Name Shirley Ballas | Children Mark Ballas | |
 | ||
Full Name Shirley Annette Rich Born 17 September 1960 (age 64) ( 1960-09-17 ) United Kingdom Similar People | ||
Dancing with the stars season 21 episode 8 review w shirley ballas afterbuzz tv
Shirley Ballas (born Shirley Rich) is an English ballroom dancer, dance teacher, and dance adjudicator from Wallasey, now part of Merseyside. She specialises in the International Latin division, where she won several championship titles which earned her the nickname "The Queen of Latin".
Contents
- Dancing with the stars season 21 episode 8 review w shirley ballas afterbuzz tv
- Corky shirley ballas jive routine 1989
- Life and dancing career
- Dancing with the Stars
- Strictly Come Dancing
- References
Corky shirley ballas jive routine 1989
Life and dancing career
Ballas was born and raised in Wallasey, England, with brother David and mother Audrey. The children's father left the family when Shirley was 2 years old. She began dancing at age 7, and began performing competitively the following years.
At 15, Ballas moved to North Yorkshire to partner British Ballroom Champion Nigel Tiffany, which she described as "a difficult time". Two years later, she moved with Tiffany to London, where their partnership ended after dance teacher Nina Hunt convinced her to audition to partner with dancer Sammy Stopford. The two married when Ballas was 18, with the relationship ending five years later. As dance partners, they came second in the 1982, 1983 & 1985 Professional World Latin Dance Championships. The pair won the 1983 International Latin American Dance Championship, and were the 1984 UK Open Champions in Professional Latin.
In the mid-1980s, she married Corky Ballas. Together they won the International Latin American Dance Championship for 1995, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. They met at a Latin competition in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The pair moved to Houston, Texas to compete in the US. Their only child, professional ballroom dancer Mark Ballas, was born in 1986. The couple divorced in 2007.
Ballas stopped competing in dance competitions in 1996, becoming a dance coach and judge for ballroom and Latin American competitions.
Dancing with the Stars
Ballas has appeared on Dancing with the Stars, giving master classes and commentating on the show.
Strictly Come Dancing
On 9 May 2017, it was announced that Ballas would be joining the judging panel of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One, replacing Len Goodman as head judge. She made her first appearance on the panel four months later - at the launch show on 9 September that year.