Sharon Savoy

Last updated
Sharon Savoy
Sharon savoy headshot.jpeg
Sharon Savoy in Laguna Beach, Ca in November 2013
Born
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Occupation(s)Dancer, Judge, Author, Choreographer, Coach
Years active1978-present
Dances ballet, ballroom, cabaret, west coast swing, salsa, jazz
Sharon Savoy and Ben Vereen chat at the Dancer's Hall of Fame event in 2011 Sharon Savoy and Ben Vereen.jpg
Sharon Savoy and Ben Vereen chat at the Dancer's Hall of Fame event in 2011

Sharon Savoy is an American dancer, choreographer and author. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, she began studying dance at the North Carolina School of the Arts at age 15, and later moved to New York City to attend the School of American Ballet until the age of 19. Savoy danced in several ballet companies and later became a Star Search Dance Champion, Blackpool Champion, World Champion and U.S. Open Champion for her mastery in ballroom dance. She continues choreography and dance work in various T.V. shows, competitions and movies. She won the 2013 "World's Best Female Dancer" at the Huading Awards, held in Macau, China.

Contents

Early life

Savoy began her dancing career at the age of 15 when she went to study at the North Carolina School of the Arts after a visiting ballet coach, Milenko Banovicth suggested to her mother she had a great talent. She moved to New York City to train School of American Ballet in New York City. [1] with George Balanchine from the ages and nineteen. She then danced in several professional ballet companies under the direction of Edward Villella, the Egelvsky Ballet, the New Jersey Ballet and the New World Ballet until finding a niche in the realm of exhibition ballroom dance.

Career

Savoy is a three time World and four time Blackpool Exhibition Champion, [2] as well as a seven time US Open and three time Star Search Dance Champion. She has been the featured Dancer in Hollywood movies such as, “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” and “Head of State.” Savoy has performed on PBS, Regis and Kathie Lee, Entertainment Tonight, the Miss America pageant, the 2000 Sydney Olympics and at the Kennedy Center for the performing arts.

She is a published author of a book, "'Ballroom! Obsession & Passion' [which] provides an insider's perspective of the world of ballroom dancing. [3]

Savoy worked as a host and radio commentator of Yoursource T.V. while living in Washington DC, a judge for ballroom’s Blackpool event, a coach for Showdance National Champions and finalists in Paula Abdul’s show, “Live to Dance", behind the scenes coach for the professional dancers of "Dancing with the Stars", instructing them on lifts and specialty tricks she pioneered.[ citation needed ] She has since "ended her competitive ballroom exhibition career...with Savoy's finale having come in the form her trump at the 2004 World Exhibition Dance Championships." [4] More recently, Sharon can be heard commenting on popular dance television series such as the BBC hit "Strictly Come Dancing".[ citation needed ]

Awards

Savoy was winner of "World's Best Female Dancer" at the Huading Awards, held in Macau, China, 2013. [5] Other titles held by Sharon Savoy include:

Related Research Articles

Lilia Andreyevna Kopylova is a Russian professional dancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marge Champion</span> American dancer and actress (1919–2020)

Marjorie Celeste Champion was an American dancer and actress. At fourteen, she was hired as a dance model for Walt Disney Studios animated films. Later, she performed as an actress and dancer in film musicals, and in 1957 had a television show based on song and dance. She also did creative choreography for liturgy, and served as a dialogue and movement coach for the 1978 TV miniseries, The Awakening Land, set in the late 18th century in the Ohio Valley.

Louis van Amstel is a Dutch-American ballroom dance champion, professional dancer, and choreographer who appears on the U.S. reality television series Dancing with the Stars. He is the creator of the popular dance fitness program LaBlast.

