Artem Chigvintsev

Artem Chigvintsev
Born Артём Владимирович Чигвинцев[1]
12 June 1982[2]
Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Residence Los Angeles, California
London, England
Ethnicity Russian
Occupation Dancer
Years active 2003–present
Height 5'10
Television So You Think You Can Dance
Strictly Come Dancing (2010–13)
Dancing with the Stars (2014–)
Spouse(s) Giselle Peacock (m. 2004; div. 2005)
Partner(s) Carrie Ann Inaba (2006–08)
Kara Tointon (2010–14)
Website
artemchigvintsev.com

Artem Chigvintsev (Russian: Артём Влади́мирович Чи́гвинцев, Artyom Vladimirovich Chigvintsev; born 12 June 1982) is a Russian American professional dancer, specialising in Latin dancing.[3]

Chigvintsev was born at Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic, RSFSR, Soviet Union. He moved to the United States in 2003, and began dancing with champion ballroom dancer Giselle Peacock. Chigvintsev auditioned to appear as a contestant on the first series of So You Think You Can Dance.[4] Chigvintsev was eliminated alongside his fellow contestant Melissa Vella,[5] and returned as a guest choreographer for season two.[4]

He currently appears on Dancing with the Stars and has toured with the Dancing with the Stars live show. Chigvintsev joined the cast of Burn the Floor. He performed both on Broadway and more recently in the West End in 2009. Artem joined Strictly Come Dancing straight from Burn the Floor in London in 2010-2013 in his first year, winning the show along with his celebrity partner Kara Tointon.

Strictly Come Dancing

In September 2010, Chigvintsev joined Strictly Come Dancing series 8 as a professional dancer, where he was partnered with actress Kara Tointon.[6] The pair achieved good scores in the first five weeks of 30, 32, 31, 32, and 37. In week 5, they were awarded the first 10 of the series by Alesha Dixon for their paso doble. In week 6 they were top of the leaderboard with their salsa. They also had good scores for the next five weeks of 36, 38, 35, 34, and 38. In week 11, they got their highest score of 39 for the Viennese Waltz and Rumba and got the maximum 5/5 for the swing-a-thon. Chigvintsev and Tointon made it to the final along with Matt Baker and Pamela Stephenson. The pair went on to win the competition, defeating Matt Baker and his partner Aliona Vilani, and being crowned series champions for 2010.[7] Chigvintsev is one of four professionals to win the series as a first-time Strictly pro.

In 2011's Strictly Come Dancing season 9 Chigvintsev was partnered with Holly Valance. He and Valance made it to Week 11, the Semi-Finals, before being eliminated.

Chigvintsev's celebrity partner in the 10th series of Strictly Come Dancing was television presenter Fern Britton. They were eliminated in Week 6.

His celebrity partner in the eleventh series of Strictly Come Dancing was former Coronation Street star Natalie Gumede, who played Kirsty Soames. They reached the finals and became one of the runners-up, along with Susanna Reid and Kevin Clifton, losing to model Abbey Clancy.

Series Celebrity partner Place
8 Kara Tointon 1st
9 Holly Valance 4th
10 Fern Britton 10th
11 Natalie Gumede 2nd

Series 8: with celebrity partner Kara Tointon

Series 9: with celebrity partner Holly Valance

Series 10: with celebrity partner Fern Britton

Series 11: with celebrity partner Natalie Gumede

Dancing with the Stars

In 2014, after competing on the eleventh series of Strictly, Chigvintsev appeared in the 18th season of Dancing with the Stars as a member of the Dance Troupe. Later that year, it was announced that Chigvintsev had been promoted to professional dancer for the show's 19th season, marking his exit from Strictly Come Dancing.[8]

He paired, for season 19, with actress Lea Thompson. The couple was eliminated in Week 9 (the Quarter Finals) and finished in sixth place.

He returned for season 20 and paired with award-winning singer Patti LaBelle.[9] The couple was eliminated on Week 6 and finished in 8th place.

