Instructors

Scott is co-founder and manager of DanceWorks. He received his first formal training in dance at the State University of N.Y. at Brockport. There he explored African, Brazilian, Ballet and numerous other dance styles. In the years that followed Scott has honed a teaching style that is informative, engaging, and entertaining. “Teaching brings out many of my best qualities. It gives me a forum to express myself while simultaneously infusing students with skills that can bring them great joy and lasting positive transformation. I feel very blessed, honored and fortunate to be part of the DanceWorks team.”

Jeremy is our Staff Supervisor and keeps a lot of wheels turning here at DanceWorks. His dance education is home grown in our studio. He discovered dancing in his mid-twenties and after a year of being a student, seized an opportunity to become a teacher and hasn’t looked back! He’s an especially sharp swing dancer and teaches most of our West Coast Swing classes. Jeremy’s brain holds all kinds of diverse knowledge—he can tell you some of the best sites to see in Italy, and can tell you which ballroom dance works with which video game music. Really, we’re not kidding... ask him about his Mario Brothers Viennese Waltz. Who knew?

Kylie is a graduate of the dance program at Brigham Young University in Idaho, where she toured with the school’s dance company and coached the school’s ballroom dance team. Kylie enjoyed meeting dancers from around the world when she competed on the 2009 US Dance Team. She brings a unique blend of fun, technical precision, and variety to her teaching. Kylie says the best part about teaching is seeing new students learn to enjoy something that she loves. Kylie has always liked music— she is currently a choir director at her church, and apparently even plays a mean ukulele!

Heather comes to us from Salt Lake City where she has taught numerous dance styles including her specialty dances Bachata and Salsa. Heather helped bring Bachata into the mainstream in Utah and has taken dance teams to numerous Salsa and Bachata congresses throughout the country. Her co-workers and students describe her as energetic, passionate, and just plain fun!

Laura completed her certification at the Ballroom Dance Teacher’s College in San Francisco, and in Portland she had the amazing opportunity to compete at the Pre-Championship Level in International Standard, learning from some of the top ranked dancers in the world. She loves helping people discover dance—seeing the difference it can make in breaking routine or enhancing relationships. Her co-workers say she’s both passionate and punchy, with a healthy dose of irreverence. Laura enjoys all kinds of dance. She danced her way through both high school and college and claims that you can find her dancing to pretty much any style of music.

Rebecca is Gonzaga graduate who has taken dance training on both sides of the Cascades. She especially likes teaching at DanceWorks because of its warm vibe, safe environment, and supportive community. Her love of dance shows in all of her teaching, including her specialty West Coast Swing. Off the dance floor, Rebecca has a wide variety of interests. She likes backpacking, skiing, and is a voracious reader. Rebecca has travelled to almost every state in the lower 48, and claims she can clean up on the trivia category “State Capitals”—try her!

We are honored to partner with Patty Leverett to offer DanceWorks students the finest instruction in Argentine Tango, Milonga and Tango Vals. Patty has a lifelong connection to music, dance and drama. An upbringing with a musician father and subsequent training in flute, piccolo, and piano help her to understand and identify the variety of rhythms, tempos, and moods within this intricate music. Over the past 20+ years, Patty has studied and danced with many of the major Tango Maestros in Argentina and touring the US (see Bio on web site). She now focuses her dance instruction on the Argentine Tango trio and appreciates the figures of Salon style along with the intimacy of Close Embrace.