Our Instructors

 Matt Kellar found dance during his collegiate career at the University of Minnesota in 1989.  After 3 years of social and collegiate competitive dancing, he knew that this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life and decided to make dance a career.

 He trained with numerous world-renowned coaches with Fred Astaire, Arthur Murray and other independent studios.

  In 2000, Matt moved to Arizona to work for Fred Astaire Dance Studio.  While with Fred Astaire, he trained rank beginner students to high level competitors, taking pride in watching his students become so accomplished.

  His love of dance and success as an instructor allowed him the opportunity to open his own studio.  By 2008, he owned 3 franchises.

In 2012, he and his wife Zhenya left Fred Astaire to start their own dance company. In the beginning of March 2018, Matt and Zhenya opened a beautiful new dance studio, Dream Dance.  

They are looking forward to creating a studio that promotes fun, quality and a sense of community.  They are excited to share their love and passion of dancing with the city of Tucson.

 Zhenya Dokuchaeva was born in Moscow, Russia. She was one of the lead dancers at the Moscow Youth Ballroom Dance Theater. From age five she started competing internationally in Latin and Standard. By age twenty one

she was ranked in the top 100 amateurs in the world by the International Dance Sport Federation.

In 2008, she moved to the United States and made her home in Tucson. She started working for Fred Astaire Dance Studios as an advanced instructor. In 2011, she married Matt Kellar. A year later, she and her husband opened their own ballroom dance company, Dream Dance. Now she teaches a variety of students at all levels. 

In 2018 Zhenya also started coaching  

for the U of A Ballroom club. She also serves as a coach and choreographer for other professional dancers as well.  

Alan was born in Texas and as a young Air Force brat, lived and traveled around the world. Early on, he was introduced to dancing by his step-father at his Fred Astaire Studio. In 1979, right after high school, he moved to Florida where he became a professional dance instructor. He trained at Fred Astaire, Arthur Murray’s and other independent studios. He also competed professionally for 10 years and garnered numerous national finalist awards. 

Alan enjoys teaching new and high level competition students. When he’s not teaching, Alan enjoys golf and traveling. 

Spencer, an Arizona Native has been dancing for over 10 years.  He competed with the collegiate UA ballroom  during his tenor at the UA.  He is also part of the Lajkonic Polish Folk dance group for over 4 years.  

He enjoys teaching all levels of students.

 Originally from Central Missouri, Taylor began ballroom dancing in high school and continued on to the U of A’s competitive ballroom team. She has since expanded her knowledge and loves sharing her passion for dance through performance, competition and instruction. 

Alex began competitive Ballroom dancing at the age of 10years old.  He was a member of the "Dancecatzs" Jr. Ballroom  Competitive & Performance group touring various places in Arizona, Texas and Florida, placing multiple first place in his category. till the age of 18.  He was also a member of "Lajkonik Dance Group" performing traditional Polish Dancing  and toured all of Poland  for the World Performance in 2014 .

Paulina found her passion in life at a very early age. She began dancing when she was 6 years old and hasn’t stopped since. She has been training in many styles of dance including Ballroom, Contemporary and jazz.  

As a Ballroom instructor, Paulina is excited to grow in her role teaching her students social and  and competitive dancing.  Choreography is one of her favorite things to work on with her students.

 When Paulina isn’t working at the studio, she likes to spend time with her friends and family. 

“ We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, and we create the dreams” - Albert Einstein.

Originally from Japan, Morena always loved performing. At the ages of four through fourteen, she danced for Little Richard in several arenas and showrooms. Growing up in Las Vegas, she was active in many dance ensembles and hip hop crews through her school years. By 16, Morena continued her training in Los Angeles where she danced in musicals such as The Lion King, Chicago, and The Music Man. Morena then went on to minor in dance with a focus on ballet and jazz dance for film and production in college. For the past six years, Morena has taught hundreds of students across LA in many styles of dance and is now doing the same in Tucson. She is excited in her new venture as a ballroom instructor.