Palomar Ballroom Santa Cruz

Katie loves helping people connect to joy, creativity, and expression through dance. She has been teaching partner dancing since 1998 and is professionally trained in Waltz, Foxtrot, Swing, Salsa, Tango, Rumba, Cha Cha, and more. She creates a safe and supportive learning space, and as any of her students will tell you, she makes it fun!

Jeremy has been teaching and performing ballroom for over 18 years and has been dancing socially all his life. He has had training in Salsa, dance theater, Latin and ballroom, and now specializes in American Rhythm, American Smooth, International Latin, Nightclub and Salsa. His ballroom training comes from several national champions and finalists. His teaching style is very technique-oriented, while still achieving the goal of having fun. He enjoys teaching both social and competitive students and couples, and also teaches teachers at the Santa Cruz Ballroom Dance Teachers Academy.  He is the director of Rhythm Fever dance company, an exciting all female Latin dance company. 

Jeremy enjoys competing Pro/Am with his students and has both a World Champion and National Champion student.   Jeremy was a former professional competitor in American Rhythm with his partner Julie Goldman. Together, Jeremy and Julie won several Rising Star Rhythm and Open Professional Rhythm competitions. In addition to his dance training, Jeremy has a B.S. in Sport Science and was also a certified personal trainer.

Zak has been on the staff at the Palomar Ballroom since 1999. Zak was classically trained in ballet, danced professionally as a modern dancer in New York and California, and happily fell into the ballroom world in 1998. Although she specializes in International Standard and American Smooth with a focus on technique and competition, she teaches the following dances to singles and couples interested in social dancing: West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Rumba, Cha Cha, Samba, Salsa, Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Hustle, Nightclub Two-Step, and more. Zak is thrilled with the community of dancers she has brought together for her daytime group classes and looks forward to working with them daily. She has a BA in American Literature from UC Santa Cruz, and a teaching credential from SJSU. Besides teaching ballroom dance for the past 17 years, she has taught High School English in San Jose, theater and dance at a private elementary school in Santa Cruz for the past 7 years, and currently homeschools her 10 and 13 year old children, a true testament to her endless patience. She feels very fortunate to combine her two passions for teaching and dance, and is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring dance into the lives of so many on a daily basis!

Originally from San Francisco, Mario's career began early with the formation of the “Rude Boys Dance Crew” performing Hip Hop, Break Dancing, and Pop Locking in front of Ghiradelli Square and Pier 39. From there, he expanded his dance repertoire with the study of jazz, ballet and Flamenco before discovering Ballroom. He has since taken his street jazz styles and Ballroom to many studios as choreographer, performer and intstructor. He has also served as guest choreographer and performed locally at many of Santa Cruz County's charitable events. Look for him as a principal dancer in the feature film, “Swing.”

Mario's ballroom pedagogy occurs under the direction of the Palomar Ballroom. He has an undying love for Swing music and dancing, but he also specializes in Latin/Rhythm dances such as Salsa, Rumba, Cha Cha and Bolero, as well as American Smooth Ballroom.

Eric Conrad, executive director of Ballet Art Magazine had this to say about Mario: “With Mario's passion to share his art and joie de vivre, he brings great enthusiasm to his classes and performances, which evokes his students and colleagues to achieve their very best.”

Jessica Sweeney has been dancing since childhood and has been studying dance at the Palomar Ballroom in Santa Cruz since its opening in 1997. She has competed pro-am in all styles of ballroom dancing and has placed highly in DanceSport Competitions locally and nationally. In 2014 she was a national pro-am rhythm finalist at the United States Dancesport Championships. That same year she began training to be an instructor and has since completed the Dance Vision International Dance Association’s teacher training program. She is now an instructor at the Palomar Ballroom.

Whitney is an avid dancer and choreographer born and raised in Santa Cruz. She has over 20 years of dance and performance experience in many styles including ballet, hip hop, jazz, musical theater, and ballroom. Whitney has a passion for dance in general and choreography in particular, and has created many pieces for different dance concerts, and choreographed several local musical theater productions. As a teacher, Whitney is very good at seeing exactly what students need to do to improve their movement and articulating those things in a way even students with no dance background can understand. One of Whitney's greatest joys is sparking a love for dance in her students and watching them improve.

