Burn the Floor: Derek Hough joins cast on 8 Jan

Derek Hough, of "Dancing with the Stars," will make his Broadway debut on 8 Jan 2010 in the dance show, Burn the Floor for the last four performances of the show's engagement; the show will close as previously announced on 10th Jan 2010.

Hough will be partnered with Kym Johnson, who was this year's professional champion on "Dancing with the Stars," partnered with Donny Osmond. Mary Murphy of FOX's "So You Think You Can Dance" continues in Burn the Floor through its final performance.

Hough was a "Dancing with the Stars" champion during Season 7, when he partnered with Brooke Burke. Hebegan dancing at age 11. A year later, he and his sister Julianne moved from Salt Lake City, to London to live and train with their dance coaches Shirley and Corky Ballas. He and their son Mark Ballas, also on Dancing with the Stars, are still best friends and perform in a band called the Ballas Hough. Hough also performed on London's West End where he played the lead in 'Footloose.'

Hough replaces Maksim Chmerkovskiy who will play his final performance on 7 Jan 2010.

On 5 Jan 2010, Mig Ayesa made his Broadway debut in Burn the Floor as the show's male vocalist. His West End credits include lead roles in 'We Will Rock You,' 'Rent,' 'Thriller and 'Buddy.' In Australia and on tour he played leading roles in 'Fame,' 'Grease,' 'Rent,' 'Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber,' 'West Side Story' and others. His film credits include 'Queen of the Damned' and 'Subterano.'

Burn the Floor, the Latin and Ballroom dance show that has played around the globe, opened at the Longacre Theatre on 2 Aug 2009, following previews from 25 Jul 2009 and was originally scheduled to close on 18 Oct 2009. The show was extended twice and will begin a World tour in Feb 2010 which includes 30 U.S. Cities.

The show opened to mixed reviews: "can come to feel monotonous and mechanical" (NY Times); "the dance speaks eloquently for itself" (NY Daily News); "an experience that alternates between exhilarating and contrived" (The Record); "a two-hour adrenaline rush featuring some of the best and best-looking ballroom dancers in the world" (NY1); "it's a vulgarized dance marathon" (Variety).

Collectively holding over 100 Latin and Ballroom titles, the cast of Burn the Floor also stars Henry Byalikov, Sharna Burgess, Artem Chigvintsev, Kevin Clifton, Sasha Farber, Jeremy Garner, Anya Garnis, Gordana Grandosek, Patrick Helm, Sarah Hives, Melanie Hooper, Pasha Kovalev, Peta Murgatroyd, Giselle Peacock, Nuria Santalucia, Mirko Sciolan, Sarah Soriano, Damon & Rebecca Sugden, Trent Whiddon, Damian Whitewood and Robin Windsor. The dancers are supported by two vocalists, Ricky Rojas and Rebecca Tapia.

Burn the Floor is created and choreographed by Jason Gilkison who is connected to the shows 'So You Think You Can Dance' (both the US and the Australian versions) and 'Superstars of Dance' as the captain of the Australian team.

Burn the Floor was first performed at Sir Elton John's 50th birthday celebrations at the Hammersmith Palais Ballroom, London in 1997, since then the production has gone on to be a worldwide success with tours in many countries including Austrailia, Canada, Japan and across Europe. It has been seen by 30 million people in 30 countries.

The show is produced by Joe Watson, Richard Levi, Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch, and Marc Routh, in association with Dance Partner Inc/Harley Medcalf.