Melanie A. Dale, Owner of A Step To Gold International Ballroom

Member of Imperial Society Teachers of Dancing
North American Dance Teachers Association and
Professional Dancers Federation

Originally a Ballet Major at Virginia Intermont College, Melanie continued to study at East Carolina University and danced professionally with the Savannah Ballet Company under the direction of Ballerina Karina Brock. She then found her way into the world of partnership dancing.

After teaching Ballroom for a franchise studio in Savannah, Georgia and Venice, Florida for 2 years, Melanie decided to work as an independent in 1984. In 1986 she married 11 time US 10-dance champion, Larry Silvers. He, as well as many World-Class European coaches, trained her in the International Style of Ballroom & Latin Dancing.

During the last 25 years, Melanie competed in the American Style & International Style of Ballroom Dancing and earned a Licentiate Degree with the North American Dance Teachers Association as well as an Associate Degree with the Imperial Society Teachers of Dancing. Melanie continues to be a certified championship adjudicator (judge).

In 1997, she began her study of Argentine Tango at the first US Tango Congress held in Miami. Afterwards Melanie was credited with bringing Argentine Tango into the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. Her students organized the "Triangle Tangueros" a nonprofit organization promoting the study of Argentine Tango.

While some people see the differences in different styles, Melanie says that she sees the similarities-the common way the bodies work to lead and follow in all partnership dances. "Each dance has its own mood and feeling which contributes to the beauty of the choreography."

Melanie's amateur students usually do very well in competition-she trained the US Preteen and Junior Champions for 4 years consecutively. Private lessons and group classes are held at her Raleigh studio, Apex, Rocky Mount, and various Raleigh area high schools. Melanie has also taught at at GlaxoSmithKline, the Capital City Club in Raleigh and the Carolina Club in Chapel Hill. She will be offering a class at SAS Institute for their employees.

Dan & Carole Barber



Dan and Carole have been dancing together for 8 years - in fact, Dan began taking lessons before they met and it didn't take long before Carole joined him as his partner. They trained in Spartanburg, SC for four years before moving to Raleigh and have been dancing with Melanie Dale at A Step to Gold ever since. They began teaching part time in fall 2007 and have thoroughly enjoyed watching their students learn to love to dance as they do. While they like all kinds of ballroom dance, Dan and Carole particularly enjoy the smoother side of ballroom - waltz, foxtrot, tango and quickstep are their favorites. However, you can't learn to dance in South Carolina without learning to shag and Dan and Carole are usually the first ones up when Jack plays beach music at the Friday night practice parties!

Michael Gepner

Michael began taking Ballroom dance lessons in May of 2007 in an independent studio located in Downtown Sanford. He loved the challenge and activity that Ballroom Dancing offered him so much that he quickly began taking lessons four days a week. Five months after he started, Michael became interested in teaching in order to bring the joy of dancing to everyone. November of 2007, Michael began teaching at the Sanford studio and has been teaching ever since.

Michael has been to many different studios in the Triangle Area and has studied Fred Astaire, Arthur Murray, and a few International Styles with Fred Astaire being his strongest. Michael’s dance knowledge consist of Waltz, Foxtrot (American and International), Tango, Rumba, Cha Cha, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Shag, Night Club 2 Step, Slow Dance, Salsa, Viennese Waltz, Samba, Mambo, and Merengue. In these dances he has an Intermediate to Full Bronze level knowledge in all of them and a Silver I level knowledge in the Major dances. Michael has a strong desire to increase his knowledge in the Minor dances and to Master the Major dances.

Along Michael loves to compete! He has been to World Promotion and Fred Astaire competitions receiving first and seconds in his heats. He also performs in the Dance Shows that the studios put together and Charity events around the Triangle. Michael looks forward to competing more and doing more shows and charity events.

Michael will be teaching private and group classes and plans to go to competitions with the students that would like to compete.

Mike Hillis

Janet Manuel

Janet has been studying and dancing for 19 years. She has been teaching Shag and Ballroom for "A Step to Gold International" for over 8 years. Janet & Neal Bodenstab work together to teach Shag and study with numerous Shag Greats. Janet has studied with Wes and Sandra May, Kim and Alice Warren and Bonnie Rhodes. She also competed in pro-am at the Heritage Classic in Asheville in Ballroom and enjoys working with beginners. Janet has an undoing amount of patience with all of the students and has been instrumental in helping this establishment succeed.

Tom Nelson

Dennis Porch

As a college student in the fall of 2002, Dennis unwittingly followed a group of girls into his first social dance class. His dancing quickly stood out to the organizers, who approached him after the class to ask him to join the university's competitive collegiate team. He happily accepted and began to learn and compete at the bronze level until he graduated the following year.

While he did his best to remain active in the dance community, adjusting to the workplace and life after college took its toll. It was not until Dennis returned to school for his Master's degree that he could focus on improving his dance. In the following years, Dennis trained very hard to become a successful competitive dancer in the bronze, silver, and gold divisions.

Dennis has competed all over the country from New York to California and has won several regional championships in the syllabus divisions of Standard and Latin and has been a finalist at the USA Dance National Championships.

