Michael Petr
| Michael Petr | |
|---|---|
| Born |
25th of January Prague, Czech Republic |
| Occupation |
Ballroom Dancer Choreographer Dancesport Coach |
Michael Petr is a Professional Ballroom dancer, choreographer and teacher. As a dancer he was a Czech National Champion, Top 5 in the European 10 Dance, Latin Showdance, and World Mambo Championships. He has appeared numerous times on TV and Radio, he was a celebrity partner and professional dancer on the reality TV series "Dancing with the Stars" in the Czech Rep. and appeared on the Dance TV Show "So You Think You Can Dance" in the United States.
In the Summer of 2010 he has retired as a professional dancer and started to train competition ballroom dancers. He has created his own competitive ballroom dance team "Michael Petr Dance", which competes on World Dancesport Series tour.
In 2015 he was awarded Top 10 Dance Teacher in the World Pro/Am Dance Sport Series, which each year consist of over 90 professional dance competitions and has over 2000 teachers compete in it. In the same year one of his student won World Pro/Am Smooth Bronze Championship in Columbus, Ohio and another took 3rd.
In May 2016 He won Top Teacher Award for the year of 2015-16 at the CA Gold Rush Dancesport Series. Gold Rush Series is made out of 12 dance competitions spread out over a calendar year.
In August 2016 he was awarded Top3 Teacher Award in the World Pro/Am Championship in Irvine, CA where two of his students won World Closed Pro/Am Championship titles.
Michael Petr is one of the most awarded, recognized and sought after Pro/Am teachers in the US and in the World.
Early life
Michael Petr was born in Prague, Czech Republic. His father was a musician and mother competitive track and field runner. Since age of 4 he was trained to become professional tennis player and attended elementary and middle school for gifted children in sports. At the age of 12 he was inspired by American actor and dancer "Patrick Swayze" who starred in blockbuster hit "Dirty Dancing". Soon after he quit playing tennis and began Ballroom Dancing career. At the age of 13, he went to his first World Ballroom Dancing Championship and placed in the Semi-Finals.
Dance Training
Michael Petr was trained in Germany by World Latin Champions Ralf and Olga Muller and Karl Breuer. He attended Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance in New York City. In his early twenties he was also studying with former World Latin champion Louis Van Amstel, who choreographed two of his successful dance shows.