Studios - Iacono Ballroom Center

Paula Iacono, LISTD is the Founder and Director of the Iacono Ballroom Center, located in Amherst, New York.  Her studio is also the home of the Buffalo Ballroom Theatre, its resident dance company.  Paula has been a professional member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance, ISTD, since 1991 when she first took her Associate exam in the International Standard. Since then she has also acquired her Licentiate and Judging degrees in the Ballroom and Theatre Arts Branches of the I.S.T.D.
 
Paula's dance training and performance background span five decades and includes stage, television and ballroom competition.  Ms. Iacono is a former ballet dancer from Boston, Massachusetts. She was conservatory trained at the Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts, the Boston Conservatory, the Cambridge School of Ballet and the Boston Ballet.  Ms. Iacono has worked for numerous choreographers where she has had the privilege of dancing a variety of genres that include modern ballet, Jack Cole, Martha Graham and musicals including West Side Story, Oklahoma and Fiddler on the Roof.

While in Buffalo Ms. Iacono has also performed and appeared on PBS, Channel 2, Channel 7 and Fox TV.  She has performed for Upstage New York, Theatre in the Square and the Pfeiffer Theatre.

Paula started her training in Ballroom dance while finishing her BA college degree in dance and theatre arts from SUNY Buffalo.  It was during this time that she also trained, competed and performed in Theatre Arts and American Rhythm, later moving on to compete in the International Standard Division placing as finalist in competitions across the United States and Canada.
 
From 1988 – 1995 Paula also served as a performing and teaching artist with the Arts in Education Institute of WNY. While with the Institute Paula performed in commissioned pieces and taught aesthetic education in schools throughout WNY. Her love of dance also lead her to help start up the MUSE Program, an arts organization that brought music and dance to schools in the Western New York area.
 
At this time Paula oversees the running of her dance school and dance company in Amherst, New York and works to ensure the quality of her school by sharing her love of dance with both students and staff.  She is a member of USISTD National Committee and is a professional member of the NDCA.

Phoxay Bouthsavong is a full-time Dance Instructor with the Iacono Ballroom Center. He has been part of the Iacono Ballroom Center for over ten years and holds his professional degrees in the International and American style ballroom divisions of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance.

Mr. Bouthsavong has over ten years of experience teaching and competing with his students. He has taken students to competitions in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico where they have placed as winners, finalists and won scholarships. Phoxay has performed with his professional dance partner on stage with the Amherst Symphony, UB on the Green and performances with the Buffalo Ballroom Theatre. He has also appeared on television and been filmed for a dance reality series for Fox TV. Phoxay is passionate about his chosen career and has always enjoyed growing as a dancer, teacher, and performer.