Angelo and Kayla Cristobal

Kayla Cristobal is an accomplished and respected Veterinarian. Our students call her Ms. Kayla, but it is actually Dr. Kayla! Angelo Cristobal is a professional engineer that works in the defense industry and also President/CEO of the nonprofit Institute of Digital Engineering. Oh, and they also know how to Ballroom dance!

In fact, ballroom dancing is how they met. As freshmen in college at NC State, Kayla thought it would be funny to go to the ballroom dance club beginner lessons, and Angelo went to meet girls. Little did they know, this would lead to a beautiful partnership that has lasted ever since.

Starting from the ground up, they entered the world of competitive ballroom dancing, progressing from the Newcomer division all the way to the prestigious Championship division in both International Standard and Latin dance styles. That’s Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, and Quickstep for the Standard style, and Samba, Cha Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble, and Jive for Latin. They even had the privilege of sharing the dance floor with some of the pros you might recognize from Dancing with the Stars, back when they were still rising stars themselves.

In what is called “10 dance”, Angelo and Kayla were South Central Adult Championship Champions and National Semi-Finalists. Soon after, they stopped competing in Latin to focus on Standard. With their focus sharpened, they were ranked 8th in the United States at their peak.

Throughout this process, Angelo and Kayla were always generous with any acquired knowledge. In school, they taught lessons with as large as 250 participants, and became leaders of the Ballroom dance team at NC State boasting an operating budget of a quarter million dollars (an amount that even exceeded the Equestrian club) and brought a dance team of over 50 ballroom dancers to competitions across the country. In addition to their professional careers, they found time to teach students in Charlotte area dance studios.

They retired from dancing when they decided to start a family. In fact, their oldest daughter Cassidy was on the floor to share their last competition! Cassidy, along with her younger sister Alana, have apparently inherited their parents’ love of dance and are both cherished members of the Inspire family.

Angelo and Kayla are beyond excited to lead the Ballroom and Latin programs for Inspire. The opportunity to share something that they love with so many talented dancers is nothing short of a blessing. After an eight-year hiatus from the hardwood, they're back and ready to shape the next generation of champions! Let's go Inspire Ballroom!!!