About Us

    Liza Marians was born into dance.  Her father was a passionate folk dancer who took his children to all of his dance classes from the time they were babies.  With a rich upbringing of music and dance, the choice to become a ballroom dance instructor was clear.  Liza trained at Mac Vitties Dance Studio where she was taught bronze level American-style ballroom, swing, Latin, and country dance.  She also learned how to be a patient and positive instructor.  Over the years, Liza discovered her talent for choreographing wedding dances as well as helping beginners learn to dance for fun.    
   Years later, Liza was asked to be a country DJ and lead line dancing at a country western hoedown.  She agreed, and had a great time!  She especially enjoyed creating the perfect playlist for the clients and getting everybody out on the floor after dinner with a couple of fun line dances.  Several DJ gigs followed, including weddings, corporate gigs, school dances, and private parties.  Liza enjoys the variety of teaching dance regularly and being a DJ on occasion.  Liza has been teaching dance for 19 years and has been a DJ for 6 years.  

Caree Smail has a rich background in ballet, jazz, modern, yoga, and hip hop, however she loves the elegance of ballroom dancing.  Caree loves helping wedding couples create the wedding dance of their dreams.  With her outgoing and energetic personality, she also loves doing line dance gigs and being a DJ all over San Diego.  She is a talented DJ who is a natural on the mic; and has extensive knowledge of pop music, hip hop, rock, and country.   She has been at Dance With Liza since 2016.  

Victor lived for many years in Houston, Texas where he studied with some of the best country dancers, such as Damon D'Amico.  He also competed in several country dances and has a lot of teaching experience, although he is a lawyer during weekdays.  He is available select weeknights and weekends to teach with Liza.  Victor has been helping Liza teach country dance since 2014.  

Janna grew up spending as much time at her local dance studio as she possibly could. She was trained in ballet, jazz, modern, hip hop, and tap, but it wasn’t until her own wedding that she discovered her love for ballroom dancing. Janna took lessons from Liza for her own wedding and has been training to be a dance instructor with Liza ever since. With plenty of patience, a positive attitude, and lots of talent, as well as experience teaching high school English, Janna is a perfect fit.  She is currently assisting with Liza's lessons and can't wait to start teaching on her own in 2020.