HUNT FOR

WINE ON

PARTY

THE CURE

THE VERANDA

MEET THE DANCERS OFTHE BALLROOM BRA

JULY 2015

SecretGarden

23 JULY 2015 •

BallroomBallroomBRA

VIP is pleased to announce the second Ballroom BRA has set the date for the 2015 competition! For those of you unaware, this event has a similar theme as the

popular show, “Dancing With The Stars.” The Ballroom BRA event, started by Adrienne and Dr. Nick Tarola with Tarola Plastic Surgery, features a ballroom dance competition of several fabulous local and familiar faces, benefi tting a phe-nomenal cause, National Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day. Many women who have undergone mastectomy are not aware of the options available to them. BRA Day USA is working to change that. The Ballroom BRA is an opportu-nity to make a diff erence right here in Rutherford County!

Each contestant has been paired with a professional dance instructor from our very own National Dance Clubs in Murfreesboro and will be competing at the event in October. The competition will take place starting at 7 p.m., the evening of October 21 at Stones River Country Club. Tickets go on sale in September!

So mark your calendars and get ready for a great time! It is our pleasure to introduce you to the fabulous contes-tants and instructors for the 2015 Ballroom BRA!

BENEFITTING BRA DAY USA

Meet the Dancers of

24 • VIP MURFREESBORO

Jen Ashcraft, 34Jen grew up in Collierville, TN where she studied bal-

let. After graduating from the University of Tennessee and moving to Nashville, Jen began to apprentice under the creator of the BarreAmped method. After two years of ap-prenticeship and a move with her family to Murfreesboro, Jen opened the first barre fitness studio in Murfreesboro. Barre 11 Fitness now offers 38 classes per week, including barre, yoga and other group fitness classes.

Jen agreed to participate in this year’s Ballroom BRA because it is such an awesome opportunity to give back to a community of survivors. Jen’s studio is built on the idea of empowering women, so it is only natural that she would be so interested and invested in Ballroom BRA.

Jen has lots of experience dancing alone, but this is the first dance experience with a partner. Her partner, Christian, is so amazing and Jen explains that they have so much fun together. Jen says the experience, so far, has been as hard as she anticipated, but way more fun!

Jen loves that Rutherford County supports local. She explains that Murfreesboro is a growing city that maintains its small town roots. Raising a family here is so rewarding for Jen and she believes nothing beats the people in Ruth-erford County.

When asked to tell us something interesting about her-self, Jen explains that she developed a fitness method with her best friend that is now taught in over 20 group fitness boutiques around the country. She also says that she loses everything, but finds it quickly. Jen loves being the momma of boys; she never knew it would be so much fun!

Christian Montesinos, 22Christian was born in San Diego, CA with his parents being

from Mexico, technically making him a “Chicano”. Christian loves anything that involves health and exercise! He is currently attend-ing MTSU studying Exercise Science and Nutrition. Christian is also a Ballroom Dance Instructor and Competitor at National Dance Clubs. He was looking for a fun career that allowed him to be physically active and connect with people. NDC was the perfect place for him.

Christian learned to dance at age 17 when he realized that he NEEDED to learn the skill after an embarrassing situation. A girl left him on the dance floor! Christian vowed never to get caught dancing badly again. Christian has a sweet spot for Latin dances with his favorite being the Bachata.

Christian is excited about the upcoming Ballroom BRA and dancing with his partner. Since Jen is also a fitness enthusiast, Christian has no doubt that he and his partner will work well to-gether and rock this competition.

When asked about his favorite thing about Rutherford County, Christian explains that it is the blend of people. Not only is it cul-turally diverse, but with MTSU drawing younger people in conjunc-tion with established families that have lived in the area their entire lives, he feels this creates a great mixture.

Christian loves life and everything it has to offer. It is the jour-ney, not the destination that is important. With so many negative things this world could be focused on, he enjoys being able to give people something to be positive about.

25 JULY 2015 •

Alexandra JONES, 23Alexandra is originally from New Mexico. Her family

moved to Middle Tennessee in 2001. In addition to dance, she grew up figure skating, playing piano and competitive swimming. After graduating college, she searched for a career that she could love and enjoy. She found National Dance Clubs! Alexandra is currently a Ballroom Dance Instructor and Competitor at National Dance Clubs of Murfreesboro.

