'Don't cry, don't cry': Connor Wood and 5 more couples take us inside the most personal night of 'Dancing With the Stars'

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LOS ANGELES — An emotional Dedication Night episode of Dancing With the Stars — including Julia Stiles's Heath Ledger tribute with a 10 Things I Hate About You cast reunion — ended with a welcome surprise on Tuesday: No one was eliminated. 

And while no contestants went home, one pro was absent: Val Chmerkovskiy, who was serving a one-week suspension, so Alan Bersten stepped in to dance with Jenna Dewan, Chmerkovskiy's partner this season.

With all 10 pairs advancing to next Tuesday's Horror Movie Night, spirits were high after the show. Yahoo's Krista Rados caught up with six couples to talk about their personal tributes and standout moments — from Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach's "blade stand" to Jackson Olson getting to boss around his mom in rehearsals.

Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach

Frech and Karagach's latest performance featured a lift with a name coined by the two-time Paralympian himself: the "blade stand." Karagach climbed onto his prosthetic as he lifted her up.

"Coming into this experience, I honestly didn't know what kind of lifts I was going to be able to do," Frech tells Yahoo. "But to get to use a prosthetic for a lift?! It was so exciting." 

He named the move but credits Karagach with dreaming it up, praising "this little genius's brain."

Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik

Ali's tribute to her late The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air TV dad James Avery brought another familiar face to the dance floor: former TV brother Alfonso Ribeiro. She also recorded her own version of Nancy Wilson's "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" for the performance.

Asked whether it felt like the "love letter" she'd hoped to create, Ali doesn't hesitate.

"It was our best performance yet, the actual live performance, and it felt emotional," she tells Yahoo. "It felt like it came alive."

Watching Ali and DWTS cohost Ribeiro from the audience, Ravnik found himself enjoying the moment instead of stressing over technique. 

"It was exactly how we wanted," he says. "It was incredible."

Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas

The Irish TV personality has also been on the rehearsal treadmill, so having a night out for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show this week was welcome.

"I really put my all into the dancing," she tells Yahoo. "I have to work extra hard because it just doesn't come naturally to me. But my God, it was such a good night. I mean, that's like my Super Bowl, to be honest."

She went with fellow contestant Amber Glenn, who's become a close friend. "We just got close really quickly," Higgins says. "She's a very kind human."

Higgins dedicated her performance to Ireland — and it included an assist from championship Irish dancer Lochlan "Lucky" Howard.

Asked what she misses most about home, she gives a list: "The food, the people, the humor, all the green grass everywhere, the peace and quiet in the countryside, listening to the whistles all the time."

Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov

The Olympic gold medalist figure skater dedicated her dance to her sister, Brooke Glenn, whom she credits with helping her through dark moments. 

Asked to describe her sister in one word, Amber chooses "caring" — then couldn't stop there.

"She makes a friend every time she goes into a room," she says. "She's just such a kind person, and she makes me a better person."

Brooke had already made an accidental appearance on the show when a camera caught her in the audience during an earlier performance, giving Amber the perfect way to reassure her about joining her latest dance.

"I was like, 'Girl, you're gonna do great. You've already been on the show,'" Amber recalls.

Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold

The comedian and social media star's first thought after hitting his final pose? Keep it together.

"I was like, 'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry,'" he tells Yahoo of the performance, which was set to "Piano Man" and dedicated to his dad, Pete Masich. "I don't want my makeup to run."

He says he's been watching the fan edits of himself and Arnold — and sometimes gets so caught up that he feels like he's watching characters. One edit pairing footage of them looking solemn with a song from The Greatest Showman was a favorite.

"I was like, 'Oh, this poor young man and woman,'" he says with a laugh. "That was just amazing cinematography."

Wood wants fans to know their support hasn't gone unnoticed.

"I'm on my phone all the time, so I do see it and I love it and I appreciate it," he says. "Thanks for keeping us in the race."

Jackson Olson and Emma Slater

Dedicating his performance to his mom, Laura Olson, gave the Savannah Bananas player an opportunity he clearly enjoyed: telling her what to do.

"She was so determined," he tells Yahoo, explaining that she kept practicing back at the apartment and enlisted him to help.

For Slater, watching her student become the teacher was a treat — although their approaches differed.

Slater recalls gently asking, "Laura, if you could just put your hands up here, that'd be great." 

Olson's approach was different: "Get your hands up! Let's go!" 

He adds, "The roles are reversed, and I'm like, all right, I get to tell her what to do."