Catherine Ayla's story

Catherine started dancing at age 5 at a family-owned community center based dance studio in Takoma Park, Maryland. She trained in ballet, tap, and jazz. In high school, she took a break to focus on cheerleading. She continued to choreograph routines for high school events. 

Catherine discovered her love for ballroom dance at age 17 after watching the movie Dirty Dancing where there is a scene in which Johnny (Patrick Swayze) mentions that he was trained at Arthur Murray Dance Studio. She researched and went to her local Arthur Murray (it was real!) and was accepted to train to be an instructor. With her dance background she was able to quickly learn how to lead and follow hundreds of figures in dances including Foxtrot, Swing, Waltz, Salsa, Tango, Cha Cha and Rumba. After three successful years teaching over 20 lessons per week and leading many students to compete and perform, Catherine left Arthur Murray for Dushor Dance studio to focus on learning competitive international ballroom styles.  During this time, she and her students dance competitively, many of whom won awards as well. Notably, in 2007, her student won the Best Newcomer Award at an international event.

In 2010, Catherine began competing and performing with her dance partner Manny Diaz.  After several competitions, Manny and Catherine decided to focus on performing, and they developed salsa routines which they performed at events such as the Capital Salsa Congress in 2017. Tragically, in 2018, Manny passed away from cancer and Catherine took a break from dancing. 

Over the past five years, Catherine has focused on teaching and sharing her love of dance with others. She has taught introductory dance sessions at private clubs and events, and  choreographed first dances for over 50 wedding couples. She also teaches more experienced dancers one-on-one to hone their skills.