Ola Jordan

Aleksandra "Ola" Jordan (née Grabowska; born 30 September 1982) is a professional ballroom dancer. She appeared as a professional on the British TV show Strictly Come Dancing from 2006 to 2015. After winning a championship event in her native Poland, Ola moved to England and began a new partnership with James Jordan. They married on 12 October 2003 and live near Maidstone in Kent.

Dancing career

Ola has been dancing since the age of twelve when her school advertised for a dance club. Before dancing with James Jordan, she had danced with Przemek Lowicki in Poland. She won Poland's Open Championships in 1999 and went on to take 12th place in the following year's World Championships.

The first recorded dance by Ola Grabowska and James Jordan as a partnership was in the Dutch Open in 2000, though they did not turn professional until 2003. The couple withdrew for a while to teach Latin American dancing in Hong Kong, though they turned professional again in 2005, after missing competing. In May 2006, the couple came second in the Blackpool Professional Rising Stars Latin event, and in November they came third in the British Championships for Professional Latin.

Jordan

Jordan (/ˈdʒɔːrdən/; Arabic: الأردن‎ Al-Urdun), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Arabic: المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية‎ Al-Mamlakah Al-Urduniyah Al-Hashimiyah), is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, and Israel and Palestine to the west. Since the dawn of civilization, the country's location at the crossroads of the Middle East has served as a strategic nexus connecting Asia, Africa and Europe.

Archaeologists found evidence on inhabitance dating as far back as the Paleolithic period. Three kingdoms emerged on the territory of modern Jordan at the very end of the Bronze Age: Ammon, Moab and Edom. The lands were later part of several kingdoms and empires, most notably the Nabatean Kingdom, the Roman Empire and finally the Ottoman Empire from the 16th until the early 20th century. After the Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World war I by Britain and France, the Emirate of Transjordan was officially recognized by the Council of the League of Nations in 1922. In 1946, Jordan became an independent sovereign state officially known as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. The capture of the West Bank by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War has showed that the Arab Legion forces known today as the Jordanian Armed Forces were the most effective among the Arab troops involved in the war. The same year, Abdullah I took the title King of Jordan. The name of the state was changed to The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on 1 December 1948.

Ashley Taylor Dawson

Philip Ashley Taylor Dawson (born 11 January 1982), known as Ashley Taylor Dawson, is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Darren Osborne in the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, in which he is one of the longest serving cast members, and for being a member of pop band allSTARS*.

Early life

Born in Manchester, Greater Manchester, Dawson grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire. He attended Ashdene Primary School and Altrincham Grammar School for Boys and joined local drama group Scamps at a young age. He is the brother of singer and guitarist Catherine Taylor-Dawson.

Career

Dawson has played the role of Darren Osborne in Hollyoaks since 1999. Actor Adam Booth originally played the part before leaving in 1997. The character rejoined Hollyoaks in 1999 when Dawson secured the part. Dawson joined Hollyoaks when he was 17 years old after getting his big break with the National Youth Theatre. He went onto secure the part of Darren following an audition, but soon after left in 2000 to join ALLSTARS*. Dawson re-joined the show in August 2003 after AllSTARS* split up. On playing the part Dawson said "I love playing the bad lad. He's my alter ego".

Ashley Taylor

Ashley Taylor is an actress.

Personal life

Her parents are Neil and Linda Schneider. She has an older sister, Brittany and a younger sister Hayley and brother Brennen.

Filmography

Television

Film

External links

Come Dancing

Come Dancing was a British ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off on the BBC from 1949 to 1998, becoming one of television's longest-running shows.

The show was created by Eric Morley, the founder of Miss World, and began in 1949 by broadcasting from regional ballroom studios, with professional dancers Syd Perkin and Edna Duffield on hand to offer teaching.

In 1953 the format changed to become a competition, with later series seeing regions of the United Kingdom going head to head for the coveted trophy.

The many presenters over the years included Peter West, McDonald Hobley, Charles Nove, Terry Wogan, Brian Johnston, Angela Rippon, Michael Aspel, Noel Edmonds, David Jacobs, Judith Chalmers, Pete Murray, and Rosemarie Ford. Commentators included Ray Moore and Bruce Hammal.

In 2004, a re-launched celebrity version entitled Strictly Come Dancing, hosted by Bruce Forsyth (2004–13), Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman (2014–) debuted on BBC One, and became a popular hit on Saturday evenings. The title is a nonsensical pastiche of the titles of both the 1992 Australian film Strictly Ballroom and Come Dancing. The format of the newer show has been successfully exported to other countries under the name Dancing with the Stars.