Although it’s been a bit since our last student spotlight, we wanted to get it going again by shining our spotlight on one very important lady – Barb Simeona! Since joining our studio 3 years ago, Barb has become a fixture on our competitive Team Aria, and we wanted to catch up with her and ask her about her experiences in ballroom dancing.
It all started as a Valentine’s Day present. What Nick, Barb’s husband, thought would be a one-off fun night of dancing to celebrate their love turned into a 9 year-long (and counting!) obsession with competitive ballroom dancing. Who knew? Certainly not Nick! As he passed her that gift certificate that Valentine’s Day of 2014, he had no idea what passion and spirit he was unleashing onto the world.
Barb dancing the Tango with her teacher Simeon.
“From the time I was a teenager, I had always loved dancing,” Barb said. “And our daughter was getting married the following summer, so we had some incentive to look like we knew what we were doing at her wedding reception.”
Like many, Barb started off dancing socially with her husband Nick at Arthur Murray. He bought 3 private lessons for her, which he gifted to her on the aforementioned Valentine’s Day, but it wasn’t until September of 2014 that they actually made it into the ballroom.
Barb remembers sitting in the car in the parking lot of Arthur Murray on the night of their first lesson, looking apprehensively into the windows of the studio and wondering if they really wanted to do it. That first lesson is always the scariest. Everyone else in the studio looks so at-ease, so rehearsed, so good.
Eventually they mustered up the courage to step into the studio. They started out with the Hustle, a popular and fun social dance perfect for jamming on the wedding reception floor. Nick remembers rolling her out and back and he saw the massive grin on Barb’s face. She was having the time of her life. That’s when they both knew that life would never be the same.
They continued to take lessons and dance socially together for about year. They learned American Smooth and American Rhythm, as well as various club dances, and often participated in the studio’s group classes. But before long, an injury at work would sideline Nick for 3 months. They teacher suggest to Barb that she continue to take lessons on her own so she didn’t lose any momentum. Nick even accompanied Barb to all of her lessons to watch and learn from the sidelines so as to keep up with her.
“That led to me trying my first competition in Vancouver BC in the Spring of 2016,” Barb explained. “It was the first time I had a reason to wear true competition level dresses as well as the fun of tanning and doing professional hair and makeup. Needless to say, I loved every second of it. And to top it off, I placed third in my All-Around (2 smooth and 2 rhythm dances at random) and won top student for my age/level!”
What started out as a fun social activity a few times a week was now a full-blown competitive obsession. Barb was soon competing often and everywhere, travelling all over the USA.
“With the exception of the Midwest,” she added. “I still haven’t over there… yet.”
At the beginning of her competitive career, once Nick had healed from his on-the-job injury, he tried his hand at competing with her in Amateur-Amateur competitions.
But, as Barb put it, “His heart wasn’t it. However, I am so very fortunate that he has been my biggest supporter and fan all these years so that I could continue to pursue something that I absolutelu love, which dancing and competing in the Pro-Am category.
“I’m a very competitive person and I like to push myself,” she continued. “Dancing is not easy for me. I don’t learn technique very quickly but I love to perform, so competitive dancing has given me the platform to push myself and to find joy in performing.”
We asked her if she still continues to dance socially.
“I do,” she replied, “although not as much as I used to. When I first started competing, Nick and I kept taking lessons together as well so that we could keep working on our dance skills together. We would go to dance parties at the studio we were learning at 1-2 times a week and we loved it. We became the ‘hit’ at weddings and work parties because we could dance, even though it was typically Swing, Hustle or Cha Cha most of the time.”
As mentioned above, Barb and Nick started at Arthur Murray Dance Studios and seemed very happy there, so we asked her why she decided to make the move over to Aria Ballroom.
“My good friend Sue Dills tried to get me to come over to Aria for a few years. I actually had several friends that had moved over to Aria so I had heard nothing but good things about it. It took some time but once I tried it I was hooked. It didn’t take me very long to realize how much technique training I needed and how this amazing studio could provide that. The staff from day 1 has been so welcoming and encouraging and the skill level of the teachers is incredible.”
Speaking of Sue Dills, we highlighted her story in one of our student spotlight articles back in 2022. Follow this link if you’d like to hear Sue’s story as well!
Like many businesses, the pandemic triggered a massive shake-up at the studio where Barb and Nick were attending. Suddenly their instructors were entirely turning over, and Barb felt that she needed stability in order to grow her dancing. That was when she finally decided to accept Sue’s invitation and see what Aria Ballroom was all about.
“It’s not easy to change studios and meet new people,” Barb admitted. “Everyone at Aria has welcomed me from Day 1, which I am so thankful for. It truly feels like home now. I found my love of dance again, which is exactly what I needed.”
She also found that she clicked perfectly with her new instructor at Aria Ballroom, Atanas Malamov, who has since retired from teaching dance in order to pursue a career in commercial piloting.
“He gave me back my love of dancing after I thought it was lost, given everything that happened with my past studio. He taught me to take criticism and turn it into progress. I will never forget it and I am so grateful for him.”
We asked Barb what her goals were for the near and far-off future.
She told us, “My short term goals include finishing strong in my last two competitions of the year. I’m competing in Latin and Smooth at the Hollywood Dancesport Championships in LA in November, and the Holiday Dance Classic in Las Vegas in December.
My long term goal is to continue building on technique so I can move up to Silver within the next year.”
Then we asked her what her favorite thing about dancing is. What is the thing that keeps her most inspired?
“My absolute favorite thing about dancing is how much fun I have on the floor. I absolutely love dancing and competing and how it feels when total strangers and non strangers come up to me and tell me how much fun they have watching me and that I look like I’m having a blast!” she gushed. “Because I truly am having a blast with it.
“As for my favorite dance, it changes constantly; but right now I would say that for Smooth it’s Foxtrot because it’s fun and flirty. Although, I am just taking up Viennese Waltz again for the first time in two years so ask me again in a few months, as I’m sure that will be my favorite Smooth dance by then.
“In the Latin dances my favorite right now is Rumba. It’s also my most challenging and maybe that’s why it’s my favorite for the moment.
“For Social dancing hands down my favorites are Salsa and Bachata. They just fit my personality and I can be free with it and just have fun.
“My inspirations are my beautiful dance friends I have met along the way, who inspire me with their grace and beauty on and off the floor. We truly have met lifelong friends through dance and I will forever be grateful for that.”
When asked if there was anything else she wanted to add, she couldn’t help but shout out to her current teacher and pro-am partner, studio owner Simeon Stoynov.
“Wow, what an easy transition it was with him!” she exclaimed. “Seriously, like we have danced together for many years! We took on Smooth and continued with Latin. He makes our lessons fun and we have progressed so much in the last year and a half. I will forever be grateful for him and feel like I not only gained a new partner but also a good friend.”
One thing is for sure, Barb’s positivity and good nature is infectious. We are so happy to have her in the studio and can say without question that the world needs more beautiful people like Barb Simeona.
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