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Karen Hauer was born in Venezuela and brought up in New York from the age of 10. She is best known in the UK as a pro dancer on BBC flagship show Strictly Come Dancing and is the show’s longest standing female professional.

 

Karen has been part of the BBC Strictly family since 2012 and has been partnered with household names including Westlife's Nicky Byrne, The ‘Hairy Biker’ Dave Myers, Mark Wright, Jeremy Vine, Will Young and chef Simon Rimmer. In 2018 she reached the quarter-finals with actor Charles Venn and went a step further in 2019, taking comedian Chris Ramsey to the semi-final. In 2020 Karen reached her second final when she partnered with Made in Chelsea’s Jamie Laing. 

 

Karen has an amazing presence on stage and is one of the most expressive and charismatic dancers on the current dance scene. Able to express emotion through each and every movement right through to her fingertips, Karen takes choreographed routines to new heights and she has that rare talent to attract the eye of every audience member whenever she dances. 

 

In 2020 she launched Firedance, a new dance stage production with fellow Strictly pro Gorka Marquez. The show was postponed after a handful of performances after the COVID-19 outbreak, and has been rescheduled for 2021. 

 

Karen is a health and fitness enthusiast, and a certified Personal Trainer, and launched her online at-home, equipment-free fitness programme Hauer Power at the end of 2019. 

 

She lives with her beloved rescue dogs, Betty, Marley and Phoebe, in South London. 

 

Additional career highlights: 

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• Karen received a full scholarship at just 10 years old to attend The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance where she learned her craft 

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• Graduate of The High School of Performing Arts - otherwise known as ‘The Fame School’ - Karen majored in ballet and contemporary dance and received The Helen Tamaris Award for Excellence in Dance

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• She was crowned 2008 World Mambo Champion

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• A finalist of So You Think You Can Dance USA - performing jazz, hip-hop, contemporary, hustle, ballroom and Latin

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• Karen performed with Jennifer Lopez as a backup dancer during her performance of Louboutins

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• She was principal female dancer in the original Broadway cast of Burn The Floor at Longacre Theatre, New York, working with choreographer Jason Gilkison as part of the Burn The Floor World Tour that took her to the USA, Europe, UK, Asia, Australasia and South Africa