Francisco & Stacey Martinez
The Dance Family Studio
(Pasadena, CA)

Since 1996, Francisco and Stacey Martinez have been training teachers who now travel the world with successful, lucrative careers teaching dance. With this ability to create “stars,” they have added the demanding, challenging and fully accredited DVIDA curriculum to their already proven, highly successful teacher training program.
In the dancing world, Francisco and Stacey are most well known as the creators of the video series, The 2-Left Footer’s Guide to Dancing Salsa.
Stacey Classically trained in ballet, jazz and tap and later Latin and Ballroom dances, Stacey’s commercial television career started young, being featured in national commercials, television shows, and as Miss Teen California USA. She is most well recognized in as a child actress in the long running McDonalds “You Deserve A Break Today” campaign and as a regular for many years on American Bandstand.
Francisco came to Los Angeles as a Ballroom instructor and established a career in Los Angeles stage productions including “”Fiesta Tango,” “America, America” and “Rumba.” He continues being featured in multiple commercials and music videos including Placido Domingo, Dwight Yokum, and in the film “Haunted Mansion”.
As a couple Francisco and Stacey have traveled Europe and North America in celebrity events performing in commercials, film and television with highlights at their hometown Hollywood Palladium, and live on stage at the Hollywood Bowl opening for Earth Wind & Fire.
As evidenced by the instructors and students coming from their studio, their true love is to teach dance. Their practical and personable teaching style is carried out daily in The Dance Family Studio through their highly trained instruction staff who add the “personalized” element while continuing to far surpass industry standards in teaching dance. Join us!

www.thedancefamily.com

"Francisco and Stacey have cuised with us for nearly 10 years. They are two of our most popular Instructors. They are our first choice for beginners because they teach with such warmth and understanding. And yet they have so much to offer all levels. Francisco is especially popular hosting as Mcee for our dances." - DanceFun

Jed Walker (aka El Baron de Bachata) is part of Sultry Salsa, an organization that organizes and promotes Latin dancing events, (primarily nightclub Salsa nights) throughout Chicago and the Midwest.

In addition, Jed conducts lessons in Salsa, Bachata and Cha Cha and other Latin dances in various locations, including dance studios and nightclubs, in and around the Chicago area and about the Midwest.

His quest is to teach everybody to dance and to look good dancing. He teaches both style and technique together, melding the style of street dancing with the technique of ballroom dancing.   Jed helps leads and follows become dancers that can dance well with anybody, anywhere, anytime.

www.sultrysalsa.com

"Jed has cruised twice before with us as a Salsa Instructor. We have enjoyed his easy teaching style. Attention ladies - another great lead!" - DanceFun

Mike Ticas & Christina Haggerty
(Los Angeles, CA)

Mike & Christina
Mike Ticas is a natural talent from El Salvador who mastered the art of Salsa dancing for over 10 years in Los Angeles.  Christina Ticas started her dance career in college and ended up with a Minor in Dance from the University of Washington.  She then moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of her dream.  Salsa dance brought them together, and for over 7 years, Mike & Christina, most famous in the world of Salsa, have evolved to become one of the BEST teams known for their high quality choreography, performance, and instruction. They have danced for and choreographed kids, weddings, bands, singers, actors, film, television, stage, and salsa groups including Salsa In The Mix, Salsabor Y Cache, Sunflower Dancers, Salsa Fina, Ladies in RED and DASHEE. This dynamic duo creates shows that combine many music and dance styles with lively salsa music and dance steps. Their styles range from mysterious heavily-themed routines such as Vogue (Salsa in the Mix) to more classic Mambo and Cha Cha Cha routines.  All their performances captivate the audience with hair-raising tricks, lifts, dips & turn combinations. They have appeared on numerous TV shows like Dexter, Ugly Betty, Six Feet Under, and Cane to name a few. Mike & Christina travel regularly to Salsa festivals, competitions and events all over the United States and abroad including Australia, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, and more. In 2011, they were nominated for numerous categories at the Golden Salsa Awards and won "Favorite Salsa Instructor."  They love teaching Latin dance and most of all enjoy spreading the passion for the music.

Link to Website: http://www.mcsalsadanceinstruction.com/

Link to Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/MCSalsaFamily

"Mike & Christina are new with us on our cruises. But we enjoyed working with Christina back when we did our Laughlin Trips. We are looking forward to her & Mike joining us." - DanceFun

Ricardo Tellez (San Francisco, CA)

Ricardo Téllez was born in Mexico City and began dancing at age 12. His first exposure to dance involved styles such as Cumbia, Guaracha, Guaguanco, Guajira, Cha-Cha-Cha, Son Montuno, and Salsa. In 1995 after moving to the Bay Area, Rico began studying Salsa under Gabriel Romero. He accelerated his progress in dance by practicing what he learned in clubs all over the Bay Area.  In 1998, Ricardo began teaching Salsa in San Francisco. As the creator of the ON5 Salsa dancing, Ricardo now teaches workshops around the country in his unique style.  Ricardo has performed internationally:  Italy, Germany, Mexico, Jamaica, Cali Colombia, Canada, India, Puerto Rica, and Ecuador.  Ricardo founded RicaSalsa in August 1999.  In 2007, Ricardo began dancing with Tianne Frias.  Ricardo and Tianne are two-time World Salsa Championship Finalists.  In 2010, they placed 3rd in the ON1 Division at the World Latin Dance Cup in San Diego. 

