A large Paso in Spain is paraded during Holy Week.

A Paso [ Spanish > "Pace" or "Step"] is an elaborate float made for religious parades. They are carried by porters on staves, like a litter or sedan chair, and are usually followed or escorted by a band. Some have long skirts that cover the bearers entirely, giving the impression that the statue is floating on its own power.

The porters are called costaleros , cargadores or portadores and their leader is called a capataz ("Foreman" or "Head Man"). The capataz sets the chicotá, the period of time between a paso being lifted and set down again; the costaleros cannot pick up or set down the paso except by his leave. This is signalled by the llamador ("crier"), a knocker on the front of the float.

During Semana Santa ("Holy Week", the week preceding Easter Sunday) the custom is to make pasos adorned with large wooden statues of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, saints and biblical personalities from the Passion.

Other meanings[link]

• The Spanish playwright Lope de Rueda named pasos his short comedic sketches that filled the time between the acts of a play. Miguel de Cervantes wrote similar sketches, but called them entremeses ("interludes").
• Paso means also a passage, as in El Paso
• Paso is also a filipino word for pot or vase.
• Alfonso Paso was a Spanish playwright

References[link]

• Seville's Holy Week Rituals Draw In an Outsider (New York Times: March 26th, 2006)
• "Passions and Pasos" (http://spainforvisitors.com)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2010)

Derek Hough
Derek Hough in 2009
Born	(1985-05-17) May 17, 1985 (age 27) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Occupation	Dancer, actor, singer-songwriter, musician, choreographer, director
Years active	2007–present

Derek Hough ( /ˈhʌf/; born May 17, 1985) is an American dancer, choreographer, musician and actor. A world champion in Latin American Dance, Hough has appeared since September 2007 (Seasons 5 - 11 and Season 13) on the hit U.S. television series Dancing with the Stars, where he is currently a three-time champion (with Brooke Burke, Nicole Scherzinger, and Jennifer Grey), one-time finalist (with Ricki Lake), three-time semi-finalist (with Jennie Garth, Joanna Krupa, and Maria Menounos), and a quarter-finalist (with Lil' Kim). Hough has earned three Creative Arts Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Choreography (2009^[1] and 2010 ^[2]) for his work on the show.

Prior to joining Dancing with the Stars, Hough starred as Ren in the 2006 original cast production of Footloose: The Musical at the Novelo Theatre in London's West End, as well as on the 2006 U.K. national tour. Hough's West End performance earned him a nomination as The Stuart Phillips London Newcomer of the Year in the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards.^[3] Hough made his Broadway debut on January 8, 2010, starring with Kym Johnson and Mary Murphy in Burn the Floor for the final four performances of the show's Broadway run. A founding member of the Ballas Hough Band (formerly Almost Amy), Hough shares lead vocals, plays guitar and has several songwriting credits on the band's self-titled debut CD, released by Hollywood Records in March 2009.

Early life[link]

Hough grew up one of five children in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City.^[4] He has four sisters, Sharee, Marabeth, Katherine and Julianne. His sister Julianne Hough is also a professional dancer and actress. All four of Hough's grandparents were dancers, and his parents met while on a ballroom dancing team in college, in Idaho.

When Hough was twelve, his parents sent him to London to live and study with dance coaches, Corky and Shirley Ballas. Hough's sister Julianne joined him in London several months later. Originally intending to stay for a year, Hough remained in London for ten years. (Julianne returned after five years.) The Ballases helped tutor the two Hough children alongside their own son, Mark Ballas, schooling them at the Italia Conti Academy. They received training in song, theater, gymnastics and many forms of dance, including jazz, ballet and tap. The three children formed their own pop music trio 2B1G ("2 Boys, 1 Girl") and performed at dance competitions in the UK and the U.S., and showcased UK television show.^[5][6]

Dancing[link]

He attended and subsequently taught at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.

Hough played the role of Ren McCormack in both the UK Tour and the West-End of Footloose the Musical, which ran from April until November 2006.

Before this, Hough's theatre work included playing the lead in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Millfield Theatre, and dancing in the company in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium.

Hough is a former IDSF World Youth Latin Champion (2002) for Poland with Aneta Piotrowska. He has won the LA Outstanding Dancer of the Year and the New York Dance Alliance Outstanding Dance awards.^[6]

Hough is one of Bruno Tonioli's panelists on BBC One's DanceX, the first episode of which aired on July 14, 2007.^[7] Hough choreographed and performed in Cheryl Cole's Parachute music video, after being introduced to her by Tonioli.

