Watch Pierre Dulaine’s TED talk. Pierre created a unique and proprietary teaching methodology that coupled the joy and practice of ballroom dance with the development of essential life skills of respect, collaboration and partnership for children.
Pierre Dulaine grew up as a poor, shy boy in London kid, trying to fit in and survive a bullied youth. He first saw ballroom dancing as a 14 year old. Scraping together his earnings for lessons, he practiced his newfound passion and shifted from awkward teen to winning every major ballroom award with superstar Yvonne Marceau, his partner since 1976. Together they won numerous awards including the 1977, ’78, ’79 and ‘82 British Exhibition Championships, the Fred Astaire Award for Best Dance on Broadway, Dance Magazine’s award for excellence, the National Dance Council of America award, the Dance Educators of America award, and the Americans for the Arts “Arts in Education” 2005 award.
In 1984, together with Otto Cappel, they founded American Ballroom Theater Company which eventually became the birthplace of Dancing Classrooms.