www.Ricasalsa.com

"Ricardo cruised with us some years ago and added to our success. Raising a family kept him away for some years. We are pleased to have him join us again. Ladies love dancing with him!" - DanceFun

Salomon Rivera is one of the most sought-after Salsa instructors in the World!! This Latin sensation, dancing since the age of eight, has spent his entire life developing and perfecting his unique style of Salsa. He has been living in the U.S. since 1986 and has been teaching Salsa since 1990. One of the pioneer dance instructors in Los Angeles, Salomon's efforts have been rewarded with invitations to teach all over the world. He has won over 85 championships. Salomon has been on magazine covers and in featured articles in major newspapers and has appeared on international and local television shows including Star Search. Salomon is a 4 Time International Salsa Champion, 4 Time U.S. Salsa champion, and 3 Time World Salsa Champion with 3 different organizations.

Salomon's very presence motivates. His energy, love of teaching, talent, and charisma bring students from all over the world to participate in group and private classes. His influence continues with his best-selling instructional video tapes and DVDs. In addition to teaching hot combinations, he shares the technique and body movement that will "Latinize" your Salsa, bringing that indescribable passion and joy to the dance floor.

www.latinhips.com

"Salomon has been a favorite of our guests for nearly 10 years. A popular Instructor, he teaches Salsa, Cha-Cha, Tango and Casino Ruesda for us. Salomon is also a great performer as seen is our Pro-Am Showcase on each cruise. The ladies line up to dance with him." - DanceFun

Tina Mayer (Los Angeles, CA)

Born and raised in Slovenia, Tina began training extensively in gymnastics and ballet at age seven. She became Slovenia's three-time national champion in rhythmic gymnastics and quickly realized her devotion to dancing. Traveling to America to teach, she mastered the partner dance styles, from Latin American (cha cha cha, samba, rumba, paso doble, jive), American Smooth (waltz, tango, fox trot and Viennese waltz), American Rhythm (cha cha, rumba, swing, bolero, mambo), salsa, Lindy hop, and Argentine tango.
     Tina was recently featured in the wildly popular "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dancing With The Stars." Her credits include feature films such as “Gangster Squad” with Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, Gerard Butler's ("300") "The Ugly Truth" and "Bolden", Disney's "That's So Raven" and music videos for Jonas Brothers, Vinyl Soul and Cinco Santos. Tina's performances include shows at Universal Studios, in Las Vegas' MGM, resorts in Cancun, Mexico, and Silver Seas cruise ships around the world, and she is recognizable in various commercials, industrials and print ads from around the world.
     At her core, Tina is a teacher. She works with students of all levels to help them use their bodies in ways that inspire them both in dance and life, a process which, in turn, inspires herself. Tina is proud and happy to see lives transformed by partner dance and is very excited to be a part of the Dance Fun staff where dancing is taken to a whole different level – travel and fun!

"Tina is new with us, but we hear good things about her. We are looking forward to her joining us this cruise." - DanceFun

Wiley is a fully certified Pro instructor with world-class credentials.  He has many titles and national championships as a Pro competitor to his credit and he has trained numerous champions that followed him after his competitive retirement. He is also the founder of Celebration Dance International in Los Angeles with classes in everything including Ballroom & Latin, Country & Western, Bachata, Lindy, New York Hustle, West Coast Swing and Salsa and competitive levels of all the above mentioned. Almost 200 students a week go through his classes, including his college classes. His annual “on the road” nationwide Dance Mastery Camps as a guest teacher sells out every time, with classes averaging well over a hundred per class. Next month, he opens his new dance studio in Woodland Hills, California, the Celebration Ballroom. 

"Wiley is a fun dancer that we have known for years, but new with us on cruises. We are looking forward to him joining us this cruise." - DanceFun

Greg Parmerton
Greg Parmerton is the Chief Entertainment Officer of Music for Dancing and has been licensed in the NYC area since 1994.  Greg started spinning tunes back in 1977 and hasn't stopped yet.  He was inducted into the Swing DJ Hall of Fame in 2006 and is a current member of DJ Latinos, Tangueros and the American Ballroom DJ Association.  Greg is also a former president of the National Association of R&B DJs and AllSwing DJ group.  A certified teacher of dance and former competitor, Greg now concentrates on bringing fun to the floor for everyone.  Greg has played over 2000 events worldwide and now plays 24/7 over the web on Live365 "requests taken, sometimes played."  DJ Greg has been with DanceFun since 2007.
http://www.musicfordancing.com

"Our DJ ! Greg has a wide background in many types of dance music and styles. He keeps us dancing!" - DanceFun