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Dancing for the Arts - Professional Dancer Bios 2013
April Dahl
April brings over 25 years of experience in multiple dance disciplines to the Rochester community. Her background includes ballet, lyrical, tap and modern as well as her personal favorites, Ballroom and Argentine Tango.. She has been a guest instructor/choreographer with Children's Dance Theatre ,Northland Words Players, Rochester Civic Theater, Allegro School of Dance, Misty's Dance Unlimited, Janet Lang Dance Studios and USA Dance; as well as adjunct faculty/consult for the University of MN Rochester, Luther College, Winona State and St. Mary's Universities. As a member of the Rainy Day Cabaret Dance Company, she has performed at "Rock Your Choice 2011" and "Grim Walks Tonight" part of the 2011 Minnesota Fringe Festival and was honored to participate in the Rhythmically Speaking Showcase in 2012.. A founding member of the Tango Society of Rochester, she serves as their President and is passionate about promoting tango in Rochester
Gary Dahl
Gary Dahl represents Dahl Dance on the competitive circuit with his amazing students. He can be seen at almost every major competition in the United States and he enjoys every minute of dancing! He is a top five teacher in the Dancer's Cup Tour and has over 15 years experience in Ballroom and Latin dance, American and International styles, and loves working with the students who like the engineering side of dance (He's a former IT specialist). Beginners benefit from his clear presentation of the "nuts and bolts" of good dancing. He has been a guest instructor with USA Dance locally and can often be seen out on the social dance floor – Gary loves to meet new people! In his free time, Gary enjoys golf, engineering new inventions, spending time with his family and the occasional Xbox match up with other Halo and Rock Band addicts of the dance world!
Katy Jablonski
Katy Jablonski, Director of Bands for the Chatfield Public School District, always dreamed of being a dancer. She started late in the game in December of 2004, fulfilling that dream by walking into Rochester's Fred Astaire Dance Studio on a relative whim. Her passion for music complimented her love of dance, and the rest, as they say, "was history". Living in Rochester allowed Ms. Jablonski to take her dancing from a social to competitive level in 2006 and 2007 when she began training at Dahl Dance Center and competing with partner Jeremy Anderson at State (MN's Star of the North Games), Regional (Lexington, KY's and Seattle, WA's USA Dance Regionals), and National competitions (Louisville, KY's USA Dance Nationals). Together, Mr. Anderson and Ms. Jablonski made it to the final rounds in all competitions, winning 1st place in many dances and making their months of hard work and technical training worthwhile. Returning to her instrumental music focus in 2008, Katy hasn't left dance behind. She teaches an occasional community education dance course, and remains passionate about educating her music students on the joys of dance in all its forms.
Amanda Ruggeri
Amanda is very excited to be participating in Dancing for the Arts again this year! Her passions include interior design and acting. She has been active in the performing arts community in Rochester since childhood and is happy to support arts education for the next generation, including her three children, which keep her very busy!
James Geroux
James Geroux joined the Dahl Dance Center staff from the Rochester Tango Society. As a founding member of TSOR, he worked on creating the structure and educational opportunities presented monthly for the tango community. He continues to serve on the board as treasurer. James has also competed locally and nationally in ballroom competitions. He is looking forward to introducing or continuing the DDC student body to the excitement of ballroom dance and Argentine Tango. Whether your goal is to gain or improve your social or competitive dance skills, James can help you. He enjoys dancing with his wife and two children and a good game of golf when he gets the chance.
Rachel Nguyen
Rachel is a 3rd year undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota Rochester studying health science with plans of further education in Physicians Assisting. She has been dancing at Dahl Dance Center through the UMR Ballroom Dance Team for three years and served as a Co-chair of the team for two. Her favorite style is cha-cha because it's sassy and rhythmic. She has loved dancing since a young age and is thankful she found ballroom as her artistic outlet in college.
Joey Ray
Joey is a University of Minnesota Hall of Fame Gymnast and former USA National Team Member. He has performed with Dahl Dance Center, BodyTalk and Minnesota Dance Theater. His favorite dances are Argentine Tango, West Coast Swing, Lyrical, BodyTalk ( a creative combination of all of the above ) and Worship Dance. A mild mannered dentist by day ( owner of Adams Dental Clinic ).....an unrelentingly enthusiastic dancer any time! Dr. Ray also has a passion for ministering to broken people ( Family Foundations International Seminar Coordinator, and is a popular speaker at Mission Teens, Austin Christian Fellowship as well as other local churches ).
Christine Miller
Christine dreamed of dancing on Broadway growing up and made it a practice to mimic the dancing on TV and movies to entertain the animals in the woods. 
She is currently on staff at Dahl Dance Center in Rochester and loves to teach all styles of dance. She is nationally accredited and continues to enjoy exploring new theories in dance in her travels as she participates in west coast swing competitions across the US. Christine assists the Rochester dance community by continuing to grow in her work with USA DANCE, the Rochester Salsa Community and the Tango Society of Rochester.
John Vitek
John M. Vitek, aka, Juante the Exotic Dancer, dances for money and for love. As last year’s DFTA “Judges Choice” winner with his star partner Laura Lee, he is out for blood this year. He wants the big trophy and there is nothing he won’t do to ensure the win. Other than that, Juante is just a really nice guy—kind, sweet, generous, easy-goin
Tim Horn
Tim grew up in Austin, Minnesota and was fairly involved in athletics and academics throughout his childhood. Currently a junior at the University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR), he will complete his Bachelors of Science in Health Science degree in the spring of 2014. Tim first got involved with dance when he joined the ballroom dancing club at UMR very early into his freshman year. That was when he began developing skills through lessons, practicing, and social dancing. According to Tim, "Dancing has better enabled me to understand the mechanics of the human body, dynamics of nonverbal communication, interaction of a partnership, and how they are all used together to physically move the music. Now I dance because the music requires it. Dancing to me really is the embodiment of music. I dance to work out, to have fun, to move with the music."
