— from an interview from a recent issue of Dance Notes.
 
Dan Rutherford and Nicole Carroll have been finalists for four years in every competition they have ever entered… from their first one to the present! As professional American rhythm competitors, Dan and Nicole strive to bring to this style the attention and respect it deserves. They never tire of competing and, always up for a challenge, can be seen at every major competition. Their plan is to go straight "to the top!" And they are well on their way there. Dan and Nicole like to win - who doesn't? But they went through a period when life wasn't dealing the cards in their favor. Dan and Nicole sat down with Dance Notes to share with us how they dug out of the lowest points in their career to get back on top.

What are your dance backgrounds?

Nicole: I was a student at Arthur Murray about twelve years ago, and they asked me to be a teacher. After that I went on to own my own studio. I always loved music and dancing. I was a gymnast and a singer when I was younger, and an interior designer for a few years before I started teaching. So I've always been in the artistic side of life. My mom always went out dancing when she was a kid and actually her parents (my grandparents) met at a dance. I remember them going out dancing every Saturday night when I was growing up. Recently my grandma told me I was living her dream. What a special feeling that gave me inside.

Dan: My older cousin was a jazz dancer. When I was about five and she was thirteen, she would drag me into her kitchen and make me dance with her. Then when I got a little older she would drag me around to her dance competitions. Eventually we became partners and we started winning everything together and I thought, "This is pretty cool." Then I really got involved in the jazz classes.

You have a real estate background as well. How did you that come about?

Dan: When I was in college I was taking art and dance classes, but I thought, "What am I going to really do to make money?" So I took a real estate class and it was kind of interesting. I passed the test and did that for several years.

How did you get into ballroom?

Dan: When I was about eighteen another family member, my brother, was ballroom dancing, His girlfriend at the time was an Arthur Murray dance teacher. I thought she was really cool so I took lessons from her for six or seven months. The funny thing was that my brother didn't want to date her anymore but she was crazy about him. So he would tell her he would take her out on a date if she would teach the kid a lesson. So that's how I got a lot of lessons. The Arthur Murray studio eventually asked me to teach for them.