Brett was born and raised in Orange County, CA close to the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. Living in Orange County he had the opportunity to train in various prestigious dance schools including Orange County School of Dance in Westminster. Beginning at the age of 7 he began formal jazz and modern dance training. At Oxford Academy, a nationally ranked Charter High School he became active in both sports and music. Throughout his pre-teen and teen years he performed with the Oxford Academy Show Choir, touring many cities in the continental US and Hawaii. With formal vocal and dance training he was a lead and main performer throughout his stay at Oxford Academy.

 

In 2005 he started his undergraduate studies at the University of California - Santa Cruz majoring in Biology and Health Sciences Science. After arriving at the university he continued to be active in the arts participating in the University Latin Dance Troupe Sabrosaura focusing on Salsa and Salsa formation dance (Rueda) until finding Tango. While at UCSC Brett also trained with nationally recognized choreographer and modern dancer Tandy Biel further improving his flexibility and honing his choreography skills while developing a deep appreciation for cultural dances including Flamenco and Tahitian dance.

 

In 2006 he began taking Argentine Tango lessons in Santa Cruz from local teachers Nancy and John Lingemann, quickly falling in love with the intricate and passionate dance. In 2007, he co-founded Tangroupe, the Argentine Tango Society at UC Santa Cruz with his dance partner Jennifer Small. Tangroupe grew from a small group of only 4 performers to larger than 150 students encompassing a social dance club, performance troupe and competitive formation dance team. Together, Brett and Jennifer have performed at numerous local (CA) and national events, produced and directed 4 major shows/events and have won numerous prizes for their choreography for solos and formation dance. Upon completion of his Bachelors degree he moved south to Los Angeles to work as a Certified Personal Trainer and to start up a new dance studio, performance troupe and Argentine Tango classes in Southern California. In 2010, along with his partner Jennifer Small, he competed at the US Tango Championships earning 2nd place in the Stage Tango Cateogry and competed in Buenos Aires at the World Tango Championships for Stage and Salon Tango.

 

Brett now lives in Honolulu, Hawaii and owns an operates a successful Trigger Point Therapy and Corrective Exercise Practice and teaches Argentine Tango through his dance studio Paradise Tango. He is a Corrective Exercise Specialist, Performance Enhancement Specialst, and Senior Fitness Specialst with certification from the National Association of Sports Medicine. He also runs his own Personal Training and Mobility Therapy (Trigger Point/Myofascial Release) Company and teaches Argentine Tango classses with his partner Jenny Small.

 

 

Jenny was born and raised in vibrant and exciting New York City. Living in Staten Island she had the opportunity to train in various dance schools throughout the 5 boroughs. Beginning at the age of 7 she began formal pre-pointe ballet training at the Wendy Barker School of Dance followed by pointe and character dance training beginning at the age of 11. Throughout her pre-teen and teen years she performed with the Wendy Barker School of Dance at community and New York City events. She was invited to and participated in special pre-high school dance training in ballet and pointe at the La Guardia School of the Performing Arts (the school the movie "Fame" was based on). She chose a more academic route and in high school, while still passionate about dance, and focused her attentions on classical clarinet and piano, performing with the NYC All-City Symphonic Band and Orchestra earning several scholarships for her musicianship.

 

In 1998 she started her undergraduate studies at Rutgers -The State University of New Jersey double majoring in Meteorology and Environmental Science. She continued to take ballet and music classes at Rutgers and at various local studios. At Rutgers, in 1999, she found her talent for Ballroom Dance through the Rutgers Ballroom Dance Club and Dancesport Team. She quickly rose through the ranks in the university organization and began teaching classes for the club, performing at bi-annual events, competing and successfully winning various events in Latin, Standard, Smooth and Latin at local and national ballroom competitions. She is primarily an American Smooth (silver level) and International Standard (silver level) dancer, though is competent in silver and bronze level Rhythm and Latin, Salsa, and Hustle.

 

Upon graduating college she moved to the west coast to Santa Cruz, CA to pursue a PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California - Santa Cruz. Unlike Rutgers there was no ballroom dance program at the University and subsequently founded the UC Santa Cruz Ballroom Dance Club and Team in 2005. Through the UCSC Ballroom organization she taught weekly beginning and intermediate classes in the American and International styles, ran a successful social dance club for students and coached the competitive dance team. In 2006 she began taking Argentine Tango lessons in Santa Cruz from local teachers Nancy and John Lingemann, quickly falling in love with the intricate and passionate dance. In 2007, she co-founded Tangroupe, the Argentine Tango Society at UC Santa Cruz with her dance partner Brett Griswold. Tangroupe grew from a small group of only 4 performers to larger than 150 students encompassing a social dance club, performance troupe and competitive formation dance team. Together, she and Brett have performed at numerous national events, produced and directed 4 major shows/events and have won numerous prizes for their choreography for solos and formation dance. Upon completion of her PhD Jennifer moved south to Los Angeles to begin a job working for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Lab and the California Institute of Technology. She aslo taught at new dance studios, started a new performance troupe and taught Argentine Tango classes in Southern California. In 2010, along with her partner Brett Griswold, she competed at the US Tango Championships earning 2nd place in the Stage Tango Cateogry and competed in Buenos Aires at the World Tango Championships for Stage and Salon Tango.

 

In 2011 Jenny applied for and was offered an Assistant Professor position at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in their Department of Meteorology. After she finished her third year working for NASA at JPL she happily moved to the next phase of her career as a scientist and educator. Once in Hawaii, she and Brett opened Paradise Tango in 2012 to serve the Oahu Tango Community. She is currnelty a tenured Associate Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Co-owner and Instructor of Paradise Tango.