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Interview: Maksim Chmerkovskiy Talks SWAY, Jewelry and Broadway
By: Joseph F. Panarello Nov. 11, 2014
It's not uncommon for someone to be branded a "bad boy" or a "bad girl" without really warranting it: there are several such characters in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and a few more in John Steinbeck's Cannery Row. Poring through the Lives of the Saints would probably provide us with even more.
When Maksim Chmerkovskiy joined television's "Dancing With The Stars" as one of their pro's, he soon acquired the "bad boy" title as a result of his outspoken disagreements with some of the judge's scores and for the demands he placed upon the celebrities he was partnered with. A recent appearance Chmerkovskiy made at a high-end jewelry store on Long Island's Miracle Mile proved him to be quite genial. He chatted with those in attendance and graciously signed autographs and posed for pictures. While promoting the elegant Cantemessa Jewelry line, he smiled as a 9 year old girl tried on a $7,000 ring and tickled her as he posed for a picture with her. It was also very obvious that he was devoted to his mother who was at the gathering. Chmerkovskiy couldn't have been more gracious during a phone call three days after the event.
Born in the Ukraine, Maksim Chmerkovskiy migrated to the United States with his family when he was 14 years old. "I was not part of the decision making. I grew up in an environment where we didn't question our parents. They were looking out for their children and were figuring a way where our futures would be better than theirs. We came to Brooklyn on May 29, 1994. I didn't speak a word of English and got beaten up on my second day in America, It wasn't a very warm welcome. It was, however, one of the best things to happen because on the Chmerkovskiy level, it's better for your productivity. When something negative happens, it just pushes us further. We might have gotten too comfortable if it happened any other way."
Dancing isn't something that Maks Chmerkovskiy voluntarily chose for himself. "When I was four," he remembers, "We were put into a school for 'aesthetic education.' They taught us how to eat with knives and forks and how to grow up to be good boys and girls. Part of our general education was ballroom dancing. I remember we did one dance and a guy came over and pointed a finger at our group. He spoke to our parents and told them we could be part of the special ballroom dancing group. Remember, this was the Soviet Union so we didn't have to pay for it. It was more like a government program. I joined them at the age of four."
It's startling to learn that the man who won the famed Mirror Ball Trophy for his dancing with Olympian Meryl Davis didn't start out smoothly. "I was extremely bad," he confesses. "I did not dance well. I did not want to do it. I had no passion for it."
Things changed in that department when the Chmerkovskiy family moved to the States. "I started dancing in restaurants and nightclubs for $25 a show. I wanted to get a raise and didn't know how to ask my boss but I figured if I danced better he'd have no choice but to pay me more--at least that's how my 14 year old mind worked. So I started taking lessons and took competitive dancing seriously in hopes of winning a trophy and going back to work as a world champion. I thought he'd pay me more. That suckered me in and gave me a career in professional ballroom dancing." Perhaps fans of dancing should all be grateful for the motivational aspects of capitalism because Maksim Chmerkovskiy has performed some astonishingly brilliant routines on "Dancing With the Stars."
Retiring from ballroom dancing at the age of 25, while he was ranked 4th in the world and 1st in Europe was actually the catalyst for his joining the television dance competition. "I broke up with my dance partner and sat down to think things over. I'd been dancing for 20 years and teaching it for 9. I'd turned pro when I was 20 and was on the top of the world professionally speaking. I decided I needed change in my life and I hadn't been anywhere that wasn't dance related. At that point I decided to say 'yes' to "Dancing With The Stars."
The television show had called Chmerkovskiy during its first season and he declined. "When Season Two came around I said, 'That's fine. Let's try it!' Nine years later I can say it was a pretty awesome ride!" The dancer amicably parted ways with the show at the end of the last season. "I don't make these decisions by myself and I'm on my way to do other things. I'm busy with a lot of projects. People don't realize that I was in pain for three years." Obviously, it was time to move on.
One area Maks Chmerkovskiy would like to branch out into is acting. In fact, he's already make a few soap opera appearances--to very good effect. Broadway would be his ultimate goal. "I've done two Broadway productions but they were both dance related: BURN THE FLOOR and FOREVER TANGO. These were ridiculously amazing experiences that I will never forget. It got me to fall in love with Broadway and that level of performance. I really want to be an actor on Broadway. I don't want to sing and I don't want to dance. I don't want it to be a musical. I truly want it to be an acting gig," he explains."It's very unlikely for someone like me; coming from where I come from and not having English as my first language. I want to develop myself to that level in a city such as New York. It would be incredible," Chmerkovskiy states. He continues: "That would be the best possible training--to do something eight times a week in front of a live audience. It would give me the responsibility of doing it the best I possibly could. That's what I'm looking for. I want something that will give me no choice but to become better."
