Steve Moss was born and bred in Oxford. He started dancing at the age of 18, when his parents decided to learn to dance and he thought he would give it a try. He immediately knew it was the hobby for him and he achieved many awards in Modern Ballroom, Latin American, Modern Sequence, Old Time — now Classical Sequence — and Disco. He danced anywhere between 5 and 7 nights each week.

When Steve left school he trained as a bookbinder and print finisher and has been based at the Bodleian Library throughout his career. Dancing had to take a back seat for a while as he started to get a lot of pain in his leg. It was discovered that he had a slipped femoral epiphysis — his hip had fallen apart. He became unable to do very much at all, and eventually had a hip replacement in June 2000. Returning to dancing in the following November was very scary for Steve, but extremely successful. Together with Karen, he started helping out at beginners courses and soon qualified as a dance professional with the UKA.
 

Karen Moss started dancing when her parents moved from her beloved native Barnstaple to Exeter to open a shop next door to Roy Whitfeld and Phil Cochranes' dance school. She became an avid student and began to work for amateur awards.

Karen moved to Oxford to train as a nurse. As her basic training came to a close, she and her housemates decided to go to disco classes. Steve was helping to teach alongside Sue Cooper, who is now Principal of the wonderful Dance Rhythms Dance School.

Karen mentioned to Sue that she had danced before, and that she would love to learn more. Sue put Steve and Karen together to try out and that was that. They have been married nearly 25 years.

Karen watched the film "Stepping Out" starring her heroine Liza Minelli during the time that dance was impossible for Steve. She so badly wanted to tap dance after that, that she found the Kirsty Forbes School of Dance and took to it like a duck to water.

The opportunity arose for Karen to teach dance full-time for Dance Rhythms and she became Head of Theatre Branch. Karen and Steve proceeded to run many classes in various disciplines, and continued to teach for Dance Rhythms on Tuesdays, despite the distance, up to the end of 2006.

On 18 September 2005, The Sunday Telegraph featured an article by Angela Huth, detailing her (Angela's) dream of tap dancing. Eventually she had lessons with Karen and went on to dance with her at a charity show in Cowley. To read an excerpt from the article and Karen's advice about tap dancing, click here.

Karen continues to nurse and holds qualifications in general, psychiatric, district and accident and emergency nursing. She graduated with a research Masters from Southampton University and is keen to develop her research in the realms of dance. She holds a black belt in karate and loves to body-board.

Karen and Steve are elected members of the Guild of Professional Teachers of Dancing. They are passionate about dancing and particularly love to teach beginners and improvers. Karen and Steve are very keen to share their enthusiasm and are looking forward to meeting with you.

They love all kinds of music, especially rock. They love animals and have moved into the area with what seems like a small zoo!

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