Smooth Street Ballroom

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     We have assembled a world class team of instructors, competitors and managers to ensure you get the best of instructions and smoothest operation. Our staff and management is dedicated to making your experience at Smooth Street a wonderful one.

Dmitry Chaplin - Smooth Street Ballroom offers Dance Lessons with Dmitry Chaplin!

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Karina Smirnoff - Smooth Street Ballroom offers Dance Lessons with Karina Smirnoff!

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Heidi Groskreutz (TV Show "So You Think You Can Dance") & Kevin Clifton – Guest Instructors

The top British male Latin dancer and the top American female Latin dancer have formed a new partnership.  Kevin Clifton is a past Blackpool Finalist and ranked number one in England! The list of championships he has won in England and throughout the world is endless!  

Heidi is a four time U.S. Open Swing Dance Champion and U.S. Latin Finalist.  You might have seen Heidi on the hit summer show "So You Think You Can Dance," where she made it to the final four dancers! Heidi and Kevin are available for privates and coaching through Smooth Street when they are in the country which is monthly.

Elizabeth - President, Instructor & Senior Dance Coordinator


Elizabeth was born in upstate New York. She became a Dance Performer at age 12, dancing coveted roles such as Emily in Notaracker. Her passion for ballroom began at age 16 when she began competing. She has trained with Tony Devolani of Dancing With The Stars and has been a Professional Instructor for 10 years.

Lisa - Instructor

Lisa is very hardworking, responsible and purposeful. She was engaged fourteen years in professionally sports ballroom dances.

Her main strengths are punctuality, responsibility and kindness.


Valeria - Instructor
 

Valeria is an experienced belly dance performer and instructor. She has been performing cabaret style belly dance for the past seven years. In addition, she is the founder of Valeria Entertainment, a performance company specializing in world dances such as Belly Dance, Samba, Bollywood, Cabaret and more. Valeria performs regularly both with her dance troupe and solo, at private functions, corporate functions and festiva

Some of her most notable performances include:                                                        

·        The Jay Leno Show, 2010

·        Television appearances on Telemundo, Fox and the WB network

·        High profile venues such as the United Nations and the Turkish Consulate

·        India Fest 2009, Dominican Cultural Festival, Celebration for the city of Yonkers

·        Movie: Restless, 2008

·        Regular shows at some of the most well known Middle Eastern restaurants in New York

Valeria started out in rhythmic gymnastics at the age of 4, which established her strong classical base. Since then she has studied many styles of dance in addition to belly dance, including samba, hip hop, Bollywood dance, Persian dance and Israeli folk dancing.

Her teaching style is dynamic, with a focus on fitness and fun. She manages to fuse the dance vocabulary seamlessly into the class to make sure the students gain a serious understanding of the proper postures, movements and body control while enjoying themselves and getting a great workout!


Peter - Instructor

Peter was born in Peru. His whole family dances. He grew up around dancing and he learned not to be affraid to express himself through dance while he was being raised.

Gus - Instructor

Gus was born in Peru. He was raised with dancing all around him. There was always music playing as a child and through out his entire life. It is a big part of his life and his family's life.

He has been teaching for three years and he loves it. He became a dance teacher because he wants to spread his knowledge of dance and show others the joys of dancing.

He teaches Latin, Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Waltz, Tango, Cumbia, and Samba.

Dianne - Instructor

     Dianne is a former co-owner of Santos Dance Studio in Miami Beach, Florida. She teaches Dance in Latin social dance styles including Chachacha, Salsa, Merengue, Lambada, Zouk, and Samba de Gafieira as well as American style swing. She trained in the Miami Dade College, in Miami, Florida as well as Centro de Dança Jaime Arôxa, in São Paulo, Brazil.
    
     She has had performances on UNIVISION Television and the Brazilian Carnival Dance Company. She is fluent in  English, Spanish and Portuguese

     Dianne has studied dance from various dance schools in Latin America and the United States. As a musician, vocalist, and dancer, Dianne is able to teach dance from a cultural as well as musical perspective.

As the student listens and moves to the various dance rhythms, he or she also learns about the culture from where the dance originated, which is so important to its interpretation. Understanding the music’s rhythmic origins enables the student to “feel” the music, which is the basis of all couples dance.

“I especially enjoy teaching people who simply want to learn to dance socially. Most of my students have no background in any style of dance and many times these become my best students. I like to focus on teaching good form and technique that are common to all social dance styles. Once the student has mastered good form and technique, I can then teach the student to incorporate cool embellishments with basic steps . This leads to confidence on the dance floor and with confidence, couples dancing becomes natural and fun!” 
 
Henry - Instructor

Henry has been dancing since the age of 9. He is a participant in numerous national amateur competitions such as DCDI, Ohio Star Ball, Columbia Dance Challenge, Manhattan Amateur Classic, Southeast Regional, and USA Dance Nationals. He has been an Open finalist numerous times in novice and pre-champ amateur ballroom. He has been an Instructor in the Ballroom of Maryland team, one of the largest in the country, in international ballroom and has provided training to competitive couples through group and private lessons focusing on technique, theory, and choreography of the five Ballroom dances: Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, and Quickstep.

