Artem Chigvintsev

Artem Vladimirovich Chigvintsev (Russian: Артём Влади́мирович Чи́гвинцев; born 12 June 1982) is a Russian-American professional dancer, specialising in Latin dancing.^[3]

He currently appears on Dancing with the Stars and has toured with the Dancing with the Stars live show. Chigvintsev joined the cast of Burn the Floor. He performed both on Broadway and more recently in the West End in 2009. Artem joined Strictly Come Dancing straight from Burn the Floor in London in 2010-2013 in his first year, winning the show along with his celebrity partner Kara Tointon.

Early life

Chigvintsev was born at Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic, RSFSR, Soviet Union. He moved to the United States in 2003, and began dancing with champion ballroom dancer Giselle Peacock. Chigvintsev auditioned to appear as a contestant on the first series of So You Think You Can Dance.^[4] Chigvintsev was eliminated alongside his fellow contestant Melissa Vella,^[5] and returned as a guest choreographer for season two.^[4]

Strictly Come Dancing

In September 2010, Chigvintsev joined Strictly Come Dancing series 8 as a professional dancer, where he was partnered with actress Kara Tointon.^[6] The pair achieved good scores in the first five weeks of 30, 32, 31, 32, and 37. In week 5, they were awarded the first 10 of the series by Alesha Dixon for their paso doble. In week 6 they were top of the leaderboard with their salsa. They also had good scores for the next five weeks of 36, 38, 35, 34, and 38. In week 11, they got their highest score of 39 for the Viennese Waltz and Rumba and got the maximum 5/5 for the swing-a-thon. Chigvintsev and Tointon made it to the final along with Matt Baker and Pamela Stephenson. The pair went on to win the competition, defeating Matt Baker and his partner Aliona Vilani, and being crowned series champions for 2010.^[7] Chigvintsev is one of four professionals to win the series as a first-time Strictly pro.

In 2011's Strictly Come Dancing season 9 Chigvintsev was partnered with Holly Valance. He and Valance made it to Week 11, the Semi-Finals, before being eliminated.

Chigvintsev's celebrity partner in the 10th series of Strictly Come Dancing was television presenter Fern Britton. They were eliminated in Week 6.

His celebrity partner in the eleventh series of Strictly Come Dancing was former Coronation Street star Natalie Gumede, who played Kirsty Soames. They reached the finals and became one of the runners-up, along with Susanna Reid and Kevin Clifton, losing to model Abbey Clancy.

Series 8: with celebrity partner Kara Tointon

Series 9: with celebrity partner Holly Valance

Series 10: with celebrity partner Fern Britton

Series 11: with celebrity partner Natalie Gumede

Dancing with the Stars

In 2014, after competing on the eleventh series of Strictly, Chigvintsev appeared in the 18th season of Dancing with the Stars as a member of the Dance Troupe. Later that year, it was announced that Chigvintsev had been promoted to professional dancer for the show's 19th season, marking his exit from Strictly Come Dancing.^[8]

He was paired, for season 19, with actress Lea Thompson. The couple was eliminated in week 9 (the quarterfinals) and finished in sixth place.

He returned for season 20 and paired with award-winning singer Patti LaBelle.^[9] The couple was eliminated on week 6 and finished in 8th place.

On August 19, 2015, Chigvintsev was announced as one of the professional dancers for season 21 of Dancing with the Stars.^[10] However, when the full season 21 cast was revealed along with their partners, Chigvintsev was not part of the lineup.^[11] Chigvintsev wrote on his Instagram account that he would not be competing on season 21 due to a last minute casting change, but he would still dance with the pros in the ballroom.^[11]

Chigvintsev returned for season 22 partnering with actress Mischa Barton. They were eliminated on Week 3 of competition and finished in 11th place.

For season 23, he is paired with actress and author Maureen McCormick. McCormick and Chigvintsev were eliminated in week 7 finishing in 8th place.

Season 19 with celebrity partner Lea Thompson

• Average: 34.1

¹ Score given by guest judge Kevin Hart in place of Goodman.

² The American public scored the dance in place of Goodman with the averaged score being counted alongside the three other judges.

³This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Thompson performed with Valentin Chmerkovskiy instead of Chigvinstev. Chigvintsev performed with Janel Parrish.

⁴Score given by guest judge Jessie J in place of Goodman.

⁵Score given by guest judge Pitbull in place of Goodman.

Season 20 with celebrity partner Patti LaBelle

• Average: 28.6

Season 22 with celebrity partner Mischa Barton

• Average: 16.3)

Season 23 with celebrity partner Maureen McCormick

• Average: 29.6

¹ Score given by guest judge Pitbull.

So You Think You Can Dance

In 2011, Chigvintsev was a choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance. He choreographed a Viennese Waltz to "She's Always a Woman" by Billy Joel for Katie Love & Luke Jackson. He choreographed a Cha-Cha-Cha to "Judas" by Lady Gaga for Bethany Rose Harrison & Lee Bridgman. For the final, he choreographed a Tango to "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)" by Grace Jones for Katie Love & Luke Jackson.

Other work

In 2009 he appeared in the music video for Hush Hush; Hush Hush by The Pussycat Dolls, dancing with Nicole Scherzinger.

In 2011, Chigvintsev acted the part of lead choreographer in the CBeebies Christmas Pantomime, Cinderella.

Chigvintsev has also appeared in an episode of the TV show The O.C. and in the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.^[4]

Personal life

Chigvintsev was married to his dancing partner, Giselle Peacock, from 2004 to 2005. He is currently in a relationship with Torrey DeVitto.^[12]

He became a naturalized American citizen on 17 November 2014.^[2]

References

External links

• ArtemChigvintsev.com
• Artem Chigvintsev at the Internet Movie Database
• Artem Chigvintsev on Twitter