Ari Levitt, MD
An internationally acclaimed world-class dancer & instructor, Ari is highly regarded for his fun, energetic, humorous teaching style which can't help but inspire his students with his own joy and love of dance. His clear, detailed attention to connection and partnership along with his ability to translate even the most complex dance movements and concepts into simple understandable instructions has made him one of the most highly regarded and sought-after instructors in his field.
Ari has been teaching, choreographing, and performing social dance both nationally and internationally for over 30 years, including numerous workshops as special guest instructor to Stanford University, as founder and co-director of “Waltz Week in Vienna” and "Heart Sound Fusion", and as the founder and director of “New Zealand Dance Adventure”, "Harrison Hot Springs Dance & Spa Retreat" (B.C.), "The Swing, Rhythm & Blues Dance Weekend" at Villa Roma (Catskills, NY), and "Dancing with Horses"(Glenwood Springs, CO; Baltimore, MD & Victoria, B.C.).
Ari's breadth of styles include swing, waltz, salsa, tango, Latin, lindy hop, ballroom, balboa, blues, fusion, WCS, and NC2S. In addition, Ari is well-known as one of this country's early pioneers and leading innovators and instructors of "fusion" dance — a form of social dance which borrows elements from one style and blends them fluidly into another, as well as for his pioneering work in the field of wellness and dance therapy — using dance movement, balance, body awareness, and connection as modalities for diagnosing and treating individuals and couples. In 2009, Ari introduced the first cross-step waltz & fusion-swing workshops to Vienna, and the first 'blues' classes to Israel. This year, he plans to include more such classes in their upcoming waltz week sessions.
*Fun Fact* As a physician, Ari is one of the country's leading pioneers & experts in the burgeoning field of social dance therapy -- using movement, connection, and dance techniques as a modality for diagnosing and treating patients. In addition to patient work, he is a faculty member and Director of Experiential Medicine for "NextMed Health", the former medical wing of Singularity University, which brings together the country's top experts, inventors, clinicians, & entrepreneurs to explore and push the boundaries of new and emerging medical technologies. During COVID, Ari co-founded and served as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for two companies dedicated to getting the world out of quarentine using cutting-edge technologies.
NOTE: Ari teaches in many locations outside of Worldwide Dance Adventures. If you would like to see a calendar of those events, please click the "Dance Calendar" button below:
