Queen City Ballroom at a Glance
- Charlotte’s Largest, Most Elegant Premier Ballroom
- In business for over 20 years in Charlotte
- Choose from 10 of the best instructors in the Carolinas
- We provide dance instruction in many languages — Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Ukranian, Polish, Vietnamese, Lithuanian, Latvian, and Slovakian
- Centrally Located in Charlotte’s South Park area
- Convenient to Uptown, Myers Park, Ballantyne, Dilworth and Matthews
- Highest Quality of Instruction at the best prices
Founders
Dana Glandon
owner and founder
Queen City Ballroom’s owner, Dana Glandon is known nationwide as a championship level ballroom dancer and an outstanding business woman. Queen City Ballroom is Dana’s fourth successful ballroom dance studio. She designed and built her previous dance studios, and all grew to be the recognized as among the top ten most successful studios in the United States. With over 20 years experience in the ballroom dance industry, Dana enjoys success both on and off the dance floor. She won the United States Closed Bronze Standard Championship in 2004. Since then, she has won championships at major dance competitions across the U.S. and is recognized as a top level Standard Finalist.
As a studio owner, Dana’s consistent record speaks for itself. Queen City Ballroom is the undefeated Top Studio in Charlotte every year since 2001. Her studio has also received the Top Studio award at the Carolina Classic in Raleigh and Virginia Star Ball in Roanoke. She won the Top Studio award at the prestigious Heritage DanceSport Classic in Asheville. Many other Ballroom Dance competitions across the U.S. have awarded Queen City Ballroom Top Studio honors, including those in Las Vegas, Georgia, and most recently, the New England DanceSport Classic in Boston.
Running a business is second nature to Dana. She is a 1984 graduate from Mingle’s School of Real Estate and a past member of the Seven Million Dollar Club. In her extensive career as an entrepreneur, she has owned a nail salon, bar café and tanning salon in addition to her four dance studios. She is recognized as an entrepreneur and leader in Charlotte’s ballroom dance community.
Tony Prado
co-owner and instructor
Tony Prado, co-owner of Queen City Ballroom, has danced for 18 years. He is Charlotte’s top ranked ballroom dance instructor for ten of the last eleven years. He is the winner of numerous Top Instructor awards in dance competitions across the U.S. As a competitor, Prado is a WDC World Pro-Am Finalist and a top level Cabaret dancer. He is a Ballroom Dance adjudicator certified “Highly Commended” with the USTA in all styles of dancing and is a sought-after consultant for Argentine Tango. He also has over ten year’s stage and television acting experience, including twelve productions and two commercials in the Charlotte area. He holds a B.A. Degree in Communications from Brigham Young University and worked as a broadcast television director nine years before beginning his dance career. Queen City Ballroom is the fourth successful Ballroom Dance facility Prado has managed, and the third he has built.
As a Ballroom Dance competitor and dance studio owner, Prado has accumulated several awards, including:
- Certified by the United States Terpsichore Association as a Ballroom Dance Adjudicator in all five styles of dance
- Top Teacher Award, The North Carolina Classic, Charlotte, NC, 2001 – 2006; 2008 – 2011
- Finalist Open Professional Theatre Arts, Ohio Star Ball, Columbus, OH, October 2004 – 2005
- Top Ten Teacher Award, The Heritage DanceSport Classic, Asheville, NC, March 2005
- Top Studio, The Yankee Classic, Boston, MA, July 2008
- Top Studio, The Heritage DanceSport Classic, Asheville, NC, March 2003
Dana and Tony are passionate about dancing,and together they created a studio where everyone can come to experience the magic and joy of Ballroom Dancing.