Louis van Amstel

Last updated
Louis van Amstel
Born (1972-06-23) June 23, 1972 (age 52)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
NationalityDutch American
CitizenshipAmerican
Occupation(s)Dancer, choreographer
Years active2005–present
Spouse
Joshua Lancaster
​
​
(m. 2017;div. 2023)​

Louis van Amstel (born June 23, 1972, in Amsterdam) is a Dutch-American ballroom dance champion, [1] professional dancer, and choreographer who appears on the U.S. reality television series Dancing with the Stars . [2]

Contents

Early life

Louis van Amstel was born in Amsterdam; his grandparents were competitive ballroom dancers. He began dancing at 10 and entered competitions at 15. He stopped attending school at 16 to pursue dancing full-time. [3]

Career

Early career

Van Amstel competed professionally with Julie Fryer. They were coached by Ruud Vermeij. In 1990, Van Amstel and Fryer became Dutch Latin Champions and 10 Dance Champions. They also made the final in the 'under 21' category in Blackpool. During the same year, they received a bronze medal at the German Open, at the World Latin and at the European 10 Dance. In the Worlds 10 Dance Championship, Van Amstel and Fryer got fourth place.

In 1991, Van Amstel and Fryer won the national championships for the second time, and got fourth place in all major championships. A year later, Van Amstel decided that he wanted to retire from competing for a while and ended his partnership with Fryer for the first time. Three years later, in 1994, the partnership was re-established, and Van Amstel and Fryer went on to win three world Latin Dance championship gold medals in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

In 1997, Van Amstel retired from competitive ballroom dancing, moved to New York City, and became an American citizen in July 1999. [4] He returned to competitive dancing with partner Karina Smirnoff; they won the United States national championship in 2000.

Dancing with the Stars

Van Amstel was cast for season one of Dancing with the Stars in early 2005. He was partnered with Trista Sutter, but they were the first to be eliminated from the competition. In the show's second season, he was partnered with hostess Lisa Rinna, with whom he reached fourth place.

Van Amstel returned in season three and was partnered with High School Musical star Monique Coleman. During the eighth week of the competition, they received two 10s for their Cha-Cha-Cha marking Van Amstel's only 10s of Dancing With The Stars for an individual dance for many seasons to come. They made it to the semi-finals, but were eliminated, resulting in a fourth-place finish. He did not participate in the fourth season due to all the females being taller than him, but he nonetheless maintained a role as a performer and choreographer throughout the season and season five. [3]

He returned in season six and was partnered with actress, businesswoman, and wife of Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley. The couple made it to the fifth week, but were eliminated, resulting in an eighth-place finish.

He returned in season nine and was partnered with reality TV star and singer Kelly Osbourne. The couple made it to the finale where they finished in third place, marking Van Amstel's first and only time to make it to the finals to date. In season ten of Dancing With The Stars, Van Amstel was partnered with Reno 911! star Niecy Nash. The couple made it to the eighth week, but were eliminated, resulting in a fifth-place finish.

For season eleven of Dancing With The Stars, Van Amstel was partnered with actress and comedian Margaret Cho. The couple made it to the third week, but were eliminated, resulting in a tenth-place finish. Van Amstel appeared in Cho's comedy music album Cho Dependent as her therapist. In July 2011, he appeared alongside Cho as himself in the fourth episode of the third season of Drop Dead Diva .

For the show's twelfth season, Van Amstel was partnered with playboy model and reality star Kendra Wilkinson. During the fifth week in the competition, they danced the 1000th competitive dance. The couple made it to the seventh week, but were eliminated, resulting in a sixth-place finish. Wilkinson later published her book, Being Kendra, in which she said she and van Amstel clashed constantly and that he called her dyslexic and learning disabled. Van Amstel denied the comments, calling her book "twisted". Nevertheless, Van Amstel made two appearances on Wilkinson's reality shows Kendra and Kendra on Top , though Wilkinson described their encounters as "awkward".

