Lania Berger
Manager/Franchisee

Lania Berger's professional dancing career has had her dancing on the Castle Stage of Walt Disney World Florida and Tokyo Disneyland Japan; she has also danced in the Christina Applegate movie, "Just Visiting", the cable TV show "Jackson Street", Studio 10 TV, Fox News, Daytime, and other independent films.

Her ballroom career started in 1998, when she won her first Swing Championship. From there she went on to compete in American Rhythm, American Smooth, and Freestyle Salsa. She has been an open professional finalist in Atlantic City, Manhattan, LA, Hawaii, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, and at the prestigious Las Vegas World Dance-O-Rama.

Winner of the World's Top Arthur Murray Ballroom Specialist Award in 2005, and World's Top Arthur Murray Executive Award in 2007, Lania has studied ballroom dance throughout the world with some of the world's top dancers such as Miriam Larici and Leo Barrionuevo of So You Think You Can Dance and Superstars of Dance, Nick and Lena Kosovich of Dancing with the Stars, twelve-time undefeated US Rhythm Champions Bob Powers and Julia Gorchakova, and former Mambo Champion Sal Marino. Lania studied ballroom dancing in the US, Japan, Argentina, and Italy, adding a distinctive multifaceted perspective to her teaching.

David Schmidt
Senior Dance Instructor

David Schmidt has been dancing for as long as he can remember! Coming from a family with ballroom in the blood, David grew up hearing stories of the grand ballrooms that his great-grandparents used to dance in.

David's dancing has been showcased on Studio 10 TV, Fox News, and Daytime Television. He was the Champion of the 2009 Dancing with the Local Stars in New Port Richey and the 2010 Dancing with the Palm Harbor Stars at the Citrus Festival, a semi-finalist in the Tournament of Champions Cha Cha Competition, and a finalist in TOC Argentine Tango 2009 and Fall Forum Salsa 2010. Not to mention, that he was Arthur Murray's Top specialist of 2010 in the international Tournament of Champions competition.

Frances Cuprill-Comas
Dance Instructor

Frances Cuprill-Comas grew up dancing Salsa and Merengue under the influence of her Puerto Rican heritage. After cheerleading in high school, she studied Hip-Hop under Jayson Wright, Shane Sparks, Marty Kudelka, and Harry Shum as a work-study at Millennium Dance Complex in her home city of Los Angeles, CA.

In 2006 she moved to Miami, FL to attend Florida International University, where she majored in Modern and African Diaspora Dance. Accepting numerous scholarships and academic awards, she received her BA in Dance in April 2009. She has performed with Miami based Animate Objects Physical Theater, salsa band Tony Succar y Groupo Mixtura, and has appeared in an independent dance film directed by Yvonne Farrow, as well as the Lifetime Original Series "The Division."

Frances was also a company member of Polaris Dance Theatre in Portland, OR for the 2009-2010 season. At Arthur Murray's Fall Forum 2010 she made it into the semi-finals for Jack 'n' Jill Salsa, amazing the audience with her incredible lifts.

Not to mention, at the Area 3 Tournament of Champions in 2011, Frances was the 1st place champion in the the Jack 'n' Jill Bolero Competition AND the the Hip Hop Dance Off, while also placing third in the Professional Solos Competition with her Merengue.

Jairo Garcia
Dance Instructor

Born in Puerto Rico, Jairo Garcia was born with an early childhood passion for dance inspired by his upbringing. Growing up Jairo danced for his love of dance and music in local clubs in his Spanish community.

Jairo was a showcased Salsa and Tango dancer on Studio 10 TV, and was also seen dancing Tango and Cha Cha on Daytime Television, and Salsa on Fox News. In 2010 he won both the Junior and Standard divisions of Dancing with the Palm Harbor Stars, helping his talented students to win dance scholarships.

Jairo’s exposure to the Argentine Tango sparked his passion for Ballroom Dance and brought him to the state of Florida to join Arthur Murray Palm Harbor. His specialties include Salsa, Bachata, Rumba, and Argentine Tango. For club style Latin dance make sure to se Jairo--Palm Harbor's own King of Salsa.

Most recently, at the 2011 Area 3 Tournament of Champions, Jairo was runner up in the Hip Hop Dance Off and he earned third place in the Professional Solos Competition with his incredible Merengue performance. Jairo is Arthur Murray's reigning Top Specialist in two international categories!

