Kurt,
now retuired from college teaching, taught dance for 10 years at Ithaca
College, his Master's Degree Alma Mater, where he founded the Salsa
Dance program, and was founding advisor for the I.C. Swing Dance Club.
Kurt taught dance at Cornell University, his undergraduate degree Alma
Mater, for 13 years, was founding advisor for 2 swing dance clubs. At
Cornell, he created the original Cornell Physical Education website,
and was its webmaster for 7 years.
He founded and DJ'd the WVBR radio show "Saturday Swing" and
produced and DJ'd it for 12 years. He is the founder of ithacadance,
and his Wedding
Dance DVD has been riding at the #1 spot on Amazon.com
since 2010 . He and his teaching partners offer private dance lessons
in Kurt's Cayuga Heights studio. Kurt is an avid club dancer, and competes
in West Coast Swing and Balboa. Our complete philosophy of social dance:
"FUN!"
Kurt has studied West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Balboa, and Carolina
Shag in classes, workshops at national competitions, and private
lessons dance with many top USA Competitors and instructors (semi-complete
list), especially in Swing Dance: Frankie Manning, Steve
Mitchell, Ryan Francois, Skye Humprheys, JoJo Jackson, Ramona Staffeld,Nathalie
Gomes, Mario Robau, Robert Cordoba, Angel Figeroua, John Festa, Deborah
Szekeley, Bill Cameron, Blake Hobby, Charlie Womble, Jackie McGee, Ellen
Taylor, and that is just the beginning. He has learned Ballroom
Dances from the Cornell Ballroom Club, and in classes and workshops
with pros in the field, including Eulia Baranovsky, Tom Eurieck,
Andy Proudy, and more.
His main Salsa teachers include Edie "The Salsa Freak",
Jorge Elizando, Henry Herrera, Nedim Catal, Brian Bromka, Felipe Rivera,
and others. He learned merengue and bachata from Domincans both
in NY, and in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He feels that his continuing
learning of the Spanish language is essential to a deeper appreciation
of Caribbean music and dance. He has attended numerous large-scale dance
events such as Boston Tea Party, American Swing Dance Championships,
Summer Hummer, Swing Into Spring, etc.
Born in Highland Park NJ, Kurt graduated Cornell '70 B.A. Physics,
Ithaca College '82 Masters in Music Education (Voice, Piano). He brings
the perspective of a musician, composer, and professionally trained
educator to dance instruction. He led the retro-rock band THE
CORVETTES for 10 years, and has been couples dancing since the
early 1990s.
He was founder/ producer/ DJ for 93.5 WVBR SATURDAY SWING radio
show, now on temporary hiatus after 12 years on the air. He founded
the CSMA (Ithaca Community School Of Music & Art) WHITON CHORALE,
and directed it for four years. Let's not forget ten glorious years
giving hundreds of workshops in songwriting at Central New NY public
schools, and writing a whole lot of songs. Kurt DJ'd weddings and special
events as Cayuga Pro DJ for 12 years.
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