This week's Spotlight is about the lovely, talented Liz Diana. After you read more about her, please take the time to ask her any questions you may have about dance or life in general via Twitter, Facebook, our website by commenting on this blog post, or submitting a contact form no later than Friday, February 3rd!

Those of us who know Liz are well aware that her favorite dance is the Argentine Tango. But what exactly is it about the Argentine Tango that makes it so special to her? Liz feels that the dance is especially unique because it requires dancers to follow and lead with their entire body and frame as well as through separate leg movements and playful footwork.

Liz is a performance veteran, as she has danced in a whopping 21 Showcases! One of the many reasons we adore Liz is because she loves absolutely everything about performing. She enjoys the special bond created with her partner after all of the dedicated prep work and practice leading up to a performance. For those of us who have had the pleasure of seeing Liz perform, we definitely know all of her practice pays off! She also enjoys the fun makeup and lavish costumes. What else can we say? Performing is a part of her. As she says, "The audience's applause is my drug of choice." And, in her case, an excellent choice it is!

Some people are born to teach, and Liz is one of them. She comments, "My mom says at a very early age I was teaching dolls everything I was learning in preschool." Liz has put a great deal of effort into understanding the ways people learn and how to make complicated material better structured so that it's easier to process, because she hasn't forgotten what it was like to learn to dance for the first time. She teaches her students according to where they are in their journey with dancing.

For dancers who are interested in progressing further, Liz offers sound advice. She says, "Nothing worth doing is easy. Progressing to the next level will always be hard, but the reward is so worth it! Dancing is all about training your body to react in a certain manner every time. You cannot train your body without repetition." As we watch our students progress in the studio, we couldn't agree more! Liz also mentioned that if you are feeling frustrated with your progress after only taking one group class per week, try taking more group classes and some privates to improve!

Here's some more fun information about Liz: She loves the color red. Perhaps that's why we see her wearing such fiery red lipstick at the studio! She enjoys reading The Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovitch, and her favorite movie is The Dark Knight (a great choice)! According to Liz, there is only one thing she loves as much as dancing, and that's cooking. She loves everything about it, from the recipes, to the cooking techniques, and the shows! She even admits that as she's eating breakfast, she's planning dinner. What a lucky family she has, and how lucky we are to have her!