Originally from California, Ray relocated to Central Oklahoma with his family at a young age. Throughout his youth, he excelled in athletics, developing a strong competitive drive that earned him a position on the Oklahoma All-Star Team. His passion for competition later extended to the outdoors, where he competed professionally in bass fishing tournaments.<\/p>\n
Ray attended Saint Gregory’s University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resources Management. His professional career led him to Iowa, where he served as a Director of Human Resources for many years, building extensive leadership, management, and team development experience.<\/p>\n
After relocating to Northwest Arkansas to be closer to family, Ray further developed his passion for ballroom dance through competitive performance and training. He immersed himself in the ballroom dance community and quickly established himself as a respected competitor and ambassador for the art form. His dedication to excellence earned him recognition as a National Rhythm Finalist at Fred Astaire Dance Studios National Competitions. Through years of competitive dancing, performances, and ongoing training, Ray has cultivated a deep understanding of ballroom and the transformative impact dance can have on confidence, connection, and personal growth.<\/p>\n
As his passion for dance continued to grow, Ray recognized the profound impact it had on both himself and those around him. Inspired by the sense of community, personal growth, and connection that ballroom dancing creates, he decided to combine his business leadership experience with his love of dance by opening his own studio. Today, Ray is committed to helping students of all ages and experience levels discover the confidence, friendships, and personal fulfillment that come from dancing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7440,"template":"","class_list":["post-8045","team_member","type-team_member","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bentonville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team_member\/8045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bentonville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team_member"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bentonville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/team_member"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bentonville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team_member\/8045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bentonville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fredastaire.com\/bentonville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}