DanceMakers History

DanceMakers of Texas was born in 1995 when Norman Heitman and Julie Ebe opened a small ballroom dancing school on Montgomery Street in Fort Worth along with 3 other business partners. It was a struggle at first and by the second year, Norman and Julie were sole owners of the school.

They must have done something right, though because many of those first students have become award winning dancers and are still with us. Norman is now retired, but occasionally volunteers his time. Julie acts as owner/manager and continues to teach students and train staff.

In January of 1998 DanceMakers moved to our current spacious location on Camp Bowie Blvd, with three teaching rooms and a beautiful 40x45 square foot dance floor in the main ballroom.

Now, DanceMakers is prospering due to the resurgence of ballroom dance and the wonderful word of mouth generated by our many satisfied students. Our relaxed, friendly atmosphere and constant commitment to the students have earned us a reputation as THE place to go for partner dancing in Fort Worth. Our Friday night parties draw students and professionals from all over the metroplex.

We are proud to be a lasting part of the Fort Worth arts community.

DanceMakers Accomplishments

Having been in business continuously for over a decade, DanceMakers has a standard of dance far beyond that of a beginning studio. Our quality of instruction and experienced staff have produced award-winning amateur and professional dancers. Staff members are certified by a Nationally recognized coach and adjudicator, and they all undergo continuing dance and teaching education. We pride ourselves on ethics, professionalism, and on staying on the cutting edge of social and competition dance. Since first entering the Competition circuit with Pro-Am entries in 2001, DanceMakers has entered Pro-Am, Amateur Couple, and Professional Couple rounds in regional and Dancesport events, winning top school, and the Spirit award at the Alamo City Classic 2005.

DanceMakers Projects

Dancing Classrooms

The movies "Take the Lead" and "Mad Hot Ballroom" showed the world a brilliant program to bring the elegant world of ballroom dancing to New York inner city school kids. It caught on like wildfire and now the official Dancing Classrooms program has come to Fort Worth! DanceMakers owner Julie Ebe and staff member Rachel Hunt were privileged to train directly with Pierre Dulaine (played by Antonio Banderas in "Take the Lead") and in cooperation with Dancing Classrooms North Texas have begun teaching the Pierre Dulaine system of ballroom dancing to fifth graders in Forth Worth and HEB public schools.

DanceMakers is proud to be on the steering committee for Dancing Classrooms North Texas. We are thrilled that this program will help bring ballroom dancing to more young people.

Learn more about Dancing Classrooms by logging on to www.dancingclassrooms.com