Carrie DeHart
Dance Instructor

Carrie DeHart has been dancing since she was 10 years old. She started out with extenSive training in ballet, tap, and jazz before beginning Ballroom Dance with the Arthur Murray Studio of Jacksonville, FL. With her talents being recognized, Carrie was hired on as an instructor, and taught in Lakeland for two years.

Carrie has been a competitive dancer for many years with Caron Moore Dance Productions. She was a part of a Swing Dance Performance Group called "Hit That Jive," dancing Vintage Swing including Lindy Hop, Charleston, Shag, West Coast Swing, Blues, and Triple Swing. Carrie's swing is out of this world!

In 2003 she performed alongside Toby Keith at the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day Halftime Show. Carrie was named the Champion of Junior Service League's Dancing with the Local Stars in 2010. She also placed 5th with her Cha Cha in the Professional Solo Competition at Area 3 Tournament of Champions in 2011.

Christopher Caldwell
Dance Instructor

Christopher Scott Caldwell has been commissioned as a professional dancer, choreographer, and educator at an international standard. He has toured as a protege to some of the worlds top choreographers including the panel from So You Think You Can Dance, such as Mia Michaels, Brian Friedman, Napoleon and Tabitha D'umo, Wade Robson, and Tyce Diorio.

Christopher was trained in classical ballet by former Bejart Ballet Lausanne principle dancer Shonach Mirk Robles, and was introduced to modern technique by Ailey graduate Donna Kojo, and renowned instructor Michael Foley (Cirque du Soleil), and studied composition from choreographers Larry Keigwin (Julliard School), and Bill T Jones (Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company). Christopher has choreographed alongside the Miami City Ballet in an off-Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet, under the direction of Kristen Coury, and has played lead roles in other off-Broadway shows including Godspell, Little Shop of Horrors, Footloose, and much more.

Currently the Artistic Director of Ovations Productions LLC, and a permanent faculty member of Colours School of the Arts, Chris is excited to be a part of Arthur Murray Palm Harbor, and combine his extensive modern dance background with ballroom technique to offer an incredible learning experience to his students. Christopher has studied with twelve-time undefeated US Rhythm Champion Bob Powers, and has appeared with Arthur Murray Palm Harbor on Studio 10 TV, Fox News, and Daytime on NBC.

Erica Jones
Specialist/Front Office

Erica Jones is the sweet, smiling face behind our desk. She is always happy to help you with your scheduling needs, answer your questions, and assist you with your dance programs. She was in Arthur Murray International's top 30% of executives in 2011 and she was also named the 2010 Front Office All Star from Tampa Bay!

In addition to helping out in the Front Office, Erica is a skilled and talented dancer. She has trained with Miriam Larici and Leo Barrionuevo of So You Think You Can Dance and Superstars of Dance. Her dancing has been showcased on Studio 10 TV and Daytime Television. She was recently awarded 1st Runner-up in the Junior Service League's Dancing with the Local Stars. She is a creative choreographer who specializes in working with new students and getting them comfortable taking their first steps on the dancefloor.

Chris Jericho & Cheryl Burke
Dancing with the Stars Season 12

Arthur Murray Palm Harbor is proud to have been a featured dance facility on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars! BBC Worldwide searched the Tampa Bay area for a studio to shoot the practice sessions in. Impressed by our large floor, beautiful space, friendly staff, and great reputation in the community, Arthur Murray Palm Harbor was selected. For three weeks former WWE star, Chris Jericho, and his professional partner, Cheryl Burke, practiced their Cha Cha Cha and Quickstep in our facility. You can see segments of their practice sessions in our facility throughout season 12 of Dancing with the Stars, on Insider, Entertainment Tonight, and WWE Smackdown.

Check out the youtube link to see our beautiful facility:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc-U7wpLs7o

We are the studio with the deep maroon walls and the juke box in the background. (The other studio is in L.A.) So why not dance where the stars do? Come to Arthur Murray Palm Harbor . . . As seen on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars!

The Studio

The Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Palm Harbor features over 2,000 square feet of floating dance floor, as well as over 60 feet of mirrored walls. IT IS PALM HARBOR'S PREMIER BALLROOM DANCE STUDIO!