2018 Industry Dance Awards Hosts


Who will be our surprise host this year? You just have to tune in live on August 15, 2018 to find out.

More about Sharna, She hails from the land “Down Under,” Sharna Burgess began training in ballet, jazz and gymnastics at 5 years old. By age 8, she had started ballroom dancing as well. Within these first few years, she had won numerous local and national titles. At 15, she was chosen to represent Australia at the World Championships in both the standard and Latin styles. Her accolades and national prominence went on to earn her the distinguished honor of performing at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games closing ceremony, a privilege and a memory she will always cherish. Burgess recently competed on her 11th season as a professional dancer on the hit ABC show, Dancing With The Stars: Athletes, paired opposite Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman, where the pair finished as runner-up. Previously she competed with five-time NBA champion and former Los Angeles Laker, Derek Fisher, professional bull rider Bonner Bolton, and with Indy Car professional racer James Hinchcliffe. The two quickly became a fan favorite and ended the season in second place. Prior to James, she was paired with NFL receiver Antonio Brown, as well as Backstreet Boys alum Nick Carter, Olympic gold medalist ice skater Charlie White, football-great-turned-ESPN personality Keyshawn Johnson and comedian Andy Dick. In the 2015 season, despite having lost two limbs, the enduring heroic warrior Noah Galloway was paired up with Burgess, where they both inspired and wowed millions of viewers all the way to the finals. In 2006, famed choreographer Jason Gilkison chose Burgess to go on tour with the hit dance sensation Burn the Floor. She had the incredible privilege to tour the world with them for six years. This was after she was living in London for two years following her competitive career, which included collecting numerous titles around the globe and appearing in a U.K. tour with the theater show Simply Ballroom. Burgess also had guest appearances on Dancing with the Stars Australia and So You Think You Can Dance Holland. Moreover, she was the assistant choreographer to Gilkison on So You Think You Can Dance in the U.S. and Australia for many years. In 2009, Burn the Floor landed on Broadway with Burgess as one of the lead female dancers. After her exhilarating run with Burn the Floor, she leaped from the theater world to the film business when she choreographed Street Dance 2: 3D, which released in the U.K., Europe, India, Australia and Asia in 2012. She not only created some of the most electrifying Latin and salsa scenes on film to date, but she also worked with renowned choreographers Rich + Tone Talauega to fuse the hip-hop and Latin worlds together. This innovative unification created a whole new style and catapulted Burgess into Tinsel Town’s stratosphere, landing her on Dancing with the Stars after years of devotion, passion and perseverance to her artistry and craft.