Van Amstel returned for season 15 of Dancing with the Stars, the All Stars season, and was partnered with former contestant, Sabrina Bryan. In the sixth week of the competition, the pair scored the first perfect 30 of the season. This was also Van Amstel's first perfect score ever after nine seasons on Dancing with the Stars. The couple made it to the sixth week, but were eliminated, despite being at the top of the leaderboard, resulting in an eighth-place finish. This was also the same week that Bryan was shockingly eliminated in her original season. In Week 8, Van Amstel was chosen by Kelly Monaco and her partner Val Chmerkovskiy to be their partner in their trio dance.

Van Amstel was not asked back for season 16 of Dancing with the Stars. [5]

On September 2, 2015, he was announced as a pro for season 21 after a 5-season hiatus. He was paired with celebrity chef, Paula Deen. [6] They were eliminated on week 6 of competition and finished in 9th place.

Van Amstel returned to the show for season 31. He was partnered with actress Cheryl Ladd. [7]

Other work

During his time off from Dancing With The Stars, Van Amstel set up a not-for-profit dance company called "Visionworx Dance Theater," which combines all four major dance forms. He also choreographed and appeared on numerous TV shows such as The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Hannah Montana, and All My Children. [3]

After season six of Dancing with the Stars, Van Amstel was asked to create and choreograph a show called Ballroom With A Twist, which featured a rotating cast of dancers. The show also featured former American Idol contestants including David Hernandez and Carly Smithson. Ballroom With A Twist toured in theaters around the country. Van Amstel is no longer associated with the show.

He choreographed seven dances on season 5 of So You Think You Can Dance . Three of the seven dances made it to the finale and were mentioned as the judges' favorite picks at the Kodak theater in Hollywood. He continued choreographing in seasons 6, 7, and 8. [ citation needed ]

Van Amstel runs a dance fitness program, LaBlast. LaBlast DVDs were released in early 2012. During the summer of that year, Van Amstel started a fitness clothing line, branded LVA.

In fall 2014, Van Amstel was seen as a judge on the Dutch show Celebrity Pole Dancing, a show where Dutch celebrities are taught how to pole dance and perform.

Personal life

Van Amstel is openly gay. However, he does not explicitly use the word "gay" because he does not want to be stigmatized. [4] On January 8, 2017, Van Amstel married his long-time boyfriend Joshua Lancaster in Sundance, Utah. [8] On October 16, 2023, van Amstel announced on Instagram that the couple had divorced. They have two adopted sons, Daniel and Jonathan.

In November 2019, Van Amstel made headlines after he revealed that a substitute teacher shamed his son for having two gay dads and subjected his fifth-grade class to a 10-minute anti-gay lecture. The school promptly fired the teacher. [9]

Dancing with the Stars performances

SeasonPartnerPlace
1 Trista Sutter 6th
2 Lisa Rinna 4th
3 Monique Coleman
6 Priscilla Presley 8th
9 Kelly Osbourne 3rd
10 Niecy Nash 5th
11 Margaret Cho 10th
12 Kendra Wilkinson 6th
15 Sabrina Bryan 8th
21 Paula Deen 9th
31 Cheryl Ladd 14th

With Trista Sutter

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaGoodmanTonioli
1 Waltz/"Come Away With Me"666No Elimination
2 Rumba/"Endless Love"676Eliminated

With Lisa Rinna

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaGoodmanTonioli
1 Waltz/ "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"577Safe
2 Rumba/"Your Song"677Safe
3 Jive/"Jailhouse Rock"898Safe
4 Paso Doble/"The Final Countdown"998Safe
5 Samba/"Le Freak"799Safe
6 Quickstep/"9 to 5"999Bottom Two
7 Foxtrot/"Fever" 899Eliminated
Cha-Cha-Cha/"Material Girl"999

With Monique Coleman

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaGoodmanTonioli
1 Foxtrot/"Baby Love"667Safe
2 Mambo/"Bop to the Top"989Safe
3 Jive/"The Heat Is On"999Safe
4 Waltz/"If I Were A Painting"888Bottom Two
5 Rumba/"Samba de Verão"999Safe
6 Samba/"ABC"977Safe
7 Quickstep/"Luck Be a Lady"
Paso Doble/"The Reflex"		9
9		9
9		9
9		Bottom Two
8 Tango/"Somebody's Watching Me"
Cha-Cha-Cha/"Ghostbusters Theme"		8
9		8
10		8
10		Eliminated

