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Kledi Kadiu was born in Tirana, Albania, the son
of Fisnik Kadiu, an engineer, and Lindita Kadiu,
a pharmacist. He grew up in an apartment in the
centre of Tirana, along with his parents, sister
Ada, and grandparents Xhavit and Kimete. Kadiu
attended the National Academy of Dance, where he
graduated in 1992. He soon began working as a
ballet dancer in the National Theatre of Opera
and Ballet, where he became the principal
dancer, performing in ballets such as Giselle,
The Nutcracker Suite, Don Quixote and Daphnis et
Chloé.
In 1993, at the age of nineteen, he moved to
Italy. Three years later, he made his television
debut as a dancer on the Canale 5 programme
Quizzone. From 1997 to 2003, Kadiu was a regular
dancer on the Buona Domenica variety show. This
was followed by work on two popular programmes
hosted by Maria De Filippi on Canale 5, C'e
Posta Per Te and the Fame-based talent show
Amici di Maria De Filippi.
Kadiu posed for the 2003 Calendar of the men's
magazine Max. In 2004, Kadiu founded the Kledi
Dance school in Rome. The following year, he
starred in his first film Passo a Due, a
semi-biographical movie directed by Andrea
Barzini, where Kadiu portrays Beni, a young
Albanian who arrives in Italy seeking fame and
fortune as a dancer. He starred in another
cinematographic film, La cura del gorilla, as
well as a television mini-series which was
broadcast by Rai Uno in 2007. That same year, he
performed in the ballet Romeo and Juliet, which
was produced by the dance company Baletto di
Roma.
Kadiu has been the recipient of two awards. In
2004, he received the Premio Gino Tani Award for
Best Artist of the Year, and in 2006, he
received the Ginestra d'Oro Award for Best
Dancer of the Year.
In January 2009, Kadiu returned to Amici di
Maria De Filippi where he is one of the regular
dancers on the programme.
On 27 January 2009, Kadiu's autobiography,
Meglio di una Favola (Better Than a Fairy-Tale),
published by Mondadori, went on sale in Italy.
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