Damian Whitewood

Damian Whitewood is an Australian dancer and former dancesport competitor.

Background

For the past 12 years, Damian has performed his passion in life to millions of people around the world and has taken what was once a hobby and made it his career.

Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia Damian was first introduced to ballroom dancing at the age of 10 through his older brother, who took dance lessons to impress a girl. His mother was also a competitive ballroom dancer in her childhood days in London, so it is no surprise where the love for dance came from.

Damian learned to love competitive ballroom dancing and soon realized how competitive he actually was. From the age of 14 Damian was traveling across Australia competing in both Ballroom and Latin competitions, it wasn’t long before he was traveling abroad crafting his love for this art form, learning from the world’s best. He collected a plethora of accomplishments along the way, National state champion, Australian champion and Australasian champion in both Ballroom and Latin and represented Australia in many world competitions.

Career

In 2001 he joined the cast of Burn The Floor, which has sold millions of tickets in over 30 countries and 160 cities worldwide. He achieved one of his lifelong goals with the company in 2009 making his Broadway Debut as a lead dancer, which opened to rave reviews and sold out performances. In 2010 Damian made the move to prime-time television in the US as one of the professional dancers on ABC’s top rated program, "Dancing With The Stars" on Season 10. He was partnered with Pamela Anderson who he has continually been working with all around the world. Damian has guest appeared on the Israeli "Rokdim Im Kokhavim" רוקדים עם כוכבים, version of "Dancing With The Stars". He has also competed on the Argentine "Bailando por un Sueño" Series 7. Damian has choreographed and appeared on "So You Think You Can Dance" in Australia and the Netherlands and also "La Academia" in Mexico. He was a Co-Host at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for Pamela Anderson's Variety Gala. Damian was most recently runner-up on the Australian "Dancing With The Stars" Season 12 with Danielle Spencer.

Controversy

In October 2012, Whitewood's former dancing partner on Australia's Dancing with the Stars, Danielle Spencer, separated from her husband Russell Crowe. In the weeks prior to the separation Spencer and Whitewood had been seen out together. Many new agencies and blogs have named Whitewood's relationship with Spencer as a contributing factor to the breakdown of the marriage.

References