The September 19 launch of Dancing With the Stars Season 31 will feature Daniel Durant’s first-ever ballroom dancing performance. The next season of the competition, which will air on Disney+, has the 32-year-old among the celebrities.
After winning the 2022 Best Picture Oscar with his highly acclaimed pic, Daniel’s year has continued to be one of the most eventful ever. Due to his participation in Dancing With the Stars, Daniel will only be the third deaf contestant the show has ever had. Find out more about this rising star.
Daniel Durant
1. Daniel is deaf.
“I am completely deaf. He said this while appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show in March 2022. “I can’t hear a thing, but I love feeling the vibration through my body,” he remarked. He went into detail about the early experiences that shaped his appreciation of music. “There were times when I would come back to my mum and say, ‘Can you turn it up so I can feel the bass?’ “And my mom was like, ‘Yeah,’ but my sister and I had a hard time hearing that,” he continued. “Therefore, my mother decided to buy a new PA system, and I was very happy with it. You could really get a feel for the bass. It had such a powerful effect. There was a tremor at the windows. It was such a great experience.
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2. Daniel became famous in CODA.
Former Dancing With the Stars cast member Marlee Matlin co-starred with Daniel in the original Apple TV+ movie as Leo Rossi. At the Oscars in 2022, this film won the statues for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor.
Prior to his involvement with CODA, Daniel’s most notable role was that of Matthew on the television series Switched at Birth. Additionally, he was also seen in a 2019 episode of You.
3. Daniel is paired with Britt Stewart.
In the 31st season, Daniel and Britt Stewart will dance together. Their team is called “Team Sign to Shine”, after the name of their team. Before joining Johnny Weir and Martin Kove, Britt danced with both of them.
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4. Daniel grew up in Minnesota.
According to his official biography, Daniel was born in Detroit, Michigan, although he spent most of his childhood in Duluth, Minnesota. Beginning in eighth grade, he was educated at Minnesota State School for the Deaf. After graduating from high school, he attended Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York and Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. He currently lives in Los Angeles.
Daniel Durant with professional Britt Stewart
5. Daniel is also a theater actor.
In 2021, Daniel makes his stage debut in a performance of Cyrano. He gained wide recognition for his portrayal of Moritz Stiefel in the 2015 Broadway revival of Spring Awakening.
Daniel Durant Biography
Daniel N. Durant is a well-known stage and film actor born in the United States on December 24, 1989. His performance as Moritz Stiefel in the 2015 Broadway revival of Spring Awakening was considered his starring role. The film CODA, in which Durant starred, was nominated for an Oscar (2021). At the film’s world premiere, which took place at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, he and the cast received the Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Cast in the United States Drama Competition. They also won Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards. On the small screen, he is best known for his recurring role in the television series Switched at Birth, broadcast on ABC Family (2013-2017).
Early life
He was adopted as a child by his paternal aunt Lori Durant, and later by his wife Mary Engels. Durant was born deaf in Detroit, Michigan, to parents who were also deaf and struggled with addiction. His parents were all deaf. He spent his childhood in the city of Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf in Faribault in 2008 after taking classes there. In 2011, he earned an Associate’s degree in Applied Computer Technology after completing his studies at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, located within the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, New York. After that, he continued his studies at Gallaudet University and graduated in 2014.
Career
On September 8, 2022, Durant was announced as a contestant on Season 31 of Dancing with the Stars. He is partnered with Britt Stewart.
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