David Katz & Marilyn Murphy
 

David Katz grew up in a family where music permeated the household for him and his five sisters (his first dance partners). His mom and dad were “street dancers” so he grew up seeing them jitter bug around the house and at family events! During the height of the disco era he was following in his parents footsteps and dancing the Latin hustle in nightclubs from Boston to Philadelphia after graduating from college. Since David needed to earn money to attend graduate school he auditioned at an Arthur Murray Dance Studio outside of Philadelphia and was accepted into the studio and trained to be a professional Social/Ballroom dance instructor. He worked at the studio for a year and a half, made enough money to pay for grad school, and then left to pursue his graduate education and a career as a college professor.

Although David left the studio, he never entirely left the world of dance. He continued to teach social dance at Mohawk Valley Community College, the college where he was a professor and basketball coach. He also spent time teaching at the Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute’s School of Dance in that same Utica, NY community where he lived and worked.   

Currently, he is semi-retired since 2019. He continues to speak and train throughout the country at national educational conferences, and to public and corporate audiences on leadership, empowerment, and motivation through his side hustle: davidkatzpresents.com. He and his wife / best dance partner ever, Marilyn Murphy, now reside in Rockbridge Baths, VA in a log home that sits on the east slope of the Allegheny Mountains in Rockbridge Baths, VA. They were patiently waiting for the pandemic to subside enough to allow them to share their love of social/ballroom dance with their new community and that time is now at the Center of Gravity in Lexington, VA!

 

Marilyn Murphy is David’s wife and dance partner. She is a retired clinical psychologist who practiced in upstate New York for 30 years in both private and hospital settings. Marilyn has loved dance since she joined a St. Louis area dance studio and took up ballet, tap, and jazz at the age of 12. Although the world of higher education fit her needs and talents better, the good Dr. Murphy kept a toe in the dance world and met David in upstate New York through her involvement in the Syracuse Swing Dance Society. They both share their love of social dancing whenever the opportunity presents itself, and they are looking forward to helping others cultivate the joy of dancing at the Center of Gravity in Lexington, VA.