As a graduate student, he coached the newcomer and bronze levels of his university's team. He showed them the basic steps and provided them with a foundation in the technique and movements behind the figures. He is very proud that many of his former students have moved on to become strong social dancers and competitors; some have become finalists in the bronze divisions of the USA Dance Nationals.

Currently, Dennis is a lecturer of Communication at a local university and continues to strive to improve his own dancing both as an amateur competitor and as a teacher of dance. He has begun to study for his ISTD associate degree in International Standard and will soon begin training to enter the open syllabus divisions of International Latin.

Dennis has a very enthusiastic and fun teaching style and works hard to Ensure that his classes are lighthearted and enjoyable. "Over the past several years, dance has become such a large part of my life, and I enjoy it so much. I have so much fun dancing, and I absolutely love sharing my knowledge of it and the excitement it brings me."

Thanks!!!

Dennis Porch, M.S.

Amanda Shannon

Amanda started dancing at the age of four. She has taken a wide range of classes, however her main focus being in tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, and lyrical dance in which she continued until she graduated from high school. Amanda continued her education in dance by studying ballet technique and pointe technique under Margaret Rowland at Broadway Dance in Raleigh, NC, and Lori Christman Bourtesenkov at Infinity Ballet Conservatory in Apex, NC. Amanda also attended Masters Classes with Charissa Seaman, Dena Rizzo, Julian Thorne, Andrei Ustinov, Elena Martinson, Rachel Ross, Judine Richard, Mary McCatty and Timour Bourtesenkov. She danced with the Moscow Ballet in "The Nutcracker" at Duke University. She has served as a student assistant in several dance classes at her home studio and has won numerous awards at national dance competitions. Amanda exhibits a grace, maturity, and poise that carries over to any form of dance.

Currently, Amanda is a Teacher and Certified Zumba Instructor at A Step to Gold Ballroom. She has also been studying, and working towards multiple certifications in the DIVIDA Ballroom Teachers College. She firmly believes in a strong technical foundation, and is looking foward to continuing her education in the exciting field of Ballroom dance.

Clare Smith

I started Ballet training at three years old. This continued until I was 18. In the teen years Jazz Dance became the favorite. Many hours were spent in those years improvising in the basement dance studio to the Doors and other popular music of the day.

In high school I started to get into Belly Dance with some friends that were taking lessons. Then at 18 I moved to Maui. There I took lessons from several teachers that would come in from the mainland. I lived with a Belly Dancer and a middle- eastern drummer. The teachers from the mainland would stay with us, which meant a lot of dancing and fun. Later, living in Denver, Colorado I took lessons from a Belly Dancer who also taught Classical Indian Dance.

There are several ethnic styles of Belly Dance. I am a Cabaret style Belly Dancer.

I also love Swing, Ballroom and Country ­Western Dancing, I have been into couple dancing since 1994. In West Coast Swing I can use some of the body movements I do in Belly Dance. Belly Dancing can help a dancer learn to isolate those parts of their body that are necessary for contra-body moves.

I am primarily teaching West Coast Swing currently. I a primarily teaching West Coast Swing currently

Karen Steiner

Kat Truitt



Kathryn Truitt started Ballroom and Latin dancing at the Metronome Ballroom in San Francisco, CA in 1998. As she began putting technique into every style of dance, the more she wanted to learn. From that point, she knew she wanted to inspire people and to teach how to move differently within themselves and together with partners.

In the spring of 2001, she was introduced to the owner of the Metronome Ballroom and creator of Ballroom Dance Teachers College in a Box, Diane Jarmolow. It wasn't until April of 2005 that she was able to start BDTC. Before she graduated in June 2006, she had managed to become DVIDA Certified at the Full Bronze Associate level in American Smooth and Rhythm.

She started teaching at Starlite Dance Club with the intention and opportunity to teach beginners social dancing and to transform her training and knowledge into a memorable experience. Afterwards she also taught at Vima Dance Studio preparing instructors for DVIDA exams and teaching group classes. Later, at Stars Ballroom she focused on creating, marketing, and promoting her Salsa and Swing Hot Core Aerobic classes.

Kathryn is currently working toward her JR Associate certification in International Standard. She is looking forward to getting certified through Silver and Gold in all styles.

Her biggest goals are to work toward competing in International Standard, to be able to judge in all styles, to become a DVIDA examiner, and to teach children and teachers. Her biggest accomplishments are the preparation and completion of exams and she looks forward to the opportunity to work with Melanie Dale and the staff & students of A Step to Gold International Ballroom.

Jack Wasser

John H. (Jack) Wasser: Melanie's student for over 9 years. He has
participated in numerous Competition Matches and Showcases with
Melanie and other partners. Jack has assisted Melanie with group
classes/programs (both in-studio and at off-site locations) for many years as an assistant/substitute instructor and music DJ.

When A Step To Gold was located @ NCDI, Jack utilized a second studio during dances to aid beginning dancers in improving to the point where they were comfortable making the transition to the main dance floor. Thus, the secondary ballroom @ Pleasant Valley became known as the "Wasser Room". As DJ Jack, he makes his extensive dance music collection and DJ equipment available to our dance community by providing music for most of the Weekend dances and sharing dance music with Melanie for classes/other dances. [Last Updated 10/24/06]