DANCESPORT PROFESSIONALS

Chad Brooks

Chad began dancing at the age of 14 and joined the American Fork High School Ballroom Dance Company the next year. He danced as a member of the 1998 United States Youth Standard Formation Championship Team and competed individually in syllabus and open Latin, Smooth, and Rhythm events through high school. In addition to Ballroom Dancing, Chad performed on Modern, Jazz, and Lyrical dance companies. He went on to attend Brigham Young University and majored in Ballroom Dance, winning several Bronze, Silver, and Gold level competitions in both International and American Divisions, and placing in all levels of Open Latin and Rhythm. While at BYU he had the opportunity of training with many of the best coaches and dancers in America and the World, including Lee and Linda Wakefield, Curt and Sharon Holman, Gary and Diana MacDonald, Slavik Kryklyyvy and Karina Smirnoff, Corky and Shirley Ballas, and many others. Chad is the Northwest's most creative choreographerand an ISTD licentiate certified instructor.

Sunnie Page

Sunnie Page began her ballroom career in the American rhythm and smooth styles. She switched to the international standard and latin styles in early 1999, with the goal of competing at the international championship level. Throughout her amateur competitive career Sunnie won five titles at the US National Championships in the style cumulatively known as "International Standard" -- waltz, tango, viennese waltz, foxtrot and quickstep. During that time she lived in England and New York City 4 months a year for extensive training with the worlds top coaches. Her highest ranking as an amtaeur was 2nd in the USA at the championship level in the International Dancesport World Federation rankings. After turning pro and opening The Ballroom Dance Company in 2005, she continued to compete internationally in the professional championship division. Sunnie continues to produce superior quality students who have won not only regional, but multiple national US Dance titles.

Mark Tabor

Mark is an exceptionally well-rounded dancer who has competed at the championship level in a wide variety of styles including international standard, international latin, and American smooth. He began competing in 1992 and made his first US final in 2001 at the USA Dance Championships in American smooth. Mark is the 2007 senior I smooth US Champion, a title he won at this year’s USA Dancesport Championships. Mark has been an active promoter and organizer for ballroom dance and competition. He’s been a USA Dance DanceSport Council Member since 2003 and organized the Northwest DanceSport Championships 2003-2007. Mark’s studied with many world class latin, standard and smooth coaches including but not limited to Heather Smith, Nadia Eftedal, Christopher Hawkins, Glenn Weiss, Stephen Hillier, Peter Eggleton, Olga Foraponova, Jean Marc Genreaux, Geoffrey Hearns, Gaynor Fairweather and Steve Powell. Mark provides a $10 discount for all youth private lessons (21 & younger with student ID).

PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTORS

Jason Carter

Jason began social dancing 18 years ago on a whim and a dare. He developed a passion for country dance in Louisiana, and a desire to be a polished leader. Country dance proved to be a gatweay toward other styles like hustle, west coast swing, argentine tango, and nightclub two step. Today he embraces them all and believes the key to success is constant connection with one's partner. Jason's teaching style centers on cultivating that connection, and on learning solid lead-follow technique.

Kathy LaVeine Carter

Kathy grew up dancing and has been sharing her passion for dance with students for more than 8 years. Her first love is the social dance floor and she is driven to help people learn the technique and skill necessary to lead, follow, and create spontaneous dance. She specializes in contemporary styles such as west-coast swing, nightclub two-step, hustle, country 2-step, salsa, and meringue. She believes that the measure of a great dancer is the size of the smile on their partner’s face. Her goal is to teach solid dance concepts, be clear, motivating, and maybe even to make you laugh.

Jimmy Ho

Jimmy Ho began dancing Swing, Latin, Ballroom, and Lindy Hop in 1999. He performed with OSU's ballroom troupe in Corvallis. Jimmy is an active competitor on the west coast swing circuit who's won many Strictly Swing and Jack & Jill contests. He is happily entrenched in the local dance community and enjoys teaching. Jimmy takes pride in watching his students improve after his group and private lessons. Students are pleased with the extra time and effort he provides answering questions after and outside of class. Depending on student's dancing experience, he customizes teaching methods to help the beginners explore the fun of swing dancing, and help experienced students advance their techniques and choreography. Jimmy provides a $10 discount for all youth private lessons (21 & younger with student ID).

