Background
# of years dancing:
Where you studied:
Competition experience:
Interview Questions
Jennifer Babione
Background
Questions
Valerie Pighini
Background
Martha Pohl
Background
Questions
1. What inspired you to begin dancing?
I can't remember a time that I haven'tdanced. One of my earliest memories is standing on my Dad's feet as he did the Waltz box!
2. Best advice I have received about dancing?
Dance for the pure pleasure of it. Not for results at a competition or other people's opinion or approval, just because you love it.
3. Most memorable dance?
I had the pleasure of performing a Theater Arts routine (lifts and drops while dancing) in front of an audience of over 1000 people to a live performance by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
4. Favorite dance and why?
American Smooth Waltz. It is elegant, classy and just plain beautiful!
5. Favorite dance movie?
Saturday night fever, because it brought people back to partnership dancing, and well...John Travolta!
Mark Kimsey
Background
Questions
1. What inspired you to begin dancing?
I always enjoyed dancing in school, but this was mostly freestyle dancing. I learned a small amount of Waltz and Polka from my German teacher, Frau Buechlein in High School in our German Club. I also learned a very small amount of Two-Step in High School.
About 18 years ago, my wife and I went to a Caldwell Elks Club Dance on Valentine’s Day. There was a live band and we were freestyle dancing. Several much older couples were dancing some type of Jitterbug or Swing and they looked impressively good. I decided then that the Freestyle I learned in school didn’t match up to the dancing they’d learned in school and frankly I was a little envious. I decided to rectify that, so I looked around for dance instruction and found Idaho Ballroom Dance Center. I found I had an insatiable appetite for dancing and learning to dance. In the course of time, I expanded my interests to swing and Country Western dance. I began teaching dance lessons over 10 years ago as a board member of USA Dance, mostly to beginners to raise people’s enjoyment and interest in dance as part of the outreach of our group.
2. Best advice you've received about dancing?
When you learn something, you have to practice it to own it. If you don’t practice it, it goes away. That happened to me while dancing ceased during the year from Covid restrictions.
3. Most memorable dance?
Calgary Dance Stampede in 2018. I got to dance with the female headline performer from the big show at that event. We danced a Cha Cha together. I know a lot of different patterns in Cha Cha and lead all my very best stuff and it all worked. She followed beautifully and it all felt so transcendent. To have that level of success with someone you’ve never danced with felt very gratifying.
4. Favorite Dance and why?
It has changed a bit over time, but my favorite for some time has been Waltz. It is very beautiful, elegant, and can be danced with people who are rank beginners or people who are very accomplished dancers.
5. Favorite Dance movie?
I honestly haven’t watched a lot of dance movies, but I enjoyed Shall We Dance with Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere.
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Lori Gonzales
Background:
Questions
1. What inspired you to begin dancing?
Oddly enough, I actually began in theatre. I had been voice trained for some time and that meant I started off using my voice and dance in Musical Theatre. I did a lot of choreography in those early days. When it came to working with couples dancing together, I didn't understand the man's part, so I went investigating and found the Walkers. They offered an internship for me and I fell in love with it and went from there.
2. How do you prepare before you dance?
It is important to have the right tools for success. A good pair of dance shoes is always the right call. I make it a habit to brush my shoes out before I leave to dance each time. If I am teaching, I do a quick review of the syllabus manual before beginning.
3. Best advice you've received about dancing?
1.) It is never about the steps you have learned; it is how you execute that material. Does it feel comfortable to execute? Does it look flattering to the style you are dancing? If not, it's time to go back and get help refining it. 2.) When executing solo turns, always remember to turn from the hips and not the shoulders (Topline). 3. Never, ever judge your dancing against the person dancing next to you. Instead measure your dancing against yourself - what you knew last week, last month or last year.
4. Favorite Dance and why?
That has changed many times over my career. In my 20's it was Mambo. In my 30's it was East Coast Swing. For me it's because the faster dances are more fun when you have joints that can handle the abuse! In my 40's, it moved to Tango. In my later 50's it's between Tango and Slow Waltz. Tango and Waltz physically feel better to dance now that I am older. I have grown a better appreciation for them with age.
5. Favorite Dance Movie
Like any other girl, I love the movie Dirty Dancing for many reasons. Most female dancers can relate to how hard (and sometimes frustrating) it can be to learn to dance. Baby not only had to learn to dance, she was required to dance at a more professional level very quickly. She was also so afraid of that scary lift. But like all of us, to be as successful as you can be; it usually means you have to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. I noticed in the movie, once she overcomes her fear of the lift, the other bits and bobs to her dancing fell right into place. I have had similar experiences in my own life and witnessed this in the life of my dancers as well. Keep pushing until you get past the hard, gristly parts and then, and only then, do you get to the reward!
