Elena Grinenko
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Elena Grinenko is a Russian professional
ballroom dance Ballroom dance is a set of European partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and te ...
champion, choreographer, and instructor. She is best known as one of the professional dancers on the American television series ''
Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...
''.


Biography

Grinenko was born in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, on December 14, 1976, and has been dancing since she was seven years old. She has been trained in ballroom dancing, ballet and Russian folk dancing. She worked with the Ballroom Formation Team of Russia, and when she reached her third year as a competitive professional dancer, she became a Soviet Union Finalist. In 1994, she emerged as the Latin Division winner at both the Moscow and National Championships. She graduated from high school in 1995, and from there went on to study various kinds of dances at the Art Academy of Russia. In 1998, she moved to the United States, where she became one of the fastest rising stars in the dancing industry. On August 17, 2012, she married model and actor
Rib Hillis Rib Hillis is an American model and actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Jake Marshak in the soap opera ''Port Charles''. Early life and career Hillis was born in Suffern, New York, and grew up in Newton, Massachusetts with his parents, two ...
.


Partnerships

After ten years of dancing with Michael Nadtochy, with whom she was Russian National Champion, she decided to form a partnership with
Maksim Chmerkovskiy Maksim Aleksandrovich Chmerkovskiy (born January 17, 1980) is an American Latin– ballroom dance champion, choreographer, and instructor. He is widely known as one of the professional dancers on the American television series '' Dancing with t ...
. Together they became one of the top finalist couples in the world in International Latin. Eventually, she was the undefeated U.S. and World Rhythm Champion with her last partner,
Tony Dovolani Driton Dovolani (born July 17, 1973), 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. Dovol ...
.


Dancing with the Stars

In 2006, Grinenko found herself competing against former Latin partner Chmerkovskiy, and American rhythm partner Dovolani when she was selected to join the cast of the third season of ''
Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...
''. She was paired with journalist
Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American conservative political commentator who hosted the nightly political talk show '' Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News from 2016 to 2023. Since his contract with Fox News was term ...
; they were eliminated the first week. Grinenko returned to the ballroom for the fourth season and was partnered with NBA star
Clyde Drexler Clyde Austin Drexler (born June 22, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who currently works as the commissioner of the Big3 3-on-3 basketball league. Nicknamed "Clyde the Glide", he played 15 seasons in the National Bask ...
. They were the fourth couple to be eliminated. This ranked them in eighth place.


Dancing with the Stars performances

With celebrity partner
Tucker Carlson Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American conservative political commentator who hosted the nightly political talk show '' Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News from 2016 to 2023. Since his contract with Fox News was term ...
: With celebrity partner
Clyde Drexler Clyde Austin Drexler (born June 22, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who currently works as the commissioner of the Big3 3-on-3 basketball league. Nicknamed "Clyde the Glide", he played 15 seasons in the National Bask ...
:


Second World Dance Championship

In 2010, Grinenko was representing U.S.A. in the Second Dance World Championship (celebrated in Mexico). She was paired with Paul Barris. Elena came out from the competition after learning that she was pregnant. Her replacement was Snejana Petrova


Achievements


See also

* U.S. National Dancesport Champions (Professional Rhythm) * '' Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 3)'' * '' Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 4)''


References

http://elenagrinenko.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Grinenko, Elena 1976 births Dancers from Moscow Living people Russian ballroom dancers Russian female dancers Participants in American reality television series 21st-century Russian dancers