Season Partner Place Average
19 Lea Thompson 6th 34.1
20 Patti LaBelle 8th 28.6

With celebrity partner Lea Thompson (Average: 34.1)

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Hough Tonioli
1 Foxtrot / "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" 8 8 8 8 Safe
2 Jive / "Land of a Thousand Dances" 9 8 9 9 Safe
3 Cha-Cha-Cha / "The Power of Love" 7 81 8 8 Safe
4 Contemporary / "Dance with My Father" 10 92 10 10 Safe
53 Broadway / "You Can't Stop the Beat" 9 84 8 9 No Elimination
6 Salsa / "Sexy People (The Fiat Song)" 8 85 8 8 Safe
7 Argentine Tango / “Necessary Evil”
Team Freestyle / "Black Widow"
8
9
8
9
9
9
9
9
Safe
8 Jazz / "Something Bad"
Jive Dance-Off / "Rip It Up"
8
No
8
Extra
8
Points
8
Awarded
Safe
9 Samba / "Animals"
Paso Doble (Trio Challenge) /"Black Betty"
8
9
9
9
8
9
9
9
Eliminated


1 Score given by guest judge Kevin Hart in place of Goodman.

2 The American public scored the dance in place of Goodman with the averaged score being counted alongside the three other judges.

3This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Thompson performed with Valentin Chmerkovskiy instead of Chigvinstev. Chigvintsev performed with Janel Parrish.

4Score given by guest judge Jessie J in place of Goodman.

5Score given by guest judge Pitbull in place of Goodman.


With celebrity partner Patti LaBelle (Average: 28.6)

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Hough Tonioli
1 Foxtrot / "Lady Marmalade" 7 6 6 6 No Elimination
2 Salsa / "In da Club" 7 7 7 7 Safe
3 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Oye 2014" 6 5 5 6 Safe
4 Jazz / "Dan Swit Me" 8 7 7 8 Safe
5 Waltz / "When You Wish Upon A Star" 7 6 7 7 Safe
6 Quickstep / “Heat Wave
Team Freestyle / "Trouble"
8
10
7
9
7
10
7
10
Eliminated


So You Think You Can Dance

In 2011, Chigvintsev was a choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance (UK series 2). He choreographed a Viennese Waltz to "She's Always a Woman" by Billy Joel for Katie Love & Luke Jackson. He choreographed a Cha-Cha-Cha to "Judas" by Lady Gaga for Bethany Rose Harrison & Lee Bridgman. For the final, he choreographed a Tango to "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)" by Grace Jones for Katie Love & Luke Jackson.

Other work

In 2011, Chigvintsev acted the part of lead choreographer in the CBeebies Christmas Pantomime, Cinderella.

Chigvintsev has also appeared in an episode of the TV show The O.C. and in the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.[4]

Personal life

Chigvintsev was married to his dancing partner, Giselle Peacock, from 2004 to 2005. He became a naturalized American citizen on 17 November 2014.[2] He is a keen biker, owning a Harley Davidson and a Ducati Motorcycle. Chigvintsev has two pixie-bob cats, Hudson and Orlando, who live with him in Los Angeles. Chigvintsev dated Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba for two and a half years, ending in a break up in 2009.[10]

After his victory on Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, Tointon announced by that she and Chigvintsev were in a relationship.[11]

References

External links

Preceded by
Chris Hollins and Ola Jordan
Strictly Come Dancing Champion
(with partner Kara Tointon)

Series 8 (2010)
Succeeded by
Harry Judd and Aliona Vilani
Preceded by
Kimberley Walsh & Pasha Kovalev
Denise Van Outen & James Jordan
Strictly Come Dancing Runner-Up
(with partner Natalie Gumede)

Series 11 (2013)
Succeeded by
Frankie Bridge & Kevin Clifton
Simon Webbe & Kristina Rihanoff