Name	Mark Ballas
Height
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	May 24, 1986
Place of Birth	Houston, Texas, USA
Famous for

Ballas was born in Houston, Texas. His paternal grandparents were Spanish and Greek. His parents are Corky Ballas[2] and British-born Shirley Ballas (née Rich).[3] Mark's grandfather, George Ballas Sr., owned and operated a 64000 sqft dance studio called Dance City USA, known as the largest dance studio in the world. It was situated in Houston and had 125 teachers on payroll. Mark's grandfather sold the studio and later went on to invent the Weed Eater. Mark's grandmother was a famous Flamenco dancer who appeared in several movies and studied with Carmen Amaya in Spain.
At the age of 4, Mark 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, he 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.

On the 5th season of Dancing With The Stars, Ballas was partnered with Cheetah Girls star Sabrina Bryan. In their first week, they scored a 26 out of 30 - at the time the highest score earned on the first week by any contestant. On week 4 of the show, they set another record by scoring 30/30 from the judges for their Paso Doble. They were the first couple in the show's history to receive a perfect 30 in week four. On October 30, 2007, the pair was voted off the show. The announcement was met with shock from the judges and the live audience. An AOL poll voted their elimination "2007's most shocking TV moment." For the second-to-last week, Bryan and Ballas were invited back to the show to perform - another first for any couple. For the 100th show, their Paso Doble was chosen as number 9 on the top 10 dances of the first five seasons. According to Tonioli, their elimination was the biggest shock of season 5 and this dance was a glimpse of what they could have accomplished. Bryan and Ballas were the only couple in the top 10 that did not make it to the finals.
It was announced that Ballas' partner for Season 6 of Dancing With The Stars would be Olympic Gold Medal-winning figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. In the first week, Kristi and Mark received a 27 out of 30 for their foxtrot. This was the highest score to be received on the first week in the entire series. Together, they continued to top the leaderboard for 6 weeks straight - a new record on DWTS. However, they came in 2nd in the 7th and 8th weeks of competition, ending their streak. Kristi and Mark were at the top of the leaderboard for 8 of the 10 weeks of competition - a new DWTS record. They also maintained the highest average as of Week 10 with a 28.3 average including a perfect 90/90 score for the finale; these were both DWTS records. Kristi and Mark's lowest score, a 26, was also the highest "low" score for any contestant throughout the seasons. On May 20, 2008, Ballas and Yamaguchi won the 2008 Season of Dancing with the Stars. According to the judges, they had set the standard for the entire season and were the most consistent couple, not only in Season 6, but in all the seasons of DWTS.
On August 25, 2008, ABC announced the cast of the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars and Mark was paired with reality television star Kim Kardashian. They were the 3rd couple eliminated, finishing in 11th place, on September 30, 2008.
Mark now maintains the highest average for a male pro dancer on DWTS at 26.83.
Ballas returned for the eighth season and he was paired with Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, who, at age 17, was the youngest competitor on the show to date. On May 19th, 2009 Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas won the 8th Season of Dancing with the Stars. Mark Ballas' partner Shawn Johnson is the youngest celebrity to ever win the trophy. Mark has the honor of being the only male professional dancer to win two seasons on DWTS.