Carrie Kloss.Carrie started her ballroom dance career with Arthur Murray’s teacher training program at the age of 19. She continued developing her dancing and teaching but focused mainly on the business side of the industry, managing a few studios before she found her first dance partner and began her involvement in competitive dancing. Carrie had the opportunity to compete in American Smooth and Rhythm as well as the International Standard divisions. Winning many championship titles during her career, including 7 years as the Arthur Murray Champion, Ohio Star Ball results included Rising Star Standard Champion, Open American Smooth Champion as well as Finalist in American Rhythm. Her United States titles include Rising Star Champion in Smooth and Rhythm, United States 9 Dance Champion for 3 years and United States American Smooth Champion for 2 years. In realizing her passion for personal growth and to empower others she became master certified in the modalities of life coaching and neuro-linquistic hypnotherapy, giving her the opportunity to support clients in living their best lives. Additionally, she developed a mental training system geared towards peak performance in the competitive sports arena. Carrie Kloss currently lives in San Diego with her daughter and is a life and performance coach. Since retiring from competitive dance, Carrie continues to enjoy teaching, coaching and judging as well as being the administrator for San Diego Dancesport Championships and an examiner for DVIDA.

Jenell Maranto. Jenell started dancing at age 3. Over the years she has studied almost every form of dance. She was a champion gymnast in college and a professional chorus line dancer at Harrahs in Lake Tahoe. She then went on to head the dance department for Sierra Nevada College for over nine years. There she taught Jazz, ballet, and gymnastics. Ballroom dancing is her favorite form of dance because of the variety. There is always something to learn and many different styles to choose from and enjoy. Jenell has been teaching Ballroom dance since 1980 and opened her own school, The Academy of Ballroom Dance in 1987. At that time she set her goals high and began seriously training for dance competition. Together with her partner Jim they trained with the top coaches in the world. With many lessons and a lot of practice, they won every major Open Professional Smooth competition in the United States and also won every Professional Rising Start International Standard competition in the United States. Ultimately the highlight of their career was winning two U.S. American Smooth Championships in 1993 and 1994. They have represented the United States in two World Showdance events and many competitions throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. Jenell is a Fellow of the Imperial Society Ballroom Branch and has trained a number of U.S. Pro-Am and Amateur Champions. Jenell is an examiner for DVIDA.