Alexandra started dancing as a child. Her friend’s mother invited Alexandra to her daughter’s dance class to make her friend feel comfortable. Alexandra fell in love with it and has danced ever since. She trained in ballet, tap and jazz before taking her talents to the ice in figure skating.

Ballroom is Alexandra’s favorite style of dancing because there is so much more room for expression when dancing with a partner. She explains that two heads are always better than one, and you are able to incorporate lifts and tricks with a partner that you could not do alone. Alexandra believes that having someone out there on the floor with you makes you feel like you are part of a team; it gives you confidence!

Alexandra was surprised to learn that her partner for this year’s Ballroom BRA is a friend of one of the contestants from last year, Sean Fox. He also knows one of the current students at NDC. It is a small world.

There is so much to do here in Murfreesboro; fun places to be active, great shopping and countless restaurants to try out, and that is what Alexandra loves about our community. To top it off, she says that everyone is friendly and helpful.

Alexandra is a “crazy cat lady”. She has two beloved fur babies of her own.

Jeremy Bills, 29Jeremy is from Savannah, TN, having moved to Murfreesboro

in 2004 to begin MTSU where he graduated in 2008. He then graduated from Life University College of Chiropractic in Atlanta in March 2013 with a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. Jeremy is a Chiro-practor at Stanlick Chiropractic. He is married to his beautiful wife Heather, and they have two children, Aiden (5) and Kinleigh(11 Months). Jeremy loves spending time with his kids, playing golf and UT football.

Jeremy agreed to be a contestant in this year’s Ballroom BRA because it is an opportunity to support a great cause and help raise awareness for Breast Reconstruction Awareness with other leaders in the community. This is Jeremy’s first-time ever dancing and he says it has been really exciting so far. It is a whole new experience

for Jeremy and is more challenging than he anticipated. He never knew counting to six would be so difficult, but he is certainly enjoy-ing the opportunity to learn something new.

Jeremy loves this community and that is one of the reasons he came back here, after graduating chiropractic school. Jeremy ex-plains even as fast as Murfreesboro continues to grow, it still has a hometown feel.

Something many people might not know about Jeremy is that he suffered a Subdural Hematoma, brain injury, in high school while playing football, and was unconscious for three days at Vanderbilt.

26 • VIP MURFREESBORO

Kristin Demos, 40Originally from Knoxville, TN, Kristin graduated from

MTSU with a degree in Sociology. Kristin enjoys volunteering, currently serving as Development Chair for the St. Thomas Rutherford Foundation. She is Past-President of the Junior League of Murfreesboro, Executive Committee and Board Member of United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Coun-ties, Secretary for the Leadership Rutherford Board, Fundrais-ing Chair for the Child Advocacy Center of Rutherford and Cannon Counties and founding member, where she served as “Queen of the Quackers” Event Chair for the CAC Rubber Duck Derby for 8 years. Kristin is a graduate of Leadership Rutherford and also was awarded the 2006 Community Ser-vice Award by Junior League of Murfreesboro. Kristin for-merly served as the Campaign and Communications Director and Interim President for the United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties. She is currently the Marketing Director/Brand Manager for Demos’ Restaurants including Peter D’s Restaurant and Peter D’s Seasonings. Kristin and her hus-band, Peter, have two children, Jamey and Karys.

Kristin loves to dance and loves a challenge. This was the perfect opportunity for her to do both and support a great cause! Kristin comes with dance experience as she was a varsity member of the Blue Raider Dance Team at MTSU. She explains that she has danced most of her life on dance teams, but never with a partner. She LOVES learning how to ball-room dance and finds it more challenging than she imagined it would be. She says that her dance partner, Jamey is very talented, super fun and that she is having a fantastic time.

Kristin loves the philanthropic spirit in Murfreesboro. She explains that this community is unique in the desire to help others. She feels we are a truly blessed community.

Kristin’s mom put her in dance lessons when she was little because she was such a tomboy. So now Kristin enjoys being a sports fanatic, tomboy (especially football), who loves to dance!

James McCaskilL ,30James was born and raised in Murfreesboro. After teaching at

the National Dance Clubs of Brentwood for several years, he re-turned with his wife and children to open National Dance Clubs of Murfreesboro, where he is a Ballroom Dance Instructor and Chore-ographer.

James began dancing at age 11. His fascination with the combi-nation of athletic movement and artistic expression is what led him to dance. Tango and Cha-Cha are his favorite dances because both are sharp, quick and require articulate partnership.

