Jump to content

Iveta Lukošiūtė

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iveta Lukošiūtė
Born (1980-06-29) 29 June 1980 (age 44)
OccupationProfessional dancer
Known forStrictly Come Dancing
Spouse
Jenya Raytses
(m. 2017)
Children2

Iveta Lukošiūtė (born 29 June 1980) is a Lithuanian dancer and choreographer. She is best known for appearing as a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing between 2012 and 2014.

Early and personal life

[edit]

Lukošiūtė was born in Klaipėda, Lithuania on 29 June 1980. Lukošiūtė began learning ballroom dance at the age of 6 when she was accepted as a student at the Žuvėdra Ballroom Dance School. She danced for pop groups, concerts and festivals throughout Lithuania, and appeared in several music videos.[1]

Lukošiūtė married Jenya Raytses in August 2017[2] and they have two children together.[3][4]

Dancing career

[edit]

Lukošiūtė moved to Woodside, New York in 2003, where she went on to gain numerous dance titles including World Professional Ten Dance Champion, five time U.S. National & North American Professional Ten Dance Champion, four time U.S. National Classical Showdance Champion and two times World Classical Showdance Finalist.[5]

In 2011, Lukošiūtė appeared on the eighth season of So You Think You Can Dance. She reached the top 20, however was eliminated on in the first week of competition.[6]

Strictly Come Dancing

[edit]

In September 2012, Lukošiūtė was announced to be joining the Strictly Come Dancing as a replacement for Aliona Vilani who sustained an injury,[7][8] Lukošiūtė was paired with Vilani's partner, TV presenter Johnny Ball, who was the oldest ever contestant to appear on the show. They were the first couple to be eliminated from the series.[9] Lukošiūtė returned to the show for the eleventh series where she was paired with actor Mark Benton.[10] The pair landed in the dance-off four consecutive times, a Strictly record before being eliminated in the ninth week, leaving them in 7th place.[11] In Lukošiūtė's final series, she was paired with rugby player and model Thom Evans,[12] they were eliminated in week five of the competition which was described as a shock, leaving them in 12th place.[13]

Whilst appearing on Strictly Come Dancing, Lukošiūtė made guest appearances on British television chat shows such as Daybreak, Loose Women and The One Show.[14]

Series Partner Place
10 Johnny Ball 14th
11 Mark Benton 7th
12 Thom Evans 12th

Highest and Lowest Scoring Per Dance

(*) Excludes extra score given by guest judge.

Series 10

[edit]

Lukošiūtė's first celebrity partner was television presenter Johnny Ball.

Week Dance / Song Judges' scores Score Result
Horwood Bussell Goodman Tonioli
1 Cha-cha-cha / "Drive My Car" 3 5 5 4 17 No Elimination
2 Foxtrot / "Everything" 5 5 5 5 20 Eliminated

Series 11

[edit]

Lukošiūtė's second celebrity partner was stage and screen actor Mark Benton.

Week Dance / Song Judges' scores Score Result
Horwood Bussell Goodman Tonioli
1 Tango / "Hernando's Hideaway" 5 6 7 6 24 No Elimination
2 Salsa / "Bom Bom" 4 6 7 5 22 Safe
3 American Smooth / "It Must Be Love" 6 6 7 7 26 Safe
4 Cha-cha-cha / "U Can't Touch This" 3 8 8 7 26 Safe
5 Waltz / "Apologize" 7 7 7 7 28 Safe
6 Paso Doble / "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper" 6 6 7 6 25 Safe
7 Rumba / "Goldfinger" 5 6 7 5 23 Bottom two
8 Jive / "You Can't Stop the Beat" 5 8 8 8 29 Bottom two
9 Foxtrot / "It's a Beautiful Day" 6 8 7 7 28 Bottom two
10 Samba / "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" 7 7 7 8 29 Eliminated

Series 12

[edit]

Lukošiūtė's third celebrity partner was former rugby player Thom Evans.

Week Dance / Song Judges' scores Score Result
Horwood Bussell Goodman Tonioli
1 Waltz / "You Raise Me Up" 5 6 6 6 23 No Elimination
2 Salsa / "Hot Hot Hot" 5 7 7 6 25 Safe
3 Charleston / "New York, New York" 7 8 7* / 8 8 38* Safe
4 Foxtrot / "Build Me Up Buttercup" 6 8 8 8 30 Safe
5 Cha-cha-cha / "It's My Party" 6 7 7 7 27 Eliminated

(*) Score given by guest judge Donny Osmond.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Lynam, Chris (24 February 2017). "Iveta Lukosiute: Bright Lights, No Sleep, and Hard Work". Arthur Murray Dance Centers. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Iveta Lukosiute & Jenya Raytses". The Knot. TKWW Registry. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  3. ^ Kelly, Emma (23 October 2019). "Former Strictly professional Iveta Lukosiute pregnant after two miscarriages". Metro. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  4. ^ Buglass, Lucy (27 April 2020). "Strictly Come Dancing pro Iveta Lukosiute has welcomed her second baby". Good to Know. Future. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Tristan Macmanus and Iveta Lukosiute". Donaheys Dance. 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  6. ^ Scarpa, Gina (24 June 2011). "So You Think You Can Dance Season 8: Conference Call with Iveta Lukosiute, Nick Young, and Wadi Jones". Reality Wanted. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  7. ^ "'Strictly' Replacement Announced - Watch This One, Johnny". HuffPost UK. PA. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  8. ^ Baxter, Anthony (29 September 2012). "Strictly Come Dancing: New partner for Johnny Ball". Newsbeat. BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing Results - first elimination". Ballet News. 14 October 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing, in Training: Week Ten - Mark Benton and Iveta Lukosiute". BBC One. 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  11. ^ Rigby, Sam (1 December 2013). "Mark Benton exits Strictly Come Dancing". Digital Spy. Hearst UK. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing, Series 12 - Thom Evans". BBC One. 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  13. ^ Hogan, Michael (27 October 2014). "Thom Evans leaves Strictly Come Dancing in shock elimination, review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 June 2022.(subscription required)
  14. ^ "Iveta Lukosiute". IMDb. Amazon. Retrieved 23 June 2022.