Judges
Liene Reinbold
Liene Reinbold was born in Latvia and started taking dance lessons at the age of 4. Throughout her life, she has competed in national and international ballroom dance competitions in many European countries, USA and Canada. At the age of 18 she moved to Lithuania to study ballroom dancing at the Lithuanian Sports University (LSU) in Kaunas and formed a long-lasting partnership with Martin Reinbold. In 2000, after graduating from LSU with a Bachelor’s degree in Ballroom Dance, Liene continued her graduate studies in Riga, Latvia. In 2002 she graduated with a Master’s diploma in Small Business Management. Liene has represented Latvia and Lithuania competing with Martin as an amateur and later as a professional athlete in many dance competitions. These include World, European, and regional championships, UK Open, British Open, International Open, and German Open Dance Championships.
Liene is a highly demanded dance professional: coach, competitor, teacher, choreographer, and adjudicator. She works with students from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, and New York. Liene has been awarded a prestigious Top Teacher award at the United States Dance Championships in 2015 and 2016. Liene is an active member of USA Dance, National Dance Council of America (NDCA) and World Dance Council (WDC). She is a Certified Dance Teacher and Certified USA Dance Adjudicator.
Judit Gaspar
- Judit Gaspar was born in Hungary. She started ballroom dancing at age 13 and competed both in Latin American and Standard dances.
- She was member of the Hungarian Champion Latin Formation Team ‘Savaria’ and represented her country in world championships for over ten years.
- In 1997 she relocated to Boston and made teaching her profession. As a professional dancer she competed in numerous competitions across the USA and Europe.
- She holds a teaching license by ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing) in International Ballroom.
After retiring from competitive dancing, she dedicated her time to teaching children. - Judit believes that Ballroom dancing combines sport and art together into a comprehensive activity that teaches the new generation about essential life skills such as communication, teamwork, discipline, self-motivation; all which are way beyond dancing itself.
- Some of her students are US representatives to the world championships and world finalists.
Judit holds a Master of Science degree in Applied Nutrition. Her mission as a nutrition professional is to be a source of science-based nutrition education that inspires the youth to achieve healthy body, mind, and spirit. - Judit has two sons: Christopher and Patrick Affonso. They are both competitive ballroom dancers, who she believes are the inspiration for her continued work.
KArita Yli-Piipari
15 times Finnish National Champion in Standard, Latin, and 10-Dance
WDSF 10-Dance World Cup Vice-Champion and Europe Cup Bronze medalist
10-Dance World & European Championships Finalist
World Games Standard Championships Finalist
International and United Kingdom Professional Rising Star finalist (standard)
Blackpool Championships Rising Star Semifinalist (standard)
International Championships Rising Star Semifinalist (latin)
Winner of numerous prestigious WDC and WDSF titles including North European, Universal, Finnish Open, Malesian
Open, Singapore Open, King’s Cup to name a few. Achievement of her students
Multiple National Championships
WDSF World Champions and Finalists
Dmitry Stepanov
International WDC (World Dance Council) Judge.
Member of FNDL (highest category) in Ukraine. Top-category coach in ballroom dancing.
Head of the ballroom dance ensemble “Harmony”. Master’s degree in Ballroom Choreography, graduated from Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts.
Shares his knowledge, skills, and expertise in ballroom choreography, conducts training seminars, masterclasses, and coaching sessions for athletes and trainers.
Regularly invited as a judge for major national and international competitions.
Achievements of his students:
Multiple-time champions of Ukraine.
Finalists and champions of the WDC World Championships .
Winners of Blackpool Dance Festival.
Winners of the International Championship.