It was his passion for dance and helping others that led him to National Dance Clubs. James feels that partnership dancing helps couples connect with each other, gives singles a sophisticated, mature way to meet new people in a safe environment, all while getting low impact exercise! He enjoys that NDC offers a live band and professional show EVERY single Friday night!

James is excited about dancing with his partner Kristin, as they both have a competitive spirit that he believes will take them far in this Ballroom BRA competition.

Because Rutherford County has maintained a “small town” feel, while growing and thriving as a healthy, safe, bustling city, James loves living and working here! He also enjoys the wide variety of restaurants to choose from.

Outside of dancing, James enjoys hunting, fishing, and attempt-ing to play golf. He gives credit to God for his success. An interest-ing tidbit about James, he met Vincent, another instructor partici-pating in Ballroom BRA, dancing in Riverdale’s Half-Timers.

27 JULY 2015 •

Mary Beth Hagan, 38Mary Beth and her husband, Mike, moved to Murfreesboro while

she was in law school at the University of Tennessee. Mike lived here, and Mary Beth commuted home on the weekends. She started out working for a law firm in Nashville but moved her law practice to Murfreesboro in 2008 in order to structure a better work-life balance as a professional and parent. She is currently the Managing Attorney at Hagan Law Group, PLLC. Mary Beth and Mike have two children who attend Campus School, and spend most weekends on the soccer fields with the Murfreesboro Strikers. Mary Beth is originally from Fairview, Tennessee.

Mary Beth’s grandmother passed away after battling breast can-cer. Therefore, in her memory, Mary Beth tries to support organiza-tions that work with other fighters and survivors. The Ballroom BRA was a great opportunity for Mary Beth to step far outside her com-fort-zone, have fun and support a worthy cause in the community.

Mary Beth has been known to initiate the dance-off among friends, but she has no formal experience or training. She has en-joyed learning the technique from her partner. Mary Beth explains that her law practice deals mainly with construction law issues, so she likes methods and techniques, and she has learned that dancing is no different. She explains there is a method to the dance, so that you can communicate with your dancing partner using nonverbal cues.

Mary Beth loves Murfreesboro because of its intersection of his-tory and vibrant growth. She explains that the county has such a rich tradition and past, yet we embrace the growth of this area. Ruther-ford County is diverse enough that you can find a place to belong that fits with your interests.

Mary Beth is on a mission to help connect women with each oth-er to grow their faith in meaningful and real ways. She explains, we are all busy, but when we find time to connect with each other, we find the ability to give grace to ourselves, and others, which makes our community and the world better. Mary Beth has led a women’s ministry for two years and is looking for ways to expand it through Rutherford County.

Philip Burns, 25Philip grew up in a military family in his hometown of Wood-

bury, TN. He moved to Murfreesboro over two years ago with his wife and their three-year-old son. They have since been blessed with another son.

Philip has always danced, and had the opportunity to study ev-erything from martial arts to clogging. He has practiced and taught many styles of Mixed Martial Arts for over 17 years. Philip actually started dancing with the Cripple Creek Cloggers when he was 10. He has traveled the world with them competing in different coun-tries over the years.

When we asked him what led him to National Dance Clubs, Philip says that he actually just went to NDC for a Thursday night party and simply fell in love with Ballroom dancing. He stayed and hung out for awhile, dancing with a few students and teachers. He was asked to come in for an interview and never left. Philip found his dream job and has been a Ballroom Dance Instructor at NDC ever since.

Ballroom is not only a career that he uses to support his fam-ily, it is his passion. Philip lives and breathes dance and has been blessed that NDC has such an amazing team. He says that it seems they have become just an extension of his own family. Philip’s fa-vorite style of dancing is Smooth and his favorite dance is Waltz.

Philip is pleased to have the opportunity to participate in this year’s Ballroom BRA . He explains that it was amazing last year and such a great way to bring important topics to light, while having fun and cultivating a healthy competitive spirit! Philip loves watch-ing his students compete and seeing the growth in their dancing overflow into their lives. So you can imagine, he will certainly enjoy coaching his partner for this competition.

When asked about Rutherford County, Philip says it is beauti-ful, and growing rapidly. He loves the people here and the overall community. Philip explains that Rutherford county has been a great place to build his career and raise his family. And he says, if you know the right places, the nightlife is amazing!

