America's Ballroom Challenge

America's Ballroom Challenge
Directed byAida Moreno
Presented byTony Meredith (2006 - 2007)
Marilu Henner (2006 - 2007)
Jasmine Guy (2008)
Ron Montez (2008 - present)
Jean Louisa Kelly (2009)
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producerMoreno/Lyons Productions
Production locationColumbus, OH
Running timeVaries
Original release
NetworkPBS
ReleaseFebruary 1, 2006 (2006-02-01) –
May 8, 2015 (2015-05-08)

America's Ballroom Challenge is a competitive ballroom dance television series that aired on Public Broadcasting Service in the United States between 2006 and 2009.

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

  1. ^ "Ohio Star Ball - A Festival of Dancesport". Archived from the original on 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  2. ^ Season 1 - The Competition
  3. ^ Season 2 - The Competition
  4. ^ Season 3 - The Competition
  5. ^ "Season 4 - The Competition". PBS. Archived from the original on 2009-02-16. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  6. ^ "America's Ballroom Challenge". PBS. 2009-02-09. Archived from the original on 2009-03-08. Retrieved 2011-05-26.