Damon and Lisa D’Amico
Damon and Lisa met in New Orleans and began dancing together in 1993. They traveled the country competing on the UCWDC circuit winning numerous titles. It was there they played a major role in building one of the largest dance communities in the southern United States. In 1998, Damon and Lisa felt it necessary to make the move to Houston in order to continue on the path they’d began. Shortly after the move they started a family while continuing to teach, travel and compete. In the last 12 years they have helped turn Houston into one of the biggest and best social, as well as competitive, dance communities in the country. Their group classes thrive. They have established a name for themselves as two of the best teachers in the country. They are most proud of their 3 beautiful children. Not too far behind them are their junior dancers and previous junior dancers, now instructors. The D’Amicos have enjoyed watching, as well as being a part of, the progress of the Houston dance community. Damon and Lisa continue to travel the country teaching and competing in Swing, Country, Ballroom, and Latin professionally, as well as with their students. The D’Amicos want everyone to share the passion of dance, and the joy that it brings to their lives.
Damon and Lisa can be reached at Damon@DamicoDance.com or Lisa@DamicoDance.com. Feel free to call at 281-202-5247 or 832-370-5664
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Heather Arboleda
Although Heather got to see people dancing two-step at an early age, she didn’t get the chance to do it herself until she was 18, so during college, she went dancing every chance she got. After moving to Houston to start her teaching career, Heather spent two years becoming the best dancer she could be. In 2004, she found Damon & Lisa and began competing in May 2005. She went on to place 2nd in the 2006 World Championships in Pro-Am with Damon. She has become an excellent dance instructor, and looks forward to sharing her love for dance.
Heather can reached at 832-444-6709 or HeatherArboleda@Yahoo.com.
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Trey Ellington
Bio coming soon!
Trey can be reached at 713-882-9734 or Trey@DamicoDance.com.
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Tori Ellington
Bio coming soon!
Tori can be reached at 832-493-6598 or Tori@DamicoDance.com.
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Randy & Melissa Winfrey
Randy and Melissa Winfrey are D’Amico Dance’s Country and Western instructors at Wild West on Sundays. These two are great instructors and even better folks. Melissa has been teaching and dancing in Houston for many years. She is an awesome instructor giving great advice to all the ladies and she is a great example on the dance floor. Randy has become an excellent instructor through the experience he’s had dancing Pro-Am and now Pro-Pro with Lisa. He has won over 20 National Amateur titles including 2 World Championships.
Randy and Melissa can be reached at 281-433-4445 or RandyandMelissa@DamicoDance.com.
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Corky Ballas
Corky Ballas has been dancing since he was six years old, he started out as a Flamenco dancer, he then later tried out the style of American Style Latin dancing referred to now as ‘Rhythm,’ and began dancing International Latin at the age of 18. Corky Ballas is the only United States citizen to win United States Pro/Am Championship as the amateur, then win the World Professional Latin Title, and then win the World Pro/Am Championships with his student Anne Shapira in 2008 as the professional.
Corky now trains couples to do and master the same goals and principles he has learned to make them champions. It’s a formula, and takes a very strong mind set to lock in and know that you are going in the right direction. Corky travels the world spreading his knowledge and beliefs to impact others. He is also very well known for his Creative Choreography, music editing, music creation, costume design and show productions.
For Corky’s complete bio and accompanying photographs, check out Corky.com. Corky can be reached at Corky@DamicoDance.com.
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Alex Olivares & Lorin Jimenez
Alex Olivares and Lorin Jimenez began their professional dancing careers at, what some may consider, a late age. However, since 2005 Alex and Lorin have been training in Ballroom and Latin as well as Country and Western. In May 2008 they began their professional competitive career competing in Randy Ferguson’s Dance Houston. Since then they have traveled all over the U.S. competing against the best dancers in the world. Over the years they have received exquisite training from many former and current champions including Lynn Ferguson, Felipe Telona, Kristina Rihanoff, Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine, Liana Churilova, and Corky Ballas. In May 2010, Lorin and Alex came full circle by winning Randy Ferguson’s Dance Houston. They continue to compete and teach all over the country. They have an incredible passion for dance and are driven by their desire to spread that passion with others.
Alex & Lorin can reached at 832-566-4707 or AlexandLorin@DamicoDance.com.
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Selena Morano
Selena fell in love with dance at a young age and has continued to study various styles throughout her life. She was introduced to ballroom dancing while attending college at Middle Tennessee State University. Her desire to grow as a dancer and to share as a teacher has taken her to various parts of the country where she has studied and taught American Smooth, American Rhythm, and International Standard styles. Selena’s passion for the art and competitive nature has recently lead her to Houston.
Selena can reached at Selena@DamicoDance.com.
