Karina Smirnoff (Russian: Карина Смирнова) is a world champion professional dancer from Kharkiv, Ukraine. She is a five-time U.S. National Champion, World Trophy Champion, and Asian Open Champion. Smirnoff has taken the title at the UK Open, is a three times champion at the US Open, two time champion at the Asian Open, five time champion at the Dutch Open, five time US National Professional Champion, ranked 2nd in the World, and took second at the British Open Blackpool Dance Festival.^[1] She is "the first woman to ever make the British Professional Final with three different partners." ^[2] For other uses, see Kharkiv (disambiguation). ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... For other uses, see Kharkiv (disambiguation). ... The United States national professional ballroom dance champions are crowned at the United States Dance Sport Championships (formerly USBC), as recognized by the the National Dance Council of America (NDCA) and the World Dance & DanceSport Council (WD&DSC). ...

Biography

Smirnoff was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine in 1978 to a Greek father and a Russian mother.^{[citation needed]} When Smirnoff was five years old, she began taking ballet lessons, followed by gymnastics, aerobics, figure skating, ballroom dancing and piano. Eventually she chose to pursue ballroom dancing. In 1992, Smirnoff moved to the United States^[3] and became a U.S. citizen. Once in the U.S., Smirnoff took time off from studying dancing for school. She attended Christopher Columbus High School in New York and the Bronx High School of Science before going to Fordham University, during which time she picked up her interest in dancing again. Has made numerous candid appearances on reality shows such as dancing with the stars, and Chelsea Lately, featuring Chelsea handler.^[3] For other uses, see Kharkiv (disambiguation). ... Christopher Columbus High School is a Roman Catholic, all-male high school in Westchester, Florida, established in 1958 by the Marist Brothers. ... The Bronx High School of Science (commonly called Bronx Science, Bronx Sci, or just Science, and officially known as H.S. 445) is a specialized New York City public high school. ... Fordham University is a private, coeducational research university[3] in the United States, with three campuses located in and around New York City. ...

Smirnoff graduated from Fordham University with a double major in economics and information system programming.^[1] During her academic studies, Smirnoff's goal was to go to law school and become an attorney; however, she found a dance school in Brooklyn, New York and over time dancing became her profession.^[3][4]

Early in Smirnoff's dancing career, Roman Nabatov and she competed as an amateur couple for USA. They ended their dance partnership in January 1997.^[5] Smirnoff soon after started dancing with Paul Killick in October 1998 as a professional couple for England; this partnership ended in July 1999. Immediately, Louis van Amstel and Karina Smirnoff, in July 1999, entered a professional dance partnership, representing the U.S.A; the partnership ended in December 2000.^[6] From January 2001 to September 2005, Karina Smirnoff was in a dance partnership with Slavik Kryklyvyy and they represented the U.S.A; this partnership thus far is her most successful one. Kryklyvyy and Smirnoff earned many top titles and high ratings together.^[7]Smirnoff is currently dancing with Dmitri Timokhin for Russia as of October 2005. They won first place at the 2006 Grand-Prix Dynamo in Moscow, Russia.^[8] Paul Killick is a dancer and has previously held the title of World Latin Champion, dancing with Inga Hass. ... Louis van Amstel (born June 23, 1972, Amsterdam) is a Dutch ballroom dance champion[1], professional dancer, choreographer, and a dancesport coach and appears on the U.S. reality television series Dancing with the Stars. ...

Dancing with the Stars

She was a performer on the third season of the ABC series Dancing with the Stars with celebrity partner Mario López. They finished in second place, losing to the team of Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke. Karina returned on the show on March 19, 2007 for Season 4, this time partnered with Billy Ray Cyrus, country singer and Hannah Montana star.^[9] The couple was the eighth to be eliminated from the competition on May 8, 2007. Her partner for Season 5 of the show was current five-division world champion boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jr.. On October 16th, 2007, Karina and Floyd were the fourth couple eliminated from competition. She returned for season 6, partnered with singer Mario. The third season of Dancing with the Stars (US TV series) premiered on September 12, 2006 and ended November 15, 2006. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American television network. ... For the late-2007 season, see Dancing with the Stars (US season 5). ... Mario Lopez, Jr. ... Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969 in Pensacola, Florida) is a former American football player, who played for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals. ... Cheryl Bautista Burke (born May 3, 1984) is a two time Emmy nominated professional dancer. ... The fourth season of the United States edition of Dancing with the Stars premiered on March 19, 2007 and aired until May 22, 2007. ... Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country singer-songwriter and actor, best known for his hit single Achy Breaky Heart. A multi-platinum selling recording artist, he has one number one country single and seven top-ten singles. ... This article is about the Disney Channel original series. ... Floyd Mayweather, Jr. ... Mario Dewar Barrett (born August 27, 1986) is an American R&B and pop singer. ...