With Priscilla Presley

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaGoodmanTonioli
1 Foxtrot/"Feeling Good"888No Elimination
2 Mambo/"Deixa Isso Pra La"777Safe
3 Tango/"El Choclo"899Safe
4 Viennese Waltz/"Do Right Woman, Do Right Man"778Bottom Two
5 Rumba/"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"777Eliminated

With Kelly Osbourne

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaGoodmanTonioli
1 Viennese Waltz/"Trouble"
Cha-Cha-Cha/"Centerfold"		7
Awarded		8
8		8
Points		Safe
2 Tango/"Take Me on the Floor"67*6Safe
3 Samba/"LoveGame"767Safe
4 Charleston/"Cabaret"878Safe
5 Paso Doble/"Crazy Train"888Safe
6 Jitterbug/"Bread and Butter"
Mambo Marathon/"Ran Kan Kan"		8
Awarded		8
5		8
Points		Safe
7 Salsa/"Good Lovin'"
Team Tango/"You Give Love a Bad Name"		8
9		8
9		8
10		Safe
8 Foxtrot/"Mama Do (Uh Oh Uh Oh)"
'60s Jive/"River Deep - Mountain High"		8
8		8
9		9
9		Last to Be
Called Safe
9 Rumba/"Angels"
Quickstep/"99 Red Balloons"
Cha-Cha-Cha/"Girls Just Want to Have Fun"		8
9
9		8
9
9		8
9
9		Last to Be
Called Safe
10 Argentine Tango/"Los Vino"
Megamix/"You and Me", "Whenever, Wherever", "Maniac"
Freestyle/"I Will Survive"
Viennese Waltz/"Trouble"		9
Awarded
8
Awarded		9
26
8
26		8
Points
8
Points		Third Place

^* Due to Len Goodman's absence in week 2, the 7 was awarded by stand-in guest judge Baz Luhrmann.

With Niecy Nash

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaGoodmanTonioli
1 Cha-Cha-Cha/"Rescue Me"756No Elimination
2 Foxtrot/"Love You I Do"777Safe
3 Waltz/"With You I'm Born Again"777Safe
4 Rumba/"Taking Chances" - Technique
Rumba/"Taking Chances" - Performance		6
6		6
6		6
6		Last to Be
Called Safe
5 Jive/"La Bamba"666Safe
6 Argentine Tango/"El Sonido De La Milonga"
Swing Marathon/"In the Mood"		7
Awarded		7
5		7
Points		Bottom Two
7 Quickstep/"You're the Top"
Team Madonna/"Holiday"		9
8		8
8		8
8		Safe
8 Viennese Waltz/"I Got You Babe"
'90s Paso Doble/"Rhythm is a Dancer"		7
7		8
6		8
7		Eliminated

With Margaret Cho

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaGoodmanTonioli
1 Viennese Waltz/"We Are The Champions"555Safe
2 Jive/"Dreaming 666Safe
3 Samba/"Copacabana"666Eliminated

With Kendra Wilkinson

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaGoodmanTonioli
1 Cha-Cha-Cha/"When Love Takes Over"666No Elimination
2 Quickstep/"Gotta Work"766Safe
3 Rumba/"You and Me"878Safe
4 Viennese Waltz/"Time to Say Goodbye"666Safe
5 Foxtrot/"Yankee Doodle Dandy"877Safe
6 Samba/"Livin' la Vida Loca"889Safe
7Team Cha-Cha-Cha/"We R Who We R"
Tango/"Jealousy"		7/7*
8/8*		8
7		8
8		Eliminated

^* The additional scores of 7 and 8 were awarded by guest judge Donnie Burns.

With Sabrina Bryan

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaGoodmanTonioli
1 Cha-Cha-Cha/"What Makes You Beautiful"7.57.57.5Safe
2 Quickstep/"Black Betty"98.58.5Safe
3 Paso Doble/"Free Your Mind"8.58.58.5Bottom Three
4 Disco/"You Should Be Dancing"99/8.5*9Safe
5 Waltz/"So This Is Love"
Team Freestyle (Shawn)/"Call Me Maybe"		10
9.5		9.5
10		9.5
10		No Elimination
6 Rumba/"Wanted"101010Eliminated

^* The additional score of 8.5 was awarded by guest judge Paula Abdul.