28 • VIP MURFREESBORO

Matt Foglia, 41

Matt and his family, wife Stephanie, daughter Savanna (13) and son Michael (11), moved to Murfreesboro from the New York City area in 2008, after he accepted a faculty position with MTSU. Currently, Matt is a Professor of Audio Production in MTSU’s De-partment of Recording Industry. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Matt’s family moved to Orlando in 8th grade. While in high school, he went into the recording studio for the first-time as the lead guitarist for a yet-to-be discovered Rob Thomas. This introduction led Matt to studying Audio Engineering at UNCA and completing his gradu-ate studies at NYU. During his 14 years in NYC, Matt specialized in sound for picture and mixed lots of TV shows and DVDs, including projects for Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen. While he still mixes on the side, Matt prefers to do “anything and everything” family-related.

When asked about the Ballroom BRA and why he chose to par-ticipate, Matt explains that this event brings attention to the emo-tional and psychological healing process – something people do not usually think about since there is, understandably, so much

focus on the physical aspects of cancer. Hopefully, his doing this will help make some of Matt’s friends and colleagues more aware of this side of fighting cancer.

Matt’s dancing experience is limited to “weddings, charity events and dares.” However, he looks forward to rehearsing with his partner and getting his feet moving on the dance floor.

While it is a little “slower-paced” than NYC, the people Matt and his family have met through church (St. of Rose of Lima), work and their kids’ sports have made living in Murfreesboro a great experience.

When asked about something interesting that other folks might not know, Matt explained that he first “went steady” with his wife, Stephanie, in 7th grade – but then moved to Orlando shortly thereafter. They remained pen pals and Matt would visit relatives and friends in Pittsburgh every summer – including Stephanie. The long-distance love affair paid off for Matt in 1997 when they mar-ried.

Alexandria Redding Francoviglia,OLD ENOUGH...

Alexandria is from Fort Wayne, Indiana and went to school at the University of Cincinnati. After graduating, she relocated to the Nashville area with the dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, which was not meant to be. She answered a job ad in the newspaper for teaching ballroom dance and the rest is history. Now, she is a certified Ballroom Dancer, Instructor and the Office Manager at the National Dance Clubs of Murfreesboro. Alexandria is a two-time medalist at the United States DanceSport Championships, as well as a two-time finalist at the prestigious British Exhibition Invita-tional at the May Dance Festival in Blackpool, England.

Alexandria’s dancing began at age five, when her mother signed her up for ballet lessons. Her mother was never a dancer but always wanted to be. Alexandria was actually named after the lead charac-ter in the 1985 movie “Flash Dance”, so it was meant to be. Alex-andria’s specialty is in Theatre Arts with all of the lifts and tricks. However, she loves the American Smooth style with the Foxtrot being her favorite dance.

Last year, Alexandria danced with Mayor Shane McFarland at the Ballroom BRA. She notes Shane always had loud and colorful socks. This year, she is paired with Matt Foglia, and he, is all about cool shoes!

When asked what her favorite things are about Murfreesboro, Alexandria tells us Pure Barre on Medical Center, the Barfield Park Nature Trails and the City Café on the Square are at the top of her list. Alexandria is a member of Kappa Delta Sorority and she abso-lutely loves fast food!

29 JULY 2015 •

Savannah Grimm, 22

Savannah is a 22 year-old single-mom, who graduated from MTSU with a degree in Mass Communications. Savannah is the Co-Host of The Woody and Jim Show on 107.5, The River – iHeart Media. She clearly enjoys her job as she tells us that she gets paid to laugh and be silly seven days a week on the radio!

Savannah is participating in this year’s Ballroom BRA because it is a fabulous cause and because she absolutely loves to dance. Savannah comes to Ballroom BRA with previous dance experience. She had the opportunity to compete, while growing up, for a dance company in Franklin, but eventually had to quit because the strain from traveling was just too much for her family. Savannah recently took ballroom classes at National Dance Club in Murfreesboro in February to get her feet wet again. Needless to say, she is thrilled

with the opportunity to get back into something that has long been a passion of hers.

So far Savannah’s experience has been incredible! She explains that her partner, Vincent, certainly does not go easy on her, but she loves that. Savannah is a bit of a perfectionist, so she is hopeful that Vincent will continue to push her to her absolute best.

One of Savannah’s favorite things about Murfreesboro is simply Main Street with its stunning houses and charm. She also enjoys the Stones River National Cemetery for its historical contribution to our community.

