Barbara Baran President
Barbara truly enjoys the art and challenge of dance. She has been actively studying ballroom dance and, most recently, ballet. She enjoys going out dancing and has performed at various charity and civic events as well as in dance performances at local convalescent homes and schools. She is currently studying to take the ISTD Bronze American Smooth examination and hopes to compete in the near future.
Wishing to share her passion for dance and education within the community, she has been active in the effort to reinstate and grow the Greater Hartford Chapter of USA DANCE. She has worked to promote the Chapter and its benefits, achieving initial goals of establishing the first college educational scholarship program and organizing the first New England Fall Challenge amateur competition in 2010.
Barbara is a program management consultant for Fortune 500 companies and is responsible for leading major information technology initiatives. She holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering and an MBA. She is also a graduate of the Society of Information Management’s (SIM) Regional Leadership Forum.
Besides dancing, Barbara enjoys theatre, opera, book and philosophical discussions, roller-blading, ice-skating, gardening, spending time with her nephew, and working on do-it-yourself home projects.
Kent Marshall
Vice President
Kent was first introduced to ballroom dancing with his wife Lu when their oldest daughter started planning her wedding and received a post card from the local ballroom dance studio. Kent enjoys social dancing with his wife and continues to take lesson to improve his dancing technique.
Kent is professor of Chemistry at Quinnipiac University in Hamden Ct for the last thirty-seven years. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry and a PhD in Organic Chemistry and is responsible for the education of thousands of students over the years.
Kent and his wife reside in Cheshire CT. They have two daughter and three grandsons
John Hall
Director
John was first introduced to ballroom dancing in February, 1977 with the University of Connecticut Ballroom Dance Club, of which he is still a member. John served for nearly ten (10) years as the Ballroom Team’s faculty advisor. John began competing in November, 1989 on a pro-am as well as amateur basis. John competed in the Yankee Classic, Commonwealth Classic, Ballroom Production, Tri-State Challenge, Northeast Amateur Competition and Dancing a la Carte.
John won the Adult Bronze Modern and achieved the Highest Score Award in 1995 Ballroom Competition at the Nutmeg State Games. He also won Top Gold Male Award in 2001 at Dancing a la Carte Competition in Springfield, Massachusetts. John was a student of Margo and Peter Nielson of Gotta Dance / Studio East for more than thirteen (13) years.
John has taken numerous photos of ballroom dance, many of which have appeared in “Amateur Dancer” (the now "American Dancer")magazin