With Paula Deen

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaHoughTonioli
1 Quickstep/"Hey Good Lookin'"555No Elimination
2 Rumba/"Midnight Train to Georgia"
Tango/ "Get Ready"		7
6		6
6		6
6		Safe
3 Samba / "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle"551/55Last to be called safe
4 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Respect"666Safe
52 Jive / "Shake"77/636No Elimination
6 Jazz / "Vogue"66/646Eliminated

1 Score given by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro.

2 This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Deen performed with Mark Ballas instead of Louis van Amstel. Louis performed with Tamar Braxton. [10]

3 Score given by guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

4 Score given by guest judge Olivia Newton-John.

With Cheryl Ladd

Week #Dance/SongJudges' scoreResult
InabaGoodmanHoughTonioli
1 Cha-cha-cha / "Got to Give it Up"6555Safe
2 Tango / "A Little Less Conversation"5655Bottom Two
3 Rumba / "Diamonds Are Forever"6666Eliminated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheryl Burke</span> American dancer, model and television host (born 1984)

Cheryl Burke is an American dancer, model, and television host. She is best known for being a professional dancer on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She was the first female professional to win the show and the first professional to win twice and also consecutively. She has participated in 26 seasons. She came in second on the NBC series I Can Do That. She replaced Abby Lee Miller on Dance Moms in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Dovolani</span> Albanian-American ballroom dancer, instructor, and judge

Driton Dovolani, commonly known as Tony Dovolani is an Albanian-American professional ballroom dancer, instructor and judge. He is known for his involvement in the American version of Dancing with the Stars on ABC. Dovolani also portrayed Slick Willy in the hit film Shall We Dance? and spent time coaching actress Jennifer Lopez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allison Holker</span> American dancer (born 1988)

Allison Renae Holker is an American dancer. Holker has worked in film, television, and concert tours. She is known for appearances on the television dance competition So You Think You Can Dance, where she was a contestant in season 2 and as an All-Star in seasons 7–11 and 14.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dmitry Chaplin</span> Russian ballroom dancer and reality TV contestant (born 1982)

Dmitry Chaplin is a Russian dancer, choreographer, and actor, best known for being a Top 10 finalist on the second season of the dance competition series So You Think You Can Dance. While competing on the series, he became known for performing shirtless, with one solo routine having him rip off his shirt. In 2009, Chaplin was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his choreography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kym Herjavec</span> Australian ballroom dancer and TV performer

Kym Herjavec is an Australian professional ballroom dancer and television performer who appeared in the first three seasons of the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars as a professional dancer, before moving to the U.S. version of the franchise from 2006 to 2015. Johnson returned as a professional to the U.S. series in 2017 for its 24th season. She also served as a judge on the Australian version of the show from 2013 to 2015. She is married to Robert Herjavec.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maksim Chmerkovskiy</span> American dancer

Maksim Aleksandrovich Chmerkovskiy is an American Latin–ballroom dance champion, choreographer, and instructor. He is widely known as one of the professional dancers on the American television series Dancing with the Stars, on which he first appeared in season two. In his 17 seasons as a competing pro on the show, Chmerkovskiy made it to the final round five times, with two runner-up and two third-place finishes. On May 20, 2014, Chmerkovskiy, paired with Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis, won his first Dancing with the Stars title. Chmerkovskiy has also starred in the Broadway productions of dance shows Burn the Floor and Forever Tango.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelsie Hightower</span> American ballroom dancer

Chelsie Kay Hightower is a ballroom dancer. She is known for being a regular dance partner, trainer and choreographer on the ABC competition show Dancing with the Stars, on which she was a professional from Season 8 to 15, excluding Season 13.

Artem Vladimirovich Chigvintsev is a Russian professional dancer, specializing in Latin dancing.

