Instructors
Only contact instructors for specific questions about other classes they teach at Austin studios or private lessons. For questions about Texas Ballroom and Texas Ballroom classes, please contact the Executive Board.
Shaun Bruno (Monday Nights)
Shaun began social dancing and performing with Sabrina Barker's youth team in 1997. Under her wing, he gained experience and exposure to Ballroom and Latin dancing, performance, and competition. Since 2005, Shaun has partnered with amateur partner and former Texas Ballroom President Debbie Ko. Together they have studied with Top Latin Champions including Milana Pliner, Eddie Stutts, and Kevin King. Shaun has helped coach Texas Ballroom students since 2006, and formerly operated the Texas Ballroom Ten Dance Performance Team.
You can contact Shaun directly at: shaun.bruno@mail.utexas.edu.
Curtis Prevost (Tuesday Nights)
Curtis Prevost has been dancing most of his adult life. He is known for his great wit and fun loving approach to dance.
Dancing and competing in Austin since 1999, he has studied with Ballroom Champions including John Wood, Stephen Hilliar, Stephen Cullip, Igor and Irina Suvorov, Glenn Weiss, and many others.
He currently competes with his amateur partner, Olga Curd, and he competes and performs Pro/Am with Sabrina Barker. Curtis also coaches the UT Ballroom Club students.
You can contact Curtis directly at: curtprevost@yahoo.com.
Kat Parr (Wednesday Nights)
Katherine (Kat) Parr began dancing ballet at the age of five and studied with schools in Nacogdoches, Plano, and San Antonio, Texas. She later received a scholarship and spent two years with the Joffrey Ballet / New School University BFA program in New York City. She was then offered a position with the Minnesota Ballet where she danced professionally for four years. While with the company she toured and danced principal and soloist roles in classical ballet, modern, and jazz performances.
Due to an injury, Kat left the company and began learning and teaching ballroom dance while also creating choreography for musicals and competitions. She teaches American style ballroom and Latin dance as well as social dancing (salsa, country western, etc.)
Kat and her partner, attorney Bill Jones were the 2007 champions of the very first Dancing with the Austin Stars. She currently teaches classes and private lessons in both ballet and ballroom.
Sherry Reynolds (Thursday Nights)
Sherry began dancing in 1990, studying and competing in Ballroom and Latin throughout the early 90’s. As an amateur, she won many top student awards including Top Silver Showcase two years in a row at the Texas Challenge. Her amateur status ended after winning the Gold International Latin division at three major ballroom competitions in 1995.
She has served as instructor and coach for the UT Ballroom Dance Club for more than 10 years.
Sherry began competing on the country circuit in 1999 and successfully qualified for and competed in the Masters division in 2005.
Professional certifications include TSDA certified swing judge, UCWDC and ACDA certified country judge, DIVDA certified, qualifying as Highly Commended, in International Ballroom
Sherry is currently competing with students in both swing and country, and is coaching couples in all styles of partner dancing. She is also co-owner of a new dance studio in Austin called Uptown Dance.
Denis Generalov (Friday Nights)
Denis Generalov began dancing at an early age in Russia, where he was born and raised. His mother was a dance teacher, so when he was little he spent a lot of time at her dance school, watching group classes and listening to dance music. Denis began taking Ballroom and Latin classes and entering dance competitions in Russia when he was 8 years old and by the time he was 10 he was winning local junior competitions. Denis moved to the United States at the age of 16 and before long he was back on the dance floor competing in the Open Amateur Standard Ballroom and Latin American divisions. Over the course of several years of competition Denis, with his partner and wife Jolie, have placed into the finals of many major Championships, including the Ohio Star Ball, the International Grand Ball, the San Francisco Open, and the California Open to name a few. They have earned first place titles in the Standard Ballroom division at the International Grand Ball, the San Francisco Open Championships, the Galaxy Dance Sport Championships, the San Francisco Holiday Ball, the Autumn Dance Classic, as well as the title of the United States Amateur National Ten-Dance Champions.
Denis began teaching Ballroom dancing professionally in 2002 in the San Francisco
Bay Area, specializing in both social and competitive styles of Ballroom and Latin.
In January 2008 Denis and Jolie decided to make Austin their new home, and even though they’ve stopped dancing competitively, they still enjoy dancing together as a favorite past time.
Sabrina Barker (Saturday Afternoons)
Sabrina studied Performance Arts at The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York where she worked on Broadway, in commercials, on soap operas and in films. She was invited to move to Los Angeles by ABC, where she began to focus on television, guest-starring in numerous TV sitcoms, dramatic series, and TV movies.
When she moved to Austin, Sabrina brought her experience in film, television and stage to her current passion -- Ballroom. In Austin, Sabrina teaches, competes and performs full-time while furthering her extensive ballroom education with World Champions in both the Standard and Latin styles of dance. She is certified *highly commended* through ISTD in both Standard and Latin.
Sabrina teaches private lessons (competitive and social), group classes (both youth and adult), and performance groups. Recently, she choreographed the CBS TV pilot, "Swingtown" which will air in 2008.
In October of this year, Sabrina joined forces with two-time US Ballroom Champion and current NDCA judge, Stephen Cullip, to offer an extensive multi-level Standard and Smooth program at Austin's Uptown Dance.
For more information on Sabrina, visit Allways Dance.
