About Camilla
Camilla was born in Aalborg, Denmark where she lived until she was sixteen. Performing and dancing has always been a big part of her life, having started dancing when she was two and a half after her mother took her along to a dance school in a bid to learn manners and composure.
Camilla took part in her first competition when she was only six years old, competing in a class in which you had to be eight to participate!!
Throughout her years at the Lille Nicholaisen Academy for Performance and Dance she was able to study all kinds of performing arts, including dance, singing and acting, from ballet, tap, and ballroom dancing to musicals, theatre and fashion shows/modelling. She was taught by many renowned teachers from all over the world who came to visit to share their knowledge with her and her classmates. Lots of her friends from the Academy have since gone on to be very successful in their respective fields.
As she got older she had to make some decisions about what she wanted to continue and she chose competitive ballroom dancing to be her main focus, becoming a junior and youth champion. She loved both Ballroom and Latin, but she had to specialise if she wanted to become the best and so she chose Latin, because whilst she loved both, she felt she could never live without Latin American.
While she was dancing in her teens and early twenties she studied academically as well, first at Copenhagen Business School and after that courses in law and finance to become a real estate agent in Denmark. The business aspect has been a great use throughout her life, especially when she and her dance partner at the time turned professional in 2000 and had to run their own business affairs.
From 1996-2004 she enjoyed some very successful competitive years with Brendan Cole (the winner of BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing in 2004), with four years on the amateur circuit before turning professional and competing for a further four fruitful years.They had the opportunity to perform and succeed in many diverse places all over the world, meeting many fascinating people and sampling incredible cultures.
In 2004 she got the chance take part in the first Strictly Come Dancing series on BBC1, partnered with David Dickinson from BBC1's Bargain Hunt. This led to other television shows and subsequent participation in the following five series of Strictly finally winning the show in Series 6 with partner Tom Chambers.
Her professional dancing partner is Ian Waite who's been dancing with her for the past five years. Together they created a fantastic cabaret show, which they perform all over the country at various events and they've also made the wonderful dance DVD The Magic Of Dance (which is fabulous by the way, everyone should own a copy!!)
Camilla says; "I believe in following your dreams and making them come true. Where in life you have the choice, make the choice where your passion is because even though the road may be longer, happiness is worth it!"
(Taken from Camilla's website www.camilladallerup.com, edited into the 3rd person, with a few opinions added! )
