About Us
ROXANNE MAIER (formerly McKenney)
~Tango, Salsa, Salsa Rueda, Swing and all styles of Ballroom
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Roxanne
has been a social and
competitive dancer and teacher since
1985. She has trained extensively in the
United States as well as in Argentina and Cuba.
Roxanne competed in all forms of partner dance with much
success from Ballroom to Street Swing and has performed in La Ideal and Nino Bien (Buenos
Aires) as well as in Europe and across the United States. She regularly
brings master teachers to the Saint
Louis area for master classes and dance
events.
CARTER MAIER ~Tango Teacher
Carter has studied various forms of ballroom and social
dance since 1996. He discovered Argentine tango in 1997 and
has specialized in it ever since. After five successive
tours to Argentina studying with many of the old masters as
well as today's new stars, he began sharing and teaching
tango in Saint Louis.
He brings to tango a lifelong participation in athletics as well as teaching experience in music and physical fitness. His approach to teaching tango is a balance of light-hearted fun and serious instruction, all the while maintaining the improvisational nature of the Argentine tango.
KAREN MOEHSMER ~Tango Teacher
Karen has been dancing most of her
adult life. She began with ice dancing,
a love which would
lead to a gold medal in ice dancing, numerous performances
in ice shows, and a career in teaching. Her love of dance
included studying ballet, jazz and ballroom, and finally,
Argentine Tango.
Over the past seven years, she has trained with numerous
teachers both in the US as well as Argentina. Karen is well
versed in the role of both the leader and the follower and
her
teaching approach focuses on the technical as well as the
artistic.
ROBERT MCKENNEY ~Tango, Salsa, Salsa Rueda
Robert McKenney was born into a dancing environment. He grew up around the idea that people danced together in an embrace to music of many different origins. He decided at 16 that he wished to participate in dancing largely due to the many interesting people and cultures that he was constantly in contact with. He began his studies with his mother at 16 and has since studied in the US as well as in Argentina with the master teachers that have shaped and continue to influence Argentine tango and latin dancing. He started out assisting in classes and now teaches with his partner Roxanne Maier. He is a young man with an incredible fundamental knowledge of social dancing that is unique for his years.
He has studied in Argentina with Gustavo Naveira and Giselle Anne, Pablo Inza, Sabastian Arce and Mariana Montes and is heavily influenced by early Geraldine Rojas and Javier Rodriguez. He has studied the art of teaching and structure of dance from his mother Roxanne Maier and Daniel Trenner.
Robert has social danced and performed all over the United States and Argentina and regularly performs in the St Louis area. He has danced everywhere from the Muny to the Ballpark. He is also certified to teach Argentine folkloric dance.
Robert has a passion for the music and because of this has been very influential in developing an extensive musical library that has something for everyone from Reggaeton to classic golden era tango. He has such a good ear for it that he was invited to DJ in Chicago for several New Years Eve events, the Kansas City Spring Fling and continues to be a favorite local DJ.
Terry Quinn ~Tango
Terry took his first tango lesson from Roxanne and Carter in 1999-one of those free beginner lessons before a milonga-but it wasn't until a 2005 hiking trip to Argentina led him to his first Buenos Aires milonga that he was ready to pursue the dance in earnest. Since then he has studied and danced in Saint Louis and wherever his travels have taken him-including a return trip to Buenos Aires in 2008. Around the world, tango has opened doors to communities of wonderful people bound together by the language of the dance. In order to give back to the community here, Terry started volunteering his time as a DJ in 2009-and teaching those free beginner lessons before the milonga. Since 2010 he has taught beginning tango and vals for Convergence Dance and Body Center, where teaching has turned out to be the next new challenge in learning to communicate through dance. Terry tries to teach the way he dances-by making people feel comfortable, attending to people's individual differences, and having fun.
Clayton Smith ~Swing
Clayton Smith has been Swing Dancing for over 10 years, ever since he first first started going to Casa Loma in high school. Clayton has since travelled to dance and study from top instructors across the US, and has become an expert in Lindy Hop, Charleston, East Coast, and Blues. Clayton began teaching early on as the founder of both the Lewis and Clark College Swing Club and later the Mizzou Swing Society. He has taught Lindy Hop and Blues workshops in St. Louis and Portland, Oregon, and is a regular instructor for Lindy Hop St. Louis and the Washington University Swing Society.
Marisol Badillo ~Salsa, Bachata, Cha Cha Cha, Merengue and Cumbia
Of Puerto Rican decent, Marisol grew up listening to Latin music. She immersed herself in the various styles of music and dance in 2004 and hasn't looked back since. Blending the freer street-style forms of salsa, merengue, bachata, and cumbia with a solid technique, her dancing is very fluid and intuitive, coupled with great energy and improvisation. In addition to the Latin rhythms, she is versed in Swing and also working on adding tango to her arsenal of dance. Her big light-hearted personality balances her diminutive size and makes her a pleasure to work with.