Elena Grinenko

Contact TablesWelcome to my offical myspace page. Here's a little background so you know where it all started.I was born in Moscow, Russia and began dancing at the age of seven. In my first year, I became champion in my age category in Moscow. Aside from Ballroom Dancing, I've had six years of ballet and Russian folk dancing training. I also participated in the Ballroom Formation Team of Russia. In my Junior career I became a Soviet Union Finalist in all divisions of ballroom dancing: standard, latin and 10-dance.In 1994, while competing in the youth category, I won the Moscow and National Championship titles in the Latin Division. That same year, I became a world semi-finalist in latin, my country’s finalist in standard and my country’s champion in the 10 Dance category.After graduating from high school in 1995, I was accepted into a very prestigious “ART ACADEMY” of Russia to study many different forms of dance. In 1998, I received the O-1 Visa for extraordinary people and immigrated to the United States of America and began my journey in the professional world of ballroom dancing. In 2000 with my partner Michael Nadtochy, we won the “RISING STAR COUPLE OF THE YEAR” award.In 2002, I began a new partnership with dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy. In our first competition, we won the US Nationals in the Rising Star Division. That same year, we won the same title but on an international level in England. Later that year, we starred in a BROADWAY SHOW called “LATIN FUSION” created by one of the world’s latin champions. In 2004, we starred in the show’s follow up “LATIN REVOLUTION.”With Maksim we became: • Three-Time National Finalists - Professional Latin • World cup finalists • Masters Gala finalists • All England Champions • Semi - Finalists in some of the world’s most prestigious competitions like Blackpool, UK and International Championships.In 2005, Maks and I were ranked 7th in the world in the Latin American International Professional Division.Currently, I am dancing with Dancing with The Stars “Bad Boy” Tony Dovolani and together we are defending US and World Rhythm Champions.My television credits include the show American Ballroom Challenge in 2005 and 2006, which was broadcasted on PBS in February 2006 and 2007. Last season I was on ABC's hit "Dancing with the Stars" with anchor Tucker Carlson, and had several guest appearances on the show. This season I am partnered with former NBA great and all-star forward Clyde "the Glide" Drexler. Watch for us on the premier March 19th on ABC. Thanks to all my family, friends, and fans for all your support!!! Icons Collage MySpace Editor Photo Collage MySpace Backgrounds Glitter Graphics