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Mauro Marcone with Elizabeth Wingfield
Mauro Marcone was born in the city of San Nicolas de los Arroyos, Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the age of sixteen he moved to California with his family. In 1998, Mauro took his first steps as a Tango dancer. He has taken many lessons with a number of great masters both in Houston as well as in Argentina.
Mauro’s style of dancing is the traditional salon tango. This method has a unique versatility that allows for different styles of dancing. For example, open and close embrace, canyengue, and tango fantasia, also called performance style. Mauro’s goal is to teach and share his knowledge with his students.
Mauro continues to dance and teach tango in Houston. He enjoys traveling to Argentina to rediscover the dance and spend time in his native land. He also travels around the United States to attend workshops and various tango events.
He has been invited to do countless tango performances for private events, community programs, and professional dance companies both in the US and in Argentina. His dream is to have a tango studio and dance cafe.
Elizabeth Wingfield was born in Magnolia, Texas. As a young girl, she enjoyed dancing and gymnastics. She moved to Houston in 1999 to attend the University of St. Thomas. She started dancing tango in 2008. She has been a devoted tango student and she has incorporated the tango into her daily life.
Elizabeth has studied a variety of tango styles but enjoys the salon tango the most. As a teacher, she tries to bring out the best in each of her students. She helps them to explore the diversity of tango and develop as individual dancers. She works particularly on body positioning and movement, something she learned from many years practicing yoga.
Elizabeth is also an active participant in the local tango community. As director of the Argentine Tango Club, she has organized workshops, milongas, and works directly with other teachers to expand and enrich the community.
She has been invited to perform for several cultural events both in Houston and in Argentina. She also writes articles about tango and interviews visiting artists. Elizabeth believes that in order to be a good dancer, you have to understand the history and culture of the dance. Her dream is to spend more time in Argentina dancing tango and being immersed in the culture.
Mauro and Elizabeth can reached at 832-361-2327 or Elizabeth@ArgentineTangoClub.org.
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Judy Archer
Judy has been teaching social dance for over twenty years. She studied American style ballroom with a national champion and was instrumental in introducing Lindy Hop and slotted Salsa to Houston in the 1990s. She danced with and choreographed for two swing teams, performed several times on local television and appeared as a background dancer in a music video. Judy has taught thousands to dance in her career and has her own web site, www.myweddingdance.us. She is also a certified middle school teacher and is studying grant writing through the University of Houston.
Judy may be reached at 713-256-6356 or judykarcher@gmail.comn.
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Maureen Brunetti
Maureen has been dancing, teaching and performing in Houston for over 20 years. Dance is her passion and she loves to share it. Ballroom, Latin, East Coast Swing, WCS, Lindy, Hustle, C&W and Zydeco. In 2006 she went to Buenos Aires to learn Tango. A veteran of a WCS dance team and 2 East Coast/Lindy teams; Maureen has danced salsa in a movie and music video and east coast swing in a commercial.
Maureen may be reached at 713-628-1865 or fastdogs@comcast.net.
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Lucia Dargam
Lucia Dargam is from the most beautiful city in Argentina, Mar del Plata. She was raised in Brasil, Rio Janeiro, and has being dancing since the age of 12.
Lucia is trained in Salsa, Hip Hop, Samba, and Jazz, and has traveled all over the world teaching all styles of dance. She has represented her country professionally for the past 8 years; competing and winning notable awards, such as competing on the ESPN World Championships. She has also worked with recording artist such as Victor Manuelle at the Latin Grammys, Dj Flex, David Bisbal,and many more.
Lucia currently resides in Houston, Texas, and she continues to inspire, instruct, and share her gift with the world as the founder and director of her own company LD DANCE Company!
Lucia can reached at Lucia@DamicoDance.com.
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Laura Haley
Laura started attending Nia classes in January 2007, following her 40th birthday. By September 2007, she completed her White Belt training, and began teaching less than a month later. In her first Nia class she felt a click – an immediate sensation of being exactly where she needed to be, doing exactly what she wanted. Through Nia and the wonderful Nia community in Houston, Texas, she has grown healthier and happier than she ever knew she could be. Laura’s sole purpose in teaching is to share the joy she found with others. She is currently a Black Belt teacher.
Laura can be reached at 281-647-2180 or lhaley@dodi.com.
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Laura Neff
Laura Neff has been a fitness professional since 2002 and has taught strength and cardio training in many gyms and fitness centers in Houston. An injury put her in the pool to recover where she discovered water fitness and soon became certified to teach water fitness as well. As her children grew up and left home, she re- discovered her love of dancing and has been involved in ballroom dancing and west coast swing since 2008. She loves the way she feels when dancing, whether alone or with a partner, and can testify to the results both physically and mentally. Her mission is to get people moving, keep them moving, and have fun while they are moving.
Laura can be reached at lneff50@hotmail.com.