Vincent Ballard, 32Vincent was born and raised in Murfreesboro. He at-

tended Blackman High School where he was a member of their dance team, the Half-Timers. Vincent began dancing as a young boy after seeing a performance of Donny and Marie Os-mond. He was inspired by their showmanship. Vincent also loves to sing and has performed many show tunes and Disney songs across Middle Tennessee.

Foxtrot, Tango and Mambo are Vincent’s favorite dances because he feels that these have so much character! Vincent also enjoys competing in both Open Smooth and Open Rhythm across the US.

What brought Vincent to National Dance Clubs? The Fri-day night parties of course! Vincent explains that every Friday night, NDC has a live band and open bar. It does help that Vincent grew up with the owner of the studio and was invited to attend the Friday night parties, when they first opened the club. Vincent immediately fell in love with it and soon decided to become an instructor. Vincent explains that he gets to dance and dress up every day, and wonders what could pos-sibly be better?

Vincent is overflowing with excitement about this year’s Ballroom BRA as he is the reigning champ! Last year his partner was Lindsey Fournier and they enjoyed winning first place. Vincent said it was invigorating to support such a great cause. He looks forward to dominating again this year with Savannah!

Vincent is an avid shopper and sharp dressed man, so the Avenue is one of his favorite things about Murfreesboro, his home away from home. He also frequents Peter D’s and says that they have the best Reuben this side of the Mississippi!

An interesting tidbit about Vincent, is that he actually taught James McCaskill everything he knows about hip-hop!

30 • VIP MURFREESBORO

Eric BelL , 23Eric is a Murfreesboro native with a “big crazy

Italian family.” His mom is from New York City and moved here in the early 90’s. They pride themselves in being a close knit, dysfunctional and artistically creative family.

Eric’s mother noticed that he loved to dance from the time he was able to walk and encouraged this as a creative outlet. Eric started taking classes at the age of six, began teaching at 15, and began dancing for a few different companies in about 11 different countries by the age of 18.

Eric enjoys any partnership dancing. He explains that there is something really magical about the physi-cal connection you get with somebody while you are dancing ballroom.

Dancing changed Eric’s life. He always wanted to teach dance so he could give people the same life experiences that he has gotten from it. Dancing makes Eric happy, and he wants everyone else to be as happy as he is. He loves that National Dance Clubs is right here in his hometown and enjoys being a Dance In-structor and Competitor at NDC.

Eric loves the diverse terrain in Rutherford County, specifically, the creeks, rivers, hills, meadows and the gorgeous countryside. He also enjoys the history that is here. Not to mention, he says that our community also has the best ballroom studio in the world.

Something many people may not know about Eric is that he was a top model in Asia! He modeled in Fashion Week in Singapore, Tokyo, Beijing and Shang-hai, which led him to an opportunity to do New York Fashion Week as well. Eric tells us that this was so much fun, such a wonderful experience.

Penny Bolton, 59Penny was born in Smithville, less than five minutes

from fabulous Center Hill Lake. She has been married 41 years to her amazing husband, Don Bolton. They never had children, but are the proud parents of a 13 year-old chihuahua, named Muffy, that they adore, and three much loved cats. Don and Penny moved to Murfreesboro because they loved the city so much. Penny is the owner of a local ladies boutique and specialty store, Penny’s Closet, since 1999.

Penny agreed to dance because she wanted to be a part of a charity that helped women transition back to their new normal after breast cancer. Penny explains that breast reconstruction should be available to all that desire it!

This is Penny’s first-time dancing, except for tap dancing when she was very young. She is really looking forward to dancing with Eric and hopes to shed a few pounds.

Penny loves that Murfreesboro is a diverse, fast growing city with a small town feel. She tell us that Murfreesboro has the best citizens in the world that are warm, friendly, generous and compas-sionate. Penny concludes that Murfreesboro has everything that she wants or needs!

Penny enjoys spending time with family, friends, her dog and cats. Her favorite times include dinner with friends and great conversations. Penny also loves travelling, shopping and exploring places that she has never been.

Her dreams are pretty simple— she just wants to enjoy her time with family and friends.

