Craig Smith & Andrea Harvey
Craig was originally from South Africa. When he was 8 yers old his parents enrolled him at a local ballroom studio focusing on Latin American. Craig has always been an avid sportsman and was drawn to the physical art of Exhibition Cabaret when he was 20 years old. South Africa has a large corporate show industry and was cast in over fifteen stage productions as the lead speciality act. In 2007 Craig turned his focus to Exhibition Competitions and went on to become a nine times World Champion, two times United States Champion, and four times Blackpool Champion. Craig has also been a featured guest artist at many of the world's premier dance shows and events such as, BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing on four occasions, Dance Legends in New York on two occasions, Kremlin Superstars in Moscow on three occasions and Hong Kong Dance legends on two occasions. Craig has also lectured at the Blackpool Congress three times, and is a two times recipient of a Carl Alan Award, also known as the ‘Oscars of Dance’. Since residing in the USA Craig now also manages America's premier ballroom videography company and was co-director of the 2019 World Latin Championships, which was live-streamed around the world to over 25 countries.
Andrea grew up in central Pennsylvania dancing at Allegheny Ballet in the pre professional ballet program. She attended many top summer intensives in the country such as Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Kaatsbaan Institute, Chatauqua Institute, Miami City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. During high school she moved to Seattle to become a second company member of Pacific Northwest Ballet where she performed “Swan Lake”, “The Nutcracker”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Balanchine’s “Symphony in 3” and many others. In 2010 Andrea joined the Orlando Ballet, became a leading member of the company and performed soloist and principal roles in the classical ballets “Romeo and Juliet”, “Carmen”, “Don Quixote”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Swan Lake”, “ The Nutcracker” and “Giselle”, as well as many contemporary, new works, and featured ballets with the company. Andrea also performed in the galas “ Stars of American Ballet” and “International Ballet Competition Gala” with the pas de deux “Le Cosaire Pas De’slave”. In 2014 she became a part time teacher with Orlando Ballet and received a teaching certification from The American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum.
In 2017 Andrea was finishing up her 7 year tenure with Orlando Ballet and Craig had recently immigrated to the USA. They connected over social media, had a try-out and immediately committed to their professional Cabaret/Exhibition partnership together. Craig and Andrea now specialize in Cabaret/Exhibition dance, incorporating spectacular lift work through strength and agility, fused with the aesthetic beauty and fluidity of classic ballroom and ballet. Since 2017 they have placed 1st in The South Open Dance Championships (2018 and 2020), Florida State Championships, Heritage Dance Festival (2020), 2nd place United States Dance Championships, 2nd place Millennium Dancesport Championships, 2nd place Florida Superstars Dance Championships, 2nd place Hollywood Dance Championships, and Blackpool Dance Festival Top Finalists for three consecutive years. They have also coached Theater Arts at The Oprah Winfrey School for Girls in South Africa, and have been guest performers at the Kremlin Superstars in Moscow, and the Guangzhou Nansha Dance Festival in China. Craig and Andrea now live in Daytona Beach Florida where they train both professionally and with ProAm students. They continue to represent the USA as a top ranked Cabaret duo while developing the interesting mix of ballroom and ballet.