'Dancing' duo prepare to turn up the heat on B'way

[July 25, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Karina Smirnoff (kuh-REE'-nuh SMEER'-nahf) and Maksim Chmerkovskiy (MAKS'-ihm shmehr-KAWF'-skee) have no time to think about their wedding.

They're too busy burning up the dance floor.

The professional dancers - best known from ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" - are preparing for their Broadway debuts in the ballroom dance show "Burn The Floor." It opens Aug. 2 at the Longacre Theatre.

Smirnoff says she and her husband-to-be - engaged since New Year's Eve - are consumed by dance steps and stage cues. Following their three-week guest appearance, she says, "we'll definitely start thinking about the wedding."

Chmerkovskiy calls it "a testament to the relationship" that the passionate pair can rehearse so closely and still stick together.

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On the Net:

http://abc.go.com/primetime/dancingwiththestars/

[Associated Press; By ERIN CARLSON]

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