[edit] Dancing with the Stars

Hough made his first appearance on Dancing With The Stars in Season 4 (Week 6) as a guest instructor with Julianne and Apolo Anton Ohno. He then joined the cast of professional instructors in Season 5 of Dancing With The Stars and was paired with Jennie Garth. Hough and Garth competed in the semi-finals and were the ninth couple eliminated from the competition.

For Season 6, Hough was paired with actress Shannon Elizabeth. They were eliminated from the show in week 7.

For Season 7, Hough was partnered with model/TV host Brooke Burke. In rehearsal on October 4, 2008, Hough tripped and fell, hitting his head on the floor and momentarily blacked out. He was sent to the hospital, but sustained no injuries.^[8] Hough and Burke earned the mirror ball trophy and won Season 7.

For Season 8, Hough was paired with rapper Lil' Kim. They were eliminated from the show in week 9.

For Season 9, Hough was partnered with model Joanna Krupa. They were eliminated during week 9, the semi-finals, on November 17, 2009, finishing fourth.

For Season 10, Hough won with partner Nicole Scherzinger, the lead singer from the singing group Pussycat Dolls^[9] and former member of Eden's Crush.

For Season 11, Hough won with actress Jennifer Grey, known for her film roles on Dirty Dancing and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

For Season 13, Hough was partnered with actress and TV Host Ricki Lake, known best as the original Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray. Lake scored consistently high the whole season and shockingly ended up in third place.

For Season 14, Hough partnered with television personality Maria Menounos. In Week 7, the couple surprisingly earned the first 30 of the season and topped the leaderborad the first time the season. The couple made it to the semi-finals but were shockingly eliminated after they finished at the top of the leaderboard. Maria is the second celebrity in Dancing With the Stars history to be eliminated on a night where she came in first place with the judges. The first being Willa Ford in season 3.

Hough's current DWTS pro average is 26.21. Joanna Krupa's Argentine Tango is not included in his average.

He is the first professional dancer to ever win three Mirror Ball Trophies.

It was announced by Access Hollywood that Derek would not be returning to the 12th season of Dancing with the Stars to be a part of the film Cobu 3D but he did return for season 13. He has earned 18 perfect scores of 30s and 103 perfect 10s over the seasons.

Performance history[link]

Season 5: Celebrity partner Jennie Garth (Average - 25.7) Placed: 4th

Season 6: Celebrity partner Shannon Elizabeth (Average - 24.5) Placed: 6th

Season 7: Celebrity partner Brooke Burke (Average - 27.1) Placed: 1st

(*)Due to Len Goodman's absence in week 6 the 10 was awarded by stand-in guest judge Michael Flatley

Season 8: Celebrity partner Lil' Kim (Average - 25.8) Placed: 5th

Season 9: Celebrity partner Joanna Krupa (Average - 25.5) Placed: 4th

^* Due to Len Goodman's absence in week 2 the 7 was awarded by stand-in guest judge Baz Luhrmann.
^** Due to illness Derek Hough was unable to perform, Joanna Krupa performed this dance with Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Season 10: Celebrity partner Nicole Scherzinger (Average - 27.5) Placed: 1st

Hough won Season 10 of Dancing with the Stars on May 25, 2010

Season 11: Celebrity partner Jennifer Grey (Average - 27.2) Placed: 1st

Season 13: Celebrity Partner Ricki Lake (Average - 26.7) Placed: 3rd

Season 14: Celebrity partner Maria Menounos (Average - 26.8) Placed: 4th

Hough and Jennifer Grey hold the most perfect scores in all 14 seasons of Dancing With the Stars. They won six perfect 30s. Hough and Grey won Season 11 of Dancing with the Stars on November 23, 2010.

Other[link]

Hough was an extra in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States), the film adaptation of British author J. K. Rowling's bestselling novel. He appeared in an uncredited role as a "Hogwarts schoolboy".^[10]

On April 25, 2011, Hough made a guest appearance as a dance instructor on Better With You.^[11]

Hough was a dancer in Cheryl Cole's music video for "Parachute" from Cole's debut studio album, 3 Words.

