East Meets West is a collaborative effort of four friends who met through dance. We formed East Meets West as a vehicle to provide fun dance events for our students, many of whom live in communities that are distant from central Ottawa. This idea soon grew into an organization that offers "pre-packaged" dances and dance workshops to communities throughout the region.
Because we met through dance - and because we have met many other wonderful friends and acquaintances through dance - we strive to share the social (and many other) joys of dancing with others.
THE NAME
The name, "East Meets West" symbolizes the collaborative and community-oriented nature of our mission:
- A collaboration between WCS dance studios in East Ottawa (SmoothStyle) and
- A “mobile” dance brand that brings fun dance events to communities within our region, from East to West and everywhere "in between".
- A celebration of our favorite dances including West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, and other dances "in between"!
BOB & LOUISE
Bob and Louise own and operate BobaLou Dance Studio in Carleton Place, Ontario. They teach West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, and Hustle in Kanata, Stittsville, Carleton Place, and Beckwith.
Bob and Louise began dancing together in 1997 as a break from their high-stress tech-sector jobs. They never looked back, and they credit dancing for helping them form a strong circle of friends in Ottawa during a time when they were both new to the city. Today, Louise is known for her exceptional musicality and funky West Coast Swing, which complement Bob's cool, masculine style.
They travel many times every year to various cities in the United States for dance workshops and private lessons. By day, Bob is a process engineer for a local Ottawa high tech company, and Louise is a technology support specialist for a downtown Ottawa accounting firm.
ANDRE & MARIA
André Danis & Maria Ford own and operate SmoothStyle dance studio in Beacon Hill, Ottawa. They teach West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, and Hustle in Beacon Hill, Orleans, and downtown.
Maria has danced since she could walk and holds 17 provincial dance competition medals, including gold and silver places for solo jazz work. And experienced martial arts competitor and DJ, André was in his 40s when he decided he wanted to “discover his inner rhythm” and convinced Maria to try couples' dancing. They never looked back!
Maria and André find joy in many dances and are passionate about teaching and they continue their dance training in Ottawa and at venues across Canada and the USA. SmoothStyle is a part-time endeavour for them; Andre's "day job" is Chief Operations Officer of one of Canada's oldest design/build companies, and Maria has owned and run a boutique marketing communications agency since 2002.
