Witney Carson

Witney Capri Carson (born October 17, 1993) is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer, choreographer, and actress. She first gained attention in 2012, when the 18-year-old finished ladies' second runnerup on So You Think You Can Dance: season 9. Carson continued her professional dancing career in early 2013 as a troupe dancer on Dancing with the Stars: seasons 16 and 17. Carson was promoted to being a "professional partner" in season 18.^[1] She returned as a professional for season 19. She and her partner Alfonso Ribeiro were announced the winners of season 19 on November 25, 2014, making her one of five professional dancers to win the mirror ball trophy within their first two seasons. For that season, Carson received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography.^[2]

Throughout her dance career, Carson has worked with dancers and choreographers such as Mia Michaels, Nappytabs, Travis Wall, Sonya Tayeh, Tyce Diorio, Mark Ballas, and Stacey Tookey.

Personal life

Carson was born in American Fork, Utah^[3] to Tyler Carson and Jill Johnson-Carson. She is the oldest of four children. She has two brothers, Jaxon and Cade, and a sister, Camry. She started her career as a dancer at the age of three, training in different dance styles including ballet, jazz dance, hip hop dance, ballroom dance as well as tap dance among many others. She has competed and performed around the world and has won several awards and scholarships throughout her career. On October 3, 2015, Carson confirmed her engagement on Instagram to her boyfriend of four years, Carson McAllister.^[4] The couple married on January 1, 2016 in a private Mormon ceremony at the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City. Fellow Dancing with the Stars dancers Brittany Cherry, Jenna Johnson, and Emma Slater were among her bridesmaids, with Lindsay Arnold serving as her matron of honor.^[5]

So You Think You Can Dance

At the age of 18, Carson auditioned for season nine of Fox network's hit show So You Think You Can Dance. She made it through to the top twenty finalists. Her partner was ballet dancer and season winner Chehon Wespi-Tschopp. When only ten dancers remained, the contestants switched partners to a new all-star each week. As she proceeded to the top 6 dancers, Carson partnered with dancers Nick Lazzarini, Stephen "Twitch" Boss and Marko Germar before she was eliminated after the week-seven round which aired on September 2012.^[6]

She returned as an all-star in season ten, partnering with top 6 dancer Paul Karmiryan and season winner, Du-shaunt "Fik-shun" Stegall.^[7]

Performances and results

Dancing with the Stars

Witney was announced as a troupe dancer on reality television series, Dancing with the Stars in March 2013.^[8] Carson (along with DWTS pro dancer, Lindsay Arnold) was a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance season nine.^[8] She continued dancing and choreographing for the troupe on season 17.

On season 18, Carson was promoted to professional dancer, partnering with singer Cody Simpson.^[1] They were eliminated on April 14, 2014, finishing in ninth place.

For season 19, Carson returned as a professional dancer partnering with actor Alfonso Ribeiro. On November 25, 2014, she and Ribeiro were declared the season's champions. It was Carson's first win in two seasons as a professional dancer on the show.

Carson returned for season 20 as partner for season 19 Bachelor, Chris Soules. They were the eighth couple to be eliminated, finishing in fifth place.^[9]

For season 21, Carson was paired with Big Time Rush singer and actor Carlos PenaVega. They reached the Finals but were eliminated on Night 1 and finished in fourth place.

For season 22, Carson was paired with NFL player Von Miller. During a double elimination on week 7, Miller and Carson were eliminated and finished in 8th place.

For season 23, Carson was partnered with rapper Vanilla Ice. During a double elimination on week 4, they were eliminated and finished in 10th place.

• The scores below have been adjusted to be out of 30, not 40.*

Dancing with the Stars performances

Season 18 with Cody Simpson

Footnotes:

1. Score given by guest judge Robin Roberts.
2. For this week only, as part of the "Partner Switch-Up" week, Simpson performed with Sharna Burgess instead of Carson. Carson performed with Drew Carey.
3. Score given by guest judge Julianne Hough.
4. Score given by guest judge Donny Osmond.

Season 19 with Alfonso Ribeiro

Footnotes:

1. Score given by guest judge Kevin Hart in place of Goodman.
2. The American public scored the dance in place of Goodman with the averaged score being counted alongside the three other judges.
3. This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Ribeiro performed with Cheryl Burke instead of Carson. Carson performed with Michael Waltrip.
4. Score given by guest judge Jessie J in place of Goodman.
5. Score given by guest judge Pitbull in place of Goodman.

Season 20 with Chris Soules

Season 21 with Carlos PenaVega

This season returned having three judges.

¹ Score given by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro.

² This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, PenaVega performed with Lindsay Arnold instead of Carson. Carson performed with Nick Carter.^[10]

³ Score given by guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

⁴ Score given by guest judge Olivia Newton-John.

Season 22 with Von Miller

¹ Score given by guest judge Zendaya.
² For this week only, as part of "America's Switch Up", Miller performed with Lindsay Arnold instead of Carson. Carson performed with Wanyá Morris.
³ Score given by guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Season 23 with Vanilla Ice

Dancin' It's On!

Carson is part of the dancing cast of the 2015 movie Dancin' It's On! in the role of Jennifer. She joins former SYTYCD winners Russell Ferguson (season 6), and Chehon Wespi-Tschopp (season 9).^[12]

Accolades

References

External links

• Official website
• Witney Carson at the Internet Movie Database