Louis van Amstel

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Louis van Amstel
Born (1972-06-23) June 23, 1972 (age 51)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
NationalityDutch American
CitizenshipAmerican
Occupation(s)Dancer, choreographer
Years active2005–present
Spouse
Joshua Lancaster
(m. 2017)

Louis van Amstel (born June 23, 1972, in

Dancing with the Stars.[2]

Early life

Louis van Amstel was born in Amsterdam; his grandparents were competitive ballroom dancers. He began dancing at 10 and entered competitions at 15. He stopped attending school at 16 to pursue dancing full-time.[3]

Career

Early career

Van Amstel competed professionally with Julie Fryer, and they were coached by Ruud Vermeij. In 1990, Van Amstel and Fryer became Dutch Latin Champions and 10 Dance Champions. They also made the final in the 'under 21' category in Blackpool. During the same year, they received a bronze medal at the German Open, at the World Latin and at the European 10 Dance. In the Worlds 10 Dance Championship, Van Amstel and Fryer got fourth place.

In 1991, Van Amstel and Fryer won the national championships for the second time, and got fourth place in all major championships. A year later, Van Amstel decided that he wanted to retire from competing for a while and ended his partnership with Fryer for the first time. Three years later, in 1994, the partnership was re-established, and Van Amstel and Fryer went on to win three world Latin Dance championship gold medals in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

In 1997, Van Amstel retired from competitive ballroom dancing, moved to New York City, and became an American citizen in July 1999.[4] He returned to competitive dancing with partner Karina Smirnoff; they won the United States national championship in 2000.

Dancing with the Stars

Van Amstel was cast for

second season, he was partnered with hostess Lisa Rinna
, with whom he reached fourth place.

Van Amstel returned in

He returned in

season six and was partnered with actress, businesswoman, and wife of Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley
. The couple made it to the fifth week, but were eliminated, resulting in an eighth-place finish.

He returned in

season ten of Dancing With The Stars, Van Amstel was partnered with Reno 911! star Niecy Nash
. The couple made it to the eighth week, but were eliminated, resulting in a fifth-place finish.

For

season eleven of Dancing With The Stars, Van Amstel was partnered with actress and comedian Margaret Cho. The couple made it to the third week, but were eliminated, resulting in a tenth-place finish. Van Amstel appeared in Cho's comedy music album Cho Dependent as her therapist. In July 2011, he appeared alongside Cho as himself in the fourth episode of the third season of Drop Dead Diva
.

For the show's

twelfth season, Van Amstel was partnered with playboy model and reality star Kendra Wilkinson. During the fifth week in the competition, they danced the 1000th competitive dance. The couple made it to the seventh week, but were eliminated, resulting in a sixth-place finish. Wilkinson later published her book, Being Kendra, in which she said she and van Amstel clashed constantly and that he called her dyslexic and learning disabled. Van Amstel denied the comments, calling her book "twisted". Nevertheless, Van Amstel made two appearances on Wilkinson's reality shows Kendra and Kendra on Top
, though Wilkinson described their encounters as "awkward".

Van Amstel returned for

Val Chmerkovskiy
to be their partner in their trio dance.

Van Amstel was not asked back for

season 16 of Dancing with the Stars.[5]

On September 2, 2015, he was announced as a pro for

season 21 after a 5-season hiatus. He was paired with celebrity chef, Paula Deen.[6]
They were eliminated on week 6 of competition and finished in 9th place.

Van Amstel returned to the show for season 31. He was partnered with actress Cheryl Ladd.[7]

Other work

During his time off from Dancing With The Stars, Van Amstel set up a not-for-profit dance company called "Visionworx Dance Theater," which combines all four major dance forms. He also choreographed and appeared on numerous TV shows such as The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Hannah Montana, and All My Children.[3]

After season six of Dancing with the Stars, Van Amstel was asked to create and choreograph a show called Ballroom With A Twist, which featured a rotating cast of dancers. The show also featured former American Idol contestants including David Hernandez and Carly Smithson. Ballroom With A Twist toured in theaters around the country. Van Amstel is no longer associated with the show.

He choreographed seven dances on season 5 of

So You Think You Can Dance. Three of the seven dances made it to the finale and were mentioned as the judges' favorite picks at the Kodak theater in Hollywood. He continued choreographing in seasons 6, 7, and 8.[citation needed
]

Van Amstel runs a dance fitness program, LaBlast. LaBlast DVDs were released in early 2012. During the summer of that year, Van Amstel started a fitness clothing line, branded LVA.

