This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When Witney Carson and Lindsay Arnold were kids, they used to get together and watch "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dancing With the Stars."
Before they were 20, they both appeared on what Carson calls their "dream shows."
"I remember sitting on the couch and Lindsay and I voting for our favorites on 'Dancing With the Stars' and 'So You Think You Can Dance,' " said Carson in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. "And it just seems surreal that this could even happen. But we worked our butts off. We worked so hard and we just kept that goal in mind for all these years.
"But no, it doesn't seem real at all. Sometimes I have to pinch myself."
The two native Utahns are bringing their dancing talents back to the state for "Born & Raised Utah" — a dance show they created — on July 15 at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City. It's a showcase for their talents, and an idea that came from their husbands.
"They're very business-oriented, and they wanted to do something this summer that we could all be a part of together while we have a break," Carson said.
She and Arnold thought it was a great idea, although they admit they were rather surprised it was their husbands who came up with it.
"They do not talk dance. They'll come and support us, but they know nothing about it," Carson said.
(Arnold married Samuel Cusick in the Salt Lake LDS Temple in June 2015; Carson was her maid of honor. Carson married Carson McCallister, also in the Salt Lake Temple, in January; Arnold was her matron of honor.)
When the husbands pitched the idea, "They were talking about all these dances we could do and what props we could use and going into detail about this dance show," Carson said. "And Lindsay and I just looked at each other and busted up laughing. Because we would never think in a million years that our husbands would talk to us about dance.
"But we thought it was a great idea."
The show traces their unlikely career paths — unlikely because the two, who have been "best friends since we were 9 years old" — both ended up as finalists on "SYTYCD" in 2012 and both rode that exposure into roles as professional dancers on "DWTS."
"Our whole lives were performing and competing. That's all we knew how to do," Carson said. "That was so normal for us. When we were little, we wanted to do 'So You Think You Can Dance' and 'Dancing With the Stars' together. The fact that we've done that now, and we're both raised in Utah, we both came from the same studio, the same directors, we wanted to just kind of give back to the people and show them a little bit of who we are outside the shows."
The performance will feature a couple of other familiar faces: Alfonso Ribeiro, with whom Carson partnered to win "Dancing With the Stars" in 2014; and Alek Skarlatos (who, with two friends, stopped an armed terrorist on a French train in 2015) — Arnold's "DWTS" partner later that year.
While Carson's career has gone better than she dared to dream, she has not been without challenges — including battling skin cancer when she was only 20. Her father had battled through melanoma, which spread to his lungs, so, "My parents are really adamant about their kids getting checked. So about 2 ½ years ago, I got my body checked by the dermatologist and she saw a little mole on my foot."
A tissue sample came back positive for melanoma, and Carson had the mole and three lymph nodes in her hip — where it had spread — removed. And this was just as she was promoted to a professional partner on "Dancing With the Stars."
"So I was dealing with the surgery and trying to be on the show," Carson said. "That was really hard, because I had to take care of my health, but I also wanted to be on the show of my dreams. It was kind of a difficult time."
She's been given a clean bill of health and she's become a bit of a crusader on the subject of melanoma prevention.
"I'm being more open about it. I used to be embarrassed, but now I'm trying to spread the word that anybody can get this and it's really important to protect your skin at all times," Carson said. "It's the fastest-spreading cancer, so it's really important that we take care of ourselves and put sunscreen on."
She recovered and is not only dancing on TV and at the "Born & Raised Utah" performance, but she even taught her nondancer husband "a little combo" they performed at their wedding reception back in January.
"He was nervous," she said with a laugh. "His whole suit was soaked in sweat. He was more nervous about that than actually getting married to me, which is hilarious.
"I think it was the one time when he could actually be in the spotlight and feel kind of what if feels like for me to do it. When we got off the floor, he was, like, 'I do not know how you do that every single Monday. That is so scary.'
"That was kind of good for him. It kind of opened his eyes up to what I do."
Twitter: @ScottDPierce —
'Born & Raised Utah'
When • Friday, July 15, 7 p.m.
Where • Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $35-$160 at artsaltlake.org or at the box office