Peta Roby is an Australian dancer and choreographer. With dance partner Jason Gilkison, she won multiple Australian national titles. Roby has also worked with Gilkison on the stage show Burn the Floor .
Roby was born in Perth, Australia. [1] Roby started dancing with Jason Gilkison at age of seven. [2] [3] During her senior year of high school, Roby and Gilkison moved to London for two months of training and returned to London for further training after graduation. [3]
Roby formed a professional partnership with Gilkison in 1980 [3] and together they were undefeated Australian Latin champions from 1981 to 1997. [4] [5] At age 23, Gilkison and Roby were the top ranked pair in Ten-Dance Competition. [3] Although competing for Australia, Roby and Gilkison taught in London in the 1990s. Both also appeared in the 1996 film version of Evita . [6]
In 1997, Roby, Gilkison, and several other dance couples performed at Elton John's birthday party. Producer Harley Medcalf was in the audience and approached Gilkison about using dance in theater. [6] The idea turned in to Burn the Floor , which Roby began working on in 1999. [6] [7] From 1999 to 2005 Roby was a principal dancer in the show. [8] The show began as something geared towards arenas before scaling back and becoming more "urban" influenced around 2005. [7] That same year, Roby transitioned to working behind the scenes as company manager and executive producer. [8] She was credited as an Associate Producer when the show went to Broadway in 2009. [8]
Roby met Nic Notley in 1985 when he saw Roby and Gilkison dance. Roby and Notley married four years later. [8] In 2015 the couple moved from Perth to Milan, Italy. [9]
Jay Scott Greenspan, known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor, comedian, singer, host and director. A Tony winner, he is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series Seinfeld (1989–1998), for which he was nominated for seven consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards.
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Company is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The original 1970 production was nominated for a record-setting 14 Tony Awards, winning six. Company was among the first book musicals to deal with contemporary dating, marriage, and divorce, and is a notable example of a concept musical lacking a linear plot. In a series of vignettes, Company follows bachelor Bobby interacting with his married friends, who throw a party for his 35th birthday.
Chicago is a 1975 American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Chicago in the jazz age, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same title by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, about actual criminals on whom she reported. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal".
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Susan P. Stroman is an American theatre director, choreographer, film director and performer. Her notable theater productions include The Producers, Crazy for You, Contact, and The Scottsboro Boys. She is a five-time Tony Award winner, four for Best Choreography and one as Best Director of a Musical for The Producers. In addition, she is a recipient of two Laurence Olivier Awards, five Drama Desk Awards, eight Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards, and the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater. She is a 2014 inductee in the American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City.
Ann Reinking was an American dancer, actress, choreographer and singer. She worked predominantly in musical theater, starring in Broadway productions such as Coco (1969), Over Here! (1974), Goodtime Charley (1975), Chicago (1977), Dancin' (1978), and Sweet Charity (1986).
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Pavel "Pasha" Kovalev is a Russian professional Latin and ballroom dancer.
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Jason Gilkison is an Australian professional ballroom dance champion and choreographer.
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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.
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Burn the Floor is a live dance show which has performed around the world, including on Broadway in New York City and the West End in London. Since 1997, Burn the Floor has performed in over 130 countries worldwide. The show has also featured several alumni of various international versions of Strictly Come Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance.
Jessica Raffa is an Australian ballroom dancer known for appearing on Australia's Dancing with the Stars. She won Series 13 of the televised dance competition with celebrity partner Cosentino. Before competing on Dancing with the Stars, Raffa toured with the dance show Burn the Floor.
Melanie Hooper is an Australian ballroom and Latin dancer. She was a professional dancer on Australia's Dancing with the Stars. She also toured with dance show Burn the Floor.
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