Fadi Khoury

Instructor

Fadi Khoury is a dance instructor trained in the International Style Ballroom and Latin. Fadi danced in Lebanon at the Lebanon Dance Academy. He has trained professionally with Nathalie Delerouix (The French former Champion in Latin), also competed at the IBSF dance competition in five Latin dances. He came to the United States in fall 2008 and studied the American Smooth and Rhythm styles. He is certified in the DIVIDA Full Bronze level in American Smooth, Professional Dancer, Teacher and Choreographer in Beriut working with different styles of dancing, classical ballet, modern jazz and middle eastern Arabic Folklore dance theater and though his passion for the performing arts he was able to take part in the Rahbani musical theater as a dancer, at a young age performing with them Gibran and the profit and The Last Day musicals. Later on Fadi joined the Caracalla Dance theater as a professional dancer, performing around the Middle East, Africa and even in the United States where he performed at the Kennedy performing Arts Center in Washington DC (Knights of the Moon) was his most recent play. Fadi competed professionally in the Future Champions division at the Empire State Dance Sport Championships.

Joanna Meller

Instructor

Faina Savich

Instructor

Faina Savich is a Latin ballroom dancer. She was born in Vibetsk, Belarus, and grew up in Moscow. She now resides in New York with her family. Her dance career began at the age of 11, when a mandatory dance class in school turned into her biggerst passion. She was partnering with her brother, Stas, for most of her dance career. Moving to the United States opened up many doors for her: the opportunities in dancing could be finally realized, and that’s exactly what followed. While getting her college degree in business, she was competing all over the U.S., as well as internationally, and in 2003 she and her brother won North American championship. A year later they got 4th place in the US Open, which took place in Miami.

Faina’s dance achievements didn’t stop there. In 2007, she was chosen among thousands of people to be one of 20 dancers on a TV hit-show, “So You Think You Can Dance,” which aired its 3rd season in the summer. Shortly after participating in the show, she joined the team of instructors at Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Manhattan. She is currently teaching, choreographing, and performing, which remains her biggest joy.

Erika Rosell

Specialist/Instructor

Erika Rosell began her dance training at the age of seven in her hometown Miami, FL. As she trained in classical styles such as Ballet, Jazz & Modern. She also had the opportunity to teach and perform with several groups around Florida. Erika began her ballroom training at the age of 17 with the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Coral Gables, FL where she began teaching American Smooth and Rhythm along with becoming a professional competitor in American Rhythm. Erika has recently competed professionally in the 2010 Empire State Dance Sport Championships.

Igor Miller

Instructor

Igor Miller is a 10 Dance Champion who comes to us from Latvia! He has been in the competition circuit for 26 years including competing as an amateur and professional leading his students to victory in many competitions worldwide! Igor was a Canadian Champion and Runner up in Ten Dance US National Championship as well as a Grand Finalist for many prestigious competitions world wide. Furthermore, Igor loves to work with any level or age as long as students are passionate about learning. Also, Igor was involved in numerous shows and performances nation wide.

Igor’s philosophy for a great performance and expression: “Motion creates an Emotion, and everything has to be done with care and passion, not with physical force.”

Miguel Jarquin-Moreland

Specialist/Instructor

Miguel Jarquin-Moreland has many years of dance experience, which include ballet, tap, modern, jazz, hip-hop, and ballroom. Miguel was the Arthur Murray Future Rhythm Dance Champion in 2006. Some of his acting credits are the Broadway Tour of Rent and The Great Fight, which will be the Opening Night Film at the 2011 Hoboken International Film Festival. In The Great Fight, which also includes two Academy Award Nominees, Miguel plays an autistic savant. He has a Bachelor of Music in Musical Theatre from The Catholic University of America. Miguel is very passionate about getting new students off to a great start with their social ballroom dancing.

Kathryn Elders

Administrative Assistant/Instructor

Kathryn’s passion for dance began the moment she slipped on her first pair of ballet slippers at age 5. She later went on to study pointe, lyrical, tap, jazz, Broadway dance, and is honored to now be instructing ballroom dance alongside other world-class professionals here at Arthur Murray. In her earlier years, Kathryn became part of an elite junior company at her dance studio in NY and performed all around the tri-state area. While transitioning into college, she took on the role of choreographer for a musical theatre program at the Westchester Conservatory of Music, working with children ages 7-16. Kathryn also had the opportunity to choreograph and stage manage a musical revue at Carnegie Hall, perform in a revue of Les Miserables at Lincoln Center, and most recently assistant-directed a performance of Godspell at the News Journal Center in Daytona Beach. Kathryn received a BA in Fine and Liberal Arts Studies and a Masters degree in teaching. Now she can combine her passion for all dance types and her love of teaching by sharing her talents and enthusiasm with her students.

Tonja Martin

Manager

Since the beginning of her ballroom career, Tonja has felt blessed to do what she loves. Her passion for dance began at age 3 with ballet and progressed to tap, jazz and hip hop. Her love for ballroom dancing started in 1996 when she stumbled upon a ballroom competition and realized, in that moment, that this is what she wanted to do. Tonja is recognized as a top competing professional dancer and achieved a finalist ranking in the American Smooth division on the NDCA circuit in 2007 and 2008. She has also been awarded many top instructor titles. One of her greatest accomplishments was achieving finalist status in the 2007 Ohio Star Ball, which appeared on PBS’s American’s Ballroom Challenge. Other major accomplishments include choreographing a scene of the Masquerade Ball for the Warner Brother’s TV show Gossip Girls and choreographing a soft shoe routine for the world renowned Tony Bennett, which he continues to use during his tours.

Safwat Gerges

Gen. Manager/Franchisee
Certified Master Examiner/Adjudicator

Mr. Safwat Gerges started with the Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Training Class over 25 years ago and two (2) years later, became Manager & Owner of the Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studio in Great Neck, NY.

Over the years, Mr. Gerges competed in many Arthur Murray Dance Competitions and has been decorated with several Arthur Murray “Top Instructor” & “Top Executive” Awards.

Mr. Gerges is now recognized as a Master Examiner and Adjudicator, certified through the World Professional Dance Teachers Association and accredited with the National Dance Council of America. You may observe Mr. Gerges judging many student and professional competitions and he is also the organizer of several popular show-dance and competitive events each year.

Mr. Gerges is General Manager and Franchisee to five Studios in New York & Long Island as well as four Studios overseas. Currently, Mr. Gerges is the Co-organizer of the Empire State Dance Sport Championships.