Karina Smirnoff Feet - Smirnoff was born Karina Smirnova in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union on January 2, 1978. When she was five years old, she began taking ballet lessons, followed by gymnastics, aerobics, figure skating, ballroom dancing and piano. Karina Smirnoff chose to pursue ballroom dancing. In 1992, Smirnoff emigrated to the United States.