CHERYL BURKE

'Cheryl Bautista Burke' (born May 3 1984) is a two time Emmy nominated professional dancer. She is best known for winning the second and third seasons of ABC's American version of ''Dancing with the Stars'' with Drew Lachey (February 2006) and Emmitt Smith (November 2006).

Contents

Early life

Dancing

Dancing with the Stars

Awards and honors

Outside Her Dancing Career

External links

References

Early life

Burke grew up in San Francisco, California, and came from a family that loved to dance. At four years old, she began taking ballet lessons and performing throughout the Bay Area. When she was eleven, she discovered ballroom dancing and decided to change her focus. She trained in both standard ballroom and latin dances. By age thirteen, she was competing and traveling all over the world.
Burke graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School in 2002. ^[1]
Burke is of Filipino, Irish and Russian descent.
^[2]

Dancing

For Cheryl, dancing is a way of life. It provides a medium for her to express her inner feelings and passion all the while maintaining focus and composure during extremely high-pressure situations. It is dancing that has made her such a competitor (both on and off the floor) and made her strive for perfection in anything that she sets out to do.
Cheryl says that her dancing style is unlike anyone else's. She takes pride in being a "rule breaker" and feels that her greatest achievements in dancing are still to come.
^[3]

Dancing with the Stars

Burke made ''Dancing with the Stars'' franchise history by becoming the first professional dancer to win two championships, accomplishing the feat in back-to-back seasons of the US series. Burke won her first championship with 98 Degrees boy band member Drew Lachey in the second season, and 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, now partnered with actor Ian Ziering, but there was to be no three-peat. This time, Cheryl and her partner were unable to win the trophy, with her and Ian being eliminated in the semi-finals on May 15.^[4]
She participated in the first ever 38 city Dancing with the Stars Tour that kicked off December 19, 2006 in San Diego, California and wrapped February 11, 2007 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She joined the second tour this summer which hit 24 cities kicking off June 20th in Austin, Texas, and wrapped July 24th in Vancouver, Canada. Her celebrity partner for both tours was Drew Lachey.
Burke will return to the ballroom September 25, 2007 for Season 5. Her celebrity partner will be none other than Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton.

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.

^[5]
Nominee Prime Time Emmy 2006, Outstanding Choreography for Paso Doble.

Nominee Prime Time Emmy 2006, Outstanding Choreography for Freestyle.
^[6]
Burke is the youngest nominee to ever receive nominations in that category.

Outside Her Dancing Career

Cheryl lives in Los Angeles, and has recently returned to her childhood home in the Bay Area to support local schools. In March 2006, she helped the International School of the Peninsula (ISTP) in Palo Alto, CA, raise $250,000 for its educational programs. The following weekend, along with DWTS runner-up Jerry Rice, she helped Menlo School raise funds for their school. A one-hour dance lesson in her house ballroom sold for $31,000.

Cheryl, along with Louis van Amstel and Ashly DelGrosso, appeared on the September 22, 2006 episode of ''The Suite Life of Zack and Cody'', titled ''Loosely Ballroom''.

Burke recently appeared in the May 2007 issue of Stuff Magazine.

Cheryl is dating ''Boy Meets World'' actor Matthew Lawrence whom she met through fellow contestant Joey Lawrence from ''Dancing with the Stars''. The two have been dating since January 2007.

External links

★ Official web site for Cheryl Burke

★ Dancing with the Stars biography

★ My Ox Is Broken Interview

★

★ Cheryl Burke interview

★ DanceSport Competition Results

References

1. [1]
2. [2]
3. [3]
4. The Stars Align for a fourth season of ABC's hit alternative series, Dancing with the Stars
5. [4]
6. [5]