Hough will be starring with BoA in a movie titled Cobu 3D.^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Derek Hough on Myspace

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2010)

Chelsie Hightower
Hightower in 2010
Born	Chelsie Kay Hightower (1989-07-21) July 21, 1989 (age 22) Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Occupation	Professional dancer/choreographer
Years active	1998–present

Chelsie Kay Hightower (born July 21, 1989) is a Latin ballroom dancer, who is best known for being a regular dance partner, trainer, and choreographer on the ABC competition show Dancing with the Stars.

Biography[link]

Born Chelsie Kay Hightower in Las Vegas, Nevada, and raised in Orem, Utah with five brothers and her mother, Laurie Hightower, she started dancing when she was nine years old, and received conventional training since the age of 14. Hightower performed in musical theatres across the United States. She was a U.S. Worlds finalist in 2005, and competed on Team USA. She graduated from Timpanogos High School, then attended Utah Valley University.^[1]

At 18, she made her television debut on season 4 of So You Think You Can Dance. She was eliminated from the U.S. reality TV show on July 31, 2008 after making it to the top 6.

Hightower joined the season-eight cast of Dancing with the Stars as a professional dancer, and was partnered with Ty Murray, a nine-time World Champion rodeo cowboy. On May 12, 2009, she and Murray were eliminated from the competition with a 4th place finish. Her partner for Season 9 was professional snowboarder Louie Vito. They were eliminated in week six of the competition, and came in 8th place. For Season 10 she was partnered with Bachelor Jake Pavelka. They were voted off in week five of the competition, and came in 7th place. She was paired with Michael Bolton in Season 11. The couple were eliminated in week two. For Season 12 she was partnered with rapper and actor Romeo Miller. They were eliminated in week eight of the competition, and came in 5th place. She was not on Season 13 (Fall 2011), but returned in Season 14 (Spring 2012) partnered with Disney Channel star Roshon Fegan. The couple was eliminated on Week 8, finishing in 6th place.

Hightower made an appearance in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Winter 2010 edition (pages 152 and 153) along with three other couples from Dancing with the Stars.^[2] On July 8, 2010, Chelsie received an Emmy nomination for the "Paso Doble/Malagueña" dance that she and Derek Hough performed and co-choreographed for Dancing with the Stars Season 10.^[3]

Hightower has performed with singer/songwriter Jewel (Ty Murray's wife) in concert on Jewel's hit "Hands."

Personal life[link]

Chelsie in April 2009

Chelsie has been teaching at Center Stage in Utah.

Hightower has her own clothing line through Sugar and Bruno and makeup line through Cliche Cosmetics.

[edit] So You Think You Can Dance performances

[edit] Dancing With the Stars performances

Chelsie's average score from all her partners is 20.6 points.

[edit] Season 8 : with Ty Murray (average : 22.4)

[edit] Season 9 : with Louie Vito (average : 18.8)

^* Due to Len Goodman's absence in week 2 the 7 was awarded by stand-in guest judge Baz Luhrmann.

[edit] Season 10 : with Jake Pavelka (average : 19.4)

[edit] Season 11 : with Michael Bolton (average : 14.0)

[edit] Season 12 : with Romeo Miller (average : 23.6)

• Scores for weeks 1 & 2 were combined and first results were revealed on March 29, 2011
• Week 7 guest judge Donnie Burns score is before Carrie Ann's
• Average score does not include guest judge's score on week 7

[edit] Season 14 : with Roshon Fegan (average : 25.7)

• Average score does not include marathon dance in week 6

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chelsie Hightower

• Official site

Mark Alexander Ballas Jr. (born May 24, 1986)^[1] is an American dancer.

Ballas is a professional ballroom dancer on the ABC program Dancing with the Stars. He began competing on the show in the fall of 2007. He was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Choreography in 2011. He is also a singer/songwriter/musician and released his first solo CD HurtLoveBox in March 2011.

Early life[link]

Ballas was born in Houston, Texas, the son of dancers Corky Ballas^[2] and Shirley Ballas (née Rich).^[3] His paternal grandparents were of Mexican, Spanish, and Greek background, and his mother is British.^{[4][citation needed]} His paternal grandfather, George Ballas, was the inventor of the Weed Eater lawn-trimming device.^[5]

Ballas attended Rosemead Preparatory school in South London, and was in the same year as acclaimed British ballet dancer Max Westwell of the English National Ballet.

