DREAM TEAM ; Local ‘Dancing’ Pro and Laila Ali Are All About Fancy Footwork

By ERICA DIETSCHE, STAFF WRITER

DANCING WITH THE STARS

8 tonight, ABC

Fans of “Dancing With the Stars” on ABC, which begins its fourth season tonight, haven’t seen much of Edgewater-based dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Since coming to the United States at age 14, Chmerkovskiy has excelled at dance, winning numerous national and international titles; he has also nurtured young local talent at his family’s competitive dance studio in Saddle Brook.

But success on the hit ABC show has eluded him. With a new elite partner, a shorter, more modern haircut and a different mental approach, this all may change.

The 27-year-old Latin dance champion says that unlike past seasons, he’s not overly invested in how far he gets in the competition.

“I’m taking it easy this season,” Chmerkovskiy says by cellphone while driving in Los Angeles, where the show films. “I’m not making any plans. I’m going with the flow, so to speak, and the flow right now is really good.”

Chmerkovskiy is paired with his highest-profile star yet super middleweight boxing champ Laila Ali, 29, the youngest daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. (He partnered with actress Tia Carerre in Season 2 and danced with pop singer Willa Ford last season.)

He couldn’t be happier with Ali, whom he describes as an “incredibly nice person, very cool, very down-to-earth.”

The fact that she is a professional athlete used to a grueling training schedule doesn’t hurt, he says with a laugh. And no, he’s not afraid of her using her boxing skills on him.

“We couldn’t get along any better than we do,” he says with genuine affection in his voice. “Practices are exciting and fun. These weeks fly by like one day because it’s so easy for me to deal with her on an everyday basis. She doesn’t argue, we have no basis for argument whatsoever.”

That’s not to say Chmerkovskiy had no worries. He was concerned about how they would look dancing together.

“I’m a big guy, but I wasn’t sure if I would look big enough. Seeing a woman that is 5-foot-11,” he says, “her arms are bigger than mine; it was altogether a little overwhelming. I’m not used to having a partner that is bigger than me.”

Chmerkovskiy, who is 6 feet 2, has been hitting the gym to build muscle and says that the numerous hours of dancing are slimming down Ali.

The pair will be put to the test tonight when they perform two dances; unlike prior seasons, the first round of eliminations will not take place until March 27, after all the couples perform four times.

For now, that is really all that concerns Chmerkovskiy.

“I’ve met most of the other celebrities, and I’m incredibly anxious to see what Heather Mills can do on the floor. But I’m not interested [in them]. I’m busy with Laila, and we’re getting ready for our first two dances.”

He’s not quite sure why he’s more relaxed than in seasons past, why he’s only focused on how well he and Ali are able to do and nothing more.

Part of it might be because of the exposure he’s garnered from the show and other possibilities in the works.

“The off-season was so busy for me after the last season was over. … I think that I’m treating this season as a job, it’s another opportunity. I’m coming in and doing my thing, and then I go and continue what I was doing.”

Plus, he has the benefit of being partnered with a champion, albeit in a different arena.

“That girl is her father’s daughter 100 percent physically, she looks like him, the competitiveness in her is incredible, her ability to psych out her competition is great.”

But he knows he must temper his confidence, especially after placing a disappointing seventh with Ford, whom he considered to have been one of the strongest contestants last season.

“It’s in the hands of the viewers,” he says. “That is the thing, last season I took it a little too seriously. I was wrong. Thirty million people watch the show and [so many] of them are women.”

He suspects that viewers don’t vote for talent as much as they vote for men that they find attractive.

“Women don’t like other women, you know,” he says. “That’s fine by me.”

Overall, “I feel much more comfortable this season,” he says. “I hope people will see on the TV screen that I’m not the kid that was put in uncomfortable situations.

“Right now, I’m just being me. I think it will come out in a good way.”

**

Chmerkovskiy file

Age: 27.

Resides: Edgewater.

Family: Father, Alexander, mother, Larissa, and younger brother, Valentin. The family left Russia when Chmerkovskiy was 14. They live in Garfield.

Accomplishments: 2005 Yankee Classic Professional Latin Champion, 2004 Manhattan Dancesport Professional Latin Champion, 2004 Nevada Star Ball Champion, 2004 Philadelphia Dancesport Festival Champion, 2003 All England Champion, 2003 Ohio Star Ball Latin Champion. Involved with Dance Team USA, a non-profit dance organization for youth. Has been ranked as high as second in the United States and seventh in the world in Latin Dance.

Dance studios: Rising Stars Dance Academy in Saddle Brook, a competitive dance school, and Dance With Me Social Dance Studio in Ridgefield.

**

Assessing their abilities

The dancing shoes may come off, but Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s friendships with prior “Dancing With the Stars” partners actress Tia Carrere and singer Willa Ford remain intact.

In fact, he recently danced with both of them at a charity event in Florida.

“We’re still in contact all the time,” he says.

Chmerkovskiy was rumored to have had a relationship with Ford during filming. However, the two never confirmed it; Ford has since announced her engagement to NHL player Mike Modano.

Below, the Edgewater-based dancer evaluates his previous partners and his current one.

Tia Carrere

Strengths: “She’s a mature lady. She knew what she was doing. She takes her work very seriously.”

Weaknesses: Of all his partners, Carrere was “probably the least capable physically. She came on the show only six weeks after she gave birth. She probably was not supposed to have lasted as long as she did.” The pair was eliminated in sixth.

Willa Ford

Strengths: “She’s absolutely capable and able, physically probably the best dancer on the show [that season]. It was definitely between Mario [Lopez, who was runner-up] and her for the best dancer.”

Weaknesses: “She’s so young [Ford was 25 at the time], and I don’t think she handled that whole fish-out-of-water thing too well. Toward the end, it got difficult because she was nervous. [She'd say] ‘I can’t do this, this is too much.’ There was a lot of drama. She is a little weaker mentally than Tia.” The pair was eliminated in seventh.

Laila Ali

Strengths: “I know that it sounds big when I say it, but I think she is perfect. In boxing, everyone knows that mental capability is as important as physical capability. The fact that she is a trained professional athlete is going to take her far. She’s well-balanced, in control of her emotions and no roller coaster she’s not Hollywood, she’s not an actress.”

Weaknesses: “I couldn’t name any weaknesses.”

Erica Dietsche

E-mail: dietsche@northjersey.com

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