An experienced dancer for over 20 years, Miles' instruction includes Nightclub, Smooth, Standard, Latin, and Rhythm dances and Salsa. He is a fantastic instructor for all levels of dance and is known to transform the absolute beginner to a competitive and beyond level dancer. A winner of many top teacher awards, Miles' lessons are always fun and exciting.

Yoga has been part of my life since childhood when I was fortunate to have a wise father who brought me with him to yoga classes. My first experience with Tai Chi was studying with Master C.K. Chu, founder of the Tai Chi Chuan Center of New Yoga, and author of definitive books on Tai Chi. Over the years, I have also studied Pilates, Mindfulness Meditation, and other wellness methodologies. I am endessly fascinated by how diverse systems and different ways of viewing the mind as well as the body support, reinforce, and complement each other. Recognizing what a huge positive impact these practices have had on my life and wanting to share these benefits with others motivated my decision to teach.

I certified as a Yoga teacher in 2003 and have been teaching in the Bay area ever since. My teaching is true to the essential wisdom of the ancient arts I teach, while also informed by contemporaty understandings including those gleaned from my science background (a degree in biology, and ongoing study of functional anatomy, kineseology, and physiology.) I find the practices I teach to offer a key to a lifetime of health and well being for body, mind, and spirit. I am dedicated to sharing these transformative practices with others and love encouraging people with all levels of experience and at all levels of fitness.

Jenna Giuliani teaches Pilates, Barre, Yoga and Physical Therapy techniques. Jenna was STOTT certified for the Pilates Reformer in 2006 and BASI certified for all-apparatus in 2017. She is trained in Pilates for Dancers and has been teaching Yoga for over 20 years. Her work with Pilates began with small group classes around the Bay Area that evolved into working with people with specific needs, anywhere from injuries to achieving top athletic performance. After an injury in 2012, Jenna began using therapy balls for fascia release and teaches the method to small groups and private clients. Jenna is also a certified massage therapist, with an extensive background in anatomy and physiology.  

Zeynep Demirel has been dancing since she was 9. She started with ballet classes and continued with rhythmic gymnastics. She was introduced to couple dances in 1998. She attended Dance Sport Competitions locally and nationally. She became an instructor and choreographer of the ballroom dance club at her university in 2002. She has over 20 years of dance and performance experience in ballroom dances. She has created and performed and choreographed several dance musical shows since 2003. She is now an instructor at the Palomar Ballroom.

Corine Csermelyi’s passion for dance began at a young age while watching MTV music videos and mimicking dancers on the show Soul Train. In Jr. High she spent her Saturday mornings working out and coming up with jazzercise routines to her favorite music, lasting an entire hour. After highschool she caught the salsa fever and began taking salsa lessons in L.A. Her passion for teaching began also in L.A at the age of 17 while lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons and water aerobics. She later moved to Santa Cruz to pursue a degree in Modern Literature at UC Santa Cruz. After graduating Corine realized her true passion and calling was to living, teaching and breathing dance, swimming and aerobic exercise. This is when Corine discovered Zumba and never looked back. Through Zumba she could combine her love of dance, water and aerobics. She believes that this passion of hers is a gift that she wants to share with others. Moreover, she has witnessed first hand that dance brings so much joy to those of all ages! Corine has been licensed to teach Zumba for 10 years this April. In addition, she is licensed to teach Zumba Kids, Zumba Kids Jr. and even Aqua Zumba. She has been a devoted teacher to all the students she has met over the course of 20 years. She has taught Dance and Zumba to children (even her own) and adults. More recently she has unearthed a new passion in performance arts and has been performing dance for 3 years in Santa Cruz, Monterey, Oakland, and Los Gatos. She looks forward to sharing her love of dance and Zumba with Palomar Ballroom students!