America's Ballroom Challenge

{{Infobox television

| image =

| runtime = Varies

| creator =

| executive_producer = Moreno/Lyons Productions

| developer =

| director = Aida Moreno

| presenter = Tony Meredith
Marilu Henner
Jasmine Guy
Ron Montez
Jean Louisa Kelly

| starring =

| country = United States

| location = Columbus, OH

| network = PBS

| first_aired = {{start date|2006|2|1}}

| last_aired = {{end date|2015|5|8}}

| num_seasons = 4

| num_episodes = 13

}}

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,{{Cite web |url=http://www.ohiostarball.com/index.cfm/showsection/event_information/page.htm |title=Ohio Star Ball - A Festival of Dancesport |access-date=2009-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218235054/http://ohiostarball.com/index.cfm/showsection/event_information/page.htm |archive-date=2009-02-18 |url-status=dead }} 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.

class="wikitable"
Season 1

! Airdate

! Category

! Champions[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ballroomchallenge/competition-s1.html Season 1 - The Competition]

valign="top"

|rowspan="4"| Episode 1

|rowspan="4"| 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.

class="wikitable"
Season 2

! Airdate

! Category

! Champions[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ballroomchallenge/competition-s2-ep5.html Season 2 - The Competition]

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.

class="wikitable"
Season 3

! Airdate

! Category

! Champions[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ballroomchallenge/competition-s3-ep5.html Season 3 - The Competition]

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.

class="wikitable"
Season 4

! Airdate

! Category

! Champions{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ballroomchallenge/competition-s4.html |title=Season 4 - The Competition |website=PBS |access-date=2017-08-24 |archive-date=2009-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216152402/http://pbs.org/wgbh/ballroomchallenge/competition-s4.html |url-status=dead }}

valign="top"

|rowspan="5"| Episode 1

|rowspan="5"| 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.{{cite web |date = 2009-02-09 |url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ballroomchallenge/competition.html |title = America's Ballroom Challenge |website = PBS |access-date = 2011-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308133932/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ballroomchallenge/competition.html |archive-date=2009-03-08}}

References

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