In addition to Rising Stars, Chmerkovskiy owns several social and competitive dance studios under the brand "Dance With Me." Most are in the New York metropolitan area.ĭancing with the Stars Pro dancer Ĭhmerkovskiy competed as a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars for fifteen seasons. Chmerkovskiy also taught dancers Serge Onik and Kiki Nyemchek, both of whom competed on So You Think You Can Dance, finishing in the top fourteen in season 11 and fourth in season 14, respectively. dance pair to win a world junior championship. In 2001, Chmerkovskiy had his first major success as an instructor when he helped his brother, Valentin, then 16, and Diana Olonetskaya, 15-became the first U.S. I wanted to open my studio somewhere where there was nothing like it and where people would look at it with no preconceived notions." He said in 2011 of choosing a New Jersey location, "I didn't want to open a studio that would become just one of the studios in the area. The studio relocated a few times until it ended up in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. Chmerkovskiy said he chose New Jersey because there was a plethora of dance studios that he disliked already established in Brooklyn.
The family immigrated to Brooklyn, New York in 1994. Doctors foresaw long-term difficulties and little possibility of a dancing career however, he recovered and was dancing again six months later. Īt age 13, he broke his right leg in a skiing accident and had a titanium rod put in to stabilize his leg. As a child Chmerkovskiy also participated in tennis, soccer, and swimming. He eventually began competing in ten-dance, which includes both ballroom and Latin dances.
The aim of the school was to train children to become young gentlemen or ladies, and the education included manners and ballroom dance.
He began dancing at age 4 when Chmerkovskiy's parents enrolled him in a school of aesthetic education. His father is Jewish, and his mother is Christian, and he has described himself as Jewish. He has a younger brother, Valentin Chmerkovskiy (born 1986), who is also a professional dancer. Chmerkovskiy was born January 17, 1980, in Odessa, Ukrainian SSR to parents Aleksandr "Sasha" Chmerkovskiy and Larisa Chmerkovskaya.