Paul Killick

Last updated

Paul Killick
Born
United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
Other namesPaul John Killick
Occupation(s) Ballroom dancer, choreographer, television personality

Paul Killick is a British professional ballroom dancer and an International Latin American Dance Champion. He appeared in the first two series of the television show Strictly Come Dancing . [1] Killick specialize in Latin dance and has won The World Cup, World Trophy, World Masters, World Series, Universal and British Professional Latin American DanceSport Championships.

Contents

Killick is also a choreographer, coach, television personality, dance judge, and the owner and director of the Arthur Murray International studio in Beverly Hills.

Competitive dance career

Killick represented Great Britain in competitive Ballroom and Latin American Dancesport in the Juvenile, Junior, Youth and Amateur divisions. He won the title of World Amateur Latin Champion in 1993, dancing with Inga Haas. [2]

In 1994, Killick began dancing professionally with Oksana Forova. In 1996, he began dancing with Vibeke Toft, participating in several competitions. [3] In October 1998, Killick began dancing with Karina Smirnoff, and again participated in several competitions. [4] This partnership ended in July 1999.

Killick then partnered with Hanna Karttunen. They danced together for five years and were highly ranked. Together they won the United Kingdom Open Champion, International Champion, World Series Champion, World Masters Champion, Dutch Open Champion, United States Open Champion, Asian Open Champion, Kremlin Cup Champion and four-time British National Champions. [5]

Killick received the Ballroom Dancers' Federation "Most Outstanding Contribution to Dance" honour in both 1994 and 2004. [6] He has won The World Cup, World Trophy, World Masters, World Series, Universal and British Professional Latin American DanceSport Championships on six occasions. Killick represented Great Britain throughout his career and has won several international DanceSport Championships before he retired from competitive Latin dancing in 2004.[ citation needed ]

Other work

Killick has danced for the Royal Families of Monaco, Japan, Denmark, and the Prime Ministers of Germany, Finland, and Russia.[ citation needed ]

Killick was involved in the development and creation of "Strictly Come Dancing" on the BBC in the UK and appeared in seasons one and two of the series, as well as its spin-off, "Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two." In series 1, he danced with Verona Joseph, reaching the fourth round. In series 2, he danced with Carol Vorderman and reached the second round.[ citation needed ]

Killick choreographed productions for both screen and stage, including "Unforgettable Boleros" with Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Celia Cruz and Ricardo Montalban for PBS; "Stephen Sondheim 75th Birthday Tribute Concert" at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London's West End [7] and "An Evening of Ballroom Dancing with Paul Killick" at the Cadogan Theatre in London.[ citation needed ]

Post retirement

Killick is an adjudicator for several National and International Ballroom and Latin DanceSport competitions. He has organised multiple competitive DanceSport events, including The Killick Klassik DanceSport Event in Palm Beach, Florida, The Killick Royale Cup in Beverly Hills, California, The World Pro-Am Stars and The World Challenge DanceSport Championships in Hong Kong. Killick also coaches and choreographs for Ballroom and Latin DanceSport's competitors.

Killick was appointed as the Director and owner of the Arthur Murray International flagship studio in Beverly Hills. He also runs his own dance studio in London.

He is a member of the World Dance Council, the National Dance Council of America and the British Dance Council. He partnered with International Dance Shoes to produce The Killick Klassiks.[ citation needed ] Killick has also been involved with Childline, Cancer Research UK and Variety Club.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dancesport</span> Ballroom dancing as a sport

Dancesport is competitive ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair.

The World Dance Council Ltd (WDC), is a registered limited company, the legal successor to the International Council of Ballroom Dancing, and was established at a meeting organized by Phillip J. S. Richardson on 22 September 1950 in Edinburgh, Scotland. From 1996 to 2006 the WDC was known as the World Dance & Dance Sport Council Ltd (WD&DSC). The stated mission of the World Dance Council is to inspire, stimulate and promote excellence in education for the World Dance Council and Amateur League community.

This page lists the official World Champions – Professional Ballroom of the World Dance Council (WDC), and its historical predecessors. The championships are authorized and organized under the auspices of the WDC. The designation Ballroom replaces the previously used Modern or Standard in WDC terminology; it does not include the latin dances.

