Heidi Groskreutz, born September 3, 1981, is a dancer from
Cliffside Park, New Jersey, and raised in
Newport Beach, California. She specializes in
Latin and
swing dancing, and as of 2006, is a six-time U.S. Open Swing Dance champion. She has also the winner of the World Invitation Swing Dance Championship and many other top NASDE events. Popularly, she is best known for being a contestant in the second season of the
So You Think You Can Dance competition (which was won by her cousin
Benji Schwimmer) and placing third. Since six years old, Groskreutz and her cousin Benji, longtime dance partners, have been winning national swing dance titles together. They are both
Mormons, and when Schwimmer left to serve a mission in Mexico, Groskreutz began competing with a new partner,
Dmitry Chaplin. After Schwimmer's return from Mexico, all three of them auditioned for the second season of
So You Think You Can Dance, and all proceeded to the top 20 contestants. At first, Groskreutz was partnered with contestant Ryan Rankine, and then later with
Travis Wall. She was often cited by the judges as the "most improved" contestant during the course of the show, and as a dancer that can"take anything that is thrown[at her]." Nigel Lythgoe stated "Heidi you are the best partner dancer of the girls, just as Benji is for the boys, you're both incredible." She was also one of the dancers in the tour based on the show. Heidi and Benji danced on Fox's New Year's Eve show and talked about their instructional dance DVD, appeared on Much Music on Demand in Canada, the Tyra Banks Show, Teen Choice Awards, "E", Extra, Megan Mullally Show. She is also the cousin of
Lacey Schwimmer In 2008, she married former
Latin dance world champion Donnie Burns. On July 23, 2009, Heidi reunited with former season two contestant
Travis Wall, on the 100th episode of
So You Think You Can Dance to recreate their Emmy award winning piece,
The Bench. She also danced with Wade Robson and the other top ten contestants from season 2, recreating "Rama Lama" — another Emmy award winning piece on the same 100th episode. ==Awards==