Cheryl Burke's Set for Summer of Dance, and Downtime

• Jun 9, 2008 09:55 PM ET
• by danceteam

This summer, Cheryl Burke will actually be putting her feet up - at least, for a few minutes.

During Sunday's annual Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Carnival, Burke told TVGuide.com that this summer, she's hoping to take a much-needed break, plus spend time in her new NorCal dance studio. "I'm flying back and forth to San Francisco a lot," she said, "and also trying to take a vacation. I haven't taken a vacation in three years, because normally we go on tour [in the summer]. I have the time, and the sun, to just chill and relax and spend time in my dance studio." The petite Dancing pro looked set for summer already, in a flowing halter dress and flat sandals.

Burke's studio, which opened April 4, is already seeing big crowds on its dance floor. "It's going great," she enthused. "We just had 250 little kids come by wanting to learn how to dance so we're really excited."

The Dancing pro also confided that dancing isn't her only talent. At the Glaser event, she and fellow pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy were manning the Sprouts Preschool Play Zone, where Burke was in charge of the ping-pong booth. Admitting that she's "expert" at the table sport, she said, "I love ping-pong. I used to play ping-pong all the time with my family!" With any luck, Burke will get some more time this summer to brush up on her game. - Anna Dimond