Mark Alexander Corky Ballas Jr. (born May 24, 1986)[1] is an American performer. At a young age, he moved to London, England, where he began his performing career. He remained in London until 2007, when he moved to the US.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 is also a singer/songwriter/musician for the group Ballas Hough Band, where he composes the group's music, plays lead guitar and sings lead vocals.Early lifeBallas was born in Houston, Texas, with family ties in Laredo, Texas. His paternal grandparents were Spanish and Greek. His parents are Corky Ballas[2] and British-born Shirley Ballas (née Rich).[3] Mark is an only child. Mark's grandfather, George Ballas Sr., owned and operated a 64000 sqft dance studio called Dance City USA, known as the largest dance studio in the world. It was situated in Houston and had 125 teachers on payroll. Mark's grandfather sold the studio and later went on to invent the Weed Eater. Mark's grandmother was a famous Flamenco dancer who appeared in several movies and studied with Carmen Amaya in Spain.At the age of 4, Mark enrolled at the Italia Conti Academy of Dramatic Arts Associate School, where he was trained in singing, dancing and acting. When he was 10, he became British Juvenile Ballroom and Latin American Dance Champion.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.