Maurizio Benenato (born 25 March 1991) is an Italian ballroom and Latin

dance 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 repertoir ...

r 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

Benenato began dancing at the age of five, specialising in both ballroom and Latin disciplines.

Career

From February 2012 to March 2015, Benenato partnered Russian dancer, Tatiana Veselkina to great success. Together the couple were World 10 Dance Cup and European 10 Dance Cup Champions. In 2016 partnered with Russian dancer, Veronika Dichka. Their best placement came when they placed second at the WDSF Open in Moscow. Following his competitive career, he joined the cast of the

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean ...

show, Heartbeat of Home as a principal dancer and also danced with the

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 w ...

touring show. In 2020, Benenato joined ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' professional,

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’s, ''Havana Nights'' UK touring show.

''Dancing with the Stars''

On 22 December 2021, Benenato was announced as one of the new professionals to join the fifth season of the Irish version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

''. He was partnered with author

Cathy Kelly Cathy Kelly (born 12 September 1966) is an Irish former journalist and writer of women's fiction since 1997. She has gained international recognition with her popular fiction novels, which are published globally in many languages. In 2001, her n ...

. They were the first couple to be eliminated from the series. Benenato returned for the sixth season in 2023. He was partnered with

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

singer

Brooke Scullion Brooke Scullion (born 31 March 1999), sometimes performing under the mononym Brooke, is an Irish singer. She was a contestant on series 9 of ''The Voice UK'', finishing in third place. She represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 ...

. However on 22 January, ahead of the third live show, Benenato announced his departure from the series stating personal reasons. ; Series 5 – with celebrity partner

; Series 6 – with celebrity partner

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benenato, Maurizio 1991 births Living people Ballroom dancers