Toni Redpath in "So You Think You Can Dance 2011"
Ballroom dance champion Toni Redpath was born in Surfers Paradise, in Queensland, Australia. She started ballroom dancing at age 9, after accompanying a friend to a local dance competition and deciding that it looked like too much fun not to try.
When she was 18, Redpath represented Norway for three years with then-partner Jan Tore Jacobson before moving to England and passing her Imperial Society Professional Exams with high honors.
Redpath later joined her family in America and began her professional career as an instructor at the Champion Ballroom Academy in San Diego, California.
Michael Mead and Redpath formed a professional ballroom competition partnership and developed a unique style that ultimately led them to setting a record by winning the U.S. Open Ballroom Championships four years in a row (undefeated throughout) before retiring from competition in 2002.
Redpath now choreographs for shows, trains the current World Champion American Style ballroom dancers, is a certified World Class judge, and judges at all the major U.S. Ballroom competitions.
Redpath has provided acclaimed choreography for multiple seasons of "So You Think You Can Dance" and debuted as a guest judge in Season 7 of the hit show.