Shared Energy: An Interview with Arjay Centeno & Melissa Rutz
Arjay Centeno and Melissa Rutz are ranked among the top west coast swing dancers in the world. Placing at the top of champion-level competitions at west coast swing festivals across the country, they regularly teach nationally and internationally. Arjay and Melissa came from different but complementary backgrounds: Arjay came from a musical background playing the violin and started his dance interests with hip hop in high school. Melissa started dancing at the age of four, with years of intensive ballet training before discovering theater arts adagio, ballroom, lindy hop, and swing. After they began their partnership in 1999, they competed in International Ballroom and Latin before discovering their shared passion for west coast swing. Now they share their knowledge and enthusiasm for the dance by teaching, performing, and competing. After a weekend of teaching workshops in Anchorage, Alaska, they sat down with me to share their thoughts on connection, musicality, and flow in west coast swing and other social dances. You can read their thoughts below…
Note: This interview was published in the spring of 2009. Arjay and Melissa are no longer consistently teaching and competing together, but they both remain active in the national west coast swing community.
(0) Comments Filed under Interviews
Like this article? Please share!
