birth_place birth_date article_title name occupation
liège , belgium 22 may 1981 joanna leunis
 joanna leunis dancer
joanna leunis

joanna leunis , born 22 may 1981 in rocourt , liège , belgium , is a professional latin ballroom dancer .
with michael malitowski , she is a former professional world latin dance champion and the current international latin american dance champion .
the couple represented poland until 2011 , representing england from then on .
as a young person of 8 , she suffered from a blood disease similar to leukemia , but recovered after over a year in bed .
she is a well-educated woman who speaks french , english , dutch and german , and is working on learning italian .
she has training in ballet , tap and standard ballroom as well as latin dances .
she had several partners before malitowski : at 18 , she won the world amateur latin championship , with slavik kryklyvyy .
later , with malitowski , she won the wdc world professional latin championship in 2008 and 2009 .
they are the current open british champions , 2012 .
the couple also recently won first place in the 2012 blackpool dance festival .
her record in partnership with malitowski includes wins in all the most important latin dance championships .
as competitive dancers , they specialise entirely in the latin dance events .
she has taught at various dance institutions including stepping out studios in new york .
after winning the professionals latin at blackpool dance festival 2015 for the 8th time , michael and joanna announced their retirement .
