Our Team

James Stout

As owner, founder, head-instructor and all round good guy at Fame, dancing is James’ life. James began dancing at a social dancing school in 1999 when he became inspired by a movie. He was surprised to find that not only did he greatly enjoy the sport, but that it was something he was very good at and that came naturally. From then on, he became a social dancing teacher and loved helping new people discover dancing and achieve their own personal dancing goals. In 2003, James decided to challenge himself further and took up Dancesport full time. He began working at an official Dancesport studio and from 2003 also began teaching privately in local halls around Adelaide. In July 2009, James launched his own studio “Fame Dance Studio” with a partner Donna Juncken. Although Donna has since left Fame, the Fame studio we have come to love was born and has continued to grow from strength to strength with James at its helm.

James’ own dancing achievements are wide ranging. He still competes professionally with his dance partner Hannah Liteplo. James began his dancing career winning many amateur state championships, including competitions at the Crown Casino, Jupiters, and the Victorian open and has continued to build on this early success. During his pro-dancing career, which began in 2009, James has placed 6th at the Canberra Nationals and 10th at the Australian Championships in Melbourne in 2009. At the time, there were 4 international couples also competing. James is currently the South Australian Professional Champion and was a Professional Crown finalist in April 2010. James also competed in the Australasians in 2006 against 10 other countries placing 2nd. As well as enjoying the structure and competition of Dancesport, James enjoys choreographing and dancing in other performances. For 5 months during 2007, James traveled around the world on the prestigious cruise ship ‘Crystal Serenity’, where he was the Guest entertainer with his dance partner Balin Kolbig. He has organized “Dancing with the footy stars” events with the West Adelaide Football club for their Gala dinner night and is currently working with Georgina Dean on developing shows to be performed at Fringe events and other occasions.

James is passionate about helping other dancers achieve their personal goals whether they are social or competitive. He is currently an official level 1 coach in Ballroom and Latin, as examined by Dancesport Australia and coaches many competitive couples who compete and travel around Australia.