Britt Stewart has built a career that extends well beyond the ballroom. Long before she became a familiar face on Dancing with the Stars, she had already established herself through film, television, live performances, and dance education. Her journey from a Colorado dance studio to major entertainment productions provides important context for understanding her career on DWTS.
Today, Stewart is known as a professional dancer, choreographer, educator, and dance arts advocate. However, her career did not begin with television competition. She started dancing as a young child, developed her skills through formal training, and began working professionally while still a teenager. That early experience helped prepare her for the demanding world of professional entertainment.
Who Is Britt Stewart?
Britt Stewart is a professional dancer, choreographer, educator, and dance arts advocate from Colorado. She was born Britt Benae Stewart in Aurora, Colorado, and began dancing at the age of three. Her early training included modern and cultural dance, and she later continued her education at the Denver School of the Arts and Loyola Marymount University.
Stewart developed a diverse professional résumé before joining the main professional cast of Dancing with the Stars. Her work has included film, television, live performances, touring, and choreography. She worked as a principal dancer in the High School Musical films and also appeared in projects such as Teen Beach Movie and La La Land.
Her performance career has also included work with major recording artists. Among the artists connected to her professional credits are Katy Perry, Janet Jackson, Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and Florence + The Machine.
That experience gives Stewart a professional identity that reaches far beyond reality television. Dancing with the Stars became a major chapter in her career, but it followed years of preparation and work across the entertainment industry.
Britt Stewart’s Early Life and Dance Training
Stewart’s connection with dance began when she was just three years old. She started training at Artistic Fusion Dance Academy in Colorado and continued developing her abilities as she grew older.
Rather than focusing on only one form of dance, Stewart built a broad foundation. Her training included modern and cultural dance, giving her experience with different movement styles and performance approaches. That versatility later became valuable in professional entertainment, where dancers often have to adapt to different choreographers, productions, musical styles, and creative demands.
By her teenage years, Stewart had moved from dance training into professional work. Her career biography states that she became a working dancer at 15 and performed nationally and internationally.
Beginning professional work at such a young age allowed Stewart to develop practical experience alongside her formal education. She learned how to perform for different audiences while continuing to strengthen her technical abilities.
That combination of education and professional experience became an important part of her development. Instead of entering the entertainment industry after completing her studies, Stewart gradually built her career while still developing as a dancer.
How Britt Stewart Started Dancing
Stewart’s first major connection to dance came through her childhood training in Colorado. Starting at three gave her years to develop technique, musicality, coordination, and performance confidence before she entered the professional entertainment world.
She later attended the Denver School of the Arts, where she studied modern and cultural dance. The school environment provided a more structured artistic education and helped expand the foundation she had developed through studio training.
Her progression demonstrates how her professional career developed over time. Early dance classes introduced her to performance, while formal education strengthened her technical and artistic abilities. Competitions, performances, and workshops then gave her additional opportunities to gain experience.
That preparation eventually helped Stewart move comfortably between different areas of entertainment. Her résumé would later include film productions, television projects, live performances, touring work, and ballroom competition.
The skills developed during those early years also became useful on Dancing with the Stars. Professional dancers on the show must do more than perform choreography. They also teach celebrities, create routines, rehearse extensively, adapt to different abilities, and perform under live television pressure.
Her Education and Move Toward Professional Dance
After graduating from the Denver School of the Arts in 2007, Stewart continued her education at Loyola Marymount University, where she entered the modern and ballet program. She eventually moved to Los Angeles, bringing her closer to the center of the American entertainment industry.
The move created an opportunity to combine formal dance training with professional work. Los Angeles offered access to auditions, workshops, productions, and other opportunities for working dancers.
Stewart had already begun building professional experience before this stage. By 15, she was working as a dancer nationally and internationally. Her early professional opportunities eventually expanded into screen performances and major live productions.
Her career before DWTS demonstrates why television was not her first major professional platform. She had already learned how to work within large productions, perform for cameras and live audiences, and adapt to different creative environments.
Moving from Colorado to Los Angeles therefore represented an important step in her professional development. It connected the foundation she had built through childhood training and formal education with the commercial entertainment industry that would become a major part of her career.
