Mark Ballas

Mark Alexander Ballas Jr. (born May 24, 1986)^[1] is an American performer. At a young age, he moved to London, in the UK, where he began his performing career. He remained in London until 2007, when he moved back to the US.

Ballas is a professional ballroom dancer on the ABC program Dancing with the Stars. He began competing on the show in the fall of 2007. He is also a singer/songwriter/musician for the group Ballas Hough Band, where he composes the group's music, plays lead guitar and sings lead vocals.

Early life

Ballas was born in Houston, Texas, with family ties in Laredo, Texas. His paternal grandparents are George Charles Ballas and Maria Luisa Marulanda Ballas of Mexican, Spanish and Greek background.^[2] His parents are Corky Ballas^[3] and British-born Shirley Ballas (née Rich).^[4] Grandfather George Ballas is the inventor of the Weed Eater lawn-trimming device.^[5]

At the age of 11, he earned a full time slot at the Academy, as well as earning a full scholarship to the college. In 2005, he was awarded "Performer of the Year". He then moved on to win championships at The British Open to the World, The US Open to the World and The International Open to the World. With his former partner Julianne Hough, he won the Junior Latin American Dance Championship and the gold medal at the Junior Olympics^{[disambiguation needed]}.^{[citation needed]}

As a youth, Ballas was a member of a pop singing trio called "2B1G"(2 Boys 1 Girl"), along with Julianne Hough and Derek Hough.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Career

[edit]Acting

As an actor, Ballas played the lead role of Tony in the musical Copacabana and was the lead dancer in the UK national tour of the Spanish musical Maria de Buenos Aires. He was also the understudy for the role of Ritchie Valens in the UK national tour of Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story. Ballas played an extra in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (film) as part of the Hufflepuff House. In October 2008, Ballas made a guest appearance on the season premiere of Samantha Who.^[6] In September 2010, Ballas had a guest appearance on his formerDancing With the Stars partner Melissa Joan Hart's new series, Melissa & Joey.

[edit]Dancing with the Stars

On the fifth season of Dancing With The Stars, Ballas was partnered with Cheetah Girls star Sabrina Bryan. On October 30, 2007, the pair was voted off the show. Ballas' partner forSeason 6 of Dancing With The Stars was Olympic Gold Medal-winning figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. On August 25, 2008, ABC announced the cast of the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars, with Ballas paired with reality television star Kim Kardashian. They were the third couple eliminated, finishing in eleventh place, on September 30, 2008. For the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars, Ballas was paired with Olympic gold-medal winning gymnast Shawn Johnson, winning that season's competition on May 19, 2009. He was partnered with actress Melissa Joan Hart for the show's ninth season. They were voted off in week six and came in 9th place. For season 10, Ballas was partnered with actress Shannen Doherty.^[7] They were the first couple eliminated, on March 30, 2010. For season 11, Ballas was partnered with Bristol Palin, daughter of politician Sarah Palin. They made it to the finale and finished in third place. For Season 12, Ballas is partnered with Disney Channel star, Chelsea Kane.