Carmit Bachar

Carmit Maile Bachar (Hebrew: כרמית בכר; born September 4, 1974) is an American dancer, choreographer and singer. She is a former member of the pop groups the Pussycat Dolls (2003–2008) and LadyStation (2011–2016). As a dancer, she has been on tour with Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Ricky Martin and No Doubt and in music videos for various artists, such as Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, the Black Eyed Peas, the Offspring, Aaliyah and Beyoncé.

Bachar was born in Los Angeles, her father is of Jewish Israeli descent and her mother is of Dutch, Indonesian, and Chinese descent.[failed verification] She was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate. She was raised in Encino, California. Both parents were dancers; her mother worked as a dance teacher at Bancroft Middle School of Performing Arts and her father worked with Elvis Presley and Marcel Marceau. Bachar competed internationally as a rhythmic gymnast for 10 years, and placed 5th in the U.S. Olympic trials in 1992. During her career competing on the U.S. National Team, she attended Hamilton Academy of Music in Los Angeles, studying music, dance, piano and viola. But throughout the years of talent, she endured the years of cleft surgery and was also the victim of bullying.

In 1993 Bachar began a successful career as dancer, appearing in television commercials and movie dance scenes, such as And the Band Played On (1993), North (1994) and Good Burger (1997). In 1995 choreographer Robin Antin asked Bachar to join her new project, the Pussycat Dolls, a burlesque dance troupe, with a repertoire of 1950s and 1960s popular music and dressed in pin-up costumes. In the following years, they performed live weekly at The Roxy Theatre, in West Hollywood, and were featured in magazines, specials for MTV and ad campaigns. During that time, she also participated on tours for Ricky Martin, No Doubt and Beyoncé, and danced in various music videos, such as Michael Jackson's "Blood on the Dance Floor", Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't It Funny", the Black Eyed Peas's "Shut Up", Aaliyah's "Rock the Boat" and Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy".