This week is “Ballroom Greats” on Dancing with the Stars, with some of the top ballroom professionals in the world showcasing and lending their craft to the 6 remaining contestants. The mystery guest judge has been revealed as Donnie Burns, the current head of the World Dance Council (WDC). His illustrious, record breaking career achievements include 14-time winner of the World Professional Latin Championships and 11-time winner of the International Latin American Dance Championships.
This week the contestants will receive personal coaching by two of the greatest ballroom champions, Shirley Ballas (yes, Mark’s mom!) and Luca Baricchi.
It was just a matter of time before Shirley, now retired from competitive ballroom, officially entered the DWTS sphere. Shirley’s been orbiting around it, attending every show in support of Mark, and with former husband and partner Corky Ballas, has coached nearly every pro on the show at some point early in their careers. Shirley was one of the top competitors in the 1980s and 1990s, holding a myriad of titles under her belt: 1983 International Latin Dance American Champion, and the 1984 UK Open Champion in Professional Latin with first husband Sammy Stopford. With second husband Corky, the pair won 7 US Championships, are 3 time UK National Champions, International & Star Champions, and 2 time winners of the most prestigious competition in the world—Open To The World British Championships.
Luca is also a retired ballroom champion, who in his career was a 2 time winner of World Ballroom Dance Championship 1999 and 2001 and winner of International Professional Standard Championship 1999–2000. These ballroom greats will be coaching the celebrities on dances they have not yet performed:
- Kirstie Alley: jive
- Kendra Wilkinson: tango
- Romeo: samba
- Ralph Macchio: quickstep
- Chelsea Kane: paso doble
- Hines Ward: tango
This week also sees the return of the team dance off, where the 6 couples are split into 2 teams to face off in a cha cha cha. The teams are Kirstie, Kendra and Hines versus Ralph, Romeo and Chelsea.
Another set of ballroom greats appearing on DWTS this week are Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagoruychenko. This pair recently won the WDC Latin Championships and are currently ranked #1 by the WDC. According to their Twitter and Facebook pages, the couple will be performing on Monday’s performance show.
A special treat this week on the Results Show is a performance by Maks' brother Val Chmerkovskiy and his professional dance partner Daria Chesnokova. Nicki Minaj and James Blunt will be the musical entertainment. The Macy’s Stars of Dance segment will be a tribute to the late James Brown, and the show’s first ever “Spotlight Segment” will feature 17-year-old ballerina Patricia Zhou, a recent addition to the Royal Ballet. Check out the slideshow below of this week's ballroom greats.
The burning question is our mind is, can we get through the week without an injury? This season it seems the mishaps and injuries are happening on a weekly basis, what with 2 for Kirstie and Maks, 1 for Mark, 1 for Cheryl Burke and 1 for Karina Smirnoff. In this video clip below shot during rehearsals this past week, Ralph and Karina talk about the incidents and what has become known as the “Bermuda triangle” area on the ballroom floor.
Dancing with the Stars Ballroom Greats week kicks off on Monday, May 2 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
