Martin Smith Dancing School
Smiths Dancing School
Originally from South Africa, Martin began his professional teaching career in 1982 with Fred Astaire Dance Studios in South Africa. In 1986 he continued teaching at his own studio. While there Martin was the Kwazulu/Natal Province International Style Standard Champion and finished fourth in South Africa. He served on a variety of membership committees of Republic Dance Teachers Association and the South African Dance Teacher’s Association. He was Secretary for the Joint National Council in South Africa and was President of his Provincial branch of UATD.
In 1999 Martin brought his talents to the United States where he and his professional partner spent some time teaching at Arthur Murray and Fred Astaire dance studios. In 2001 Martin & his partner created Smiths Dancing school in Hawthorne NY. Martin became a championship adjudicator for the World Dance Sport Federation and USA Dance as well as NDCA. Martin has judged for hundreds of dance competitions around the world, including National level and other competitions in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Germany and the United States.
In 2014, Martin brought his talent to DanceSportVA in Virginia Beach where he continued teaching both students and professional dance instructors. In 2025 Martin transitioned to an independent instructor to better focus his talents on teaching and coaching in both private lessons and group instruction. In addition to being a much sought after dance competition judge, he is an accomplished teacher, coach and choreographer.
Martin's Story
David H.
"My partner and I searched for the longest time to find someone to take us to the next level. Not somebody to teach us 100 steps, or a franchise to sell 100 lessons, but a highly credentialed professional who could teach us to be better dancers. We found that at DancesportVa. Martin Smith takes a no nonsense approach to serious dancing. He is careful to explain how things work and why. We are thrilled. We’re in for the long haul."
Kimberley K.
So, our dancing odyssey continues and Martin has helped us tremendously. He makes everything look easy but is very patient with us as we improve with every lesson! We have really enjoyed our dance lessons with Martin! He is very patient with two people who both have 2 left feet and we have learned a lot. We are halfway through our first set of lessons and we both feel like we will look pretty sharp at our daughter's wedding!
Stephen H.
Martin Smith's Ballroom dance studio in Hawthorne, New York was a place I'll never forget.... It represented the pinnacle of the places to go to learn ballroom and Latin dance. All of the top professional dance teachers worked there training their students in various styles and also preparing many of them for competitions, ...
For me however, the most fun was the Wednesday night social dance! This represented the golden era of Ballroom social dancing in Westchester. Everybody came to the dance on Wednesday night, and it was so much fun even though it was so crowded at times you could barely move. Usually over 120 dancers from complete beginner level social dancers to very advanced competitive dancers and even professionals came to have fun and groove to the music.
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.
914-714-8101
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