Nicole Cutler (née Westdyk; born 8 June 1972) is a professional

ballroom dancer Ballroom dance is a set of European partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and tel ...

and former World Amateur Latin-American champion. She was born Nicole Westdyk in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, South Africa and after taking up

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

at the age of four, first tried out ballroom and Latin-American dancing at the age of twelve.

Career

In South Africa she danced competitively with Andrew Magin and Warren Smith before moving to the UK in 1990. In 1994 she teamed up with British dancer

Matthew Cutler Matthew David Cutler (born 30 October 1973) is an English dancer and former World Amateur Latin-American champion. He was a professional dancer on the BBC dancing show ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Early life Cutler was born in Chelmsford, Essex. ...

and they were married in 1996. They divorced in 2003, but have recently been dancing non-competitively once again, still using her married name. In 1999 they formed the principal couple in the stage show ''

Burn the Floor Burn the Floor is a live dance show which has performed around the world, including on Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in New York City and the West End of London, West End in London. Since 1997, Burn the Floor has performed in over 130 countries ...

''.

Jay Park Jay Park (born April 25, 1987), Korean name Park Jae-beom (), is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and dancer based in South Korea. He is a member of the Seattle-based breakdancing, b-boy crew Art of Movement (AOM), and founder and former ...

was her professional partner from November 2003 to June 2004. They came first in the Professional Latin All England Championship in May 2004. Nicole partnered Robin Sewell from June 2005 to June 2006. They were runners-up in the closed British Championships and ranked second in England. She twice received the Carl Alan Award for "outstanding contributions to dance". She has appeared as a professional dancer on ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

''. In series two, she partnered

Diarmuid Gavin Diarmuid Gavin (born 10 May 1964) is an Irish garden designer and television personality. He has presented gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show on nine occasions from 1995 to 2016, winning a number of medals, including gold in 2011. He has als ...

, then took a break from the show. However, she returned in series four to partner Nicholas Owen, and

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. Often considered one of the greatest England players of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, Barnes currently works as an ...

in series five.

Titles

Professional

* All England Professional Champion 2004 * World, Open British, International and UK Professional Latin finalist, 2000–2003 * UK Closed Professional Latin Champion, 2000, 2002 * World Masters Professional Latin Champion, 2000

Amateur

* UK Open Amateur Champion 2000 * Open British Amateur Champions 1997, 1999 * World, European & International Amateur Champion 1999 * Closed British Amateur Champions 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 * Closed UK Amateur Champions 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 * Dutch Open Amateur Latin Champions 1998, 1999 * South African Open Amateur Champions 1990, 1994

References

External links

Nicole Cutler - official page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutler, Nicole 1972 births Living people British female dancers British ballroom dancers