About Dance Santa Barbara

Meet the Dance Instructors

Jonathan Bixby

Jonathan started dancing at 15 and even enjoyed being a regular dancer on American Bandstand with Dick Clark in the late 1960's. After graduating from UCSC, he became a kindergarten teacher until he moved to Santa Barbara in 1979 to begin a dance career. By locating celebrated dancers like Dean Collins, Frankie Manning and Maxie Dorf from the 1940's, he and his partner, Sylvia Sykes,  learned various forms of Swing and Balboa from the masters and has been passing on this knowledge for more than three decades. For a more extensive biography of Jonathan and Sylvia, just go to this link. Jonathan also co-hosts the First and Third Friday Swing Dance at the Carrillo Ballroom.

Here's a video of Jonathan and Sylvia with Team USA and their first place performance at the US Open Swing Dance Championships.

Bill and Cindy

Bill Elmer has been a competition dancer for the past 7 years, twice capturing the California Triple Crown along with numerous wins at UCWDC and CWDI events dancing both ProAm and Couples. He has been teaching for the past 4+ years. Currently he offers group classes in Country Two Step at the Carrillo Recreation Center. His partner, Cindy, has been dancing her whole life. She's truly a natural and has studied many forms of dance. And as a partner, no one could ask for a more accomplished dancers.  Here's a link for Bill's full schedule and registration information.

 

Brian and Fay
Brian got his first exposure to Argentine Tango at a 1988 workshop by the legendary maestro Orlando Paiva. In 1990, the critically-acclaimed Forever Tango performed at the Arlington Theater; the first mournful notes of the bandoneón cut through him como un puñal en la carne, and he knew he had to learn this dance.

In 1991, he began studying the intricacies of the authentic Tango with Alberto Toledano & Loreen Arbus. Since then, Brian has had the good fortune to study with many of the living legends of Argentine Tango, such as Nito & Elba García, Orlando Paiva, Juan Bruno, Lampazo, Nestor Ray, and Juan Carlos Copes. As a teacher, Brian has also been influenced by the best of the modern generation of tangueros. The methods of Daniel Trenner, Rebecca Shulman, Fabián Salas, and Gustavo Naveira have been particularly influential.

In addition to his usual local teaching & performing schedule, Brian regularly lectures and gives demonstrations of Argentine Tango for the Dance Department at UCSB.

Fay was destined from birth to be a performer. Her mother was an accomplished opera singer; her father a singing star on radio. While growing up in Santa Barbara, Martha Graham was often her baby-sitter. Fay began studying ballet at an early age, and later spent many years studying, performing, and teaching the folkloric dances of the Philippines and Polynesia. After majoring in Piano & Voice at the University of Santo Tomás, Fay continued to pursue vocal studies with noted teachers, and made three concert tours of Germany as a soprano soloist with Santa Barbara's own Edelweiss Choir. Fay's most recent stage appearance was in the Santa Barbara Grand Opera production of Die Fledermaus, for which she created the waltz choreography. In 1991, Fay began studying Argentine Tango under Alberto Toledano & Loreen Arbus, who arranged for her to give public exhibitions of Tango after only a few months of training. Fay has furthered her studies under many of the best-known Argentine master-teachers, and teaches and performs Argentine Tango in Santa Barbara.
For class information, here's the link.

 

 

Nigel Clarke

Instructor Nigel Clarke is a professional from England and winner of the British Championships in 1987. Nigel moved to the U.S. in 1989 and was U.S. Ballroom Champion in 1992. After a stint with the Arthur Murray organization as a traveling consultant and instructor, Nigel moved to Santa Barbara where he trains and dances with many of America's top amateur dancers in Pro Am competitons. You can find out a bit more by going to his facebook page; http://www.facebook.com/nigelsdance. For group classes, here's the information.

Here's a video of Nigel and Jamie doing a demonstration of Waltz at the Carrillo Ballroom.