Our Hand Dance Instructors

                                  Betty Bunch Garcia--Betty graduated from Burdick High School in Northwest D. C.  She did Fast Dancing at the CYO parties and in her best friend’s basement. She continued to develop her dancing through ballet, jazz, tap, and ballroom coaching.  Betty began her teaching career in 1985 at Arthur Murray Dance Studios. She taught at Classic Step Dance Studios, That’s Dancing Ballroom and Dancesport Center, and for Anne Arundel and Howard County Parks & Recreation. Betty earned her certification rom the National Dance Council of America (NDCA), Fred Astaire Dance Council (FANDA), and Louise Pyles for Hand Dancing.  She has taught private and group lessons, done choreography for shows, competed, in addition to training individuals to become ballroom teachers.

            In 1999 she joined the D. C. Hand Dance Club and started hand dancing regularly.  In 2002, Betty took training with Louise Pyles (her mentor) for 5 months and started teaching many of her ballroom student’s hand dancing.  She started substitute teaching hand dancing for Louise and has taught for the D. C. Hand Dance Club.   Betty and Louise Pyles are presently working with the D. C. Hand Dance Club in training and certifying individuals to become hand dance instructors. For lessons, please contact Betty at tobetg2@comcast.net  or 301-793-8311. 

         Joe King---Joe graduated from Ballou High School in Southeast Washington, D. C.  He began hand dancing when he was 12 years old.  He also  taught ballroom dancing at Arthur Murray at the age of 19.  Joe says that dancing is his favorite hobby.  Joe has been teaching for the Hand Dance Club since its very beginning.  He and his wife, Heidi, were two of the first teachers of the club.  He teaches all levels of Hand Dancing—beginners, intermediates and advanced.  He and Heidi also taught all Hand Dance levels at the Prince Georges County Recreation Center for nine years.  Joe says that many of his students were from the D.C. Hand Dance Club, and he and Heidi really enjoyed teaching the classes.  He says that he likes to make dancing fun and smooth.  If you would like to contact him for private lessons, please call him on his cell phone at 301-996-6094.  Joe’s philosophy is that anyone can learn this dance and have fun—so keep on dancing and enjoy!

I        Eddie O'Reilly---I had been a working musician in the Washington area since junior high school.  Somehow I found my way to Coconuts and began taking D. C. Hand Dance lessons. As luck would have it my instructor was Louise Pyles.  She became my good friend and mentor. I started teaching on my own at Spurs in Waldorf, MD. As Hand Dancing became more popular and grew I also taught in more clubs.  I began Instructing Hand Dance for Anne Arundel and Prince George's Community Colleges.  I also taught  Ballroom and Country dancing for AACC. For years I have been a Carolina Shag Instructor for the Northern Virginia Shag Club. I appreciate all the hard work and dedication of our club officers. Hand Dancing would not have grown without it.  I am assisted by Pam Lanouette and Diane Michael.   I am a member of the National Fastdance Association's National Boppers Hall of Fame in Jacksonville, Fla. I am also a Certified Regular DJ for the Association of Beach and Shag Club DJ's Association. E-mail address is: smoothnez@gmail.com and phone number is: 301-300-9241.

         Louise Pyles---Louise graduated from Towson State University and taught physical education in the Maryland Public School System for 10 years.  She has been teaching Ballroom, D. C. Hand Dance and Line Dancing in the D. C. Metropolitan area for over 40 years.  Louise works with a variety of groups including the mentally and physically challenged, and also teaches senior citizens Social and Line Dancing.

         Louise began Hand Dancing at age 12 at Lackey Jr./Sr. High School and has been actively teaching it since 1992.  She is one of the founders of the D. C. Hand Dance Club, and was inducted into the National Boppers Hall of Fame in August 2000 for her teaching and preservation of D. C. Hand Dancing.  Louise has been a certified dance instructor for the D. C. Hand Dance Club since its beginning. She teaches dancing at various locations and in her studio in Baden, MD, where she gives group and private lessons.  A commercial instructional video of Hand Dancing is available upon request.  To e-mail her, just click on the button E-Mail. Her phone number is: 301-579-9486. 

JacoJacob Stewart--- has been dancing for sixteen years now and picked up DC hand dancing at the age of 10. He is happy to say that he has just completed the certification classes offered to him by the D. C. Hand Dance Club and can’t wait to start sharing the style of dance that he loves so much. He wants to thank everyone in the D. C. Hand Dance Club for all their support. “I have met so many great people over the years but more importantly I have enjoyed dancing along side some of the best.”