Corky Ballas | |
---|---|
Born | Mark Alexander Ballas December 25, 1960 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
Occupation | Dancer |
Years active | 1978–1996; 2008–present |
Spouse | |
Children | Mark Ballas |
Parent(s) | George Ballas Maria Marulanda |
Mark Alexander Ballas Sr. (born December 25, 1960), known as Corky Ballas, is an American retired competitive ballroom dancer who holds several Latin dance championship titles. [1] [2] His son, Mark Ballas, is a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars . His father was George Ballas, who invented the Weed Eater lawn-trimming device.
Ballas was born in Houston, Texas. He is the son of Americans Maria Marulanda Greek-American George Ballas, the inventor of the Weed Eater lawn-trimming device. His paternal grandparents, Karolos ("Charles") Ballas and Maria Lymnaos were immigrants to the United States from Greece. [3] He has three sisters, Michelle, Maria, and Lillian, and one brother, George.
He has one son, Mark Ballas. [4] Corky and Shirley Ballas also raised and trained Julianne Hough and Derek Hough. [5] [6]
Corky now teaches dancing in San Antonio via his dancing studio, [7] and his website. [8] His plans for the future include more television performances as well as an online interactive dance instruction via hundreds of videos.
Corky and Shirley were 1996 Open to the World International Champions, 1995–1996 Open to the World British Champions, twice British National Champions, Star - World Cup - UK - Champions[ clarification needed ], and seven times undefeated United States International Latin Champions. [1] [9] [10]
Ballas judges professional competitions and teaches. He is based in Los Angeles, California and Houston, Texas. [11]
Ballas has trained many of Dancing with the Stars' professionals including Karina Smirnoff, Julianne Hough, Derek Hough, Tony Dovolani, Edyta Sliwinska, Alec Mazo, Brian Fortuna, Jonathan Roberts, Anna Trebunskaya, Jessie DeSoto and, his son, Mark Ballas.
On August 25, 2008, the show's producers announced Corky himself would compete as a pro on season 7, alongside his son and former pupils. He was partnered with 82-year-old actress Cloris Leachman. [12]
For season 11, Ballas was partnered with Florence Henderson. They were eliminated in Week 5 of the competition.
With celebrity partner: Cloris Leachman
Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||
Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||
1, Night 1 | Foxtrot/I Wish I Were in Love Again | 6 | 5 | 5 | Safe |
1, Night 2 | Mambo /Coconut Woman | 6 | 5 | 5 | Safe |
2 | Paso Doble/Bolero | 5 | 5 | 5 | Last to be called safe |
3 | Jive/The Girl Can't Help It | 6 | 5 | 5 | Safe |
4 | Tango/The Big Date | 8 | 7 | 7 | Bottom Two |
5 | Salsa/Tres Deseos | 7 | 7 | 7 | Safe |
6 | Cha Cha Cha/Come See About Me Old School Hip Hop/It Takes Two | 5 No | 5* Scores | 5 Given | Eliminated |
With celebrity partner: Florence Henderson
Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||
Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||
1 | Cha-Cha-Cha/Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me | 6 | 6 | 6 | Safe |
2 | Quickstep/Suddenly I See | 7 | 6 | 6 | Safe |
3 | Waltz/Edelweiss | 7 | 6 | 7 | Safe |
4 | Rumba/Yesterday | 6/6 | 6/6 | 5/6 | Safe |
5 | Tango/The Brady Bunch Theme | 7 | 7 | 7 | Eliminated |
Cloris Leachman was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nominated and, along with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, most awarded performer in Emmy history. Leachman also won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award.
Weed Eater is a string trimmer company founded in 1971 in Houston, Texas by George C. Ballas, Sr., the inventor of the device.
Driton Dovolani, commonly known as Tony Dovolani is an Albanian-American professional ballroom dancer, instructor and judge. He is known for his involvement in the American version of Dancing with the Stars on ABC. Dovolani also portrayed Slick Willy in the hit film Shall We Dance? and spent time coaching actress Jennifer Lopez.
Cody Martin Linley is an American actor and singer. He played a recurring role as Jake Ryan in the television series Hannah Montana, and was a contestant on the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars, in which he was partnered with Julianne Hough and finished fourth.
Karina Smirnoff is a Soviet-born American professional ballroom dancer of Ukrainian origins. She is known as a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars, where she won the thirteenth season with army veteran and soap opera star J. R. Martinez. She has also won two runner-up titles, a semifinal title, and several quarterfinal titles.
Julianne Alexandra Hough is an American dancer, actress and television personality. In 2007, she joined the cast of ABC's Dancing with the Stars as a professional dancer, winning two seasons with her celebrity partners. After leaving the show in 2009, she returned in 2014 to serve as a permanent judge on Dancing with the Stars, a position she held until 2017. She received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her work on the series, winning once in 2015 with her brother, Derek Hough.
Derek Bruce Hough is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer, choreographer, actor and singer. From 2007 to 2016, Hough was a professional dancer on the ABC dance competition series Dancing with the Stars, winning the show a record-breaking six times with his celebrity partners. For his work, Hough received 14 nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography, winning the award 4 times. Hough later became a judge on the series beginning with its 29th season.
Mark Alexander Ballas Jr. is an American dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, musician, and actor.
Valentin Aleksandrovich "Val" Chmerkovskiy is a Ukrainian-American professional dancer, best known for his appearances on the U.S. version of Dancing with the Stars, which he won three times. Chmerkovskiy is a two-time World Latin Dance Champion and a 14-time U.S. National Latin Dance champion.
Season seven of Dancing with the Stars premiered on September 22, 2008, on the ABC network.
Shirley Annette Ballas is an English ballroom dancer, dance teacher, and dance adjudicator. She specialises in the International Latin division, where she won several championship titles which earned her the nickname the Queen of Latin.
Dancing with the Stars: We Dance! is a video game based on Dancing with the Stars. It is the sequel to the original Dancing with the Stars game. It is on Activision's "Wee 1st" label. The game's subtitle, We Dance, was derived from the Namco-Bandai games; We Ski and We Cheer, also for the Wii.
Jared Makaio Murillo is an American professional dancer, choreographer, actor, and musician. known for his works as a dancer in the Disney Channel movies, High School Musical, High School Musical 2 and for having a special cameo appearance in High School Musical 3: Senior Year. He was also in a boyband called V Factory.
The Ballas Hough Band was an American pop rock fronted by Mark Ballas and Derek Hough, both of whom played lead guitar and sang lead vocals. The band's other members were Sam Marder, Harry Sullivan (drums) and Emily Grace. The name for the band is a combination of the two lead singers' last names.
Claiborne Cary was an American actress and cabaret performer.
George Charles Ballas Sr. was an American entrepreneur. He invented the first string trimmer, known as the Weed Eater in 1971. He was the father of ballroom dancer, Corky Ballas, and grandfather of professional dancer Mark Ballas of Dancing with the Stars.
Alan Bersten is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer. He was a contestant 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 is the winner of season 28 of Dancing with the Stars with his celebrity partner, The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown.
Brandon Armstrong is an American professional dancer. He is currently a professional dancer and choreographer on Dancing with the Stars.
The thirty-second season of Dancing with the Stars premiered on ABC and Disney+ on September 26, 2023, and concluded on December 5, 2023. This season was the first to air live on both simultaneously. Alfonso Ribeiro hosted the season, while former professional dancer and judge Julianne Hough joined as co-host.