"If someone offered me the part of a janitor in the back of the stage I would absolutely say 'yes'. Without a doubt," he emphatically states. "I may not do things that make sense commercially or financially but I do things that make sense for me. I understand that I would be going back to the beginning and starting all over again but that I what I've always done in my life." It would be a genuine treat to see Maksim Chmerkovskiy as Boris Kolenkhov in Kaufman and Hart's YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU , maybe even as Victor Velasco in Neil Simon's BAREFOOT IN THE PARK if someone decided to revive that comedy again.
Maks Chmerkovskiy, his brother Val and several other dancing pro's will be performing in a show called SWAY: A DANCE TRILOGY at The Space in Westbury in December--just before Christmas. the dancer is very enthusiastic about this project.
"Audiences can expect a show that is unlike anything in the history if stage productions," he says. "It's very rare that you have a job; you know a paying gig, where you love doing it and it will enable you to put together a show that involves your friends who are actually the ones you've gown up with and competed with for decades. I know Artem Chigvintsev from "Dancing With the Stars". It's his first year on the show and he's doing a great job. He's a beautiful guy inside and out. I know him since we were in our youths and we were dancing together. Of course, my brother will be joining us and Tony Dovolani is my friend and has been my business partner for 19 years at this point. Peta Murgatroyd will be with us and Zendaya is coming in for the Saturday show. The one and only Meryl Davis will be coming to do stuff with us on Wednesday only. She's gracious and very excited about this opportunity. Again, Meryl is an Olympic gold medalist and a really beautiful human being. She's flying in on Wednesday and flying out on Thursday just to do this show."
He continues: "With a cast like this, I get goose bumps just talking about it because this is the ideal: we've made it! When you have a company that you can put something together with and it involves your friends who are all so amazing, then you have something very special. This is the only time the audiences will get to see a cast doing a show that is incredibly unique and special. The audience will see a cast having more fun that the audience watching it."
This is not the first version of SWAY that Chmerkovskiy has done. "When we did it the first time the audience couldn't understand what was going on. They came to see a commercial entity like "Dancing With The Stars" and encountered a show with a storyline and a brilliant production. It had beautiful movements and great choreography as well as the names and faces they knew from television. People didn't know what to do with themselves. Some people came out in shock and panic. They didn't know how to applaud or respond. We're looking for that sort of experience again this time around."
According to Chmerkovskiy, during the first engagement of SWAY in Westbury, there were only two shows on a single day and businesses in the town couldn't keep up with the crowds that converged on the street that day. The pizzeria claimed to have sold more pies on that single day than they did in the entire previous year. This time there will be a total of eight shows so the Village of Westbury should start preparing for it now.
Among the numerous projects that Chmerkovskiy is currently involved in is the line of stunning jewelry that he premiered in Manhasset, Long Island. How did he get involved in it?
"I didn't," he glibly explains. "I have a friend who knows the owner of the company. I was on Broadway in FOREVER TANGO and after one of the shows he said, 'Hey, come with me and I'll introduce you to Robert.' We went to 48th Street and 5th, met Robert--an awesome dude--and saw his amazing jewelry; it's really a beautiful line. We became friends and I designed his men's collection. Eventually we became business partners and at the moment, this is what I do. We've had some extremely positive responses from people who've seen the collection and we've just finalized the line. Half of them are brand-new pieces that we re-did in the past half year. Right now I'm promoting the line in very high-end boutiques. People who can afford the luxury of high-end jewelry will appreciate this line.
Based on the reactions from people had during the local showing, women seem to be extremely impressed with the beautiful necklaces, rings and pendants. Men seem to be drawn to the tasteful collection of rings that were attractive and virile. Surely Maks Chmerkovskiy is on the right track as he sets forth ad a jewelry designer.
Throughout the phone conversation with Chmerkovskiy and during his appearance in Manhasset, there wasn't the slightest indication that he was the proverbial "bad boy" that he's been branded as. It is more than likely that that reputation was fabricated by intentional editing of the 'packages' which were taped during rehearsals with his partners. Of the many hours in the rehearsal studios, the ones showing him as being extremely demanding were chosen for airing. That's not the whole picture, though. The Ukrainian was really quite grateful for the success he's achieving and is very much aware of his humble roots. He works hard to achieve the goals he sets for himself and there's very little doubt that he will achieve them.
Now, let's see him make his acting debut on Broadway. Who's the casting director for YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU?
For tickets to SWAY: A DANCE TRILOGY, go to: http://dancewithme.bpt.me/
For more information about Cantamessa Jewels, go to: http://www.cantamessaworld.com/
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos
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