From ballroom to business moves: What Dancing with the Stars' alum Tony Dovolani is up to now

Millions of viewers know Tony Dovolani as one of the most renowned professional dancers of Dancing with the Stars, the ABC dance competition that was launched in the year 2005.

Dovolani is still in the dance world at the age of 52 but has diversified his portfolio into acting, business, and philanthrop.y

His experience, which included ballroom and business actions, demonstrates the sheer perseverance and flexibility that enabled him to be the star in 21 seasons of Dancing with the Stars.

On Screen: Dancing with the Stars' Tony Dovolani

Dovolani entered Dancing with the Stars firstly time in the second season. Throughout his 20+ seasons on the show, he collaborated with numerous celebrity contestants and eventually won the Mirrorball Trophy in Season 15 with Melissa Rycroft.

His experiences on Dancing with the Stars turned him into a household name and enabled him to cash in on the fame for other activities.

Following his tenure on Dancing with the Stars, Dovolani shifted more of his focus to dance education, studio leadership, and business development.

He holds the title of Co-National Dance Director and Executive Dance Board Member of the Fred Astaire Dance Studios network. In his role, he said:

“My life has now come full circle. At age 17, I began my dance career as an Instructor with FADS … and now, to carry on the legacy of the iconic dancer and choreographer Fred Astaire is truly an honor.”

He also emphasizes education and service:

“For me, education is very important, so if I can provide education for all the council members, studio owners, teachers, and students, we’ll achieve our goals.”

And he added:

“It’s definitely sustainable… We’re going in a new direction, too, becoming one of the only social outlets that people have.”

Dovolani is also a co-founder of the studio chain Dance With Me Studio – Stamford (in Stamford, Connecticut), along with fellow pros such as Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Valentin Chmerkovskiy.

Through these educational and commercial ventures, his post-Dancing with the Stars trajectory has become rooted in business and instructor training.

Tony Dovolani’s personal life and new ventures

Dovolani and his wife, Lina Jani (married since 1999), have three children: Luana, Adrian, and Ariana. Adrian was diagnosed with autism at 18 months; Dovolani has acknowledged how that has informed his family’s perspective. On Instagram, he posted a tribute to his wife for her birthday:

“Happy birthday to my beautiful wife. The kids and I are the luckiest. You are a vision for sore eyes.”

Although his main business has changed to business and mentorship, Dovolani has remained active in entertainment.

He has also been a guest-host, toured with dance shows, appeared in media segments, and well in special events related to his Dancing with the Stars legacy.

Besides this, he also went back to Dancing with the Stars in 2023 to pay tribute to his late judge Len Goodman after Goodman passed away.

Dovolani has more than once stressed forward-looking instead of retrospective in his career. In a 2018 interview, he said:

“Honestly, I never look back to see what I have accomplished. I am always interested in what’s next. The windshield is far more exciting than the rear-view mirror.”

Another comment he made was on the role of technology in entertainment:

“Technology has changed the entertainment in many different ways: It gave the audience an inside look in entertainers’ daily lives.”

In brief, Tony Dovolani has, since his years of breakout fame in Dancing with the Stars, crossed into a more diversified assortment of business executive, mentorship, philanthropy, and selective performance.

His current activities include franchising dance studios, shaping dance education, taking on family duties, and contributing to the community through charity, but the show was perhaps his in breaking the national door wide open.

His career change-up as a pro dancer on Dancing with the Stars to studio director, tutor, and philanthropist creates a roadmap of how a reality-competition star can shift into a long-term career trajectory. 

Stay tuned for more updates.