Originally from Genova, Italy, Daniele Cavallo discovered his passion for ballroom dance after watching the Blackpool Dance Festival, the most prestigious ballroom competition in the world. At the age of 17, Daniele determined to become a professional dancer. During his dancing career spanning over two decades, Daniele has represented his home country Italy, the United States, and Israel at competitions around the globe. In 2011 he was a finalist at USDC in the RS Latin open to the world championships. Additionally, Daniele has earned many titles of distinction in Latin dance at numerous other competitions, including the California Star Ball, Desert Classic DanceSport Championships, Hollywood DanceSport Championships, and Vegas Open. Daniele continues to compete professionally with his current partner, Leela Fazzuoli. Together they won the RS Rhythm events at California Star Ball and Desert Classic Dancesport Championships, and were RS finalists at Embassy Ball, and Holiday. Classic. Daniele teaches in Phoenix and is enthusiastically training a new generation of competitive dancers. Through his coaching and instruction, Daniele is imparting his exceptional knowledge of Latin dance to a new generation of dancers. [ 14 ] Elvin Dioquino is very excited to be part of Dancing With the Stars for the National Kidney Foundation. Mr. Dioquino is currently the Dance Director of Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Arrowhead. He has been working within the Fred Astaire Dance Studio company for about 7 years. He was the Top Teacher in the Arizona Region in 2014 and 2017. He is also a Gold Certified Dance Instructor. He is currently competing in American Smooth and American Rhythm as a professional with his partner, Bonnie Yuen. Mr. Dioquino grew up in Chandler, AZ and Manila, Philippines. When he was little, he knew that he had passion for the arts. He is a classical flutist, pianist, and vocalist. He studied at Arizona State University for Music Education. He is a professional opera singer who has worked with Arizona Opera and Phoenix Opera. As a music and acting teacher, he has developed many students to lead succesful careers within the industry. His favorite musical memory is singing with the one and only, Lea Salonga. He cannot wait to dance with his partner, Mackenzie! Love you! E l v i n D i o q u i n o Ivan was born and raised in Bulgaria, Europe. He began his dance career at age 6 and earned numerous titles at a young age including Youth European Latin Champion and Youth Bulgarian 10 Dance Champion. In 2006 he moved to Arizona to teach and compete in all styles of Ballroom Dancing. In 2007, Ivan and his partner Marieta began dancing together and in 2011 their dance partnership grew into a marriage. Together they are Emerald Ball Rising Star Am. Rhythm Champions, Embassy Ball Am. Rhythm Rising Star Champions, Chicago Crystal Ball Rhythm Champions, Ohio Star Ball Rising Star Am. Rhythm Finalists, 2014 World American Rhythm Finalists and more. I v a n D i s h l i e v My name is Kristijan Burazer, born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I started ballroom dancing when I was 9 years old. And here I am after 20 years in dance sport still teaching and competing on dance competitions. Dancing is my passion and my life and i couldn’t imagine not being able to dance. In all the 20 years in dancing I have sacrificed a lot, but the reward of being yourself on the dance floor and in life is priceless. On my journey I have achieved a lot of great results, met a lot of great people and found love of my life-my wife. I keep pushing my self and my students to not only become amazing dances but also an amazing people. K r i s t i j a n B u r a z e r p r of e s s i o n a l d a n c e r s D a n i e l e C av a l l o

[ 15 ] From a young age Sarah watched her aunt, Antoinette Benevento, grace the dance floor with Fred Astaire Dance Studios. Sarah was exposed to the world of dance at the age of seven with the FADS company. Seeing her aunt’s success in the ballroom world, she knew this was her dream. Sarah dedicated many of her college hours to learning the art of dance through ballroom, modern, and ballet. Not long after college, she began working for Fred Astaire Dance Studio’s in Scottsdale, AZ. With a diverse dance background, she furthered her training and certification in Ballroom Dance by the FADS Company.She has been competing and showcasing, with her dance partner Nedko Petrov for many years now. Her current titles include: Third Place Regional Mixed Novice Division, two-time Runner-Up in Closed Rhythm Division, two-time First Place winner of the Closed American Smooth Division and two-time 6th place national finalist in the International Latin Division.Sarah is currently a dance instructor and the co-owner of the Phoenix North Fred Astaire Dance Studio with her partner, Nedko Petrov. S a r a h D o b b Yavor Genev, Ballroom and Latin dance instructor, was born in Bulgaria where his dance training started with ballet at age of 8. He started ballroom at age 10. He competed nationally and internationally and became the Bulgarian amateur national champion. After studying at The Thracian University he relocated in Phoenix AZ, where he taught at FADS for 4 years. Right after, he started dancing professionally and became a US Rising Star finalist! Yavor began teaching ballroom at his teacher’s school when he was 19 years old. He worked through college teaching children’s dance. He has experience teaching a variety of age groups — from juniors to seniors, from wedding couples to highly competitive dance students. He became a silver medalist at the USA National Dancesport Championship with one of his students in 2011 and 2012. He is also a member of the US National Dancesport Organization. Yavor loves inspiring people with the art of dance and he would be delighted to help you achieve your dancing goals with a fun and enjoyable way of keeping fit and healthy. Y av o r G e n e v Damir Karaman has been dancing, teaching and coaching for over25 years. He is former 6 time National Champion and his students have won National and World titles as well. With his wife Nina he own EuroRhythm Dance Studio. His biggest award is being fortunate to daily do what he loves, with the team of people that are equally capable, passionate and share same values and willingness to contribute to other human beings. D a m i r K a r a m a n My name is Anja Imamovic and I come from Slovenia, I started dancing when I was 7 years old and haven’t stopped since then. I have won 18-national championship titles and I also won “Dancing with the Stars” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and have been teaching, coaching, and competing for the past 20 years. My husband and I moved to the USA almost 4 years ago. Shortly after moving to USA we have achieved a lot of excellent results. One of our favorite result is becoming United States Rising Star vice champions in Rhythm divison. We are both professional competitors and coaches, helping students and couples achieve not only great results in dancing but also great results in life. A n j a I m a m o v i c p r of e s s i o n a l d a n c e r s