31 JULY 2015 •

Derek K. Johnson, 47Derek is a Pediatrician at the Murfreesboro Medical Clinic, as

well as a Concussion Specialist at The Concussion Clinic at MMC. He is originally from Seat Pleasant, MD, a town that shares a border with Washington, D.C. Derek graduated from the University of Maryland-College Park in 1991 and is a proud Maryland Terp alum-nus and supporter. Derek also graduated from the University of Pittsburgh-School of Medicine. He was a U.S. Army physician until 2001. Derek currently lives here in Rutherford County with his mom and his two children. Derek is engaged to LaToya Anderson and will soon have two stepdaughters. Being from the East Coast, Derek has a love for fresh seafood, especially crabs.

When asked why he is participating in the Ballroom BRA, Derek explains his arm was gently twisted by, his friend, Dr. Melita Brad-ley. Not to mention his mother and sister are “Dancing with the Stars” fanatics. Lastly, Derek explains that 1 John 3:17 tells us to help those in need.

So far, Derek says that the experience is what he expected; a new challenge in his blessed life, to learn something new to add to his extraordinary experiences. It does help that Derek loves to dance, however this will be his first-time ballroom dancing. His dance

partner, Ms. Whitney “Rock On!” Travis, has been very encouraging and fun to work with.

Derek really enjoys that Rutherford County is a growing met-ropolitan with a small town feel. Although he thinks we get a bad rap from Williamson and Davidson County people, he loves this county and the people in it. It is a no brainer to live here because of our great schools, cheaper cost of living and down to earth people. Derek also enjoys the simple fact that traffic is much better than in the Washington, D.C. area, where he says driving is painful and extremely frustrating. His friends back home are quite jealous that Derek is able to go home for lunch.

People may see Derek as a very outgoing, social person. How-ever, he loves spending “alone time” periodically, whether it be working in the yard or reading a good book at night. Coming home Friday evening and never leaving the house until Monday morning is a treat. Derek especially enjoys watching old, black and white movies like “Singing in the Rain” or Abbott and Costello, and simply relaxing at home.

Whitney Travis, 26Whitney is a Murfreesboro native who loves to travel. She

enjoys painting to help her relax. Whitney started ballet, tap and jazz at age four. She was a member of Riverdale’s Half-Timers in high school and continued until she suffered a knee injury.

Ballroom is by far Whitney’s favorite because she enjoys the partnership aspect and that it is low impact. However, Whitney loves all the dances and it really depends on the day and her mood as to what her favorite is. She enjoys expressing how she feels through the different dances.

Whitney has always aspired to be a dance teacher. So, when she saw that National Dance Clubs was hiring instruc-tors, she became super excited that she could possibly contin-ue doing what she loves and have the opportunity to share her passion with others. Whitney is currently a Ballroom Dance Instructor and Competitor at National Dance Clubs.

Sean Fox was Whitney’s partner last year for the Ballroom BRA and they received the first perfect score! Whitney says that it was such a blast to do something like this for a good cause. She is thrilled to be working with Derek Johnson this year. She loves that he is so outgoing and fun and she cannot wait to hit the floor with him!

Whitney has always been a huge fan of Murfreesboro. It is her home! She cannot believe how much the city has grown over the last decade. Whitney tells us that Nashville better watch out, that the ‘Boro is coming!

It is ironic that Whitney is a dancer because she explains that she is the clumsiest dancer you will ever meet. She may look graceful while out on the floor, but as soon as she walks off, she is the first one to accidently make a scene by falling on her face. And if she does fall, she says that you have permis-sion to laugh.

32 • VIP MURFREESBORO

Chelsea Knutson, 27

Chelsea moved from upstate New York after high school to go to college in Arizona. Soon after, she came to Manchester, TN to be near family. She wanted to give others the gift of dance because it is her greatest passion and joy. Therefore, she obtained a posi-tion as a Ballroom Dance Instructor and Competitor at National Dance Clubs.

Chelsea started dancing at age four. She loved moving to music and wanted to be great at it! She especially loves Rhythm, Cha-cha, Rumba and Swing dancing! She currently competes in Open Rhythm divisions at competitions across the US. This will be Chelsea’s second year participating in the Ballroom BRA. She explains that last year was amazing, and she looks forward to an-other successful year.

It is not surprising that Chelsea’s favorite thing about Ruth-erford County is that National Dance Clubs is here. She believes that NDC gives the community a chance to learn a fun and im-pressive hobby, while giving the community a sense of sophistica-tion and class!

Something we find unique about Chelsea is that she has lived in over 15 different countries throughout her life!