Britt Stewart’s Career Before Dancing With the Stars
Before Dancing with the Stars made Britt Stewart a familiar name to television audiences, she had already developed an extensive career in entertainment. Her early professional work placed her in film productions, television programs, live shows, and international tours.
One of her biggest early opportunities came through Disney’s High School Musical franchise. Stewart worked as a principal dancer in all three original films, giving her experience with large-scale musical productions and highly choreographed dance sequences. The projects also introduced her to the demands of working on major film sets.

Her résumé continued to grow after High School Musical. Stewart worked on productions including Fame, No Strings Attached, Teen Beach Movie, and La La Land. She also appeared in television projects such as The Voice, Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, and Bunheads.
Alongside screen work, Stewart developed a strong live-performance career. She toured and performed with major music stars including Janet Jackson, Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez, and Florence + The Machine.
This variety became one of Stewart’s biggest professional strengths. Film required precision for the camera, while live performances demanded energy, consistency, and the ability to respond to a large audience. Those experiences created a strong foundation for the different demands she would eventually face on DWTS.
High School Musical and Film Work
Stewart’s connection to High School Musical stands out as an important milestone in her early career. She served as a principal dancer across the original trilogy, working on productions that combined acting, music, choreography, and large ensemble performances.
The experience gave Stewart an early introduction to the scale of commercial entertainment. Musical-film productions require dancers to repeat complicated choreography while maintaining consistency across multiple takes. They also demand close coordination with directors, choreographers, actors, camera crews, and other performers.
After the High School Musical films, Stewart continued adding screen credits to her résumé. Her work included the remake of Fame, the romantic comedy No Strings Attached, Disney Channel’s Teen Beach Movie, and the musical drama La La Land.
These projects also showed her ability to move between different types of productions. Rather than becoming associated with only one franchise or dance style, Stewart continued taking on opportunities across film and television.
Her screen career helped establish her as a versatile commercial dancer before she ever became a DWTS professional. By the time television audiences began following her ballroom journey, she already understood the discipline required to perform choreography for the camera.
Touring and Performing With Major Artists
Stewart’s career also expanded through live music. She performed and toured with internationally recognized recording artists, gaining experience in some of the most demanding environments available to professional dancers.
One particularly significant chapter came through her work with Katy Perry. Stewart became one of Perry’s core dancers and spent three years performing with her. That period included Perry’s Prismatic World Tour and the Super Bowl halftime show, giving Stewart experience with large-scale live productions.
She also performed alongside artists such as Janet Jackson, Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez, and Florence + The Machine. Working around major recording artists gave Stewart valuable experience in the world of live music and large-scale entertainment. Each production brought different musical styles, choreography, rehearsal schedules, and performance requirements.
Touring also required dancers to maintain a high level of consistency. Unlike a film shoot, where a performance can be repeated until a take works, live shows happen in real time. Dancers must perform accurately while responding to the energy of the audience and the demands of the production.
For Stewart, those experiences strengthened skills that later became important on Dancing with the Stars: musical interpretation, performance quality, adaptability, stamina, and the ability to communicate a story through movement.
How Britt Stewart Joined Dancing With the Stars
Stewart’s path to Dancing with the Stars began before she became one of the show’s celebrity-partner professionals. She joined the DWTS troupe in Season 23, where she performed as part of the professional dance ensemble rather than competing with a celebrity.
The opportunity came after Stewart had already established herself as a working dancer. Her experience in commercial entertainment made her a natural fit for the show’s demanding performance environment. However, ballroom dancing presented a new challenge because Stewart did not enter DWTS with extensive formal ballroom training.
Instead, she learned the style while working with the troupe. She later pursued additional ballroom training and competition experience, gradually developing the technical skills needed for a professional partnership.
Stewart remained with the troupe for five seasons. During that period, she also participated in Dancing with the Stars live tours, giving her additional experience performing for the show’s audience outside the television studio.
The troupe years proved important because they allowed Stewart to understand how DWTS worked from inside the production. She became familiar with its rehearsal process, choreography, live performances, camera work, and competitive atmosphere.
That experience eventually positioned her for the opportunity she had been working toward: becoming a professional who would train and compete alongside a celebrity partner.
