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His pursuit of dance was rewarded with titles such as the New South Wales Open Champion as well as international and national finalist and semi-finalist in the World Championships.

Over the last few years, Henry has crossed over from Ballroom dancing to a number of other genres, as seen by his appearances on Strictly Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance in Australia. His latest appearance was on Dancing With The Stars.

Trained in a number of styles, including animation hip hop, Henry has just joined Burn The Floor.

Katarina was vice-champion of Slovakian Junior Ten Dance and achieved Semi Finals results in World Junior and Youth Ten Dance Championships.

Katarina pursued her dance studies for 2 years in the Czech Republic and 2 years in Italy before appearing on a recent season of "Dancing with the Stars" in Europe where she placed 4th with a famous Slovak actor.

Katarina is delighted to have the opportunity to join Burn the Floor this year.

After turning professional and moving to Brisbane at the age of 21, she then competed throughout Australia in all the Professional events- Latin American, Standard and New Vogue.

Melanie decided to specialise in her favourite style, Latin American and in 2004 moved to London and competed throughout the UK. Achieving great success, some of her results are - 2 times Australian Professional Latin Champion, 2007 German Open Rising Star Latin Champion, 2008 UK Rising Star Professional Latin Champion, 2nd Place British Open Rising Star Professional Latin and Professional Open Quarter Finalist in all major Championships internationally.

Melanie also loves to teach and has lots of experience teaching regularly in London, people of all ages and levels. After competing for many years, she is very excited to be joining Burn the Floor and performing for people around the world.

Sasha has been touring with Burn the Floor for 7 years.


	ASH-LEIGH HUNTER Ash-Leigh has been dancing since the age of 6, initially being trained in Jazz, Tap, Ballet and Gymnastics. She started Ballroom Dancing at the age of 7 both socially and competitively.As a junior competitor Ash-Leigh was a consistent Australian finalist. In 1997 she travelled to London where she won the Junior World Gold Cup Latin American and came 3rd in the Junior World Gold Cup Ballroom Championships. Ashleigh also became a Junior British Latin American finalist, and became the Junior British Jive champion.As a Youth and Amateur competitor she was again a consistent Australian finalist. In 2000 she became the Australian 10 Dance Champion and was also invited to represent Australia at the World 10 Dance Championships. One of Ash-Leigh's highlights was performing in front of Liza Minelli at the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas. Ash-Leigh has been touring with Burn the Floor for 7 years.

	CARMELO PIZZINO Carmelo won his first dancing award at just 5 years of age. Originally from Perth - Australia, Carmelo specialises in Latin American. He has won many Australian and World titles, including the prestigious British Latin Championship at Blackpool. He has also been International Latin Champion in London, Australian Latin Champion, South Pacific Latin Champion, Australasian Latin Champion, Singapore’s Lion City Champion, and has twice won the Rumba in the Jungle Latin Championship at Sun City in South Africa. After returning from a successful career in London Carmelo became a resident teacher at the Sydney Dance Company for 3 years, and has performed and choreographed many events in Australia. Carmelo made his Dancing With The Stars debut in series 4 dancing with acclaimed Australian actress Noeline Brown, and then went on to dance with controversial World chess champion Arianne Coaili in series 5, where he was successful in reaching the Grand final. Carmelo has been touring with Burn the Floor for 2 years.

	CLARE CLIFTON Clare trained in ballet at the Colne Bank School of Dance since the age of 2. She has an honours degree in Performing Arts from the Middlesex University and studied Ballet, Modern Dance and Choreography at the University of South Florida in America. Her many performance credits include Sleeping Beauty at Disneyland Paris, Miss Saigon, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and working with Cirque du Soleil, Moving Current and Cuban Groove. Clare has recently joined Burn the Floor with her husband Kevin and is currently dancing with Tristan MacManus.

	DAMIAN WHITEWOOD Damian from Perth began dancing at the age of 10 and over the years of competing in ballroom and latin competitions has amassed many trophy’s to fill the pool room twice over. He has been Australian champion, W.A State champion and Australasian champion in both ballroom and latin. He has also represented Australia in the worlds youth ballroom in the Ukraine Russia and the worlds youth latin in Dusseldorf, Germany. In 2000 he retired from competing to become a touring cast member of the show BURN THE FLOOR in which he has been touring with for the past 8 years. Damian has continued with the company into Jason Gilkison’s second production FLOORPLAY. Damian is delighted to be able to perform this amazing art form and would like to thank all those who have helped him get to where he is today, especially his family for all their love and support.

