Peta Roby is an Australian dancer and choreographer. With dance partner

Jason Gilkison Jason Gilkison is an Australian professional ballroom dance champion and choreographer. Early life Gilkison was born in Perth, Australia. He was raised by his single mum, Kay. At age 4, he began dancing at the Perth ballroom dance studio, fo ...

, she won multiple Australian national titles. Roby has also worked with Gilkison on 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 w ...

''.

Early life

Roby was born in

Perth, Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. Roby started dancing with

at age of seven. During her senior year of high school, Roby and Gilkison moved to London for two months of training and returned to London for further training after graduation.

Career

Competitive dancing

Roby formed a professional partnership with Gilkison in 1980 and together they were undefeated Australian Latin champions from 1981 to 1997.Burnthefloor.com
At age 23, Gilkison and Roby were the top ranked pair in Ten-Dance Competition. Although competing for Australia, Roby and Gilkison taught in London in the 1990s. Both also appeared in the 1996 film version of ''

Evita Evita may refer to: Arts * Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name * Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron * Evita (album), ''E ...

''.

''Burn the Floor''

In 1997, Roby, Gilkison, and several other dance couples performed at Elton John's birthday party. Producer Harley Medcalf was in the audience and approached Gilkison about using dance in theater. The idea turned in to ''

'', which Roby began working on in 1999. From 1999 to 2005 Roby was a principal dancer in the show. The show began as something geared towards arenas before scaling back and becoming more "urban" influenced around 2005. That same year, Roby transitioned to working behind the scenes as company manager and executive producer. She was credited as an Associate Producer when the show went to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 2009.

Personal life

Roby met Nic Notley in 1985 when he saw Roby and Gilkison dance. Roby and Notley married four years later. In 2015 the couple moved from Perth to

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roby, Peta Australian female dancers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)