Cheryl Bautista Burke was born on May 3, 1984, in Atherton, California, which is in the San Francisco Bay Area. Recreational dancing was a family affair in the Burke household as she and her sisters, Mandy and Nicole, along with their parents, made much use of the dance floor that was installed in their home. She started training as a ballerina when she was 4 and eventually took up ballroom dancing at the age of 10, learning standard ballroom as well as Latin styles. Her passion for dancing grew over the years, and by the age of 13 she started entering competitions