Jason Isbell

Jason has been dancing since 2002 when a friend dragged him kicking and screaming to a Lindy Hop dance at the Viscount Ballroom. After six weeks of tripping over his own feet, Jason was finally able to execute a passable swingout and never looked back. He began teaching in 2003 in Corvallis, Oregon. Jason moved to Portland 3 years ago and quickly entrenched himself in the Portland Lindy Hop and West Coast scenes. Jason was a major organizer for the Portland Lindy Exchange for 2008 & 2009, and Bridgetown Swing 2009. Jason teaches lindy hop, west coast swing, nightclub two-step and hustle at The Ballroom Dance Company, and regularly teaches for Portland Swing Dance Club events.

Lisa McKinney

Lisa began her dance training at the age of 8 in her hometown of New York City. She trained in various styles of dance including jazz, tap and ballet. At the age of 14 she was accepted to The High School of Performing Arts (Fame school) where she majored in Modern Dance. During her sophomore year in High School, Lisa was awarded a partial scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet's after school program. Upon graduating from Performing Arts H.S., Lisa attended Rutgers University, graduating with a B.A. in Economics. Lisa is an ACE certified personal trainer, YMCA certified group fitness instructor and certified Zumba instructor. Lisa welcomes all ages, abilities and levels of fitness to her Zumba classes!

Dustin Miller

Raised in Soldotna, Alaska, Dustin began his journey as a dancer at age 14. After a few performances he decided that he wanted to explore a bit deeper into the dance world, and began taking summer classes at Vergine's Dance Studio. The following season he was asked to join the Aurora Senior Dance Company. Dustin trained in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern and hip hop. Hip hop became a passion for him and he began assistant teaching later that year. The following season Dustin began teaching hip hop at Vergine's Dance Studio and traveled to Los Angeles to participate in the DanceExcellence! Festival, assistant teaching various hip hop workshops and creating show choreography. Dustin is eager to share his passion for dance with anyone who takes part in his classes. He provides a $25 discount for all youth private lessons (21 & younger with student ID).

Trina Siebert

Trina has been dancing swing, Argentine tango, Latin, and ballroom since 1995, and specializes in the contemporary social dances (west coast swing, nightclub two-step, and hustle). An active competitor on the west coast swing circuit, she has won a number of Strictly Swing, Classic, and Jack & Jill contests, and was named Best Overall Amateur Female at BridgeTown Swing 2003. Trina has been an invited instructor and performer at workshop weekends and dance conventions throughout the Northwest. Students appreciate her clear and relaxed instructional style; her philosophy is that dancing should be fun and accessible for everyone. Trina provides a $10 discount for all youth private lessons (21 & younger with student ID).

INSTRUCTORS

Shawn Gardner

Shawn began dancing at the age of ten in ballet, jazz and tap. She knew dance would be the focus of her life, and explored a wide variety of styles. She continued her dance education in college exploring hip hop, musical theater, and character dance. Performance is her favorite aspect of dance. In fact she's performed throughout her life -- including in a professional modern dance company. She began ballroom dancing in 2005 and since then has competed throughout the country. She won 1st place in International Standard bronze & silver events at the 2007 USA Dance National Championships. Shawn has 12 years teaching experience, and is excited to see you in her classes. Shawn provides a $20 discount for all youth private lessons (18 & younger with student ID).

Ann Marie Hathaway

A native Oregonian, Ann Marie began dancing at an early age and whirled her way to Hollywood with famous music video choreographer Michael Rooney. After an exciting dancing career in Hollywood, her love of Portland called her back to the Rose City. She continued teaching, and choreographed for and performed with a local swing dance team much publicized for their flying flips through the air. They competed successfully throughout the Northwest. Ann Marie specializes in a wide variety of vintage swing styles like the Charleston and East coast swing. Her salsa and waltz classes are also very popular. One of her most favorite dance styles to teach is smooth Hollywood style Lindy Hop Swing, in large part due to her love of jazz music. Ann Marie provides a $10 discount for all youth private lessons (21 & younger with student ID).

