Nancy and Steven Fontaine began dancing in Sonoma County with John Ross Academy of Dance in 1996.

Our first class was Beginning Country. We had been married for 23 years and had never danced together (We have now been married 38 years). Our coach John Ross not only taught us how to dance, he also taught us to love dance.

We started with no knowledge of dancing and caught on very quickly. We began assisting in John's classes after about 6 months of lessons. Around the end of our first year, our coach approached us to become teachers for him.

We trained for 8 months on how to teach and continued to assist in classes. We taught our 1st class (Beginning Country) in September 1997.

We have been teaching ever since, starting with just one class a week at first. As time went on we were offering up to 15 classes per week, before relocating to Roseville, CA in November of 2003 and opened our new studio March 2011.

We have trained with some of the finest dance instructors in the business, including:

Donald Johnson and Kasia Kozak
Jim and Janell Maranto
Michael Mead and Toni Redpath
Victor Veyrasset and Heather Smith
Ron Montez
Skippy Blair
Luis Crespo
Kelly Casanova
Arjay Centeno
Buddy Schwimmer
Robert Royston
Nicola Royston
Mary Ann Nunez
John Lindo
Angel Figueroa
Sharlot Bott
Mark Scheuffele
Benji Schwimmer
Ben Morris
Melissa Rutz
Mario Robau Jr.

From Dancing with the Stars! TV Show: Tony, Dmitry, Cheryl, Chelsea, Corky, Nick, Kim and Elena

From So You Think You Can Dance! TV Show: Heidi

Carrie Emerson:  Certified Zumba Instructor

Julia: Yoga/Bellydance

I have loved movement and dance all my life.  Ever since my first ballet recital at age 6, I knew I had to dance.  And when I saw my first belly dancer in a restaurant in 1972, I knew I had found my dance  form.  I immediately began taking classes with my mother, which I continued for the next 7 years. I took a few years off to raise a family and explore other dance forms, joining the "Plague Rat English Country Dancers" for a while, and eventually went back to ballet class in 1985.  Missing the exuberance of belly dance, I started teaching classes in 1987, and founded my dance troupe, "The Ottoman Traders," in 1991, which is still active and performing around Northern California today.  Belly dance teaches you to appreciate your body, builds your strength, and boosts your self confidence.

I discovered Hatha yoga when I was a freshman in college.  I took classes from different instructors and did some yoga on my own, but wasn't very consistent.  Six years ago I discovered Vinyasa yoga, which really spoke to me.  The dance-like flow and quality of movement in conjunction with the breath practiced in Vinyasa compliments dancer development as it improves your mind, body, and spirit connection.

Morgan Heller: Argentine Tango

In the late 1980's I was dancing with the Nevada Festival Ballet in Reno and was also working in a variety of casino shows, including "Greg Thompson Productions" as well as an assortment of trade shows, industrials and tv shows. During the years in Reno I also partnered with Lori Ross and we developed a ballroom/adage act and we performed for many years as well as teaching ballroom together. Ironically, we both went on to discover the Argentine Tango, independently of each other and she is now one of the top teachers of both ballroom and tango in Phoenix, Arizona.

I moved to Las Vegas in the mid 1990's where I discovered the Argentine Tango.

Looking back, I was indeed fortunate, to have started my training there. Las Vegas has a large Argentine population, and many of the top performing tango dancers have homes there, and many others on tour would give workshops while performing in Las Vegas. Consequently, we always had great teachers in town and I was able to study with many top teachers, too numerous to list here, especially since I would not want to omit anyone.

During my time in Las Vegas I performed tango with a variety of dancers at many venues including, the House of Blues, MGM, Luxor, Bellagio among others. I also started the first regularly scheduled milonga in 2002 and ran that for about 5 years.

Besides the beauty of the tango, I was attracted to it because it was the one dance that utilized techniques of ballet more than any other. Because of that, I have developed a teaching style that incoorporates the techniques of both ballet and tango in what I believe to be a sound foundation that will give the tanguero and tanguera the tools they need to explore and develop their own tango style.