Anthony Togrye , 53Anthony has lived in Middle Tennessee since 1982, where he

attended MTSU and met his wife Ginny. He completed his dental studies at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis followed by completion of his orthodontic specialty resi-dency at Vanderbilt University. Anthony has been practicing ortho-dontics for the past 20 years. Children and family are immensely important to Anthony, as he has two sons, Kayon and Cameron. He strives to be involved with their interests and passions. He is also very involved with the community, supporting several local organizations including the Children’s Discovery Center, the Boys and Girls Clubs, Special Kids, the Murfreesboro Soccer Club and of course now, BRA.

When asked about Ballroom BRA and why he is participat-ing, Anthony says that he must chuckle! Although he does support many local charities, he has not been involved with BRA in the past, but explains that Adrienne Tarola can be very persuasive! Once you experience how passionate Adrienne is about BRA, you have to respect that and do what you can to help.

Anthony cracks a joke about having danced before. He says, “Are you kidding?” and explains that he has absolutely no experi-ence with dancing of any kind. Nonetheless, he figures if Ming

Wang can do it, so can he!He is excited to be dancing with the lovely Chelsea Knutson.

She is a very experienced, enthusiastic and energetic dancer and he believes that she sure will have her work cut out for her.

Anthony appreciates how Rutherford County is family oriented and explains that people are extremely nice and courteous. His children have grown up here, as well as he has treated hundreds of young teens that have grown up here. Anthony has truly enjoyed seeing their success and seeing them become active and produc-tive adults. Murfreesboro is home, has always been home. He and Ginny would not want to live anywhere else.

Anyone who knows Anthony knows what a fanatic he is about soccer. Anthony has played since he could walk, has coached, sponsored and has been involved in any way possible. During the most recent World Cup, Anthony had flat screens installed in all the treatment rooms, so he could listen to the games while he worked.

Anthony has a small group of very close friends that he says keep him humble and in-line. He enjoys traveling and experiencing different and new cultures. He has a passion for building success-ful businesses and enjoys helping entrepreneurs reach their dreams. Cooking is another hobby Anthony enjoys but does not get to do it as often as he would like. He loves flying and will be working on obtaining a pilot’s license soon. Who knows, Anthony says that ballroom dancing may become his new passion, if it does not kill him.

33 JULY 2015 •

Ken Holbert, 64Ken was born and raised in California, but moved to

Tennessee 15 years ago. He intended it to be temporary, but fell in love with Tennessee and Tennesseans. Ken is currently an Emergency Physician at Wayne Medical Cen-ter.

Ken has been taking lessons at National Dance Clubs for the last couple years. He started lessons after hearing about National Dance Clubs at the Smyrna Rotary’s Snow-ball event. He has competed in Pro Am divisions from Tennessee to Florida for two years now. Ken is very excited to put his practice and dancing to good use in this year’s Ballroom BRA competition. He is pleased to have the op-portunity to compete for a great charity and worthy cause!

When asked about his favorite things about this community, Ken responded that he especially enjoys the people of Rutherford County, the lake and the vibrancy of a growing economy.

Ken also has another interesting hobby outside of dancing and that is flying. He is a pilot and has enjoyed flying for years!

Chrischianna VigiL , OLD ENOUGH...Chrischianna was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana,

where she grew up in a military family. Her family moved to Mur-freesboro when she was nine.

She started dancing at National Dance Clubs in her early 20s. Chrischianna was heavily involved in sports during her entire youth and very much enjoyed competitive sports. Therefore, it made her very happy to have the opportunity to make a career out of some-thing that lets her express her competitive side. She was introduced to NDC through a childhood friend of one of the owners and is thoroughly enjoying her role as a Ballroom Dance Instructor and Competitor at NDC.

It was difficult for Chrischianna to pick a favorite style of danc-ing, as she loves all of them. Her favorite dance varies from day to day because she says they all have such different feelings and characteristics.

Chrischianna cannot wait for this year’s competiton. As she explains, last year’s Ballroom BRA was so much fun and she is very much looking forward to another successful year and dancing with her partner.

When asked about her favorite thing in Rutherford County, Chrischianna tells us that she loves the numerous amounts of Mexi-can restaurants! Another interesting tidbit about this lovely lady is she prefers to be barefoot over wearing shoes any day, any time, sun, rain, sleet or snow.