Cheryl Burke has been a Dancing With the Stars staple through the years — even earning the coveted mirror ball trophy twice.The California native, after a successful career as a competitive ballroom dancer, joined the DWTS pro lineup in 2006 for season 2.
Burke’s first season proved to be lucky, as she and Drew Lachey ultimately won the competition. The Dance Moms alum took home her second trophy the next year, dancing with NFL star Emmitt Smith.“Ballroom dancing is a technical sport.
I think it’s important that [the judges] get the last final say because I think it’s important that everyone understands why [they give certain scores],” the choreographer wrote in a September 2019 blog for Us Weekly about the competition series amid frequent judge criticism. “If someone’s not technically sound or even close to being as good of a dancer as the other couple, they should be the ones going home.”She added at the time: “If I were a judge, I think I’d probably be the same way [as Len Goodman] because we’re being told that we’re bringing this back to ballroom and then that separates everybody.
I felt like every dance last season was a freestyle. As a choreographer and as a professional dancer, you don’t know what to follow.
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