Darren Bennett (dancer)

Darren Bennett
Born	Darren Lee Bennett 14 February 1977 (1977-02-14) (age 34) Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Dancer
Spouse	Lilia Kopylova (1999-present)

Darren Lee Bennett (born 14 February 1977, in Sheffield, England) is a professional dancer, as were his parents. With his wife Lilia Kopylova he has a successful career in professional Latin dancing, competing nationally and internationally. Darren's favourite dances are the Samba and the Foxtrot.They teach private lessons in their own studio at Sheffield, England. Bennett first met Kopylova after his twin brother Dale, also a dancer, introduced them. In November 2005 Bennett and Kopylova won the British Championships for Professional Latin, coming first in all five dances. In November 2006 they successfully defended this title against a challenge from Olga Rodionova and Paul Richardson, who had been competing for the USA but had recently registered as a British couple. Bennett and Kopylova triumphed winning all five dances to retain the title.

In February 2008, Bennett and Kopylova were winners of the Carl Alan Award for Ballroom, Latin and Sequence (performers)- a prestigious title described by the IDTA as 'the Oscars of the world of dance'.^[1]

The couple are currently starring in a West End dance show, Latin Fever, which they have choreographed themselves, as well as choosing the music and costumes to reflect the mood of each Latin dance.

Strictly Come Dancing

He is a competitor on the BBC dancing television programme, Strictly Come Dancing. This is a summary of how well he has done in the show:

• Series Two: Won with his partner, actress Jill Halfpenny.
• Christmas Special: Won with his partner from series two, Jill Halfpenny.
• Series Three: Knocked out in the third week with his partner, TV presenter Gloria Hunniford.
• Series Four: Knocked out in the semi-final (third place) after competing with singer Emma Bunton. They also competed together in the 2006 Christmas Special, but were not placed in the final two overall (the remaining couples were not ranked).
• Series Five: Knocked out in the quarter-final (fourth place) after competing with actress Letitia Dean. They also competed together in the 2007 Christmas Special, but were not placed in the final two overall (the remaining couples were not ranked).
• Live Tour 2008: Competing at a series of venues during January and February 2008 with Series Five partner Letitia Dean, they won once (31 January 2008), and were runners up on two further occasions.^[2] The tour was based on a similar format to the main series, with each couple performing two routines which were marked by the judges, and the audience being invited to vote for their favourite.
• Series Six: Knocked out in the fourth week, dancing with EastEnders' Jessie Wallace.
• On the 2009 Strictly Come Dancing Tour Darren was re-united with his Series 2 partner and champion [Jill Halfpenny].
• Series Seven: Knocked out in the fourth week, dancing with Actress and Loose Women presenter Lynda Bellingham

Strictly performance

Strictly performance from series 7

Celebrity Partner	Week #	Dance	Judges' score
			Horwood	Phillips	Goodman	Tonioli	Total
Jill Halfpenny	1	Waltz	7	6	7	7	27
Jill Halfpenny	2	Rumba	8	8	8	8	32
Jill Halfpenny	3	Jive	8	9	9	9	35
Jill Halfpenny	4	Foxtrot	8	9	9	8	34
Jill Halfpenny	5	Samba	8	9	9	9	35
Jill Halfpenny	6	Quickstep Cha-Cha-Cha	8 9	8 9	8 9	8 9	32 36
Jill Halfpenny	7	Tango Paso Doble	7 9	8 10	7 9	7 9	29 37
Jill Halfpenny	8	Foxtrot Jive	9 10	8 10	9 10	8 10	34 40
Gloria Hunniford	1	Waltz	4	5	7	6	22
Gloria Hunniford	2	Rumba	2	4	5	6	17
Gloria Hunniford	3	Jive	3	4	6	6	19
Emma Bunton	2	Quickstep	8	8	8	9	33
Emma Bunton	3	Jive	8	8	8	9	33
Emma Bunton	4	Foxtrot	8	7	7	8	30
Emma Bunton	5	Viennese Waltz	8	9	8	9	34
Emma Bunton	6	Samba	9	9	9	9	36
Emma Bunton	7	Cha-Cha-Cha	7	7	7	9	30
Emma Bunton	8	American Smooth	8	8	9	9	34
Emma Bunton	9	Waltz Paso Doble	9 9	8 9	10 9	10 10	37 37
Emma Bunton	10	Tango Rumba	9 8	8 8	9 9	9 9	35 34
Emma Bunton	11	Argentine Tango Salsa	9 8	9 7	9 9	9 9	36 33
Letitia Dean	2	Rumba	4	6	7	6	23
Letitia Dean	3	Tango	6	7	7	7	27
Letitia Dean	4	American Smooth	7	8	8	8	31
Letitia Dean	5	Paso Doble	7	8	8	8	31
Letitia Dean	6	Salsa	6	6	7	6	25
Letitia Dean	7	Foxtrot	8	8	9	9	34
Letitia Dean	8	Viennese Waltz	8	8	7	9	32
Letitia Dean	9	Quickstep Cha-Cha-Cha	7 6	7 6	8 7	8 7	30 26
Letitia Dean	10	Waltz Jive	8 7	9 7	9 8	9 8	35 30
Jessie Wallace	2	Salsa	4	4	6	6	20
Jessie Wallace	4	Quickstep	3	5	5	6	19
Celebrity Partner	Week #	Dance	Judges' score
			Horwood	Goodman	Dixon	Tonioli	Total
Lynda Bellingham	1A	Tango	3	6	7	5	21
Lynda Bellingham	1B	Cha-Cha-Cha	5	6	6	6	23
Lynda Bellingham	3	Paso Doble	5	7	7	6	25
Lynda Bellingham	4	Foxtrot	5	7	6	6	24

Other work

Darren along with wife Lilia have been heavily involved in the "Essentially Dance" scheme, with the intention to give all children within the UK a chance to experience ballroom and Latin dance, the scheme is funded by the Aldridge Foundation and was officially launched on June 22, 2009.

See also

• Strictly Come Dancing

References

1. ^ "The Oscars of the World of Dance". http://www.darrenandlilia.com/News/EkpkEyyEpVELxoUFNf.html. Retrieved 2008-02-11. 
2. ^ "Previous Winners". Strictly Come Dancing Live!. Archived from the original on 2008-03-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20080321094133/http://www.strictlycomedancinglive.co.uk/default.asp?contentID=616. Retrieved 2008-02-23. 

External links

• http://www.darrenandlilia.com/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedancing/

Preceded by Natasha Kaplinsky and Brendan Cole

Strictly Come Dancing Champion (with partner Jill Halfpenny) Series 2 (Autumn 2004)

Succeeded by Darren Gough and Lilia Kopylova

Persondata
Name	Bennett, Darren
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	14 February 1977
Place of birth	Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Date of death
Place of death