Danella Dutton

Danella Dutton was born on June 10th in Riverdale, Georgia to Teresa Dutton and Charles Dutton. Her father worked two jobs, in the Army National Guard and an Estes Freight mechanic, her mother worked as an account for Johnson & Johnson until their headquarters moved to California. Danella was raised in Morrow, Georgia which is about 20 minutes south of Atlanta. When she was 8 years old Danella and her family moved to Lovejoy, Georgia. During her early years, Danella Dutton's Grandmother is who sparked her interest in the arts. Being an ex-dancer, Danella's Grandmother encouraged dancing and singing around the house. So, by age 4 she signed up Danella for tap and ballet classes. Even though at home, Danella was very much the performer her Parents and Grandmother found out quickly she was shy in front of others. Her Grandmother then signed her up for something private lesson based instead, Baton Twirling. Danella excelled at Twirling for 10 years, winning many Regional & National championships, giving her confidence to perform in front of others. This eventually lead to her love of sports. During elementary school she started to play slow pitch softball. During middle school she found her love for Track-n-Field; Basketball went from a neighborhood past time to a team sport. Softball had also switched to fast-pitch and she played on travel teams. By the time she reached high school she decided to focus on Running and Basketball. She joined the Cross-Country team as well as Track and Basketball. She competed at State every year in Cross-Country and even went to the 2001 Jr. Olympics. Danella thanks all the years in her sports for teaching her good work ethics, building a strong mind & leadership skills, which she still uses today. Sadly, during her senior year, she pulled her hamstring and lost all scholarship opportunities for running. This lead to Danella walking on the Cross Country team at Clayton State University, and is what eventually lead her back to dancing and the arts. Some friends of hers from Cross-Country began to break-dance. One day Danella and her best friend, at the time, decided to tag along. This eventually lead to the two of them having a conversation about a secret passion for learning Salsa Dancing. In 2003, Danella started learning Salsa in Atlanta, Georgia. After a year of being extremely dedicated to Salsa Dancing, Danella trained and taught at the studio she began at for about 8 months before she expanded out on her own as an independent dance instructor. She has been running her own company since 2005. Thus leaving college to pursue her passions. She focused mostly on Salsa (including: Bachata, Merengue & Cha-Cha-Cha); she also competed & trained in ballroom and crossed trained with Hip-Hop & Jazz Funk. This has lead her performing in several theater productions, industrial's, films, music videos and television. As well as, producing and choreographing projects. An almost, life ending event & the economy during 2008-2009 gave Danella the push to move to Los Angeles, in 2010, where she continues to chase her dreams in the performing arts. While in Los Angeles, in addition to growing her dance career, she began to pursue her passion for Acting. Danella began her training very small and privately, just like the other arts in her life. Then she eventually took Killian's Commercial Workshop, got into Groundlings and then in 2015 she finally made the leap to a scene study class at Beverly Hills Playhouse. Today, Danella still teaches her Salsa & Bachata group and private lessons in Los Angeles and will continue to do so as long as life permits. Her passion for being a positive outlet for people is still burning strong. She is also still actively pursuing an acting career along with her newest found abilities, Directing. Hoping to one day be able to impact a difference in people's lives at a higher level.