ABOUT MAKS CHMERKOVSKIY

Internationally renowned ballroom dance champion, choreographer and perennial professional on hit ABC Show Dancing with the Stars, Maksim Chmerkovskiy has quickly become one of America’s most watched and most beloved cast members of the smash hit series. The Ukranian- American heartthrob won the show’s coveted mirror ball trophy in 2014 and made it to the final round five times, with two runner-up and two third-place finishes. Not one to limit himself, Chmerkovskiy has also starred in the Broadway productions of dance shows Burn the Floor and Forever Tango and appeared on a number of hit television shows in the U.S. including a guest stint on “General Hospital” and the Netflix reboot “Fuller House.”

Chmerkovskiy began dancing at age 4 and eventually began competing in ten-dance, which includes both ballroom and Latin dances, quickly realizing his natural ability and talent for competition. After his family immigrated to Brooklyn in 1994, he rededicated himself once again to professionally dancing, competing in the International Latin category, where he ranked 2nd in the U.S. and 7th in the world among professional international Latin dancers.

At age 16, Chmerkovskiy and his father opened a youth-oriented competitive dance studio, Rising Stars Dance Academy, in Saddle Brook, NJ.  In addition to Rising Stars, Chmerkovskiy has co-founded Dance With Me dance studios, which has become one of the nationals leading social and competitive dance studios for adults. Dance With Me has some of the most beautiful and successful dance studios in premier retail and lifestyle centers across the country, teaching people how to dance while creating memorable experiences at various dance-related events and productions. 

Chmerkovskiy’s professional choreography work includes three numbers in the world famous water- based stage production, Le Rêve, at the Wynn Las Vegas, the “Dancing with the Stars” 34-city tour, a national commercial for Propel water and he provided choreography for actress Zendaya's music video for the song "Neverland" from Broadway's Finding Neverland.

Chmerkovskiy is no stranger to Broadway, having starred in the inaugural production of the live dance show Burn the Floor when it opened in the summer of 2009. A few years later, he was back on Broadway again with the musical Forever Tango, which opened in the summer of 2013.

Shortly after his 2013 summer on Broadway, Chmerkovskiy started performing in SWAY: A Dance Trilogy in New York City, and later in Miami. SWAY is a live theatrical dance show starring Maksim, his brother Valentin, his wife Peta Murgatroyd, with special celebrity performances by Zendaya, Rumer Willis, Meryl Davis, and more. The show also features other professional dancers from Dancing With the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, and Dance With Me studios. In 2016, Maks and his brother Val embarked on a 45-city live tour titled Maks & Val Live on Tour: Our Way, which ran for the entire summer and is an autobiographical tale of the brothers' lives through dance. A follow-up to that tour, Maks, Val & Peta Live on Tour: Confidential, which expanded the brothers live show to add Maks’ wife Peta, just wrapped a 51-city tour across the United States this May.

He is also actively involved with Alfalit International, a 4-star rated organization by Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. Founded in 1961, Alfalit provides literacy and educational programs to the poorest and neediest populations around the world and helped over 8 million people to learn to read and write in their own language, through our life-changing programs.