Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Multiseason Dancing with the Stars performer Maksim Chmerkovskiy trained as a dancer from childhood in his native Ukraine, then suffered from a debilitating skiing accident in mid-adolescence that threatened to end not simply his dancing, but his physical movement per se. Incredibly, Chmerkovskiy endured bouts of extreme physical therapy that enabled him to almost fully recover. In time, after Chmerkovskiy immigrated with his family to the United States (and opened a dance studio), ABC tapped him as one of the recurring performers on their Dancing reality series. His partners included Tia Carrere, Laila Ali and former Spice Girl Melanie Brown. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide