Mark Ballas

Mark Ballas, born May 24, 1986, in Houston, Texas, is an American dancer and singer, best known as a professional ballroom dancer on the ABC program "Dancing with the Stars."

Ballas is of Spanish and Greek descent. He came from a family of dancers; his grandfather owned a dancing studio while his grandmother was a famous Flamenco dancer who appeared in several movies and studied with Carmen Amaya in Spain.

At the age of 4, Ballas enrolled at the Italia Conti Academy of Dramatic Arts Associate School, where he was trained in singing, dancing and acting. When he was 10, he became British Juvenile Ballroom and Latin American Dance Champion.

At the age of 11, Ballas 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.

Ballas landed his big break when he joined the Dancing With the Stars in the fall of 2007 where he later won Season 6 with partner Kristi Yamaguchi.

Aside from dancing, Ballas 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.