In fall 2014, Van Amstel was seen as a judge on the Dutch show Celebrity Pole Dancing, a show where Dutch celebrities are taught how to pole dance and perform.

Personal life

Van Amstel is openly

On October 16, 2023, van Amstel announced on Instagram that the couple had divorced. They have two adopted sons, Daniel and Jonathan.

In November 2019, Van Amstel made headlines after he revealed that a substitute teacher shamed his son for having two gay dads and subjected his fifth-grade class to a 10-minute anti-gay lecture. The school promptly fired the teacher.[9]

Dancing with the Stars performances

Season Partner Place
1 Trista Sutter 6th
2 Lisa Rinna 4th
3 Monique Coleman 4th
6 Priscilla Presley 8th
9 Kelly Osbourne 3rd
10 Niecy Nash 5th
11 Margaret Cho 10th
12 Kendra Wilkinson 6th
15 Sabrina Bryan 8th
21 Paula Deen 9th
31 Cheryl Ladd 14th

With Trista Sutter

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1
Come Away With Me
"
6 6 6 No Elimination
2 Rumba/"Endless Love" 6 7 6 Eliminated

With Lisa Rinna

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1 Waltz/ "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" 5 7 7 Safe
2 Rumba/"Your Song" 6 7 7 Safe
3 Jive/"Jailhouse Rock" 8 9 8 Safe
4 " 9 9 8 Safe
5 Samba/"Le Freak" 7 9 9 Safe
6 Quickstep/"9 to 5" 9 9 9 Bottom Two
7 Foxtrot/"Fever" 8 9 9 Eliminated
Cha-Cha-Cha/"Material Girl" 9 9 9

With Monique Coleman

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1 Foxtrot/"Baby Love" 6 6 7 Safe
2
Bop to the Top
"
9 8 9 Safe
3 Jive/"The Heat Is On" 9 9 9 Safe
4 Waltz/"If I Were A Painting" 8 8 8 Bottom Two
5
Samba de Verão
"
9 9 9 Safe
6 Samba/"ABC" 9 7 7 Safe
7
Paso Doble/"The Reflex
"
9
9
9
9
9
9
Bottom Two
8 " 8
9
8
10
8
10
Eliminated

With Priscilla Presley

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1 Foxtrot/"Feeling Good" 8 8 8 No Elimination
2 Mambo/"Deixa Isso Pra La" 7 7 7 Safe
3
Tango/"El Choclo
"
8 9 9 Safe
4 " 7 7 8 Bottom Two
5 Rumba/"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" 7 7 7 Eliminated

With Kelly Osbourne

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1
Viennese Waltz/"Trouble"
Cha-Cha-Cha/"Centerfold
"
7
Awarded
8
8
8
Points
Safe
2 " 6 7* 6 Safe
3 Samba/"LoveGame" 7 6 7 Safe
4 Charleston/"Cabaret" 8 7 8 Safe
5
Paso Doble/"Crazy Train
"
8 8 8 Safe
6 Jitterbug/"Bread and Butter"
Mambo Marathon/"Ran Kan Kan"
8
Awarded
8
5
8
Points
Safe
7
You Give Love a Bad Name
"
8
9
8
9
8
10
Safe
8
River Deep - Mountain High
"
8
8
8
9
9
9
Last to Be
Called Safe
9 " 8
9
9
8
9
9
8
9
9
Last to Be
Called Safe
10
Viennese Waltz/"Trouble
"
9
Awarded
8
Awarded
9
26
8
26
8
Points
8
Points
Third Place

^* Due to Len Goodman's absence in week 2, the 7 was awarded by stand-in guest judge Baz Luhrmann.

