Local Dancers Win National and World Championships

Marinda James-Heskett and Jeremy Pilling

At America’s most prestigious dance competition — the United States Dance Championships, held Sept. 3-8, in Orlando, Florida — Palomar Ballroom owner Jeremy Pilling, with his student Marinda James-Heskett, captured the titles of U.S. National Pro-Am Open Rhythm Champions for the second straight year and also won the Pro-Am Open to the World Championship.

This is a major accomplishment and one that every pro-am couple strives to achieve in their dance career.

Jeremy is a former professional rhythm competitor who has been teaching for 20 years and Marinda has been competing with him for the past 5 years. There are three levels of Pro-Am: bronze, silver and gold. Marinda started at bronze and is now dancing at the highest level, open gold.

Pro-Am means that the instructor dances with the student and they compete against other instructors and their students. Pro-Am Rhythm dances include Cha Cha, Rumba, East Coast Swing, Bolero and Mambo. Couples must perform and score the highest marks in all five dances to win.

Santa Cruzans are lucky to have such talent right here. For upcoming special events to find out when they will perform in their home studio, visit www.palomarballroom.com Whether you are a dancer or just enjoy watching great dancing, you won’t want to miss these two champions.

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To learn about group classes, private dance lessons or dance parties at the Santa Cruz or Scotts Valley locations, contact the Palomar Ballroom at 831-426-1221.