Susanna Hardt
A.U.S.I.S.T.D,  A.I.S.T.D.

Dancer, Author, Teacher, Wedding, Performing Artist, Choreographer, Studio Owner
4 x U.S. 10 Dance Ballroom & Latin Champion

Susanna Hardt is the founder of Suzie's Studio where she teaches and coaches the basics of partner dancing, salsa, swing, waltz, tango, quickstep, Viennese Waltz, chacha, rumba, samba, paso doble, jive, Lindy Hop, country two step, disco, and improvisation in partnership.  She is particularly passionate about working with people who have never danced before and about helping non-dancers gain the skills and confidence to have fun on the dance floor. Suzie also teaches injury prevention, cross-training, performance, and the creative process. She is founder and principal choreographer for The Wedding Choreographer and the producer for A Tall Order Dance Entertainment and the free Come Dance! Instructional Video Series.

Suzie's has written two books on ballroom dance, one for beginners Social Dance Made Simple ,  and one for ballroom dancers looking to deepen their awareness  and skills dancing with a partner Moving As Two: A Guide for Ballroom Dancers. Both books are available on Amazon.

With her husband Todd Marsden, Suzie is a 4 x United States Amateur Ten Dance Champion in the Senior 1 Division and represented the United States at the World Championships in Mallorca, Spain in 2010, Toronto, Canada in 2011, and Antwerp, Belgium in 2013. 

Suzie and Todd's stage, film, and TV credits include dancing with Grammy Award winning composer and conductor Victor Vanacore and the St. Louis Symphony in his "Swing, Swing, Swing" program, for which she and Tall Todd choreographed and performed ten original pieces and received a standing ovation. They were principal dancers in the PBS swing documentary, "Big Band Magic" and featured dancers for pianist composer Faranak's music video "Spanish Lover." They were guest dance performers for the TSTV German Dance Trainers Conference in Bad Kissengen, Germany. Local stage performances include the Masquers Theater, the Marin Theater Company, Pier 39 Theater and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. They appeared on the New York round of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” Season 8.

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The 6' and 6'8" dance duo, also known as A Tall Order, perfom regularly for diverse audiences across the Bay Area , United States, and abroad, and are known for their entertaining dance style and innovative choreography. Satisfied clients include Google +, Kaiser, Intuit, Mercury, Intuit, New Century Orchestra, St. Supery Winery, Robert Mondavi Winery, and Wildcare. In the local ballroom community, Todd and Suzie are known for their comedic dance performances, "The Successful Courtship of Henrietta Fowell (the ChickenTango), their Frankenrumba, and Elvis’ "All Shook Up" . With A Tall Order, audiences expect the unexpected, as Todd and Suzie sing, mix dance styles, or battle it out as Spiderman and the evil thug Tall Man.

Suzie also competes and performs with her lady dance partner Annica Menicutch, founder of Marin Dancesport. They regularly coach and teach same sex couples and compete annually at the April Follies same sex competition in Oakland, CA. See Suzie's article On Same Sex Ballroom.

Suzie has choreographed a number of modern, tango, and ballroom pieces for the stage including waltzes, foxtrot, mambo, salsa, swing, rumba, cha cha, and Argentine Tango. She was a principal dancer for the movie Swing, starring Jaqueline Bisset and Jonathon Winters, performed with salsa troupe Tribue Nueva, and has guest performed with a number of dance troupes around the Bay Area.

She hold her teaching accreditation with the world renowned United States Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (USISTD) and ISTD with an Associates Degree in Teaching Ballroom Dancing. She holds two Bachelors of Arts degrees in Anthropology and French from Rice University,  Magna Cum Laude.

 Suzie welcomes students of all backgrounds, ages, and sexual orientations.