Ballroom Chat Podcast

Ryan Kenner discusses his process for capturing the perfect dance moment, tips for ballroom dancers to increase their chance of getting the ideal photo, and how his competitive experience makes him a better photographer.

Ryan Kenner is a professional dancer and the owner of Ryan Kenner Photography, providing high quality dance photography for ballroom dancers.

Casey and Kayci discuss meeting and competing as part of the BYU Latin and Ballroom Tour Team, why they are passionate about 10-Dance, their plans for remaining Amateurs or making the move to Professional, and their vision for the future of dancesport in Utah.

Casey and Kayci Treu are United States Amateur 10-Dance Champions, World and UK Amateur 10-Dance Finalists, World Amateur Rising Star Latin Finalists. Seperately, Casey is also a 2X US National Youth Latin Champion and Youth National 10-Dance Champion and Kayci is also a 2X National Amateur Cabaret Champion.

Aaron Pierce discusses the culture shock of moving from the East Coast to Utah, the challenges Aaron faced when becoming a member of the UVU Tour Team, and the differences and similarities between Arthur Murray, Fred Astaire, and independent studios. They also chat about how your perspectives on dance and instruction change over time, and Aaron's new goals and focus for his competitive career.

Aaron Pierce is a former 2 time US National Amateur Rhythm Champion, former member of the Utah Valley University Tour Team, and current Professional Rhythm Finalist.

Brent Mills talks about music, dance, musicality, theatre, choreography, artistry, performance and so much more! Brent shares his thoughts on how music and dance are intertwined, how he approaches choreography differently from hip-hop or contemporary choreographers, and his dance, music and choreography experiences over the last twenty years.

Ever wonder why one song can be played for a Waltz, a Tango, and a Cha-Cha? Want to know why you should reconsider that "Phantom of the Opera" showcase? If so, then this interview is for you.

Brent Mills is the owner of BallroomPlaylist and the Music Mills App, providing music content for dancers and studio owners. He has also served as the Music Director for numerous competitions, was the 2x US Cabaret/Theatre Arts Champion, served as a music editor and consultant for 4 seasons of So You Think You Can Dance, and holds a BA in Piano Performance from Berklee School of Music in Boston, and a BFA in Dance from BYU.

Ron Montez is a former 7-time undefeated US Professional Latin Champion, the recipient of numerous awards and honors, judge, adjudicator, and co-organizer of both the Aloha Ball and Las Vegas Lights Dance Challenge. We discuss his early career with Arthur Murray, turning professional, how costuming and performance has changed over the years, and the pros and cons of one-day events versus multi-day events.

Jason and Sveta Daly are former National and World Professional Rhythm Finalists, owners of Dance Daly Ballroom, and co-organizers of the San Antonio Classic. Jason and Sveta discuss their very different paths to becoming Professional Rhythm dancers, and we chat about the challenges of teaching adults, judging pro-am dancers, the evolution of American Rhythm as a style, appropriate fashion for dancesport competitions, and planning for 2021.

In episode #16 of Love.Live.Dance's podcast, Ballroom Chat, we talk with Max Sinitsa. Max is a former 3-time US Amateur Smooth Champion, US Professional American Smooth Vice-Champion, World Professional American Smooth Finalist, and the host of the DanceCast Experiment. Max discusses how he began dancing, why he believes that a strong foundation has contributed to his success, his thoughts on the advantages of recording your own dancing to review, the challenges that dancers face in pro-am events, and his upcoming project, the DanceCast Experiment. We also discuss his decision to retire from competitive dancesport earlier this year.

In episode #15 of Love.Live.Dance's podcast, Ballroom Chat, we talk with Marzena Stachura and Slawek Sochacki. Marzena and Slawek are 4-time undefeated US and World American Smooth Champions, Owners of Dance United Ballroom Academy, Owners of Dance Vision Mastery Camp Las Vegas, Co-owners of The Royal Ball.

We discuss how online dance lessons can be incredibly effective during this challenging time, how Marzena and Slawek credit hardwork and dedication to their successes, how the SRDS is bring the joys of the American Smooth style to Russian dancers, and why they choose to see the positives in cancellations and closures.

In episode #14 of Love.Live.Dance's podcast, Ballroom Chat, we talk with American 9-Dance competitor and instructor Tony Nunez about his dancesport experiences.

Samantha and Tony discuss his experiences as a professional dancer, the challenge of portraying your authentic self on the dance floor, and the importance of making sure that inclusivity and diversity become the norm in the ballroom dance industry. We take on the issues of race, gender, elitism, and ability differences in dance, and what each of us in the industry can do to improve and push towards progress.

In episode #13 of Ballroom Chat, we talk with competitor and instructor Anthony Chen about his preferred dance style: Lindy Hop. We discuss the history of Lindy Hop, how the competitive experience of Lindy differs from typical ballroom dance events, his work with the non-profit organization Salt City Swing, and his thoughts on the future of the lindy hop dance style.

Anthony Chen is known for being playful, musical, creative, and clear on the dance floor and holds first place titles from events such as Lindyfest, Montreal Swing Riot, Ultimate Lindy Hop Showdown, and the International Lindy Hop Championships. He strives to build a healthy and positive swing dance community, and he founded the non-profit organization "Salt City Swing" in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he teaches not only the dance of Lindy Hop, but also the history of the dance and its ties to American Swing-era music.