	DAMON & REBECCA SUGDEN Damon & Rebecca have been dancing together since St Valentine’s Day 1994. During their time together they have won many National & International Championships including, 3 times Australian Ballroom Champions, 3 successive Asian Pacific Ballroom Championships as well as becoming National Ten Dance Champions. They represented Australia on many occasions with the honour of competing in many World Championships, reaching the World Cup Grand Final in Tokyo. Their proudest moments include reaching the Grand Final of the Youth Ballroom at the British Open in Blackpool and becoming the only Australians ever to win the Youth Ballroom at the International Championships in London. Damon and Rebecca married while performing with Burn the Floor. They have been touring with Burn the Floor for 9 years.

	DANNIAL GOSPER Dannial Gosper was introduced to Ballroom dancing at the age of 5 through his parents Professional Dancing studio. He started competing when he was 9.Since 1997, Dannial has competed internationally, winning the Youth Standard and Latin American in Russia. In 2000, he represented Australia at the World Amateur Standard in Bratislava and became the National Capital Ten Dance and South Pacific Standard Champion. Dannial has been involved with the International Olympic Committee for three years demonstrating Ballroom dancing for acceptance into the Olympics. In 2002 Dannial entered into the touring world of “Burn the Floor”. He has been touring with Burn the Floor for 6 years.

	GISELLE PEACOCK Giselle has been dancing since the age of 10 and has devoted her life to competing in International Latin Dancing. Achieveing great results in many Championships including 4 times US Champion, 2 times World representative, 2nd in Under 21 at the Blackpool Championships in England.She also studies and trains in other styles of dance including Hip Hop, Jazz, and Modern Dancing.Giselle still actively competes, coaches and performs all over the world, and has appeared in television shows including Secret World of Ballroom Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance. Giselle has been touring with Burn the Floor for 2 years.

	GORDANA GRANDOSEK Gordana has been at the top of her field since a junior, with many Slovenian and International titles to her credit, which include; 1994 Youth (under 21) German open Latin champion, 1995 Dutch Open Champion, 1995 Italian Open Champion, 1996 Copenhagen Open Champion, 1996 Slagharen Open champion, runner-up at the 1997 British Youth (under 21) Standard Championships, bronze medalist at both the 1997 & 1998 IDSF European Cup Ten Dance and runner-up in both the 1997 & 1998 International Youth Standard Championships. p She has been a professional on the “Dancing with the stars” series in Slovenia, where she placed second and a cast member of the Slovenian stage show called ''The 50's Show''. In 2005 Gordana graduated University with a degree in Public and Business Administration. She has been a cast member of Burn the floor for 8 years.

	HENRY BAYALIKOV Henry Byalikov's passion for performing arts was clear from the age of nine, when he commenced his dance career, specialising in the technical style of individual and coupled Ballroom. His pursuit of dance was rewarded with titles such as the New South Wales Open Champion as well as international and national finalist and semi-finalist in the World Championships. Over the last few years, Henry has crossed over from Ballroom dancing to a number of other genres, as seen by his appearances on Strictly Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance in Australia. His latest appearance was on Dancing With The Stars. Trained in a number of styles, including animation hip hop, Henry has just joined Burn The Floor.

	JEREMY GARNER Jeremy has been dancing since he was 10 years old. Working with some of the Worlds best Coaches for the 8 years, has resulted in many awards including finalist in the Australian Amateur Latin American Championships, Victorian Champion and represented Australia at the World Amateur Latin Championships. He has appeared on the Australian television production of Strictly Dancing, the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and was the Assistant Choreographer in the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars. Jeremy has just joined the cast of Burn the Floor.

	JESSICA RAFFA Jessica Raffa has been dancing for 19 years. She began with ballet and trained with the Junior Australian Ballet until she was 11 years of age. She then ventured into Ballroom dancing and has been doing this now for 10 years. Jessica has trained in London with World Champions and has competed on both a National and International scale, being placed highly in both.In the year 2000 Jessica danced centre stage alongside Jason Gilkison and Peta Roby at the Closing Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. For the past 6 years she has worked closely with Jason Gilkison in the production of Burn the Floor and has travelled to various parts of the world with the show.In her spare time, Jessica is a volunteer with a special organisation in Australia for the visually impaired where she teaches them to dance. Jessica has been touring with Burn the Floor for 5 years.