<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">Mura Dehn</span> American filmmaker

Mura Ziperovitch Dehn (1905–1987) documented African-American social jazz dancing at the Savoy Ballroom in New York in the 1930s and 1940s, a time that she referred to as the "Golden Age of Jazz." She also worked as a producer and documenter up until her death, and was co-artistic director of Traditional Jazz Dance Theater, along with vaudeville performer James Berry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Trebunskaya</span> Russian American professional dancer

Anna Trebunskaya is a Russian born American professional ballroom and Latin dancer, known for her appearances on Dancing with the Stars. She now lives in Los Angeles and dances in the International Latin style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julianne Hough</span> American dancer, actress, singer, and songwriter (born 1988)

Julianne Alexandra Hough is an American dancer, actress, and singer. In 2007, she joined the cast of ABC's Dancing with the Stars as a professional dancer, winning two seasons with her celebrity partners. After leaving the show in 2009, she returned in 2014 to serve as a permanent judge on Dancing with the Stars, a position she held until 2017. For her work on the series, she has received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography, winning once in 2015 with her brother Derek Hough.

Helen Richey is a former competitive ballroom and latin dancer and is now a dance coach and judge. She appeared as a judge in the Australian television series Dancing with the Stars from the 1st to the 15th season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Hough</span> American dancer, choreographer, actor, singer

Derek Bruce Hough is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer, choreographer, actor and singer. From 2007 to 2016, Hough was a professional dancer on the ABC dance competition series Dancing with the Stars, winning the show a record-breaking six times with his celebrity partners. For his work, Hough received eleven nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography, winning the award three times. Hough later became a judge on the series beginning with its 29th season.

<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.

Anna Demidova is a Russian-American professional ballroom dancer, actress and model. She is the winner of the professional dancer competition of Dancing with the Stars, Season 8, which guaranteed her a spot as a professional dancer in Season 9 and has been featured in many popular magazines worldwide. Anna is the sister of World Ballroom Dance Champion Katusha Demidova.

Daniella Karagach Pashkova is an American dancer. Karagach and dance partner Leonid Juashkovsky are three-time United States junior I and II Latin champions. They were the 2007 junior II 10 dance champions. Abroad, they reached the finals in the Celtic Classic, Moscow Open and Barcelona Open. Karagach and Juashkovsky were the United States representatives to the World Championships in Latvia, Russia and Barcelona. They appeared on seasons 2 and 3 of America's Ballroom Challenge on PBS. She became a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars in 2019, winning her first Mirrorball trophy in her third season with celebrity partner Iman Shumpert.

Ekaterina Vaganova is a Russian dancer. She is the World champion on the Ballroom and Latin American dances. She was two-time Champion of Russia, four-time Champion of Italy, two-time vice-champion of the World in Youth Latin, IDSF, finalist of the World and European championships in IDSF, champion of the World 2009 in IDSA and IDU versions and champion of the Europe WDC Latin 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabienne Liechti</span>

Fabienne Liechti is a Los Angeles based professional ballroom dancer and choreographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peta Murgatroyd</span> New Zealand-born American professional Latin dancer

Peta Jane Murgatroyd is a New Zealand-born 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">Emma Slater</span> English-American professional dancer and choreographer

Emma Slater is an English-American professional dancer and choreographer. She is best known for her appearances on Dancing with the Stars.

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.

Loraine Barry is a former professional dancer and also known for her role as a judge on the RTÉ One series, Dancing with the Stars.

Rachel White is a professional dancer. A two-time New Zealand Professional Latin Champion, White was the co-owner of JustDance studio in Los Angeles, and a judge on the television series Dancing With the Stars New Zealand.

References

  1. ↑ "San Juan Resident Wins Best Global Female Dancer Award", thecapistranodispatch.com. November 23, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2014
  2. ↑ "Interview: Sharon Savoy-The Well Rounded Dancer", January 21, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2014
  3. ↑ "3X World Champion Sharon Savoy's New Book "Ballroom! Obsession & Passion" Launches at Kennedy Center" (press release), prlog.org. November 10, 2010. Retrieved May 28, 2014
  4. ↑ "Strictly ballroom and Blackpool for champion Sharon", blackpoolgazette.co.uk. June 10, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2014
  5. ↑ "FEATURE: Global movie and music stars shine at Huading Awards" Archived 2014-05-28 at the Wayback Machine , macaudailytimes.com. October 8, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2014
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.