When I was a young teacher, we couldn’t afford to travel to England to learn from the best. Instead, we bought VHS tapes of educational videos featuring Geoffrey Hearn, with demonstrations by Stephan and Lindsey Hillier, as well as Marcus and Karin Hilton. These videos provided the first ballroom routines for my young students and that’s where my first memory of Lindsey begins.
A few years later, we met in person at the Rimini Open Festival, organized by Luisa and Giancarlo Barbieri. We attended the festival for many years and from then on, our connection grew.
Early Life and Dance Beginnings
Lindsey Hillier (née Tate) was born in April 1956 in Reading, west of London, UK.
As a child, she suffered from severe asthma. A doctor advised her parents to enroll her in ballet school to help with her breathing. She began ballet and stage dancing at the age of four and continued until her mid-teens. Around age eleven, she also started Olde Time and Sequence dancing, which introduced her to competitive dance.
Some of these competitions included Mixed Doubles, which featured ballroom and Latin dancing as well. Although she initially preferred Latin over ballroom, by seventeen, she had moved to London to pursue dance. As she put it:
“I’m a frustrated Latin dancer at heart, as many of my friends know.”

Lindsey’s journey to ballroom dancing took a pivotal turn when she was taking a Latin lesson with her teacher, Susan, at Nina Hunt’s studio. That day, she discovered that Stephen Hillier was searching for a partner. Shortly after, in the mid 1970s, she and Stephen began dancing together.
Competitive Career
Stephen had started dancing at seven and was already an experienced competitor when he partnered with Lindsey. Their rise to the top of the Amateur circuit was swift.

Winning a joint Carl Allen Award as amateurs with David Sycamore and Denise Weavers
In 1978, they won their first World Amateur Ballroom Championship. That same year, they became British Open Amateur Ballroom Champions, a title they defended in 1979. They also received the prestigious Carl Alan Award in 1978.
Their teachers included Anthony Hurley, Peter Eggleton and Benny Tolmeyer.
Lindsey recalled::
“My main guru had to be Peter Eggleton—his style was so elegant. I loved Anthony Hurley for his feel. I could walk into the studio feeling awful and after just a minute of dancing with him, everything felt right. The feel that man could give was just wonderful. Benny Tolmeyer was a marvelous coach with an incredibly sharp eye—he could pinpoint what was wrong in an instant. He made you feel great in the lesson, clear in principle yet simple. They were all great mentors.”

Peter Eggleton and Brenda Windslade
After winning all major amateur titles, Lindsey and Stephen turned professional, reaching the very top of the dance world..
At the peak of their professional career (1986–1989), they dominated the competition circuit, winning:
4× United Kingdom Professional Ballroom Championships
3× European Professional Ballroom Championships
3× British Open Professional Ballroom Championships
3× World Professional Ballroom Championships

Their first World Championship as professionals was held in Japan at the iconic Budokan Stadium, in front of 15,000 spectators—an unforgettable experience for Lindsey.

They retired from competitive dancing in 1989.
Teaching, Lecturing, and Performing
As professionals, Lindsey and Stephen opened their dance studio in Woking, Surrey, where Lindsey still teaches today.
Together with Kenny and Marion Welsh, they created Modern Magic—a 20-minute ballroom show featuring 16 costume changes and breathtaking partner swaps. It became so popular that they toured the world with it.

In the late 1990s, Lindsey and Stephen parted ways, but both continued to teach and lecture globally, shaping countless future champions.
Lindsey’s advice to dancers and coaches remains::
“Study the mechanics of your leg action and the quality of movement. Movement is the foundation of everything. The more controlled you are through movement and the use of your standing leg, the better your dancing will become. Quality, not quantity, is the key. Be creative, experiment, push boundaries—but always understand and study the history and development of dance."”

Thinking Outside the Box
Lindsey is known for her vibrant personality, fearless approach and innovative thinking in ballroom dancing. Her creativity led to several pioneering projects, including:
• The first ballroom dance calendar
• Plastic heel tips for ladies’ shoes, developed in collaboration with Supadance
But perhaps her most significant contribution was her vision of presenting ballroom and Latin dancing as entertainment for a general audience.
Her breakthrough came in 1997, when Peggy Spencer asked her to choreograph a ballroom show for Elton John’s 50th birthday party at the Hammersmith Palais. The performance featured six ballroom and six Latin couples dancing to pop and rock music—including a Viennese Waltz to Guns N’ Roses! The show was a huge success..
This caught the attention of Harley Medcalf, a renowned producer. In the show's official history Medcalf wrote:
“I was soon to meet and discover the ballroom dance world and its people, with their intensity, commitment, discipline and work ethic.”
Lindsey became part of the original creative team. Burn the Floor premiered in Bournemouth in 1999, leading to a European tour later that year. The audience response was electric and the show went on to revolutionize ballroom dance on the stage up to present day.
Personal Life
Beyond dancing, Lindsey has always loved sports—particularly sailing and golf, the latter being her favorite hobby today.

Lindsey organised the Professional Dancers Golf Society in 1990'. With Robert Bellinger, receiving a golf prize.
She enjoys spending time with friends and continues to teach with passion, inspiring the next generation of dancers.

Enjoy a wonderful interview with Lindsey Hillier on Spotify - Barbara's Dance Room.

Source of inspiration
Online article, 2002, https://www.dance-forums.com/threads/world-champion-lindsey-hillier-still-burns-the-floor.15/