Karina Smirnoff

Photo of Karina Smirnoff

Biography

At the age of five, she was given ballet lessons and by nine years old, was introduced to ballroom dancing, immediately falling in love with it. After high school, she graduated from Fordham University but put her academic studies on hold to pursue her ballroom dancing career in the United Kingdom. Karina and her former partner Slavik Kryklyvyy shared tremendous success winning the U.S. Championships and many other world titles and were ranked …
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Job Title

Actor, Choreographer

Born

January 2, 1978

Career Milestones

Began her professional dancing career in the mid-1990s

1983

Began taking ballet lessons at the age of five

1992

Moved to the U.S.

1999

Represented the U.S. in various dance competitions with partner Louis van Amstel

2004

Feature acting debut in the U.S. remake of "Shall We Dance," starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez

2006

Joined the cast of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" with celebrity partner Mario Lopez; placed second in the competition

2006

Representing Russia, won first place at the 2006 Grand-Prix Dynamo in Moscow with partner Dmitri Timokhin

2007

Guest starred on the Disney Channel series "Hannah Montana"

2011

Won the 13th season of "Dancing with the Stars" with celebrity partner J.R. Martinez