He has t
raining with renowned coaches Dan Calloway, Garry Gekhman, Victor Fung, Anna Mikhed & Glenn Weiss. He is trained in syllabus international Latin and a member of United States Amateur Ballroom Dancers Association & National Dance Council of America. He is currently further developing his skills and abilities as a dancer by competing as well as studying for the Imperial Society of Teacher of Dancing Assessments in Latin and Ballroom style.                                                  

Don - Ballroom & Latin Dance Instructor

Don has been involved with dance for many years now, both with teaching and performing. His credits include performances on A&E cable network, PBS, QVC and AMC. He has also performed in the grand ballrooms of the Waldorf Astoria and Pierre Hotels as well as at Lincoln Center and The Rainbow Room. Don has appeared in the New York Times, New York Post, Daily News and New York Magazine.

Krystal - Belly & Latin Dance Instructor & Director of Sales

Krystal comes from an Armenian, Lebanese heritage with a variation of ethnic music. Her   high standards are detailed in every sense.

With her Armenian upbringing Krystal fell in love with Middle Eastern Music and Dance. She began Belly Dancing at the age of 5, and has many years of experience as teacher and performer. 

Krystal's passion, dedication, and inspiration came from the Middle Eastern music that she grew up with. A gifted professional, Krystal has the gift of imparting her technique on students in a fun environment.

She has appeared on TV and presently both teaches and choreographs.

Krystal performs regularly at Manhattan & Queens forums. Her performances are very unique, and her style which commands attention and admiration from audiences of all backgrounds.

She performs to a variety of music such as Arabic, Turkish, Egyptian, Israeli & Latin.
Her experience has earned her the reputation of being one of the most popular Belly Dancers in New York City area.

Greg - Instructor

          

Greg has 25 years of dance experience. He has comprehensive knowledge of International Ballroom and Latin dance and  extensive knowledge of  dance technique and training methodology.

     Greg is the
President and Art Director of "Carnevalita"® Sport Ballroom Dancing Amateur Foundation, Odessa, an Umpire of Higher Category in Sporting Dancing of the Ukrainian Association of Sporting Dancing and the Ukrainian Federation of Sporting Dancing in 1999-2000, a member of the Ukrainian Board of Dancing. He began his career as a coach in 1984 and in 1996 had a public organization registered as "Carnevalita"® SBDAF. The main purpose of the Foundation lies in training of children and adults and their familiarization with the fundamentals of ballroom choreography, perfection of their skill and popularization of this sport.
Using original methods, Greg has brought up many sportsmen and women of international level. 

Ilan - Gold Medal coach and Salsa Instructor
 

Ilan started his dancing at Arthur Murray in West Haven CT and became an instructor after two years. Three years into his dancing career he was introduced to Salsa at one of the local Salsa clubs, and decided to learn more about this dance. Since that moment he switched his career from Ballroom dancing to strictly Salsa.
Ilan has taken part in many competitions and Salsa Congresses around the world. In 2001 he (along with partner) started a group called Salsa Kids. Under Ilan’s instruction, this group became the World Salsa Champions in 2004 at the prestigious Salsa congress in Puerto Rico competing against the best teams from all over the world.
Since then the group continues participating at the Congress and was selected the best group year after year.
Ilan’s dance studio named “Salsa My Way” was operating for the last 5 years in Hartford CT where he has given lessons to many children and adults. 
Ilan’s dance partner, Yessenia Benavides, recently played in the movie “Dirty dancing 2 - Havana Nights” and currently owns her own studio in Puerto Rico called “Lets Dance Studio P.R.” (www.letsdancestudiopr.com). Ilan and his partner have been dancing for the past 2 years and are currently practicing for the world championship competition.

Luka - Instructor/Competitor

Luka began ballroom training at 8 years old, training under Michael Malitowski, Joanna Lounis, Sergei Suvkow, and Agnieszke Melnicke.  

A 10 dance champion, Lukasz placed second in Poland in 2005, a quarter finalist in Holland and a finalist in 10 dance Championships in Germany and Switzerland.  

Currently, he coaches the top Polish 10 dance junior couples.  He has been in America for a short time, but has plans to continue his competitive career, and is one of our most sought after instructors.  

He is trained in all styles of International dancing and European style Salsa. Luka dances with Arletta and they perform dance shows together.

Arletta - Instructor

Arletta is a professional Salsa and Meringue dancer. She has traveled all over Europe teaching Salsa. 

 She was a finalist in the Prague dance talent competition and she also dances in International Ballroom and Latin Categories (Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Jive, Waltz, Tango and Quickstep). 

Arletta and Luka are dance partners and perform dance shows together


 Mike - Manager

Mike serves as Manager of Smooth Street Ballroom. Mike has been involved in dance and music production since a young age and enjoys Ballroom and Latin.

Tony - Former President & Current Honorary Board of Advisors

Dr. Knight, brings unique talents to Smooth Street . He has managed or provided consulting services to studio chains with thousands of students, including Y.H. Park ’s Tae Kwon Do, Tiger Schulmann’s Karate, and T-USA national seminar, a 200 member school chain, in addition to owning and operating his own studio. He trained under the U.S. Olympic team coach in Tae Kwon Do and holds a 4th degree black belt. He has been featured in Newsday, Black Belt Magazine and other magazines and has appeared on TV for his martial arts expertise and charity works.
He also provided management, financial and business consulting to a number of private and public companies and co-founded and served as chairman of a technology company that went on to raise millions of dollars, employ 89 employees and filed for a $ 50 million IPO.
He holds a bachelors in economics and Juris Doctor degree and is studying for his Doctorate in Business Administration. His interest in Ballroom Dancing as an Olympic Sport and management systems for the studio promotes the interests of Smooth Street.

 

World Class Instruction & Management