From Troupe Member to DWTS Professional
Stewart’s transition from troupe dancer to professional partner did not happen immediately. She first spent years performing within the show before receiving the opportunity to audition for the main professional cast.
The transition required more than strong performance skills. A DWTS professional must teach choreography, build routines around a celebrity’s strengths and limitations, manage intensive rehearsals, and help create performances that connect with both judges and viewers.
Stewart had already developed many of those abilities through her earlier career. Her work in film and live entertainment had taught her precision and adaptability, while her years on the DWTS troupe gave her direct experience with the show’s format.
In 2020, Stewart received the opportunity to join the professional cast for Season 29. Her promotion became a significant moment in the show’s history because she became its first Black female professional dancer.
The achievement represented a major career milestone after five seasons as a troupe member. Stewart had moved from performing behind celebrity contestants to taking responsibility for guiding one of them through the competition.
Her promotion also changed the way audiences experienced her work. As a professional partner, Stewart was no longer simply part of the ensemble. Her choreography, teaching, partnership, and competitive results became central parts of each season in which she participated.
Britt Stewart’s First DWTS Professional Season
Stewart entered Season 29 paired with Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir. The partnership gave her an immediate opportunity to demonstrate how she could combine her commercial dance background with ballroom technique.
Weir arrived with years of experience performing on ice, but competitive skating and ballroom dancing require different forms of movement. Stewart therefore had to help translate his existing performance strengths into a completely different setting.
Their partnership developed throughout the season. Stewart handled the choreography and training while also adapting routines to Weir’s abilities and artistic personality. The pair advanced through multiple weeks and reached the semifinals.
Their run gave Stewart a strong introduction to the responsibilities of being a DWTS professional. She had to manage choreography, rehearsals, performance pressure, and the emotional demands of a competition that changes from week to week.
The season also demonstrated the significance of her promotion. Stewart had spent years hoping to become a professional partner after joining the troupe. Her first season finally placed her in that role.
Although she and Weir did not reach the finale, their semifinal run established an important early milestone in Stewart’s professional DWTS career. It showed that her experience across different forms of dance and entertainment could translate into the ballroom competition format.
Britt Stewart’s Dancing With the Stars Career After Season 29
After reaching the semifinals with Johnny Weir in her first season as a professional, Britt Stewart returned for Season 30 with actor Martin Kove. The partnership gave her a very different challenge, as Kove came to the competition with an acting background rather than extensive dance experience.
Stewart and Kove performed a paso doble during their first week and followed it with a cha-cha in Week 2. They were eliminated during the second week, finishing in 15th place. It remains Stewart’s earliest elimination as a full-time professional.
The short run did not define Stewart’s position on the show. Her experience as a troupe member and her first season with Weir had already established her as an experienced professional within the DWTS environment.
More importantly, Stewart continued developing her approach to celebrity partnerships. Each contestant brings different physical abilities, performance instincts, confidence levels, and learning styles. A professional dancer must adapt choreography around those differences rather than simply teach a routine exactly as written.
That adaptability became particularly important the following season, when Stewart was paired with actor Daniel Durant. Their partnership would become one of the most significant chapters of her DWTS career.
Britt Stewart and Daniel Durant
Daniel Durant joined Season 31 of Dancing with the Stars in 2022 and was paired with Stewart. Durant, who is deaf, brought a different performance experience to the competition, requiring Stewart to think carefully about communication, musical cues, choreography, and movement.
Their partnership quickly became one of the season’s notable stories. Stewart had to create routines that allowed Durant to perform confidently while making the choreography visually clear and emotionally effective.
Their progress continued throughout the competition. By the later stages of the season, they were delivering increasingly ambitious routines and demonstrating strong chemistry as dance partners.
One of their most memorable performances came during a jazz routine to Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence.” The choreography incorporated a section in which the music stopped while the pair continued dancing, creating a visual moment that emphasized movement and connection rather than relying solely on sound.
Stewart and Durant ultimately reached the semifinals and finished in fifth place. That result marked Stewart’s highest placement as a professional at the time and gave her another major milestone after her earlier semifinal appearance with Johnny Weir.