Performances

With celebrity partner Mario: Mario Dewar Barrett (born August 27, 1986) is an American R&B and pop singer. ...

The cha-cha-cha (in Spanish cha-cha-chá) is a Latin American dance. ... Request Line is a song by the American Hip Hop band Black Eyed Peas. ... Quickstep is an International Style ballroom dance that follows a 2/4 or 4/4 time beat, similar to a fast Foxtrot. ... Valerie is an indie rock song written by Dave McCabe and the English band The Zutons for the bands second studio album, Tired of Hanging Around (2006). ... Moulin Rouge is a 2001 Academy Award-winning jukebox musical film directed by Baz Luhrmann. ... Paso Doble or pasodoble is a lively style of dance to the duple meter march-like pasodoble music. ... Higher Ground is a R&B song with a rock edge, written by Stevie Wonder and first appearing on his 1973 album Innervisions. ... Samba is a lively, rhythmical dance of Brazilian origin in 2/4 time danced under the Samba music. ... A Tisket A Tasket is a nursery rhyme. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... Lets Get It On is the seminal 1973 #1 smash sung by American soul music legend Marvin Gaye. ... This article is about the comic strip; for other uses, see Foxtrot (disambiguation). ... Call Me Irresponsible is a 2007 (see 2007 in music) Grammy Award-winning album by the Canadian jazz singer Michael Bublé. // The albums first single was Everything and has thus far peaked at #46 on the U.S. Hot 100,[1] Bublés highest peaking song so far. ... Mambo is a Latin dance of Cuban origin that corresponds to mambo music. ... Samba is a lively, rhythmical dance of Brazilian origin in 2/4 time danced under the Samba music. ... Viennese Waltz (German: Wiener Walzer ) is the name of a ballroom dance. ... If I Aint Got You is a Grammy Award-winning single released from R&B/soul musician Alicia Keyss sophomore album, The Diary of Alicia Keys. ... Jive is a dance style in 4/4 time that originated among African-Americans in the early 1940s. ... Little Bitty Pretty One is a rock and roll song written and origenally recorded by Bobby Day, and popularized by Thurston Harris in 1957. ...

Personal Life

She was the project manager/director of Tornado Dance's international professional ballroom dancing event entitled "Day & Night."^[10] This event was held on November 18, 2006 at the Hollywood & Highlands Grand Ballroom. She also performed on the 2007 ALMA Awards telecast on June 5th.

Smirnoff was romantically linked with former dance partner Mario Lopez from Dancing with the Stars, but on June 4, 2008 Smirnoff confirmed their split.^[11] Mario López, Jr. ... For the video game based on the American series, see Dancing with the Stars (video game) International versions of Dancing with the Stars Dancing with the Stars is the name for a number of international television series based on the format of the British series Strictly Come Dancing. ... is the 155th day of the year (156th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Smirnoff guest starred in the Hannah Montana episode "Everybody Was Best-Friend Fighting," playing fortune teller "Madame Escajedo."^[12] She also had a small part in the movie Shall We Dance?. This article is about the Disney Channel original series. ... Shall We Dance? is an American motion picture released in 2004. ...

References

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External links

• a Free Online Dance Lesson With Karina NOW.
• Karina's Dance Coach
• Karina's Diet Page
• Interview with Slavik Kryklyvyy & Karina Smirnoff
• Transcript of interview on CNN Larry King Live
• Access Hollywood Interview with Mario Lopez & Karina Smirnoff after the season 3 finale (with Smirnoff crying)
• Slavik Kryklyvyy & Karina Smirnoff - Innovation
• Much Ado About Nothing!
• Dancing With the Stars profile
• On the Big Screen: interview with Slavik Kryklyvyy & Karina Smirnoff
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