Alec Mazo
Alec Mazo (born April 5, 1978) is a Belarusian American producer and former professional dancer. He became known for his participation in the American edition of the reality television series Dancing with the Stars, the first season of which he won with partner Kelly Monaco. He participated in five seasons of the television show and four DWTS tours.
Alec Mazo | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 5, 1978 |
| Education | B.S. Cognitive Science; MBA |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley Stanford University |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Television | Dancing with the Stars |
| Spouse(s) | Edyta Śliwińska (2007-present) |
| Children | Michael Alexander (b. 2014), Leia Josephine (b. 2017) |
Early life
Mazo was born in Gomel, Belarusian SSR into a Jewish family.[1][2] He has been dancing since he was 5 years old. At age 12, he immigrated from the Soviet Union to San Antonio, Texas, and later to San Francisco, where his former engineer mother, Natasha, began a dance school. Mazo began studying dancing there at 16 in order to improve his socialization skills with girls, and to ease his back problems.
Education and personal life
He studied computer science, and then cognitive science at the University of California, Berkeley, in the hopes of one day becoming a dance teacher.[3] After DWTS, Mazo went to Stanford University to get his MBA. He currently runs a production company specializing in live stage entertainment and television reality formats.
Mazo worked as the CEO of the Genesis Dance Sport studio in San Francisco. Expanding the studio into Los Angeles has been one of his goals.[3] He has one brother, Genya, who's also a ballroom dancer and has performed on the Dancing with the Stars tour. Alec Mazo is married to his long-time dancing partner dancer Edyta Śliwińska, a native of Poland. The couple have a son born in 2014 and a daughter born in 2017.[4]
Career
Mazo appeared in the 1998 movie Dance With Me. Mazo turned professional shortly before producers of Dancing with the Stars began their search for dancers to star on the show.[3]
Mazo won the first season of Dancing with the Stars with his partner, Kelly Monaco.
Mazo returned to the ballroom on March 19 for Season 4, this time partnered with former supermodel Paulina Porizkova, but were the first couple eliminated.[5] Despite being eliminated first, Paulina along with Shandi Finnessey (Who was eliminated the very next week). Both hold a higher average than a few celebrities who lasted longer than them.
Mazo appeared on the fifth season of Dancing with the Stars. Mazo and his partner, supermodel Josie Maran, were eliminated on September 26, 2007, after the first week of competition, making it the second time in a row he was eliminated first.
Mazo competed for the title with partner, Grammy Award-winning singer, Toni Braxton in Season 7 of Dancing with the Stars.[6] After six dances, Braxton and Mazo became the fifth couple to be eliminated from the season.
In Season 9, Mazo was paired with Olympic swimmer, Natalie Coughlin. They were the fifth couple to be eliminated despite relatively good scores and received a standing ovation from the crowd and judges.
| Season | Partner | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelly Monaco | 1st |
| 4 | Paulina Porizkova | 11th |
| 5 | Josie Maran | 12th |
| 7 | Toni Braxton | 8th |
| 9 | Natalie Coughlin | 10th |
Dancing with the Stars performances
With celebrity partner Kelly Monaco: 23.0
| Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||
| 1 | Waltz/ "I Have Nothing" | 5 | 4 | 4 | No Elimination |
| 2 | Rumba/ "Hero" | 5 | 6 | 6 | Safe |
| 3 | Jive/ "Footloose" | 6 | 7 | 8 | Safe |
| 4 | Samba/ "Bailamos" Viennese Waltz/ "I Got You Babe" |
9 No |
9 Scores |
8 Given |
Safe |
| 5 | Foxtrot/ "Don't Know Why" Paso Doble/ "Bamboleo" |
8 9 |
7 8 |
7 8 |
Bottom Two |
| 6 | Samba/ "Bailamos" Freestyle/ "Let's Get Loud" |
7 10 |
9 10 |
9 10 |
WON |
| Dance-Off | Cha-Cha-Cha/ "Lady Marmalade" Quickstep/ "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" Freestyle/ "Get The Party Started" |
7 9 8 |
9 7 8 |
9 8 9 |
Second Place |
With celebrity partner Paulina Porizkova: 20.0
| Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||
| 1 | Foxtrot/ "Too Darn Hot" | 6 | 6 | 7 | No elimination |
| 2 | Mambo/ "La Bamba" | 7 | 7 | 7 | Eliminated |
With celebrity partner Josie Maran: 16.0
| Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||
| 1 | Foxtrot/ "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" | 6 | 5 | 5 | Eliminated |
With celebrity partner Toni Braxton: 22.6
| Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||
| 1A | Cha-Cha-Cha/ "Smooth" | 7 | 7 | 8 | Safe |
| 1B | Quickstep/ "Blue Skies" | 8 | 7 | 8 | Last to be called safe |
| 2 | Rumba/ "I Can't Make You Love Me" | 7 | 8 | 8 | Safe |
| 3 | Viennese Waltz/ "Für Elise" | 8 | 7 | 7 | Safe |
| 4 | Samba/ "De Donde Soy" | 7 | 7 | 8 | Safe |
| 5 | West Coast Swing/ "The Way You Make Me Feel" | 7 | 7 | 8 | Eliminated |
With celebrity partner Natalie Coughlin: 22.5
| Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | ||
| Inaba | Goodman | Tonioli | |||
| 1 | Salsa/ "1+1=2" Foxtrot/ "The Best Is Yet to Come" |
7 | 6 8 |
6 | Safe |
| 2 | Quickstep/ "I Want You Back" | 7 | 7 | 7 | Safe |
| 3 | Rumba/ "In The Air Tonight" | 9 | 8 | 9 | Safe |
| 4 | Bolero/ "Better in Time" | 8 | 8 | 8 | Safe |
| 5 | Paso Doble/ "American Woman" Group Hustle/ "The Hustle" |
7 No |
8 Scores |
7 Given |
Eliminated |
References
- Rocchio, Christopher (April 21, 2009). "'Dancing with the Stars' letting viewers select new professional dancer". realitytvworld.com. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- Bloom, Nate (December 11, 2007). "Dancing with the Stars of David". Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- Carol Banks Weber. "News for the week of 19-Sep-2005"; Soap Zone
- http://www.accesshollywood.com/dwts-alums-alec-mazo-and-edyta-sliwinska-welcome-baby-boy_article_88609
- "The Stars Align for a fourth season of ABC's hit alternative series, Dancing With the Stars". abc.go.com. 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
- "Announcing the Stars". abc.go.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-04-18. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
External links
- Alec Mazo.com Official Website
- Alec Mazo - Alec's Myspace
- Alec Mazo at IMDb
| New show | Dancing with the Stars (US) winner Season 1 (Summer 2005 with Kelly Monaco) |
Succeeded by Drew Lachey & Cheryl Burke |
| Preceded by Tucker Carlson & Elena Grinenko |
Dancing with the Stars (US) last place Season 4 (Spring 2007 with Paulina Porizkova) Season 5 (Autumn 2007 with Josie Maran) |
Succeeded by Penn Jillette & Kym Johnson |