Lisa Tice
Background
Studio: Fred Astaire Boise
# of years dancing: 25
# of years teaching: 8
Questions
1. What inspired you to begin dancing?
My older sister was a dancer and when you are 5 years old, there's nothing cooler than what your sibling is doing. She had a sparkly leotard and I had to have one too. I fell in love with movement, got experience with many styles, and it's something we still bond over to this day.
2. How do you prepare before you dance?
I start with a warm up, usually targeting lower abdominal engagement, legs and hips, then shoulders and back. Next I will do some active range of motion exercises specific to the style of movement I'm about to do. Then, if I feel any sticky places in my body I will do some static stretching to open up the range. From there, I will dance through some steps or turns on my own to feel where my balance is that day. Finally, I'm ready to engage with my partner. That being said, this is the protocol around intentional practice sessions. When I'm just casually social dancing, I drink some water and out I go.
3. Best advice you've received about dancing?
Mistakes and imperfections are the norm, they are the constant. Even your version of perfection could be made better by someone with more experience than you. So when you are dancing, do not let any mistake be a blaring siren in your head, that will only distract you and lead you to more mistakes. Let the errors pass, laugh at them, use them to create new improvisations. It's the mark of a new dancer to be overly concerned about a mistake because they haven't danced long enough to know how common they are.
4. Most memorable dance?
What a hard question to answer! There was one competition in particular, in Hawaii in 2021. It was a 4 dance mixed competition- waltz, tango, rumba, cha cha. I just loved being in paradise and it was just a night where everything felt right. We had just gotten past quarantine and all that. I was surrounded by dance family, I felt beautiful, and our dances felt so alive. We got 2nd place, so that helped too.
5. Favorite dance and why?
If I had just one favorite dance, I would have never made it to be a professional. That's like asking which of your children you love the most. :)
If I had to narrow it down to a few they would be waltz, foxtrot, cha cha, and bachata. Even then I feel like I'm leaving so many out. .
Brian McNatt
Background
• # of Years Dancing : 39 (on and off)
• Teaching Dance :
I’ve taught church youth and adult groups, community classes, and worked with the University of Georgia Dance Team.
• Where You Studied Dance :
I started dancing in college. I was on the Brigham Young University Ballroom Dance Company for 5 years including 3 years on the Tour Team completing summer performance tour shows through China and the Orient, Southern US, and Europe. We worked with guest pros like Corky & Shirley Ballas, Ron Montez, and Nicholas Cotton & Debbie Avalos. After graduating, I studied for several years with US Champions Stephen & Elizabeth Cullip and then Kathryn Schaffer. Recently I’ve worked with our own US National Pro-Am finalists Tabish & Lori, and World 10-Dance Champions Casey & Kayci Treu.
• Competition Experience:
As a member of the BYU Formation Ballroom Dance Team we were US Formation Champions, British Formation Champions (Blackpool, England), and won the Silver Medal for the US at the World’s Nation’s Cup in Essen, Germany. I competed through 2003 in many competitions throughout the western states, and southern states. In 2018, I began training again to someday compete at nationals. In 2023, my partner and I became the NDCA US Amateur National Senior III 10-Dance Champions.
Questions
1. What inspired you to begin dancing?
I’ve always loved moving my body to music, but really wanted to learn how to partner dance. I took the beginning social dance class at BYU and have been hooked ever since. After making one of the beginning teams, I saw the slide show of the Tour Team from their China trip the previous summer. I decided right then to put in the work to make the Tour Team (Three years later I did, and also toured through China).
2. How do you prepare before you dance?
I’m old now so I need to spend sufficient time warming up. At the beginning of each training session I run a mile and spend 15-20 minutes stretching before taking it through the paces. I don't worry about this level of prep for social dancing, but stretching is always a good idea.
3. Best advice you've received about dancing?
Sometimes feel and then dance the big picture of what you are trying to create, besides working on the 10 technique elements you should be doing with each step (dance with your heart besides your head). Advice I would give? Dance for the reason that you want to.
4. Most memorable dance?
1989. As a member of the BYU Latin Team, we made the finals and performed/competed our Latin Medley at The Blackpool Dance Festival (British Championships open to the world) and won 1st place.
5. Favorite Dance and why?
This is a question that I can’t answer. That’s likely why I’m a 10-dancer (5 international Latin and 5 international Ballroom dances)—I can’t even decide on one style of dance that I like the most! One thing I will say, I’ve learned that I think my best dance is always one that I’m not currently practicing. Ha!
6. Favorite Dance Movie? My favorite dance movie is not a movie and not one particular one. What I LOVE doing is watching YouTube videos of top professional and amateur ballroom dancers primarily in competitions (and also instructional videos). I love to feel and pretend I’m them. There are so many amazing ballroom dance videos of top pros. We are SO fortunate to have these at our fingertips.
