Valentin (Val) Aleksandrovich Chmerkovskiy was born in Odessa (Ukraine). At the age of 26, Val is a professional dancer and is known for his appearances on ABC's Dancing With The Stars. Val is the son of Aleksandr and Lariss Chmerkovskiy, and the younger brother to Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Val found his passion for dancing at the age of seven, and by twelve years old he attended his first overseas competition- The German Open. At the German Open, Val and his brother Maks were the only two United States couples there. At the age of 15, Val won his first IDSF World Championship and became the first American to do it. Val has had the honor to have been a US Champion 14 times over his fifteen year dance career. He has many accomplishments, which include the winning of the German Open,Asian-Pacific Championships, US Open, Blackpool and the World Championships 2-times. Val has done a handful of things outside of his dancing passion as well.Val, his brother Maksim, and Tony Dovolani opened "Dance with me" studio in Stamford, Connecticut on April 16th of 2012. Valentin Chmerkovskiy is also a rapper under his stage name "Val C." His single called "White Boy Boogie" can be seen on Youtube.