With Niecy Nash

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1 Cha-Cha-Cha/"Rescue Me" 7 5 6 No Elimination
2 Foxtrot/"Love You I Do" 7 7 7 Safe
3 Waltz/"With You I'm Born Again" 7 7 7 Safe
4 Rumba/"Taking Chances" - Technique
Rumba/"Taking Chances" - Performance
6
6
6
6
6
6
Last to Be
Called Safe
5 Jive/"La Bamba" 6 6 6 Safe
6
Argentine Tango/"El Sonido De La Milonga"
Swing
Marathon/"In the Mood"
7
Awarded
7
5
7
Points
Bottom Two
7 Quickstep/"You're the Top"
Team Madonna/"Holiday"
9
8
8
8
8
8
Safe
8
Rhythm is a Dancer
"
7
7
8
6
8
7
Eliminated

With Margaret Cho

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1
We Are The Champions
"
5 5 5 Safe
2 Jive/"Dreaming 6 6 6 Safe
3 Samba/"Copacabana" 6 6 6 Eliminated

With Kendra Wilkinson

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1 Cha-Cha-Cha/"When Love Takes Over" 6 6 6 No Elimination
2 Quickstep/"Gotta Work" 7 6 6 Safe
3 Rumba/"You and Me" 8 7 8 Safe
4
Viennese Waltz/"Time to Say Goodbye
"
6 6 6 Safe
5 Foxtrot/"Yankee Doodle Dandy" 8 7 7 Safe
6 Samba/"Livin' la Vida Loca" 8 8 9 Safe
7 Team
Tango
/"Jealousy"
7/7*
8/8*
8
7
8
8
Eliminated

^* The additional scores of 7 and 8 were awarded by guest judge Donnie Burns.

With Sabrina Bryan

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1 Cha-Cha-Cha/"What Makes You Beautiful" 7.5 7.5 7.5 Safe
2 Quickstep/"Black Betty" 9 8.5 8.5 Safe
3
Paso Doble/"Free Your Mind
"
8.5 8.5 8.5 Bottom Three
4 Disco/"You Should Be Dancing" 9 9/8.5* 9 Safe
5 Waltz/"So This Is Love"
Team Freestyle (Shawn)/"Call Me Maybe"
10
9.5
9.5
10
9.5
10
No Elimination
6
Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy
",
"I Play Chicken with a Train"
10
No
10
Additional
10
Points
Eliminated

^* The additional score of 8.5 was awarded by guest judge Paula Abdul.

With Paula Deen

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Hough Tonioli
1
Hey Good Lookin'
"
5 5 5 No Elimination
2 Rumba/"Midnight Train to Georgia"
Tango/ "Get Ready"
7
6
6
6
6
6
Safe
3 Samba / "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle" 5 51/5 5 Last to be called safe
4 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Respect" 6 6 6 Safe
52 Jive / "Shake" 7 7/63 6 No Elimination
6
Jazz / "Vogue
"
6 6/64 6 Eliminated

1 Score given by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro.

2 This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Deen performed with Mark Ballas instead of Louis van Amstel. Louis performed with Tamar Braxton.[10]

3 Score given by guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

4 Score given by guest judge Olivia Newton-John.

With Cheryl Ladd

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Hough Tonioli
1
Got to Give it Up
"
6 5 5 5 Safe
2 Tango / "A Little Less Conversation" 5 6 5 5 Bottom Two
3 Rumba / "Diamonds Are Forever" 6 6 6 6 Eliminated

References

  1. ^ "Louis Van Amstel profile". Archived from the original on 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
  2. ^ Dancing With The Stars website
  3. ^ a b c dancingwithlouis.com Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b Davis, Andrew (April 28, 2010). "Dancing with the Stars' Louis Van Amstel on Kate Gosselin and his sexuality". Windy City Media Group. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
  5. ^ Louis van Amstel [@LouisVanAmstel] (February 25, 2013). "U guys might have done the math I'm not doing season 16 of DWTS. Good luck to all pros!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Dancing with the Stars Season 21 Cast Announcement". ABC. September 2, 2015. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
  7. ^ "Dancing with the Stars: Teresa Giudice, Wayne Brady, Selma Blair and More Celebs Join Season 31". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  8. ^ Gomez, Patrick (January 8, 2017). "Dancing with the Stars' Louis van Amstel marries Joshua Lancaster in Winter Wonderland wedding". People.com. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  9. ^ Tanner, Courtney (November 29, 2019). "A Utah substitute told fifth graders that 'homosexuality is wrong.' She was escorted out after 3 female students spoke up". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  10. ^ Gomez, Patrick (October 7, 2015). "The Dancing with the Stars Switch-Up Week Couples Revealed!". People.com. Retrieved October 7, 2015.

External links