Werner Figar is an International Latin dancer who has been Austrian Champion 3 times and has placed in the top 31 of Professional International Latin dancers of the world. He recently performed on the Austrian version of Dancing with the Stars (Dancing Stars Austria). Werner started as a gymnast at the age of 5, but when he was 8, he was inspired to dance by the movie Dirty Dancing. He started competing with his sister with whom he was 3 times Austrian Amateur Latin Champion! When he was 18, he decided pursue other dance styles and learned modern, ballet and jazz. He performed in West Side Story in Germany, then he moved to New York City to study modern at Alvin Ailey. After completing the program at Ailey, he joined the Elisa Monte Dance Company and toured all around the globe. In 2009, he fell back in love with competitive ballroom dancing and has continued to explore and develop his International Latin dancing!

Shimkiri Syiem was inspired in her early youth to be a dancer by watching ballroom competitions on PBS. After taking gymnastics, ballet and tap classes, she took a break to concentrate on her studies. While earning her engineering degree, she joined the ballroom dance club at UC Riverside in Southern California. After graduation, she continued to dance while working as an engineer. Shimkiri studied and competed around the nation including Seattle, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas and New York. She moved to NYC to pursue dancing full time. After winning the Edison Ballroom Competition as an amateur dancer, she decided to turn professional in order to further her dancing.