Cheryl Burke Biography

Summary

"Cheryl Bautista Burke" (born May 3, 1984) is a professional dancer. She is best known for being the first two-time champion of ABC's American version of "Dancing with the Stars".

Early life

Burke grew up in Atherton, California. She is of Filipino, Russian, and Irish descent. Her family dances for recreation and has a dance floor at home. At age four, she began taking ballet lessons and performing locally. She then began ballroom dancing and decided to change her focus. She trained in both standard ballroom and Latin dances. She began competing at age 13.

"Dancing with the Stars"

Burke won her first championship with 98 Degrees member Drew Lachey in the second season. She won her second championship with retired football star Emmitt Smith in the third season.

Burke returned to the ballroom on March 19, 2007 for Season 4, partnered with actor Ian Ziering. Burke and Ziering were eliminated in the semi-finals on May 15, 2007.

Burke participated in a 38-city "Dancing with the Stars" Tour from December 19, 2006 to February 11, 2007. She also joined the second summer tour, which visited 24 cities between June 20, 2007 in Austin, Texas and July 24, 2007 in Vancouver, Canada. Her celebrity partner for both tours was Drew Lachey.

Burke competed on Season 5. Her partner was Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton. They were the third couple eliminated from the competition on October 9, 2007.

Burke participated with both Lachey & Newton in the "Dancing with the Stars" winter tour that kicked off December 18, 2007 in Seattle, Washington. The tour wrapped in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 10, 2008.

Burke competed on Season 6 and was partnered with actor Cristián de la Fuente. They made it to the finals and on May 20, 2008, Cheryl and Cristián placed 3rd in the Season 6 competition.

Burke returned to the show for Season 7 with partner Maurice Greene. They were eliminated in Week 8 on November 11, 2008 and came in 5th place.

Burke returned to the show's eighth season, in which she was paired with actor Gilles Marini. They were the runners-up for this season, losing to Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas.

On August 17, 2009, it was announced that Burke would compete on the ninth season of "Dancing with the Stars." with partner Thomas Dale DeLay (former U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader). On October 6, 2009, Burke and DeLay withdrew from the competition because DeLay had stress fractures in both feet.

Performances

With partner Drew Lachey:

With partner Emmitt Smith:

With partner Ian Ziering:

With celebrity partner Wayne Newton:

With celebrity partner Cristián de la Fuente:

With celebrity partner Maurice Greene:

With celebrity partner Gilles Marini:

Acting

Burke had a guest role on the Disney Channel series "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody", in the episode 'Loosely Ballroom' along with fellow "Dancing" professionals Louis van Amstel and Ashly DelGrosso. She portrays Shannon, a nurse attending to the ensemble cast during a dance contest at the series setting, The Tipton Hotel. In the final round of the competition, Burke's character volunteers to replace an ill competitor. She and her partner go on to win the competition.

In November 2009, "US Magazine" magazine announced that Burke is in talks to star as Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway during the hiatus from "Dancing With the Stars".

Awards and honors

2005 World Cup Professional Rising Star Latin Champion

2005 San Francisco Latin Champion

2005 Ohio Star Ball Rising Star Latin Champion

UK Championships

4th in U.S. in the 'Under 21s.'

Dancing with the Stars champion Season 2 with Drew Lachey

Dancing with the Stars champion Season 3 with Emmitt Smith

Two-time nominee: Prime Time Emmy 2006, Outstanding Choreography for Paso Doble and Outstanding Choreography for Freestyle; Burke is the youngest nominee to ever receive nominations in that category. (1)

On October 20, 2007, Cheryl won the Role Model Award at the 7th Annual Filipino/American Library Gala.

On the 2008 Asian Excellence Awards, she won the Viewer's Choice award for Favourite T.V. Personality.

Other work

In April 2008, Burke opened the Cheryl Burke Dance studio in San Francisco at the site of the former Metronome Ballroom. The studio teaches a variety of dance styles, everything from ballroom to salsa. In 2009, Burke acquired the dance studio 'Starlite Ballroom' (formerly in Sunnyvale, California), reopened as Cheryl Burke Dance Starlite, in Mountain View, California. A third studio is opening in Laguna Niguel, north of San Diego.