About Us - Instructor Profile

"I am not Emily Post, Letitia Baldridge or the Encyclopedia of Etiquette. I admire them and learn from their example. My guiding and primary goal is to empower people to have strong self- confidence while also demonstrating empathy and kindness toward others at every opportunity." -- Deborah J. Block, Back to Basics Director

Deborah Joy Block, founder of Back to Basics spent 8 years living overseas while her parents served as diplomats for the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Corps where protocol, etiquette and social entertaining skills are a must for diplomatic relations. Mrs. Block is multi-lingual, has travelled to 16 countries and understands the importance of being able to deftly navigate as a chameleon among different cultures and personalities. Her extensive experience managing a large staff and working with thousands of clients and working as a professional entertainer and event planner over the past 14 years solidified her conviction that kindness and consideration is the "international language" that unites all people.

Mrs. Block’s teaching experience and education:

• Trained the Foreign Service Institute's Diplomatic Corps trainees in ballroom dancing.
  
• Taught social dance etiquette and special event protocol to thousands of students for 13 years.
  
• Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Business from James Madison University.
  
• Graduate of the prestigious American School of Protocol - an elite etiquette school which has been profiled by every major TV channel - ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX and the BBC. There she was certified to teach Manners and Etiquette and Life Skills to K-12.
  
• Virtus ™ certified and has basic CPR training.
  
• Teaches group lessons for corporations and organizations, clubs, community centers, camps and private and public schools.
  
• In 2000, Mrs. Block founded the first dance instruction company in the nation to specialize in wedding dance preparation. The Wedding Dance Specialists has taught close to 10,000 engaged couples and their families how to dance, has attacted celebrity clientele and became the most recommended in the nation.
  
• Dance training with several world champions, Olympic Showcase dancers, the star of the movie, The Tango Lesson, and the head choreographer from “Dancing with the Stars”
• certified, licensed and insured

Mrs. Block’s dance performances and press coverage:

• Arlington's Tango Festival sponsored by the Argentine Embassy
  
• Fine Arts program at the U.S. Department of State
  
• Chamber of Commerce Galas and numerous large corporate galas
  
• Press Coverage: Washingtonian Magazine, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, The Mclean Times, Alexandria Gazette, Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Network (national television wedding reality show), local radio stations HOT 99.5, MIX 107.3, WJFK - 106.7FM and WTNT - 570AM, Old Town Crier Magazine
• Founded a talent agency division called Dance Dynamix which provides professional dancers teachers and party hosts for special events.

References available upon request