This page lists the official World Champions – Professional Latin of the World Dance Council (WDC). The championships are authorized and organized under the auspices of the WDC, and held annually in the last quarter of each year. The competition comprises five dances: rumba, samba, paso doble, cha-cha-cha and jive, as defined in ballroom dancing terms.

Lilia Andreyevna Kopylova is a Russian professional dancer.

Mark Alexander Ballas Sr., known as Corky Ballas, is an American retired competitive ballroom dancer who holds several Latin dance championship titles. His son, Mark Ballas, is a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars. His father was George Ballas, who invented the Weed Eater lawn-trimming device.

Karen Hardy is a British professional ballroom dancer, coach, teacher and adjudicator. In 1998 she won the professional International Latin American Dance Championship with Bryan Watson. She also won the United Kingdom Open, British National, European and World Masters championships. She now runs a dance studio at Imperial Wharf, London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karina Smirnoff</span> American professional ballroom dancer

Karina Smirnoff is a Soviet-born American professional ballroom dancer of Ukrainian origins. She is known as a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars, where she won the thirteenth season with army veteran and soap opera star J. R. Martinez. She has also won two runner-up titles, a semifinal title, and several quarterfinal titles.

Tony Meredith is an American professional ballroom dancer, choreographer and United States Professional Latin Champion.

Hazel Catherine Newberry MBE is one of the United Kingdom's leading ballroom dancers and dance teachers. She was three times undefeated World Professional Ballroom champion, dancing with Christopher Hawkins (2002–2004).

Pavel "Pasha" Kovalev is a Russian professional Latin and ballroom dancer.

Hanna Karttunen is a Finnish professional Latin American and exhibition dancer. She also trained in ballet as a child, having a love of dance from a very early age.

Elena Grinenko is a Russian professional ballroom dance champion, choreographer, and instructor. She is best known as one of the professional dancers on the American television series Dancing with the Stars.

The annual United States Dance Championships (USDC), previously called the United States Ballroom Championships (USBC) and the United States DanceSport Championships (USDSC), is recognized by the National Dance Council of America (NDCA) and the World Dance & DanceSport Council (WD&DSC) as determining the majority of the United States national professional ballroom dance champions.

Oxford University Dancesport Club (OUDC) is Oxford University's largest sports club and is the second largest club at the university after the Oxford Union. Founded in 1968 it currently has an annual membership of around 800 members. It runs professionally taught classes in the following dance styles:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Ballas</span> British ballroom dancer

Shirley Annette Ballas is an English ballroom dancer, dance teacher, and dance adjudicator. She specialises in the International Latin division, where she won several championship titles which earned her the nickname the Queen of Latin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Bullock</span>

Warren James Bullock is an English professional ballroom dancer and dance teacher, most widely known for the TV series Baby Ballroom and as the founder of Zig Zag Dance Factory in Lower Penn, Wolverhampton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavik Kryklyvyy</span> Ukrainian dancer

Slavik Kryklyvyy is a professional ballroom dancer specializing in International Latin. Born and raised in Ukraine, he is currently residing in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Kanevsky (dancer)</span>

Victor Zoryevich Kanevsky is a ballroom dancer, coach, and choreographer. He emigrated to the United States in 1978 and, as of 2013, lives in Miami, Florida.

Joanne Kirsty Clifton is an English professional dancer, presenter, actress, and singer. She won the World Ballroom Showdance Championship in 2014, and won the European Professional Ballroom Championship and World Dancesport Games. She was a professional dancer on the BBC TV series Strictly Come Dancing from 2014 to 2016, winning the Christmas Special in 2015 with Harry Judd who was series 9 champion and the fourteenth series in 2016 with Ore Oduba. She also appeared as an expert presenter on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two in 2015 and 2019.

References

  1. Siblings strictly in step
  2. "Ballroom Dance – Dancesport – Dance CD / Shoes / Dancewear". DanceUniverse. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  3. "Paul Killick & Vibeke Toft". DancesportInfo.net. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  4. "Paul Killick & Karina Smirnoff". DancesportInfo.net. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  5. "Paul Killick & Hanna Karttunen". DancesportInfo.net. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  6. "Brazilian Samba's Translation and Dialogue with International Dancesport | Modern Latin America". library.brown.edu. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  7. "Eartha Kitt, Barbara Cook and Imelda Staunton Headline London Sondheim Birthday Gala". Playbill.com. 23 October 2005. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2014.