<i>Dancing with the Stars</i> (American TV series) season 14 Season of television series

Season fourteen of Dancing with the Stars premiered on March 19, 2012, on the ABC network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peta Murgatroyd</span> Australian and American professional Latin dancer

Peta Jane Murgatroyd is an Australian and American professional Latin dancer. She performed in the international tour of the dance production Burn the Floor, including its Broadway run. She is best known for her appearances on the American edition of Dancing with the Stars, which she and her partners have won twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharna Burgess</span> Australian ballroom dancer

Sharna May Burgess is an Australian ballroom dancer who is best known for being a professional partner and troupe member on the ABC series Dancing with the Stars. She is the winner of season 27 of American television show Dancing with the Stars with her celebrity partner Bobby Bones, where she has also been a runner-up in several other seasons. She has also been a judge on the Australian version of the show since 2019, along with Craig Revel Horwood and Tristan MacManus.

Lindsay Arnold Cusick is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer. She was a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance. She was a professional dancer and choreographer on Dancing with the Stars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Slater</span> British and American dancer

Emma Slater is a British and American professional dancer and choreographer. She is known for her appearances on Dancing with the Stars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witney Carson</span> American dancer and choreographer

Witney Capri Carson McAllister is an American professional Latin ballroom dancer and choreographer. She first gained attention in 2012, when the 18-year-old finished ladies' second runner-up in season nine of So You Think You Can Dance. Carson continued her professional dancing career in early 2013 as a troupe dancer in seasons 16 and 17 of Dancing with the Stars. She was promoted to professional partner in season 18. In season 19, she and her partner Alfonso Ribeiro were announced the winners on November 25, 2014, making her one of six professional dancers to win the mirror ball trophy within their first two seasons, while Ribeiro waited ten years for him to win. For that season, she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography. In 2019, she reunited with Ribeiro to co-host the reboot of Catch 21. Throughout her dance career, Carson has worked with dancers and choreographers such as Mia Michaels, Nappytabs, Travis Wall, Sonya Tayeh, Tyce Diorio, Mark Ballas, Derek Hough, and Stacey Tookey.

Keoikantse Motsepe is a South African dancer. His dancing styles are Latin and Ballroom. He is known for being the first black professional dancer on the ABC show Dancing with the Stars.

Alexander Farber is an Australian and American professional dancer, known for his appearances as a pro and troupe member on Dancing with the Stars.

Jenna JohnsonChmerkovskiy is an American Latin and ballroom dancer and choreographer. She first gained attention in 2013, as she finished ladies' third runner-up on So You Think You Can Dance season 10. Johnson continued her professional dancing career on Dancing with the Stars, winning her second season with her partner, Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon.

Alan Bersten is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer. He was a contestant on the tenth season of So You Think You Can Dance and is currently a professional dancer and choreographer on Dancing with the Stars. He is the winner of season 28 of Dancing with the Stars with his celebrity partner, The Bachelorette star Hannah Brown.

<i>Dancing with the Stars</i> (American TV series) season 31 Season of television series

The thirty-first season of Dancing with the Stars premiered on Disney+ on September 19, 2022, and concluded on November 21, 2022. This season marked the first live competition show to air on the streaming platform and the first season to not air on ABC. Tyra Banks returned as host, while season 19 champion Alfonso Ribeiro joined as co-host.

References

  1. ↑ "Louis Van Amstel profile". Archived from the original on 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
  2. ↑ Dancing With The Stars website
  3. 1 2 3 dancingwithlouis.com Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 Davis, Andrew (April 28, 2010). "Dancing with the Stars' Louis Van Amstel on Kate Gosselin and his sexuality". Windy City Media Group. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
  5. ↑ Louis van Amstel [@LouisVanAmstel] (25 February 2013). "U guys might have done the math I'm not doing season 16 of DWTS. Good luck to all pros!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ↑ "Dancing with the Stars Season 21 Cast Announcement". ABC. September 2, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Dancing with the Stars: Teresa Giudice, Wayne Brady, Selma Blair and More Celebs Join Season 31". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  8. ↑ Gomez, Patrick (January 8, 2017). "Dancing with the Stars' Louis van Amstel marries Joshua Lancaster in Winter Wonderland wedding". People.com. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  9. ↑ Tanner, Courtney (November 29, 2019). "A Utah substitute told fifth graders that 'homosexuality is wrong.' She was escorted out after 3 female students spoke up". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  10. ↑ Gomez, Patrick (October 7, 2015). "The Dancing with the Stars Switch-Up Week Couples Revealed!". People.com. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.