At the age of 11, he earned a full time slot at the Academy, as well as earning a full scholarship to the college. In 2005, he was awarded "Performer of the Year". He then moved on to win championships at The British Open to the World, The US Open to the World and The International Open to the World. With his former partner Julianne Hough, he won the Junior Latin American Dance Championship and the gold medal at the Junior Olympics.^{[disambiguation needed ][citation needed]}

As a youth, Ballas was a member of a pop singing trio called "2B1G"(2 Boys 1 Girl"), along with Julianne Hough and Derek Hough.^{[citation needed]} His mother is award-winning Latin American Dancer Shirly Ballas recently featured on Dancing with the Stars.

Career[link]

Acting[link]

As an actor, Ballas played the lead role of Tony in the musical Copacabana and was the lead dancer in the UK national tour of the Spanish musical Maria de Buenos Aires. He was also the understudy for the role of Ritchie Valens in the UK national tour of Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story. Ballas played an extra in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as part of the Hufflepuff House. In October 2008, Ballas made a guest appearance on the season premiere of Samantha Who.^[6] In September 2010, Ballas had a guest appearance on his former Dancing with the Stars partner Melissa Joan Hart's new series, Melissa & Joey.

[edit] Dancing with the Stars

On the fifth season of Dancing with the Stars, Ballas was partnered with Cheetah Girls star Sabrina Bryan. On October 30, 2007, the pair was voted off the show. They have been the only couple invited back for an exhibition dance. Ballas' partner for Season 6 of Dancing With The Stars was Olympic Gold Medal-winning figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. They won the series. On August 25, 2008, ABC announced the cast of the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars, with Ballas paired with reality television star Kim Kardashian. They were the third couple eliminated, finishing in eleventh place, on September 30, 2008. For the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars, Ballas was paired with Olympic gold-medal winning gymnast Shawn Johnson, winning that season's competition on May 19, 2009. He was partnered with actress Melissa Joan Hart for the show's ninth season. They were voted off in week six and came in 9th place. For season 10, Ballas was partnered with actress Shannen Doherty.^[7] They were the first couple eliminated, on March 30, 2010. For season 11, Ballas was partnered with Bristol Palin, daughter of former Alaska governor and U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. They made it to the finale and finished in third place. For Season 12, Ballas was partnered with Disney Channel star, Chelsea Kane. They made it to the finals where they finished in third place. For Season 13, Ballas was partnered with reality star Kristin Cavallari where they were the 3rd couple eliminated finishing in 10th place. For Season 14 he was partnered with Classical Singer Katherine Jenkins. They made it to the finale where they finished as the runners-up, losing to Donald Driver & Peta Murgatroyd.

[edit] Records

In his time on Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) Ballas has set, and broken, numerous records in the course of his (so far) 10 seasons. Some of these records include, but are not limited to:

• Earliest perfect 30 in a season, during Week 4, with Sabrina Bryan for their Paso Doble.
  • This record is later tied by Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke in Season 8.
• First (and only) professional partner to earn a perfect score (90) in the DWTS Finale, with his celebrity partner Kristi Yamaguchi in Season 6.
  • Ballas tied this record in Season 14 with his partner Katherine Jenkins.
• First male professional to win multiple seasons, once with Kristi Yamaguchi and once with Shawn Johnson.
• Only male professional to get the same place in the finals (Third Place; with Bristol Palin and Chelsea Kane) twice in a row, without winning the season.
• Most perfect 30s on the Freestyle dance, with 4. Earning perfect scores with Kristi Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson, Chelsea Kane, and Katherine Jenkins.

Dancing with the Stars performances[link]

[edit] With celebrity partner Sabrina Bryan (average: 27.0):

[edit] With celebrity partner Kristi Yamaguchi (average: 28.3):

[edit] With celebrity partner Kim Kardashian (average: 18.0):

[edit] With celebrity partner Shawn Johnson (average: 26.94):

[edit] With celebrity partner Melissa Joan Hart (average: 21.2):

• Due to Len Goodman's absence in week 2 the 6 was awarded by stand-in guest judge Baz Luhrmann.

[edit] With celebrity partner Shannen Doherty (average: 19.0):

[edit] With celebrity partner Bristol Palin (average: 22.6):