About Joanna
Multiple World, European Latin American Champion and Record 9 times UK, Internationals and 9 times British Open Champion.
My first steps…
Born in Liège, from as early as I could walk I remember loving to dance and have always been a mover and a performer. Any occasion was an occasion to perform. I always loved dancing with my dad who taught me my first steps while I would stand up on his feet.
Early on in my youth, I suffered from a life threatening blood disease and I was forced to stay at home and was unable to dance while I recovered. During this time, my passion for dance continued to build stronger and stronger inside of me. Thanks to the medical care, I manage to recover and finally freely move on and do what I wanted more then anything which was to dance. Around this time, I saw my first Ballroom dancing event what was held in my primary school, as fate would have it, this was the start of a wonderful journey into the beautiful world of ballroom dancing.
One might say the rest was history!
A career as fast as lightning!
I was quick to master the latin and ballroom styles and my passion grew into a full dedication to this style of dance. I saw no limits and only aimed for the highest possible goal and diligently trained with ambitious determination.
At the age of 19, with my partner Slavik Kryklyvyy I won my first Blackpool Amateur Championship and became the youngest World Amateur Champion in Miami. Slavik and I were the first couple to ever reach the top in less than a year and won our first title within 18 months.
It was a career as fast as lightning!
Titles and honors…
My partnership with Slavik was followed by a brief partnership with Louis Van Amstel before my most notable partnership with Michael Malitowski.
After many of my famous spins, it is an honour to be recognised as the Queen of Professional Latin dance having achieved a record Multiple World, European Latin American Champion and Record 9 times UK, Internationals and 9 times British Open Championship titles. However, for me the audience appreciation is the ultimate reward. The essence of the dancing is this unique feeling when you see people experiencing the deepest emotions expressed in your body movements. I hope it happens every time I am on the floor.
Life after dance…
Following my retirement from competitive dance at the Blackpool Dance Festival in 2015 in which I received my final title, I became a mother to my beautiful daughter Lia.
Retirement from competitive dance of course did not mean giving up on my passion for dance.
Based in London, I continue to teach throughout the UK, Internationally and online. I have also had the honour of judging World Class events such as the International, UK Championship and Blackpool Festival as well as being a judge on the TV Programme Dancing with the Stars, Belgium.