Hello! This is Marty.

I have been dancing for a long time. I started dancing Disco in the late 70's when it hit the Omaha nightclub scene. I took my first official West Coast class at a Fred Astaire studio in 1980. I then moved into Ballroom, Latin, and Country. Dance is one of those intangibles in life that you either love or hate.

I earned an undergraduate degree from University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), in 1985, a B.S. in Education. I then began teaching ballroom dance in the Omaha area the following year. I have taught dance at UNO since 1988 in the campus recreation department, and in 2005 began teaching credit classes. In 2018 I received a master's in health education from UNO.

After the documentary, "Mad Hot Ballroom," about ballroom dance with school children, Omaha became the first location outside of New York City to utilize the program. I have been involved with the Dancing Classrooms Omaha program from the start. I met Pierre Dulaine when he came to Omaha to teach the first group of Omaha Teaching Artists. Since I worked full time during the daytime school hours, I coordinated the ballroom dancers used for buddy lessons, until I left my day job in 2008. That summer I trained with Pierre in New York City and started a career as a Teaching Artist.

For many years I have traveled the U.S. competing in swing and country dancing. I now still attend many dance conventions to exchange ideas with other instructors, dancers, and friends to learn new concepts and techniques. Dance is dynamic and always growing and changing. I have learned most of my ballroom training from world renowned ballroom dancers attending summer intensives at Brigham Young University (BYU). My favorite instructor is Toni Dovolani from Dancing with the Stars fame. When he came to Omaha with a show of ballroom dancers, he dropped in on a cha-cha class I was teaching just for fun.

For many years I have traveled the U.S. competing in swing and country dancing. I now still attend many dance conventions to exchange ideas with other instructors, dancers, and friends to learn new concepts and techniques. Dance is dynamic and always growing and changing. I have learned most of my ballroom training from world renowned ballroom dancers attending summer intensives at Brigham Young University (BYU). My favorite instructor is Toni Dovolani from Dancing with the Stars fame. When he came to Omaha with a show of ballroom dancers, he dropped in on a cha-cha class I was teaching just for fun.

Sincerely, Marty