Darren Bennett (dancer)

Darren Bennett
Darren Bennett
Born	Darren Lee Bennett; 14 February 1977 (age 47); Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Dancer
Spouse	Lilia Kopylova (1999–present)

Darren Lee Bennett (born 14 February 1977) is an English professional dancer. 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 was born in Sheffield. He 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 starred in a West End dance show, Latin Fever, which they choreographed themselves, as well as choosing the music and costumes to reflect the mood of each Latin dance.

Bennett is a consultant creative producer for the Dancing with the Stars (Irish Edition) TV show working alongside his wife and choreographer Lilia Kopylova.^[2]

Strictly Come Dancing

He was one of the professional dancers 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 after competing with singer Emma Bunton. They also competed together in the 2006 Christmas Special, finished in third place 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.^[3] 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. Won the 2008 Christmas Special with Jill Halfpenny, meaning they became two of the select few couples to win the Christmas Special twice.
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

Highest- and lowest-scoring performances per dance

Dance	Partner	Highest	Partner	Lowest
American Smooth	Emma Bunton	34	Leticia Dean	31
Argentine Tango	Emma Bunton	36
Cha Cha Cha	Jill Halfpenny	36	Lynda Bellingham	23
Foxtrot	Emma Bunton Leticia Dean	34	Lynda Bellingham	24
Jive	Jill Halfpenny	40	Gloria Hunniford	19
Paso Doble	Jill Halfpenny Emma Bunton	37	Lynda Bellingham	25
Quickstep	Emma Bunton	33	Jessie Wallace	19
Rumba	Emma Bunton	34	Gloria Hunniford	17
Salsa	Emma Bunton	33	Jessie Wallace	20
Samba	Emma Bunton	36	Jill Halfpenny	35
Tango	Emma Bunton	35	Lynda Bellingham	21
Viennese Waltz	Emma Bunton	34	Leticia Dean	32
Waltz	Emma Bunton	37	Gloria Hunniford	22

Performances

Year	Celebrity partner	Week #	Dance	Judges' scores
Year	Celebrity partner	Week #	Dance	Horwood	Phillips	Goodman	Tonioli	Total
2004	Jill Halfpenny	1	Waltz	7	6	7	7	27
		2	Rumba	8	8	8	8	32
		3	Jive	8	9	9	9	35
		4	Foxtrot	8	9	9	8	34
		5	Samba	8	9	9	9	35
		6	Quickstep	8	8	8	8	32
		6	Cha-Cha-Cha	9	9	9	9	36
		7 (semi-final)	Tango	7	8	7	7	29
		7 (semi-final)	Paso Doble	9	10	9	9	37
		8 (final) (Winner)	Foxtrot	9	8	9	8	34
		8 (final) (Winner)	Jive	10	10	10	10	40
2005	Gloria Hunniford	1	Waltz	4	5	7	6	22
		2	Rumba	2	4	5	6	17
		3	Jive	3	4	6	6	19
2006	Emma Bunton	2	Quickstep	8	8	8	9	33
		3	Jive	8	8	8	9	33
		4	Foxtrot	8	7	7	8	30
		5	Viennese Waltz	8	9	8	9	34
		6	Samba	9	9	9	9	36
		7	Cha-Cha-Cha	7	7	7	9	30
		8	American Smooth	8	8	9	9	34
		9	Waltz	9	8	10	10	37
		9	Paso Doble	9	9	9	10	37
		10	Tango	9	8	9	9	35
		10	Rumba	8	8	9	9	34
		11 (semi-final) (Third place)	Argentine Tango	9	9	9	9	36
		11 (semi-final) (Third place)	Salsa	8	7	9	9	33
2007	Letitia Dean	2	Rumba	4	6	7	6	23
		3	Tango	6	7	7	7	27
		4	American Smooth	7	8	8	8	31
		5	Paso Doble	7	8	8	8	31
		6	Salsa	6	6	7	6	25
		7	Foxtrot	8	8	9	9	34
		8	Viennese Waltz	8	8	7	9	32
		9	Quickstep	7	7	8	8	30
		9	Cha-Cha-Cha	6	6	7	7	26
		10	Waltz	8	9	9	9	35
		10	Jive	7	7	8	8	30
2008	Jessie Wallace	2	Salsa	4	4	6	6	20
2008	Jessie Wallace	4	Quickstep	3	5	5	6	19
Year	Celebrity partner	Week #	Dance	Judges' scores
Year	Celebrity partner	Week #	Dance	Craig Revel Horwood	Len Goodman	Alesha Dixon	Bruno Tonioli	Total
2009	Lynda Bellingham	1	Tango	3	6	7	5	21
		1	Cha-Cha-Cha	5	6	6	6	23
		3	Paso Doble	5	7	7	6	25
		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 22 June 2009.

Darren joined the judging panel of the Lebanese edition of Dancing With The Stars for its first series in December 2012 and second series in November 2013 and third series in March 2015 and fourth series in November 2016.