Mark Alexander "Corky" Ballas Sr. (born December 25, 1960) is an American retired competitive ballroom dancer who holds several Latin dance championship titles.
His paternal grandparents, Karolos ("Charles") Ballas and Maria Lymnaos were immigrants to the United States from Greece.
[8] His plans for the future include more television performances as well as an online interactive dance instruction via hundreds of videos.
[11] Ballas has trained many of Dancing with the Stars' professionals including Karina Smirnoff, Julianne Hough, Derek Hough, Tony Dovolani, Edyta Sliwinska, Alec Mazo, Brian Fortuna, Jonathan Roberts, Anna Trebunskaya, Jessie DeSoto and, his son, Mark Ballas.
On August 25, 2008, the show's producers announced Corky himself would compete as a pro on season 7, alongside his son and former pupils.