Ariel Freilich grew up in Santa Fe, NM with a passion for all things physical. If she wasn’t dancing, she was riding a horse or playing a sport. When she was little, she was riveted by the televised Ohio Star Ball and watched it every year. She traveled the world with her father and grew a need for travel and adventure. She attended New Mexico State University in 2008 with the intention to study physics, but that quickly changed when she joined the competitive DanceSport company!

Zachary Pohl’s childhood was filled with every sport other than dance. Being a state finalist in Track and Field in the 100m, long jump, and triple jump. He was also an All-State basketball player and finalist for the New Mexico Sportsmanship Award his senior year. Even though he grew up in the very small town of Datil, NM he would not let that stop him from striving to be the best at anything he did. With an interest in small business and entrepreneurship, he attended New Mexico State University in the Fall of 2009, however that all changed after meeting one particular person…

Zachary and Ariel meet in college at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM through a mutual friend who knew they both loved dance. Zachary auditioned for both the Contemporary and NMSU DanceSport competitive team purely because Ariel encouraged him to, and thank goodness she did! They studied and competed at the collegiate level in all four styles, Smooth, Standard, Rhythm and Latin. They became the collegiate smooth champions at the Ohio Star Ball their senior year. Graduating in 2015, Zachary received his Bachelor’s degree and Ariel her Master’s degree in Teaching Ballroom Dance. After scouring the country to find their new dance home, they chose Fred Astaire Wisconsin to pursue professional training and teaching. Under the guidance of Stephen Knight and Hayk Arshakian they grew to find their passion did not end with smooth; in 2016 cabaret became a main focus. They are currently national and international competitors in both the Cabaret and American Smooth divisions.

Professional accomplishments include but are not limited to:

• Blackpool Dance Festival Exhibition Champions
• Fred Astaire Grand Champions
• Fred Astaire Cabaret Champions
• Fred Astaire Smooth Rising Star Finalists