	KATARINA STUMPFOVA Katarina has danced since the age of 8. She had a very successful competitive career as 9 times Slovakian Latin Champion and has represented Slovakia in many World Championships. Katarina was vice-champion of Slovakian Junior Ten Dance and achieved Semi Finals results in World Junior and Youth Ten Dance Championships. Katarina pursued her dance studies for 2 years in the Czech Republic and 2 years in Italy before appearing on a recent season of "Dancing with the Stars" in Europe where she placed 4th with a famous Slovak actor. Katarina is delighted to have the opportunity to join Burn the Floor this year.

	KEVIN CLIFTON Kevin was born in England and trained at the Clifton Dance Academy run by his parents (Former International Latin American Champions – Keith and Judy Clifton), majoring in Latin American. He has been competing for 21 years winning 4 British Championships, the International Open Championships in Sweden, Hong Kong, Slovakia, Norway and Taiwan. He was invited to perform in a live television show in the world famous Kremlin in Moscow and has continued to work with the dance group Cuban Groove in England. Kevin has recently joined Burn the Floor.

	MELANIE HOOPER Melanie has started ballroom dancing at the age of 13 in her home town, Townsville Australia. After turning professional and moving to Brisbane at the age of 21, she then competed throughout Australia in all the Professional events- Latin American, Standard and New Vogue. Melanie decided to specialise in her favourite style, Latin American and in 2004 moved to London and competed throughout the UK. Achieving great success, some of her results are - 2 times Australian Professional Latin Champion, 2007 German Open Rising Star Latin Champion, 2008 UK Rising Star Professional Latin Champion, 2nd Place British Open Rising Star Professional Latin and Professional Open Quarter Finalist in all major Championships internationally. Melanie also loves to teach and has lots of experience teaching regularly in London, people of all ages and levels. After competing for many years, she is very excited to be joining Burn the Floor and performing for people around the world.

	PATRICK HELM Ever since he can remember Patrick has been dancing at his family’s Ballroom dancing school in Berlin. He has won many championships Nationally and Internationally including "Hessen tanzt Championship", "Blaues Band der Spree Championship", and the "Welsh Open"After finishing school he decided to leave Germany and moved to London to further his dance career. At the Blackpool Dance Festival in May 2005 Patrick and his partner Sharna Burgess were spotted by stage producer Alan Harding and were offered a job in the stage production Simply Ballroom. Patrick and Sharna toured with this company across the UK in 2005. Patrick has been touring with Burn the Floor for the last 3 years.

	PETA MURGATROYD Peta Murgatroyd first put her ballet slippers on at the age of 4. A budding ballerina in the making, Peta was trained under the Russian Vaganova method of classical ballet, with prima ballerina Madame Lubov Nikonerenko. She excelled in all areas of dance including, contemporary, spanish, indian and character, and gained Honours and Honours Plus in all her exams. At 16 she was forced to quit ballet after an ankle injury, however not long after, she then found a love for ballroom dancing. Peta became the W.A. Amateur Latin State Champion in 2002 and 2003, she then continued to compete in competitions Australia wide and on the International circuit. One of the highlights of her competition career was achieving 3rd place at the World British Latin American Open Championships in 2005. Peta has been a cast member since 2004, where she performed in shows Burn The Floor and Floorplay. Peta’s life revolves around dance and she couldn’t ask for a more rewarding career. Special thanks to her family for their continued love and support. Peta has been touring with Burn the Floor for 4 years.

	ROBIN WINDSOR Robin is 29 and from the UK. He began his dance training at the age of 3 in his hometown of Ipswich. He has spent most of his life competing, winning numerous championships throughout the UK and representing England all over the world. When he was 10 he was IDTA under 12 national medalist of the year At Junior and Youth level Robin has been in every semi final in every major event internationally including the World, British and international championships in both Ballroom and Latin. In 2002 Robin chose the stage to display his abilities of dance by joining the dance show Burn the Floor. Since then has toured throughout Australia, Asia, Canada, and the USA with London being a major highlight. Robin looking forward to showcasing to the world what ballroom dancing is really all about.

