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Dance Fever Heats Up In Bay Area This Week

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By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 22, 2008

TAMPA - Dance fever is sweeping the country and heating up the floor this week in a national ballroom competition that brings more than 7,000 dancers to the Tampa area as well as some professionals from "Dancing With the Stars."

Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who has been paired with actor Tia Carrere, singer-actress Willa Ford and Muhammad Ali's daughter Laila, will be a judge at the 11th annual Millennium Dancesport Championships, which get under way Tuesday at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg.

Also expected to be dancing during the competition, which runs through Saturday, are "Dancing With the Stars" professionals Jonathan Roberts, who was recently paired with Marie Osmond, and his wife, Anna Trebunskaya, who has been paired with football legend Jerry Rice and actor Steve Guttenberg.

"It's going to be a week of stunning costumes, sexy dancers and awesome talent," says Dancesport founder Michael Chapman, a former world champion dancer who lives in Tampa.

Chapman says he has seen interest in dance competition grow every year, especially fueled now by television series such as "Dancing With the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance."

"Young people can see how glamorous the sport is," he says. "On 'Dancing With the Stars,' they see the whole metamorphosis from the very beginning steps to the blossoming of a butterfly."

Chmerkovskiy says women are typically more interested in dancing than men but these television series are sending more men into the dance studios.

"They see that dancing is not in any way derogatory to their manhood," he said in a recent telephone interview.

Chmerkovskiy, 28, was voted one of People magazine's Sexiest Bachelors. He skipped the most recent season of "Dancing" to concentrate on personal appearances and his three booming dance studios (in New York, New Jersey and Long Island).

He also choreographed a Las Vegas show, appeared on "All My Children" and worked on a "Dancing With the Stars" fitness DVD. He says he will be returning to the series when it returns this fall.

Born in Russia, Chmerkovskiy began dancing at age 4. By the time his family immigrated to the United States in 1994, he was already a junior ballroom champion.

He says he was almost crippled by a skiing accident when he was 13. His right leg was smashed, and a metal rod was surgically implanted from his hip to his knee.

"They said that I would not be able to walk without a limp, but I overcame it," he says. "This was a very big deal for me. I healed and the rod was taken out. I keep it on a shelf as a souvenir. I had a lot of help from my family. I consider myself very lucky because my parents took very good care of me."

Chmerkovskiy will not be dancing at Dancesport - he will be judging.

"It's entirely different from the kind of judging that is done on 'Dancing With the Stars,'" he says. "I am a tough judge, but I have been in the business a long time."

He adds that "Dancing With the Stars" is more of a popularity contest than a serious ballroom competition where judges have strict standards to go by.

He says he wanted to participate in Dancesport because he respects Chapman, who is a longtime friend and innovator in the world of ballroom dancing.

Chapman competed professionally for many years and was the World Open Exhibition Dance Champion in Holland in 1992 and 1994, the U.S. Pro-Am Grand Champion in 1992 and 1995; and the 1993 Triple Crown Exhibition Dance Champion.

He says he started the Millennium Dancesport Championships in a small ballroom at the Belleview Biltmore with a few hundred entries. He says it has grown to be the second largest of the 92 dance competitions sanctioned by the National Dance Council of America.

During the five days of the championships, teachers, students and children will be competing from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Professionals will compete from 8 to midnight each day.

More than $125,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded including more than $23,000 in pro-am dance scholarships.

On the Saturday night finale, there will be performances by the new rising stars of professional Latin dancing, Slavik Kryklyvyy and Hanna Karttunen, and professional international Latin champions Sergey Surkov and Melia as well as the World Wheelchair Latin Champions Piotr Iwanicki and Dorota Janowska.

Chapman estimates that more than 25,000 dances will take place during the competition. The events are open to the public, and Chapman expects to draw more than 5,000 spectators. Admission prices vary from $25 to $125. For information, go to www.m2dance.com

MILLENNIUM DANCESPORT CHAMPIONSHIPS

WHAT: Five days of ballroom dance competition featuring "Dancing With the Stars" professionals

WHEN: Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. to midnight

HOW MUCH: $25 to $125 depending on day and event

WHERE: Renaissance Vinoy Resort, 501 Fifth Avenue N.E., St. Petersburg; (863) 668-9668; www.m2dance.com

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813 259-7654 or wbelcher@tampatrib.com.

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