Richard Tonizzo

Richard was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. He started dancing at the age of 4 and started competing at the age of 7. Richard has one older brother, Davide and one younger sister, Bianca, who also both dance. Davide has completed his studies in Dental Hygiene. Bianca has already completed one year of University, but has now moved to Melbourne, Australia, to continue her dancing career there.

Richard's first dance teacher was Dale Fraiser, who started Richard with social dancing and Medal classes. His first partner was his younger cousin, Natasha Galic. They had many successful years together, winning at the age of 8 the Australian under 9, Stars of the Future. Richard and Natasha danced together for 7 years.

Richard's second partner was Stephanie Marston. They danced together for 1 1/2 years and learned a lot together. Richard however became too tall for Stephanie and they had to find new partners.

Richard's third partner was Emily Reilly. This partnership was very successful. Richard and Emily, after only 8 months together, became the 1998 under 16 Australian Modern and New Vogue Champions. When they proceeded to the Adult ranks they placed 9th in the Australian Championships and third in the Youth Championships.

In 2000 and 2001, Richard and Emily were the Youth Modern Champions in Australia. They represented Australia at the World Youth Championships, held in Kiev, Ukraine, and were placed 15th in the World.

Richard and Emily decided that to improve their dancing, they needed to compete on the international scene more regularly. In May 2002, they competed for their very first time in Blackpool, England. They finished 20th out of over 200 couples in the Under 21 Modern event.

From January 2003 to June 2003, Richard and Emily decided to move to England for 6 months to improve their dancing.

This was quite an experience for both of them. They learned many things, and made many new friends. Unfortunately, both Richard and Emily decided to end their partnership on their return to Australia. Emily wished to return to her University studies and Richard wanted to continue dancing internationally

It didn’t take long to find a new dancing partner. Richard called a Canadian friend he had met in England who was also looking for a partner, Claire Hansen. Since then, Richard and Claire have been competing and training together.

Richard now resides in Leamington, Ontario, Canada. (It is the Southern most point of Canada). Richard and Claire are enjoying competing and training internationally, and have high aspirations.