This past summer Marko and Sharon Pekkarinen came from Australia

to America to study and examine in the USISTD American Style.

They were already very accomplished dancers and prior to the

USISTD training and exams, both Marko and Sharon had completed

Bronze Associate and Silver Teachers exams with another dance

organization several years ago.

Australians Interested in American Style

This past summer Marko and Sharon Pekkarinen came from Australia to America to
study and examine in the USISTD American Style. They were already very
accomplished dancers and prior to the USISTD training and exams, both Marko and
Sharon had completed Bronze Associate and Silver Teachers exams with another dance
organization several years ago.
Marko, 35 years old, has been a teacher for 13 years and Sharon, 31 years old, has been
teaching for 7 years. Sharon started dancing at the age of four with ballet. They live in
Canberra, Australia and they have a 2 ½ year old son named Finn.
Marko and Sharon have a social dance school, Danzon, in Canberra, Australia where
their current focus is on the fun social side of partner dancing. They have owned this
studio for two years teaching American Style, Smooth and Rhythm. Danzon is open 6
days a week and has 4 full-time and 2 part-time teachers.
With so much Dancesport around them they believe there is a real need for the social
aspect of partner dancing and they have been proven right in that there studio is very
successful.
While mostly focusing on teaching, they had time to squeeze in some competition
dancing. In 2005 they reached the grand finale of the ABC TV show “Strictly Dancing”
and came in third. In July 2006 they reached the semi-final of Finland’s World Nordic
Tango Championships.
They very much value the benefits of being part of an organization and that is why they
chose to take their USISTD American Style exams. They hope to continue with our
organization with their long term goal to one day become examiners so they can spread
the word about American Style Dancing in Australia.
They are a welcome addition to our teaching society and we look forward to seeing more
of them as well as hearing news about Australia and the American Style.
One question I had while they were here was; do Australians really say “put another
shrimp on the barbie?” Marko said probably not because they call them prawns, so we
have to change it to “put another prawn on the barbie.” Thought you might enjoy this bit
of trivia.

Lori Woods Gay

Marko and Sharon