Laura Nolan (born 31 May 1994) is an Irish ballroom

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Early life

Nolan was born in

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. She is trained in

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

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 ...

dancing.

Professional career

Nolan first began dancing competitively at the age of five when she competed in the All Ireland Championships in June 1999 with her first partner, Luca Mastropietro. The couple reached the quarterfinals of their first championship. From 2009 to 2013, Nolan danced with English dancer, Stanislav Wakeham. From 2015 to 2019, Nolan danced with Italian dancer, Alessandro Bosco. In 2018 they finished in first place in the World Open Adult Standard at the Bacau Dance Open tournament. Nolan was a finalist in the Under 21 World Championship, placing amongst the top ten in the world. In 2018, she and Bosco ranked fifth in the World Open. Nolan has won numerous International Open championships and was a finalist in the German Open. Making her the first Irish dancer to compete in the World Championships. In 2019, the couple announced their retirement from ballroom dancing.

Media career

In 2020, Nolan was crowned Miss Universe Leinster. She went on to take part in the Miss Universe Ireland competition where she reached the top three. In 2021, Nolan appeared as a contestant in the celebrity version of the RTÉ programme, ''Hell Week''.

''Dancing with the Stars''

In November 2019, it was confirmed that Nolan would be joining the cast of the Irish series of ''Dancing with the Stars'' as a professional dancer. She was paired with television presenter and ''Big Brother'' winner, Brian Dowling. They were eliminated in the seventh week of the competition. In 2022, Nolan partnered former ''Love Island'' contestant, Matthew MacNabb. Despite receiving some of the lowest scores from the judges throughout their time on the show, Nolan and MacNabb reached the semi-final of the competition, finishing in fifth place. In 2023, Nolan partnered comedian,

Kevin McGahern Kevin McGahern (born 7 November 1986) is an Irish comedian, TV presenter, writer and actor. He is the former host of ''Republic of Telly'' between 2013 and 2017 and documentary series ''Kevin McGahern's America''. Early life McGahern was born ...

. Nolan once again reached the semi-final of the competition with McGahern and finished in fifth place, following their dance-off against Suzanne Jackson and Michael Danilczuk. Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance ¹ This score was awarded during Switch-Up Week.

Performances with Brian Dowling

Performances with Matthew MacNabb

Performances with
Kevin McGahern Kevin McGahern (born 7 November 1986) is an Irish comedian, TV presenter, writer and actor. He is the former host of ''Republic of Telly'' between 2013 and 2017 and documentary series ''Kevin McGahern's America''. Early life McGahern was born ...

Personal life

In March 2022, Nolan confirmed that she was in a relationship with her Series 5 celebrity partner, Matthew MacNabb, following their elimination from the show.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Laura 1994 births Living people Ballroom dancers