Artem Vladimirovich Chigvintsev (; born 12 June 1982) is a Russian professional dancer, specializing in Latin dancing. Chigvintsev was a cast member of Burn the Floor where he performed both on Broadway and more recently in the West End in 2009. Chigvintsev joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2010 straight from Burn the Floor. He won the show in his first year with his celebrity partner Kara Tointon. Early life Chigvintsev was born at Izhevsk, Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, RSFSR, Soviet Union. He moved to the United States in 2003 and began dancing with champion ballroom dancer Giselle Peacock. Chigvintsev auditioned to appear as a contestant on the first series of So You Think You Can Dance. Chigvintsev was eliminated alongside his fellow contestant Melissa Vella, but returned as a guest choreographer for season two. Strictly Come Dancing In September 2010, Chigvintsev joined Strictly Come Dancing series 8 as a professional dancer, where he was partnered with actress Kara Tointon. The pair achieved good scores in the first five weeks of 30, 32, 31, 32, and 37. In week 5, they were awarded the first 10 of the series by Alesha Dixon for their paso doble. In week 6 they were top of the leaderboard with their salsa. They also had good scores for the next five weeks of 36, 38, 35, 34, and 38. In week 11, they got their highest score of 39 for the Viennese Waltz and Rumba and got the maximum 5/5 for the swing-a-thon. Chigvintsev and Tointon made it to the final along with Matt Baker and Pamela Stephenson. The pair went on to win the competition, defeating Matt Baker and his partner Aliona Vilani, and being crowned series champions for 2010. Chigvintsev is one of five professionals to win the series as a first-time Strictly pro. In 2011's Strictly Come Dancing season 9 Chigvintsev was partnered with Holly Valance. He and Valance made it to Week 11, the semi-finals, before being eliminated. Chigvintsev's celebrity partner in the 10th series of Strictly Come Dancing was television presenter Fern Britton. They were eliminated in Week 6. His celebrity partner in the eleventh series of Strictly Come Dancing was former Coronation Street star Natalie Gumede, who played Kirsty Soames. They reached the finals and became one of the runners-up, along with Susanna Reid and Kevin Clifton, losing to model Abbey Clancy. Highest and lowest performances per dance