Chad Brooks
|
Ann Marie Hathaway
|
Jimmy Ho
|
Jason Isbell
|
Kathy LaVeine
|
Dawn Baldwin Martin
|
Laura Nelson
|
Sunnie Page
|
Trina Siebert
|
Mark Tabor
|
"Page and Gray are Portland's modern-day Ginger and Fred -- ballroom dancers who already have made their mark in international dance competition." Read more in the Portland Tribune.
"At the first social dance [Sunnie] attended in Portland, she met Jim Gray and discovered he was looking for a competition partner." Read more about us in "Premier Dance and Entertainment Magazine."
Read more about us in "The Chinese Times," "Willamette Week," "Oregonian," and "Tigard Times" newspapers.
We created The Ballroom Dance Company, LLC to share the joy and benefits of dancing
by providing a friendly, positive and knowledgeable atmosphere
that allows you to meet people and learn a life long skill.
We consider teaching people to dance a privilege and our personal goal.
We provide each student with a personalized program for their individual needs to creatively express themselves, exercise, socialize, and enhance their current dance skills.
No partner is necessary. We are an inclusive, friendly, all-ages, all skill levels facility. We also maintain a non-smoking, alcohol-free environment.
The Ballroom Dance Company works regularly with non-profit fundraisers and special events. We frequently host Lessons and Shows for non-profit charity groups. Depending on the nature of your group and the timing of your event, we may perform at a discount or even for free. If you have a special event at which you would like us to perform please Contact Us.
Click here to read Unsolicited Feedback we've received from various shows.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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 swing out and never looked back.
He began teaching in 2003 in Corvallis, Oregon.
Jason moved to Portland 2 years ago and quickly entrenched himself in the Portland Lindy Hop and West Coast scenes, becoming the President of the Portland Lindy Society and the Events Coordinator of the Portland Swing Dance Club (a West Coast Swing group).
Jason is also the head organizer for the Portland Lindy Exchange, a three day event scheduled for March 2008 that will bring 500 swing dancers to Portland from all over the country to Lindy Hop to the best live bands and DJs in Portland.
Jason currently teaches West Coast Swing, Hustle and Nightclub at The Ballroom Dance Company with Trina Siebert.
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.
Dawn was first introduced to ballroom dancing by a friend in college in the spring of 1995, and she hasn't stopped
since. She has been teaching all forms of social ballroom at the Pasadena Ballroom Dance Association in California
since January of 1998. Once she found her true passion in the Lindy hop, she traveled the world from Mexico to
Sweden (and many places in between) to further her education and inspiration for the dance, learning from
and working with some of the best teachers in the world. She has worked on both sides of performance choreography
as well as regular social classes of all levels and takes special interest in the individual needs of her students. She is
looking forward to jumping in and promoting the already flourishing Lindy scene here in her new home of Portland!
Laura Nelson grew up in a musical and sports-oriented household. She was heavily involved in athletics throughout school -- including ballet, hip hop, and modern dance. Throughout college, Laura was an key member of the University of Puget Sound Reperatory Dance Group. After graduation, Laura entered the world of ballroom and found her new passion. She entered the Ballroom Dance Teachers College in San Francisco, and completed their 16 month certification program in a record-time of 5 months. She joined Danceworks Studio in Redmond, and joined The Ballroom Dance Company when she moved to Portland in June 2007.
Sunnie Page loved to dance growing up.
She began her ballroom career learning American rhythm and smooth styles.
She switched to international standard and latin when she met her partner Jim in early 1999.
Throughout her competitive career Sunnie placed first nationwide in bronze, silver, gold, novice and prechampionship levels at the US National Championships in the style cumulatively known as "International Standard" -- waltz, tango, viennese waltz, foxtrot and quickstep. Her highest ranking was 2nd in the USA at the championship level as an amateur in 2003 (International Dancesport World Federation Rankings). After opening The Ballroom Dance Company, she continued to compete with her partner in the professional championship divisions across the USA and England.
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.
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.