Jessica Lindsey

Jessica Lindsey began her yoga journey in 2000 to help rehabilitate a dance related knee injury. Yoga rebuilt her muscle strength and flexibility, and brought amazing mental and physical awareness that aiding in all aspects of her life. Realizing the immense benefits yoga was provided for her dancing as well as overall health, she continued to study Iyengar and Vinyasa yoga for 8 years. In 2008, Jessica enrolled in an intensive Vinyasa yoga teacher training program through Core Power Yoga and became registered yoga teacher through the internationally recognized "Yoga Alliance." Jessica also has a long history of dance training, including ballet, jazz, lyrical, and also ballroom. Jessica and her partner, Norbert Teston, compete in the open Latin category and are the currently the top amateur couple in the state. Jessica gives a 10% discount off her yoga classes to youth and Ballroom Dance Company Performance Team members.

Rene Nunez

Rene grew up dancing in Chile. He and his sister were youth champions for 2 years in salsa, cumbia and merengue, and his parents were Chile's national Argentine Tango champions. He moved to the USA in 2000 and continued to compete in the international latin division in cha cha, samba, rumba, paso doble and jive. He's also competed in American smooth, rhythm and theater arts, and is also a certified gymnastic coach. Rene's been teaching dance for 10 years, and has studied with coaches like James & Janna Kunitz, Dima & Olga Sukachov, Andre & Natalie Paramonov, Eddie Ares, Felipe Telona, Emmanuel Pierre, Steve Vaso and more.

Nicole Robinson

Nicole has been a certified Zumba instructor for the past two years. She starting dancing at the age of 6 studying Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Hip Hop. Nicole went on to dance in college and also spent some time as an NFL cheerleader for the Arizona Cardinals! Nicole married and move to Oregon, and is now a proud mother of 2 kids. When she is not chasing after them, she is in class dancing away!

Steve Sowell

The moment Steve took his first waltz class, he fell in love with ballroom dancing. In 6 months he started competing initially locally, then nationally and internationally throughout the Pacific Northwest as well as the east coast and Canada. In addition to winning and making finals at many local competitions, at the 2007 USA Dance National Amateur Championships Steve made the US National finals in the bronze syllabus category. Steve is apprentice to Ballroom Dance Company International Standard professional Sunnie Page.

Norbert Teston

Norbert grew up in France and started dancing with his local ballet at the age of 12. His studies later broadened at the age of 18 with modern, jazz, tap, swing, ballroom and latin. After returning from 4 years work in Vietnam, he returned to dancing and ascended the European competition ranks with the German Rot Told Casino Latin Formation Team in Nuernberg. After an intense season training up to 20 hours a week, his team placed 14th out of 135 in the Second National Division. Norbert moved to Portland 3 years ago and is apprentice to Ballroom Dance Company International Latin professional Chad Brooks. He’s competed with several partners and now competes and performs in the amateur 5-dance International Latin Division with partner Jessica Lindsey. Norbert provides a $10 discount for all youth private lessons (21 & younger with student ID).

Brittany Witherite

Brittany was born in Portland, Oregon and partly raised by her Venezuelan step-mom who taught her how to shake her hips at an early age! She traveled to Spain out of high school and studied salsa and flamenco there for one year. Her life has been full of travel to far away countries, engaging in many different cultures through volunteer work and teaching English. Brittany says "Dancing Zumba is when I feel best. Zumba cultivates self-confidence, freedom and happiness. We are a growing and positive community that I am grateful to be part of."

TEACHING ASSISTANTS

Cory Niedfeldt

Cory began ballroom and latin dancing five years ago. She's been assisting in Sunnie Page's classes for three years, and currently competes regionally and nationally with her amateur partner Rick Davis in the international standard division. Cory specializes in the international standard dances: waltz, tango, viennese waltz, foxtrot, quickstep.

Haley Wayt

Haley began ballroom and latin dancing three years ago. She's been assisting in Chad Brook's classes for two years, and Shawn Gardner's classes for this past year. Haley currently competes regionally and nationally with Chad, who is her pro-am partner. Haley specializes in the international latin dances: cha cha, rumba, samba, paso doble and jive. Haley also assists in American rhythm classes: east coast swing, bolero, cha cha and rumba.