America's Ballroom Challenge

America's Ballroom Challenge
Directed by Aida Moreno
Presented by United States Tony Meredith (2006 - 2007)
United States Marilu Henner (2006 - 2007)
United States Jasmine Guy (2008)
United States Ron Montez (2008 - present)
United States Jean Louisa Kelly (2009)
Country of origin  United States
No. of seasons 4 (As of February 25, 2009)
No. of episodes 13 (As of February 25, 2009)
Production
Executive producer(s) Moreno/Lyons Productions
Location(s) Ohio Columbus, OH
Running time Varies
Broadcast
Original channel PBS
Picture format (480p) (SDTV)
(720p) (HDTV)
Original run February 1, 2006 – February 25, 2009
External links
Website

America's Ballroom Challenge is a competitive ballroom dance television series airing on Public Broadcasting Service in the United States since 2006.

It is part of the annual Ohio Star Ball,[1] a festival of DanceSport in Columbus, Ohio.

Each season typically consists of competitions in five categories, with the first four categories devoted to each of the major styles of competitive ballroom dance:

The last category is a "Grand Finale" with the four champion couples competing for the title of "America's Best" dancers.

Episode guide

Season 1 (2006)

Hosted by Marilu Henner and Tony Meredith.

Season 1 Airdate Category Champions[2]
Episode 1 February 1, 2006 American Smooth Ben Ermis and Shalene Archer Ermis
American Rhythm Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko
International Standard Erminio Stefano and Liene Apale
International Latin Andrei Gavriline and Elena Kryuchkova
Episode 2 February 8, 2006 Grand Finale Andrei Gavriline and Elena Kryuchkova

Season 2 (2007)

Hosted by Marilu Henner and Tony Meredith.

Season 2 Airdate Category Champions[3]
Episode 1 January 31, 2007 American Smooth Ben Ermis and Shalene Archer-Ermis
Episode 2 February 7, 2007 American Rhythm Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko
Episode 3 February 14, 2007 International Standard Jonathan Wilkins and Katusha Demidova
Episode 4 February 21, 2007 International Latin Andrei Gavriline and Elena Kryuchkova
Episode 5 February 28, 2007 Grand Finale Jonathan Wilkins and Katusha Demidova

Season 3 (2008)

Hosted by Jasmine Guy and Ron Montez.

Season 3 Airdate Category Champions[4]
Episode 1 January 30, 2008 American Smooth Tomas Mielnicki and J.T. Thomas
Episode 2 February 6, 2008 American Rhythm Jose DeCamps and Joanna Zacharewicz
Episode 3 February 13, 2008 International Standard Arunas Bizokas and Katusha Demidova
Episode 4 February 20, 2008 International Latin Andrei Gavriline and Elena Kryuchkova
Episode 5 February 27, 2008 Grand Finale Andrei Gavriline and Elena Kryuchkova

Season 4 (2009)

Hosted by Jean Louisa Kelly and Ron Montez.

Season 4 Airdate Category Champions[5]
Episode 1 February 25, 2009 American Smooth Jonathan Roberts and Valentina Kostenko
American Rhythm Jose DeCamps and Joanna Zacharewicz
International Standard Mikhail Avdeev and Anastasia Muravyeva
International Latin Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagoruychenko
Grand Finale Riccardo Cocchi and Yulia Zagoruychenko

The 2009 season (which would have aired in 2010) was not produced.

The 2010 season (which would have aired in 2011) was not produced.

Championship Ballroom Dancing

Prior to America's Ballroom Challenge, PBS was featuring Championship Ballroom Dancing, also from the Ohio Star Ball, annually since 1980. The one-show event featured the final rounds of the International Standard and International Latin Styles of the competition with exhibitions in between usually by winners from other categories not shown on broadcast.[6]

References

External links