Michael Petr

Dance career

Michael Petr is a former professional ballroom dance champion and current top ranked ballroom Pro/Am dance teacher and choreographer. As a professional dancer he was a Top 5 in the European 10 Dance, Latin Showdance, and World Mambo Championships. He has appeared numerous times on TV and Radio, he was a celebrity partner and professional dancer on the reality TV series "StarDance" Czech version of "Dancing with the Stars". He also appeared on the US Dance TV Show "So You Think You Can Dance" in the United States.

Contents

• Michael Petr Jive Instruction
• Dance career
• Personal life
• Music career
• Dance Training
• Acting Training
• Celebrity Dance Students
• References

In 2010 he has retired from competition dancing and created his own competitive ballroom dance team "Michael Petr Dance".

In 2016 two of the students won World Pro/Am Championship held in Irvine, California. At the same event he was awarded Top3 Teacher Award.

In 2015 and 2016 he was awarded Top 10 Dance Teacher for the World Pro/Am DanceSport Series, which each year consist of over 90 professional dance competitions and has over 2000 teachers compete in it.

In 2016 and 2017 He has won Top Teacher Award for the California Gold Rush Dancesport Series. Gold Rush Series is made out of 12 dance competitions with over 500 teachers and spread out over a calendar year. And it's a top teacher award for the West Coast of USA.

Michael Petr is one of the most awarded, recognized and sought after Pro/Am teachers in the US and in the World.

Personal life

Michael Petr was born in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. At the age of 11 he was inspired by American actor and dancer Patrick Swayze who starred in the blockbuster hit movie Dirty Dancing and began his ballroom dancing career. At the age of 13, he went to his first World Ballroom Formation Championship and placed in the semi-finals. At the age 17 he became Czech National Youth Champion in Latin American Dances. In 2002 he has moved to the USA, where he quickly became top ballroom dancer, during 2007-2010 he was studying dance in New York City, Singapore, Australia, Germany and England.

In 2012 he moved to Oregon, United States to seek quieter life style and to retire from competitive ballroom dancing. He is main coach for Michael Petr Dance team, adult competitive ballroom dance team and composes music.

Music career

Music has long history in his family on both sides. His dad played drums, grand dad was accordionist, uncle was bass guitar player and DJ. His first instrument were drums which he learned from his father, during his high school years he played drums in "Vyskovy Bod" soft rock band. Later on he played bass guitar with funk rock band "Yes Yes" until he moved away to study in university. During his collage years he mostly played on hand drums and acoustic guitar. During his professional dance career he only played music as a hobby. In 2015 he started to composed music for his first Solo Album, in September 2017 will be released his first single "Stanek na Rohliky" in his homeland Czech republic.

Dance Training

Ballroom Dancing trained in Germany by World Latin Champions Ralf and Olga Muller and Karl Breuer. Modern Dance he trained in Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance in New York City and Sydney Dance Company in Australia. Michael trained in Hip Hop and Funk Dances with Deandre Carroll in Denver. In his early twenties, he studied with former World Latin champion Louis Van Amstel and "Dancing with the Stars" star, who choreographed two of his successful dance shows.

Acting Training

Michael Petr studied acting in Denver, New York City and Los Angeles. In Denver and in LA he studied with Bill Howey and New York city with Pamela Scott and Aching Dogs Theatre Company.

Celebrity Dance Students

Linda Kozlowski (Lead actress-Crocodile Dundee)
Dionisia Pacquiao (Mother of the World boxing champion Manny Pacquiao)
Riker Lynch (Actor-Glee (TV series), "Dancing with the Stars Celebrity")
Lynn Shanahan (Group President,Tommy Hilfiger)
David Gross (Nobel Prize winner for Physics)