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Montage of stills of Maksim Chmerkovskiy are done to "You're The One That I Want (Extended Version)" sung by John Travolta and Olivia Newton. I would add to that... "You're The One That I Want To Win". Born on January 17, 1980, in Odessa, Ukraine, Maks began dancing at the age of four. In his native land he was one of the leading junior couples in ballroom dancing before his family immigrated to the United States in 1994. Immigration was very hard on Maks and his family due to financial and language barriers. At the age of thirteen, Maks broke his right leg in a skiing accident. Doctors said he would probably always walk with a limp due to the metal rod that was surgically implanted in his right leg. However, Maks was able to make a successful recovery and continued to dance. In addition to competing, Maks is the owner of two dance studios in the New York City area, one of which, the "Rising Stars Dance Academy" is home to national and international champions and is known throughout the world. The second studio is "Dance with Me" Social Dance Studio and is just over one year old. Maks is one of the creators, and on the board of directors of "Dance Team USA", an educational and charitable organization dedicated to recruiting, supporting, and training future DanceSport athletes. "DanceSport" is the term used to refer to Ballroom dancing in the United States. It is a very insular sport, mostly practiced by the children of families from Eastern Europe. DanceTeam USA tries to raise youth awareness and participation in the sport nationwide. Maks also has his own production company called "Maksim Chmerkovskiy Productions," which organizes performances all over the world. Along with this, Maks has created a website called the Ballroom Dance Channel (BDCsocial.com) with fellow dancers Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko. The website is out there to help bring awareness to dancing. Accomplishments Maksim was ranked second in the United States for Latin Dance, and seventh in the world. 2005 Yankee Classic Professional Latin Champion 2004 Manhattan Dancesport Professional Latin Champion 2004 Nevada Star Ball Champion 2004 Philadelphia Dancesport Festival Champion 2003 All England Champion 2003 Ohio Star Ball Latin Champion Television Maks was introduced to most audiences when he appeared on the ABC series "Dancing With The Stars". He partnered with actress Tia Carrere in season 2 where they finished in sixth place and with singer Willa Ford in season 3 where they came in seventh place. Maks returned to "Dancing with the Stars" in March 2007 for Season 4, this time partnered with boxer Laila Ali, the daughter of Muhammad Ali. They made it to the finals and finished in third place. Maks appeared on Season 5 of "Dancing with the Stars". He was partnered with Melanie Brown (aka "Scary Spice") Although they were the highest scoring couple with the judges, the couple received second place. Brown and Chmerkovskiy were runners up to Helio Castroneves and his partner, Julianne Hough. In 2006, Chmerkovskiy, along with Kym Johnson and Ashly DelGrosso-Costa, put out a cardio workout. The DVD is called "Dancing with the Stars: Cardio Dance". Maks has also appeared in many TV interviews. He has been interviewed by Ellen Degeneres, Larry King, and Jimmy Kimmel, and has also made an appearance on the ALMA Awards and has been a guest host on "Entertainment Tonight".

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