By Kenneth Jones
30 Oct 2009

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Kym Johnson

Broadway's Burn the Floor, the Latin and ballroom dance show now at the Longacre Theatre, will welcome "Dancing With the Stars" performer Maksim Chmerkovskiy back to the cast on Nov. 27. Kym Johnson of "Dancing with the Stars" will also join the troupe on that date.

Since opening on Broadway on Aug. 2, Burn the Floor has been extended twice, now to Jan. 10, 2010.

The producers recently announced that Mary Murphy, the fan-favorite judge and "Queen of Scream" on FOX's "So You Think You Can Dance" will join the Burn the Floor cast for a one-night-only performance on Dec. 22 at 7 PM, partnering with ballroom champion Vaidas Skimelis.

"Being on Broadway with Burn the Floor this summer was a highlight of my dance career, and it means a lot to me to be invited back for a longer run," Chmerkovskiy, known as Maks, said in a statement. "It will be great to be able to share this experience with Kym."

Johnson, who will make her Broadway debut in Burn the Floor, stated, "As a little girl growing up in Australia, my dream was to perform on Broadway. As an original cast member of Burn the Floor [in Australia], I'm so excited to make my Broadway debut by returning to the show and dancing with my friend Maks."

In addition to being a cast member on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," Maksim Chmerkovskiy is also a choreographer and dance instructor. His most recent association teamed him with famed performance and film director Franco Dragone revamping and updating the immensely popular performance show Le Reve at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. Maks owns and operates Dance with Me and Rising Stars Dance Academy with locations in New Jersey and New York, and he sits on the board of the non-profit organization DanceTeamUSA, which promotes DanceSport among the youth of America.

A dancer since the age of three, Australian native Kym Johnson began training in ballroom dance at age 13 and was inspired to concentrate her talent in the field of competitive ballroom dance. She then went on to be the Australian Ballroom Champion and represented Australia in the world dance championships for two consecutive years. In 1997 she performed at Sir Elton John's 50th Birthday party in London — the group performance that was the "inspiration" for the creation of Burn the Floor. She performed with Burn the Floor from 1999 to 2004. She grabbed Australia's attention when she appeared in seasons 1-3 of the hit TV show "Dancing With the Stars" and took home first place in season two. She was then asked to move to America and join the U.S. version of the show, where she has been partnered with Jerry Springer, Warren Sapp, Joey Fatone, Donny Osmond, among others.

Burn the Floor, the "Latin and Ballroom dance spectacular that's thrilled audiences in over 30 countries," is produced on Broadway by Harley Medcalf, Joe Watson, Richard Levi, Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch, Marc Routh, Raise the Roof One, Toppall/Stevens/Mills, Benigno/Klein, Caldwell/Allen, Carrpailet/Danzansky, Bud Martin, The Production Studio, Schaffert/Schnuck, and Carrie Ann Inaba by special arrangement with Dance Partner Inc.

Burn the Floor is created, directed and choreographed by Jason Gilkison. Its cast is composed of award-winning international dancers from around the globe and include Australian Ballroom and World Latin American champions. They are Henry Byalikov, Sharna Burgess, Artem Chigvintsev, Kevin Clifton, Sasha Farber, Jeremy Garner, Anya Garnis, Gordana Grandosek, Patrick Helm, Sarah Hives, Melanie Hooper, Pasha Kovalev, Peta Murgatroyd, Giselle Peacock, Nuria Santalucia, Mirko Sciolan, Sarah Soriano, Damon & Rebecca Sugden, Trent Whiddon, Damian Whitewood, and Robin Windsor. The dancers are supported by two vocalists, Ricky Rojas and Rebecca Tapia.

Tickets are available at www.telecharge.com. Visit burnthefloor.com.

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