1993 & 1994 United States American Smooth Champions. Owners of a successful dance studio in Phoenix, Arizona. They travel around the country teaching classes, coaching and doing shows.
Jim & Jcncll Maranto met in Phoenix, AZ in 1983. Jim moved from Chicago, IL, Jenell
from Reno, NV. Jenell, already an accomplished professional, taught Jim, a stockbroker at
the time, social dancing on and off for about a year. Jenell's enthusiasm for dance and
competition soon rubbed off and they began to compete in Nov. 1984. Jenell's background in
Tap, Jazz, and Ballet combined with Jim's training discipline from high school and college
athletics made a winning combination. They married in September 1986, after the U.S.
Championships of course, and opened their school, the Acadciil~' Of Ballroom Dance in
1987. With the training of some of the top coaches in the country, and a bit of luck, they
won the U.S. Professional Rising Stars American Smooth title and every major International
Rising Stars Standard title in the U.S. The highlight of their career was winning two U.S.
Open Professional American Smooth Championships in 1993 and 1994. They have represented
the United States in two World Showdance Events and were Semi-finalists in both. They are
licentiates of the Imperial Society Ballroom Branch, and have trained a number of U.S.
Pro-Am and Amateur Champions, including the choreography of the U.S. Youth Formation Team
Champions in 1996 and 1997. Jim and Jenell are retired from American Smooth Competition
and are busy teaching-,demonstrating, lecturing, and pursuing their competion goals in the
International Standard.