Our Teachers
James & Asia
James & Joanna, known to us as Asia (pron. Ash-ia), are full time professional Ballroom & Latin teachers with the ISTD and IDTA in the UK. They run their own busy dance school,
Viva La Dance based in Bath, and between them they have a combined experience of over 50 years (although they're both only 21!). They have been teaching at the university since 2000 and 2006 respectively, and have seen the university finish as high as 2nd in the overall rankings. They both love teaching university students to dance and like to find the right balance between enjoyment and learning in a really friendly club.
James is the author for international publication Dancing Times' technical editorial for Ballroom & Latin, and is also a qualified scrutineer. Asia started dancing from an early age and competed nationally in junior ranks abroad before moving permanently to the UK. Both James & Asia were fortunate to have lessons with some of the world's top coaches including Marcus Hilton MBE & Karen Hilton MBE and Bryan Watson.
Paula
Paula Goodyear was one of the founding teachers of the club and taught from 1977 to 2017. Paula is a fellow and examiner with the ISTD and took the club from a few social couples to one of the biggest clubs at university. She remains dear to our hearts and is in many ways an honorary life member. From time to time she still visits us when we're at competitions and it is like having dancing Royalty there. In 2012 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by IVDA.