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Biography

Jonathan and Melissa have been dancing together since 1994, while Jonathan was working for the Arthur Murray dance studio in Sherman Oaks, CA. Unable to find a partner in the ballroom world, Jonathan placed an ad in the dance department at the local community college. Melissa answered the ad, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Before meeting Jonathan, Melissa was strictly a ballet-trained dancer. She began dancing at the age of four, and continued through college, though only recreationally. It wasn't until she took up ballroom that she decided to pursue dancing as a professional career.

Jonathan didn't begin dancing until the age of 20. Up until that point, he was studying jazz piano and composition with the Grove School of Music. After taking a few lessons with an Arthur Murray studio, he was immediately offered a position as a teacher, and took it. He eventually graduated music school and took up dancing full time.

In 1995, Jonathan and Melissa began training rigorously for competition in the American Ballroom style, under the guidance of U.S. champions David Hamilton, Olga Foropanova, Victor Veyrasset and Heather Smith. They eventually began pursuing International Style Ballroom as well, and have been competing and performing both styles ever since.

In addition to their smooth ballroom training, Melissa and Jonathan both have extensive experience in both American Rhythm and International Latin, as well as Salsa and West Coast Swing. Jonathan and Melissa are both certified through Licenciate level of International style Ballroom with the ISTD. They plan to continue their certification through Member and Fellow in both International Standard and Latin, as well as through Gold in American style.

In 1997 Jonathan registered the domain name Ballroomdancers.com, to help promote his American style syllabus by sharing it with the public. Since then, the website has evolved into something entirely different. He and Melissa now hope that it will become the internet's premier source of ballroom dance-related information, and will continue to pursue this goal for years to come. They hope to eventually retire from teaching and dedicate themselves to the website full time.

Contact Info

Jonathan & Melissa Atkinson
10647 Ashby Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90064
tel: (310) 838-8180
fax: (310) 838-8180

UPDATE!
On February 12, 2005, Jonathan and Melissa welcomed the newest addition to their family, Zachary Collin Atkinson. Zach is now 2 years old and loves to dance Cha Cha with F.J. and Cathrine's Variation DVD. He also likes banging on drums, riding on elevators, and stomping around in puddles in his rain boots.