Joanne Clifton

Joanne Clifton (born 24 October 1983), also known as Jo, is an English professional dancer born in Waltham, Lincolnshire. She is a world ballroom show dance champion[1]  and became a professional dancer on the British TV seriesStrictly Come Dancing in 2014.[2]  She has also featured on Burn the Floor.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Dancing career  ==Dancing career[ edit] == Clifton started dancing ballroom and Latin as a child in her home town of Waltham, taught by her parents, former World No. 1s Keith and Judy Clifton.[3]  She competed nationally and internationally as a child initially partnering her brother Kevin.[4]  Later she chose to specialise in Ballroom so as not to directly compete against her brother.[5]  She has competed in both Ballroom and Latin since the age of 4 and has been a 5 time British Champion, 3 time Italian Champion, Professional Ballroom European Champion in 2012 and Professional World Dancesport Games Champion in 2013.[6]
 * 2 Personal life
 * 3 References
 * 4 External links

In 2000 Joanne moved to Bologna, Italy to train with Team Diablo, the biggest dance school in Europe. She was initially partnered with Marco Cavallaro reaching sixth in the world in amateur rankings with him.[7]  She crossed from amateur to professional competition when she was chosen to partner Paolo Bosco in 2011.[8]  In 2013 they were amongst ten other professional dancing couples to be invited to perform at the Kremlin.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[9]  She and her partner became champions of the World Dancesport Games in Taiwan in 2013<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[10]  and won the World Professional Ballroom Showdance Championships in Merano Italy later that year.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[11]  Joanne danced with Paolo competitively until his retirement on 15 December 2013.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12]  She retired from competitive dancing on 19 December 2013.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">From April to May 2014, Clifton joined her brother as a dancer in the Burn The Floor Dance Company, performing in the show’s tour of Australia and Japan.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">In 2014, Clifton was confirmed as a professional dancer on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. She was partnered with the DJ Scott Mills.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[13] ==Personal life<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Clifton grew up in the small North East Lincolnshire town of Waltham attending the East Ravendale Primary school. She later attended Caistor Grammar School.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[14]