Driton "Tony" Dovolani was born in Kosovo (formerly part of Yugoslavia). When he was 3 yrs of age he began folk dancing in Kosovo. When he was 15 yrs old, Tony and his parents immigrated to America, seeking political asylum here to escape a war in Kosovo. In the US, Tony began taking dance classes at the Fred Astaire Dance Academy and says he quickly found his passion... Ballroom and Latin dancing. Tony Dovolani is sometimes known as the "Bad Boy of Ballroom" and has since traveled the world winning many titles, trophies and championships. He is best known for his role on the US version of the hit show Dancing With The Stars. He also had a role as a Latin bad boy in the film Shall We Dance? which starred Jennifer Lopez. Mr. Dovolani spent time as Jennifer's personal dance coach during the filming.





According to Dovolani, Ballroom Dancing is all about the woman and beauty. He believes that the man is meant to be the frame for the picture of beauty that is presented by the woman. Dovolani and his professional dance partner, Elena Grinenko, recently retired from active competition but he now spends his time away from Dancing With The Stars as an instructor and hopes to open his own dance academy in the near future. He is very close friends with fellow DWTS pro, Maksim "Maks" Chmerkovskiy and says he feels like a big brother to Maks.





Dovolani is married to his partner of 9 1/2 years, and they have a 2 yr old daughter named Luana. He and his family live in New York City but they travel to California with him during the DWTS season. He and his wife Trendalina are expecting twins (a boy and a girl), due in September 2008.