	SARAH HIVES Sarah started dancing at the age of 3, and has trained in many different styles including Ballet, Jazz, Tap and Contemporary. For the last 3 years Sarah has toured through Europe and Australia competing in many competitions and has just recently partnered with Jeremy Garner in Melbourne Australia. Sarah has just joined the cast of Burn the Floor.

	SARAH SORIANO Sarah commenced dancing at age 6. After studying Ballet, Tap and Jazz for 10 years, Sarah ventured into Ballroom Dancing competing both Nationally and Internationally. In 1998 during her third consecutive British Open Championship in the Youth Latin American, Sarah and her partner were placed in the Top 10 in the world. 1999 to early 2001 Sarah’s dancing career was put on hold while she successfully fought her battle with Breast Cancer. After regaining control of her life Sarah participated in the second series of the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars partnering Olympic Gold medalist Steven Bradbury. Sarah has been touring with Burn the Floor for 7 years.

	SASHA FARBER Born in Russia, Sasha started dancing at 13, five years after migrating to his new homeland of Australia. The hard work soon paid off with Sasha - including the Australian Youth Latin Championships. Another highlight was coming third in the samba at England's Blackpool One Dance competition. At 18-year-old, Sasha also represented Australia at the World Latin Championships in Riga, Latvia. He featured as a ballroom dancer in the lavish closing ceremony at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and was the undefeated junior, youth Latin Australian champion in 1999, 2000, and 2001 Sasha also featured in the TV show Dancing With The Stars where he caused some controversy dancing with his former girlfriend Nikki Webster. Sasha has been touring with Burn the Floor for 7 years.

	SHARNA BURGESS Sharna started Ballroom dancing at the age of 6 and by the age of 15 she represented Australia at the World Latin and Ballroom Championships held in Germany. She went on to compete in many International Championships for the next few years. In 2000 she returned to Australia to perform at the Sydney Olympic Games closing ceremony. September 2004 was the beginning of a new and very successful dance partnership between Patrick Helm and Sharna and they have had some outstanding Competition results. Sharna started her professional career by performing and touring through the UK with the Stage Production of Simply Ballroom. For the past 3 years Sharna has been touring with Burn the Floor.

	SHERONE ARMEL Sherone Armel is 17 years of age. She began dancing at the age of 11 training in the Latin and Ballroom styles. She has travelled internationally competing in Junior, Youth and Adult events, including Blackpool, England and Singapore where she place 2nd in a championship. At the age of 14 she competed in the Australian Dancesport Championships where she took out the level 4 Adult event. Her passion for dance saw her move from Melbourne to Sydney at the age of 16, to further her dance training and career. A move which led her to becoming the newest member of the cast of Burn the Floor.

	TRENT WHIDDON Trent was originally trained in jazz, tap and ballroom 16 years ago and has won numerous national titles as a juvenile, junior, youth and adult. Being selected as Australia’s representative to the World Championships in Latin, Standard and Ten Dance. His greatest accomplishments to date include; Junior British Latin finalist 2000, and British Youth (under 21) Latin bronze medalist 2005. He also performed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics Closing Ceremony, 100th Anniversary of the Taj Mahal Hotel India and the opening of Fox Studios Sydney. As well as being a professional on the Australian series of “Dancing With The Stars”. Trent has been a cast member of Burn the floor since 2002.

	TRISTAN MCMANUS Tristan was introduced to dancing at age 9 by his grandparents in Dublin. He has trained and competed in Italy, England, Sweden and the USA. He is honoured to have represented the Republic of Ireland in many World and European championships throughout the years as a Juvenile, Junior and Amateur competitor. After winning the All-Ireland Championships for the last time in 2000, Tristan turned his attention towards theatre work and musicals. He joined the dance show "Simply Ballroom" in 2004 and after touring the UK and Las Vegas he was delighted to receive a call from Burn the Floor. Tristan has most recently spent time in Boston teaching and is delighted to return to the cast of Burn the Floor.

	VEERA KINNUNEN Veera Kinnunen is only 21 years old and has been dancing since she was just 7. She is the 5 times Junior and Youth champion of Sweden, but says her proudest moment was being placed 5th on the Internationals (England) Under 21.Veera lives in a small northern town in Gayle, Sweden but is originally from Finland. She has studied nature science at school and plans on finishing a Law Degree while continuing with her passion of Ballroom and Latin Dancing. Veera now continues to tour with Burn the Floor and compete around the world.