BRIAN WONG

BIOGRAPHY:

 

“It has always been about community and bringing dancers together.”

 

This is the concept by which Brian Wong pursued in order to develop one of the most successful dance community websites in the Midwest, Chicago Dance News. Promoting all forms of couples dancing from Argentine Tango to Stepping, Chicago Dance News has bridged gaps between dance communities and given new dancers a place to start.

 

Brian Wong’s own dance background is diverse with training in Jazz, Theater, Country, Ballroom, and Swing.  Originally, he came to love performance in doing 27 amateur and semi-pro musicals and plays.  In 1997, Universal Studios selected him as a dancer for the 10th anniversary celebration of Dirty Dancing where he hung out Patrick Swayze and the rest of the dirty dancing crew.  In 1998, Paramount Pictures used him as a dancer in a VH1 special for the 20th anniversary of Grease which was filmed at the Mann’s Chinese Theater and then at the Palladium in Hollywood. 

 

As an instructor, Brian has coached dancers around the country, along with judging and teaching workshops and dance competitions and events.  He is a popular and well know teacher from Birmingham to Chicago and travels regularly to teach dance seminars and workshops.  Brian has also taught American style Ballroom at Fred Astaire Dance Studios which is an experience that he treasures deeply. 

 

Brian has developed a very effective teaching method called, "Dance Rhythms" in which students learn the heart beat of a dance before applying it to any basic patterns.  Using this methodology, someone who has never danced before can learn to do any dance within 60 seconds.

 

Competitively, Brian Wong holds several titles including 2001 Mid US Advanced Swing Champion, a 2004 UCWDC Pro-Am World’s Championship, and is a two time UCWDC World Championship's Professional Two Step Jack and Jill Winner (2009 and 2010). 

 

Brian currently competes with his PRO-AM students in UCWDC events around the country and coaches a competitive dance team, Dancellusions who will compete in UCWDC and NASDE events nationally. 

 

Most  recently, Brian has been called upon as a Master of Ceremonies at different dance events such as Melody Salsa & Swing in Huntsville and Christmas in Dixie in Birmingham, Alabama. 

 

On the business side, Brian has owned a multi-state tech-telecom company, was a primary investor in a mortgage bank branch, currently runs Chicago Dance Factory and also is the Director of the Midwest Direct Financial, a national insurance brokerage.  He is an 8 year veteran of Desert Storm, Haiti, and Bosnia as a Navy Marine Hospital Corpsman.  He is also the proud father of a beautiful 7 year old dancer named Mandy Marie.

 

In 2010,  Brian Wong was commissioned to be the lead choreographer the hit Nintendo WII game, "Country Dance!"  Find it at your local game outlets everywhere now!

 

To book a lesson with Brian Wong, email: brian@chicagodancefactory.com or call 630-246-0354.

 

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Pictures above include:

Brian Wong with Chicago Dance Factory Students. Dancellusions Dance Team and Pros - Becky Larson, Dallas Radcliffe and Alisa Winkler

 

All the crazy dancers at Brian's 2010 Secrets of the Pro's Swing Workshop at Dance Murfreesboro, Tennessee!