Instructors

Scott is co-founder and manager of DanceWorks. He received his first formal training in dance at the State University of N.Y. at Brockport. There he explored African, Brazilian, Ballet and numerous other dance styles. In the years that followed Scott has honed a teaching style that is informative, engaging, and entertaining. “Teaching brings out many of my best qualities. It gives me a forum to express myself while simultaneously infusing students with skills that can bring them great joy and lasting positive transformation. I feel very blessed, honored and fortunate to be part of the DanceWorks team.”

Jeremy is our Staff Supervisor and keeps a lot of wheels turning here at DanceWorks. His dance education is home grown in our studio. He discovered dancing in his mid-twenties and after a year of being a student, seized an opportunity to become a teacher and hasn’t looked back! He’s an especially sharp swing dancer and teaches most of our West Coast Swing classes. Jeremy’s brain holds all kinds of diverse knowledge—he can tell you some of the best sites to see in Italy, and can tell you which ballroom dance works with which video game music. Really, we’re not kidding... ask him about his Mario Brothers Viennese Waltz. Who knew?

Laura completed her certification at the Ballroom Dance Teacher’s College in San Francisco, and in Portland she had the amazing opportunity to compete at the Pre-Championship Level in International Standard, learning from some of the top ranked dancers in the world. She loves helping people discover dance—seeing the difference it can make in breaking routine or enhancing relationships. Her co-workers say she’s both passionate and punchy, with a healthy dose of irreverence. Laura enjoys all kinds of dance. She danced her way through both high school and college and claims that you can find her dancing to pretty much any style of music.

Alison grew up in Las Vegas and attended Brigham Young University in Utah (which has got to be some kind of study in contrasts in itself—surely this means Alison has seen it all!). While at BYU she earned a minor in Ballroom Dance. Although Alison likes all types of dancing, she has a special passion for Smooth dances like Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, and Viennese Waltz. Wonder how ballroom dancing can help your snowboarding? Alison would be sure to know… while the mountains aren’t right out her back door like they were in Utah, she can still be found shredding up the Cascades all winter long.

We are honored to partner with Patty Leverett to offer DanceWorks students the finest instruction in Argentine Tango, Milonga and Tango Vals. Patty has a lifelong connection to music, dance and drama. An upbringing with a musician father and subsequent training in flute, piccolo, and piano help her to understand and identify the variety of rhythms, tempos, and moods within this intricate music. Over the past 20+ years, Patty has studied and danced with many of the major Tango Maestros in Argentina and touring the US (see Bio on web site). She now focuses her dance instruction on the Argentine Tango trio and appreciates the figures of Salon style along with the intimacy of Close Embrace.