Dance Bio
Nathalie began studying classical dance at the age of 6. When she was 8, she went to the Tourcoing Conservatoire in the North of France. Throughout her childhood and during a large part of her adolescence, her days were spent studying music theory, choral singing, piano and classical ballet. At 16, she left the conservatoire to concentrate on her studies. She still needed dance in her life, however, and continued to be involved in her passion through teaching ballet to children in a local dance school and worked on her own development by learning jazz and tap dance. She also took technical credit courses in Jazz at the CREPS in Wattignies which trains students for a State Diploma in Jazz Dance teaching and took part regularly in courses given by teacher/choreographers, well known in the region and in Paris. [DVX1] Nathalie learnt tap dancing from Martine EBETT and Victor CUNO (Centre du Marais, Paris), an internationally renowned teacher.
At the same time, her mother took her to lessons in ballroomdancing… She was not particularly interested until the day when she saw a professional couple dancing in an exhibition! It was a real revelation! So dancesport became part of her life but at 17 there was no question of it becoming a career. It was only after she had obtained her BTS in International Commerce and a Master’s Degree in Marketing that Nathalie decided to try making her passion into a career… That was when she threw herself body and soul into dancesport…
In 1992 she obtained the highest level qualifications from the French Academy of Dance Teachers (a professorat teaching certificate for ballroom dance and Latin dance, and a Master’s teaching certificate for ballroom dance and Latin dance) and became an adjudicator. In 1993, Nathalie left the region for Paris and then London, a global centre for competitive ballroom dance in order to train with the best international teachers and become a professional competitive dancer. It was as a result of a meeting with June MAC MURDO, one of the best technicians in the business, (whose pupils include: Peter Maxwell, Donnie Burns, Brian Watson and Paul Killick, to name but a few…)that Nathalie’s career got underway. June remained her mentor throughout her career although other teachers such as Peter MAXWELL, Colin JAMES, Michael STILIANOS, John EFFTEDAL and Victor KANEVSKI helped her career take off at international level.
In 1994, Nathalie met Peter SCHRAMM, a German professional dancer who would be her first competition partner. Together they were 3 times finalists in the French professional championships for Latin and Ballroom (1996-1997-1998) and were ranked as one of the three top French professional couples in major competitions abroad, notably the Blackpool Dance Festival (96-97-98), the most prestigious competition in the world and a MUST for all competitors at international level. They were also one of the 2 French couples who represented France in the European Ballroom Championships in Bratislava in Slovakia in July 1998. They appeared in all the major European competitions over a three year period, sharing their time between France, Germany and London. At the end 1998, Peter decided to retire from competition.
In 1999, Nathalie met Jan Tore JACOBSEN, a Norwegian dancer and many times champion of Norway,
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former finalist in the Junior British Open Competition in Blackpool, and ranked amongst the top 24 best amateur Latin dancers in the world. He had just returned from the USA where he had spent two years training under Wendy JOHNSON a famous American choreographer and dancesport coach. He settled in London and decided to turn professional. So Nathalie and Jan Tore lived between London, Norway and France whilst travelling throughout Europe and the world to represent Norway. Together they were twice professional Latin dance champions of Norway (Christiansand 1999 and Lillehammer 2000), represented Norway in the European and World Championships, notably in Tokyo in Japan in 1999 where they were ranked higher than their French competitors and in Dortmund in Germany (Sept 2000). They also came in the top 24 of the best couples at the Rising Star competition in Blackpool (ranked 19th) and were ranked 38th in the British Open in Blackpool against the 300 top professional couples (May 2000). Finally their best result was to make it into the top 24 of the best Latin dancers in the world at the International in the Royal Albert Hall, one of the most prestigious international competitions. Unfortunately, due to Jan’s serious health problems, the partnership between Jan Tore and Nathalie, which was taking off spectacularly at international level, came to an abrupt end at the end of 2001.
Nathalie recommenced professional competition in 2002, this time with an American dancer of Chinese and Iranian origin. Ariel RAD. She then danced as a representative of the USA and worked with Peter Maxwell in London and Victor Kanevski in New York. Nathalie and Ariel toured the major dance circuits of Europe and the United States for 2 years. Amongst their achievements were:
– 3rd in the “Dutch Professional Grand Prix” (Holland 2003)
– 2nd in the “Holland Masters” at Arnheim in the Netherlands (October 2002) ahead of the Dutch title holders…
– Ranked in the top 24 in the US Open (Rising Stars, Miami Beach, Florida , Sept 2002)
Their best result was to be ranked amongst the top 35 of the best professional competitors in the world at the Open Dance Festival in Blackpool (May 2002). Nathalie and Ariel danced together again in 2003, but in July Ariel’s contract at the London Cancer centre came to an end. He returned to the USA to pursue his first career in medicine as a plastic surgeon and Nathalie remained in Europe.
In 2004, Nathalie met Arman ERANOSIAN, a dancer of Armenian origin and a soloist at the Armenian Opera House, who had been living in Belgium for a short time. Together Nathalie and Arman began a new career but came to a mutual agreement to stay within the boundaries of Northern Europe. Amongst their achievements were:
– Winners of the Wetteren Professional Open (Belgium, 2005)
– Winners of the Merelbeke Professional Open (Belgium, 2005)
– Winners of the prestigious Cindirella Cup in Anvers (December 2005, Belgium)
They were twice professional Latin dance champions of Belgium in 2005 and 2006 and represented Belgium in the European and World championships. In 2006, when she won her final championship title, Nathalie took the decision to retire from competition, calling an end to 13 years of competition and a career which had seen her ranked amongst the top 35 of the best competitive professional dancers in the world, had allowed her to travel the world dancing, teaching and being inspired by encounters and travels, bringing her experiences and knowledge of universal value.
Since 2007, Nathalie has devoted herself exclusively to teaching in order to pass on and share her passion.
By 2010, she had accumulated:
-30 years of experience in dance of which 13 was as an internationally recognised professional competitive dancer.
-20 years of teaching in France and abroad with amateurs, competitive and professional dancers.
She has obtained:
-the highest level qualifications from the AMDF (French Academy of Dance Teachers)
-AMDF Master’s teaching certificate
-Belgian League of Dance Teachers Instructor
– Dancesport coach
– International adjudicator Adjudicator A
-AMDF
-LNDP
-WDC ( World Dance Council)
[DVX1]CREPS : Centre for public education and sport[:fr]