Their partnership also continued beyond the competition. Stewart and Durant began dating after Season 31 and eventually married in August 2025.
How Daniel Durant and Britt Stewart Connected
Stewart and Durant first met when they were paired for Season 31. Their professional partnership developed through the demanding rehearsal schedule that defines Dancing with the Stars.
For Stewart, the season involved more than teaching ballroom technique. She needed to find effective ways to communicate choreography and timing while considering Durant’s experience as a deaf performer.
That process became part of the creative identity of their partnership. Instead of treating Durant’s hearing loss as something that had to disappear within the choreography, the routines could incorporate movement, visual cues, rhythm, and physical connection.
Their relationship grew after the season ended. They publicly confirmed their romance in 2023, became engaged later that year, and married on August 23, 2025, in Santa Margarita, California.
Their wedding brought together elements of both their personal and professional worlds. The celebration included members of the Dancing with the Stars community and incorporated American Sign Language to make the event accessible to deaf and hearing guests.
Their story therefore developed in two stages: first as a professional partnership on DWTS, and later as a personal relationship that continued after the cameras stopped.
Britt Stewart’s Career Beyond the Ballroom
Although Dancing with the Stars introduced Stewart to a wider television audience, her career extends across several areas of dance and entertainment.
Her professional background includes film and television performances, live tours, commercial dance, choreography, and dance education. Those experiences allow her to approach dance from more than one perspective. She can perform choreography herself while also helping other dancers develop technique and performance skills.
Stewart has also worked behind the scenes as a choreographer and educator. Her professional work reflects an interest in helping dancers develop their abilities rather than limiting her career to performance.
Her time with the DWTS troupe also expanded her understanding of television choreography. A troupe dancer has to perform within a larger ensemble, support celebrity contestants, and adapt to the show’s weekly production schedule. As a professional partner, Stewart took on additional responsibility for choreography, rehearsal, teaching, and storytelling.
That combination of performance and teaching has become an important part of her professional identity.
Rather than viewing DWTS as the destination of her career, Stewart has used the platform as one part of a broader dance journey. Her work across entertainment, education, and choreography shows why her career cannot be measured only by competition results.
Britt Stewart as a Choreographer and Dance Educator
Stewart’s professional experience has also given her opportunities to contribute to dance outside television competition. Her background includes teaching, choreography, workshops, and work with dancers at different stages of development.
Education is particularly relevant to her DWTS career because teaching a celebrity requires a different skill set from performing professionally. A successful professional partner must explain movement clearly, identify weaknesses, build confidence, and create routines that match the celebrity’s abilities.
Stewart’s years of training and commercial performance provide a foundation for that work. She understands both the technical demands of dance and the practical realities of performing for an audience.
Her career has also included leadership roles connected to DWTS tours. She served as Dance Captain and worked with the supervising choreography team for the show’s 2022 live national tour.
These responsibilities demonstrate how her role has expanded beyond being a performer in front of the camera. Stewart has increasingly taken on responsibilities that involve choreography, organization, mentorship, and creative direction.
That broader experience has helped establish her as a multifaceted dance professional rather than someone known exclusively for her television appearances.
Britt Stewart’s Place in DWTS History
Stewart’s promotion to the professional cast in 2020 marked an important moment in Dancing with the Stars history. She became the show’s first Black female professional dancer.
The milestone came after years of work within the program. Stewart had already spent multiple seasons as a troupe member before receiving the opportunity to compete directly with celebrity partners.
Her journey also reflects the changing makeup of the show’s professional cast. By moving from the troupe to the main professional lineup, Stewart brought her experience in commercial dance, film, television, and live performance into the ballroom competition.
Her career since becoming a professional has included very different outcomes. She reached the semifinals with Johnny Weir, experienced an early elimination with Martin Kove, and then achieved her highest placement with Daniel Durant.
Those contrasting seasons illustrate the unpredictable nature of DWTS. A professional dancer’s result depends not only on technical ability but also on the celebrity partner, weekly choreography, rehearsal progress, judges’ scores, and audience response.
For Stewart, however, the significance of her DWTS career extends beyond individual placements. Her transition from troupe member to professional established a lasting place for her within the franchise and became another chapter in a career that began long before ballroom television.


