Who's Who: Michael Arntz

Name: Michael Arntz

Age: 49

Occupation: Ballroom dance instruction, mobile DJ services, sailing instruction

How long have you lived in El Cerrito? Four years (not consecutively).

What is your experience of El Cerrito? It's a quiet and compact community with a mild climate and some of the best views of the Bay from the hills. Also, there is good access to transportation – BART, bus, freeway – which is key for me.

Are you a Bay Area native? No. After a stint in the military, where I was stationed at Travis Air Force Base, I decided I wanted to live in the Bay Area – for such things as the climate, culture, access to the coast and the natural beauty that surrounds us.

What prompted you to learn dance? Well, I started learning partner dancing to meet women. But not just that, I was intrigued as I witnessed a small revival of Lindy and Swing dancing take place in the mid-1990s here in the Bay Area (San Francisco). This is what caught my attention and how I became interested in learning partner dancing in the first place. Above all, I found partner dancing to be as fun as I imagined it to be when I first saw others dancing.

What were you doing before you started teaching dance for a living?
I was in the automotive industry for two decades, and then I lost my job in 2007 due to the down economy. That's when I decided to try turning hobbies into careers. I had been an avid ballroom dancer for 10 years or so when I attended a teacher training course and began teaching beginners how to partner dance.

What would be your advice to beginning dance students? Three words: patience, practice and persistance. You must be patient with yourself, you must practice what you have learned and you must be persistant about it.

What are common issues you see people struggling with when they learn to dance? For some, it's getting past that initial awkward feeling as they learn their first steps. Some students will compare themselves to others who may be picking up the steps perceivably faster than them or they simply get frustrated that they can't get the steps right away and assume that it's because they have no natural talent. Fact is, everyone has their own aptitude when it comes to learning something new. If students follow the "patience, practice, and persistance" advice above, they will ultimately begin to realize the fun factor.

What are your hobbies? Sailing. I love sailing. And like partner dancing, I have also turned to this as a career and have been teaching sailing professionally since 2007.