Anniversary [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/410vTsHgbFL._SL160_.jpg)
- Baby is becoming a young woman in the summer where she meets Johnny Castle who teaches dance at a family Summer Camp and in his off hours Dirty Dances with the other dancers. She learns a routine so that one of the women can recover from an abortion and becomes Johnny's lover. As the summer winds down, Each must come to grips with responsibility and love and others' expectations.
GMA also reproduced Maher’s caption about Carson and Amendola’s lift: “@Danny Amendola and @Witney Carson we tip our hats to you. That was extremely difficult and you did it so effortlessly.” It refers to that later floor-lift attempt, not the Dirty Dancing-inspired exchange on Oscars Night.
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![Dirty Dancing: 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41LDddouPoL._SL160_.jpg)
- Baby is becoming a young woman in the summer where she meets Johnny Castle who teaches dance at a family Summer Camp and in his off hours Dirty Dances with the other dancers. She learns a routine so that one of the women can recover from an abortion and becomes Johnny's lover. As the summer winds down, Each must come to grips with responsibility and love and others' expectations.
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