with Luciana Da Silva

Join us in an adventure to learn the torrid Samba from Brazil! Luciana who is native Brazilian takes us on a journey where we will share authentic traditions and the contemporary way of dancing Samba! Luciana is known for passionate, high energy, and openhearted expression of the feminine. She will take you in a journey of awakening your feminine energy as well where you will feel more elegante, gracious and empowered.

• About Our Instructor

  A Brazilian native, Luciana started early after being allowed to partake of dancing in her father’s disco club. She has taken several trips back to Brazil over the years to study with some of the best teachers to keep herself and her students updated on the latest trends of Samba. She has taught and performed in CO for over 12 years bringing authenticity and tutoring for local dancers. She has performed internationally in Prague, Berlin, Portugal, Brazil and lately in Mexico. Her experience with carnival in Brazil includes parading in the Rio de Janeiro with Mangueira Samba School, União da Ilha do Governador (in the passista ala) and Unidos de Belford Roxo in 2015 and 2019.
  
  She is a Samba and Forró (partner dance) teacher at the International Samba Congress, the biggest Samba Congress in the world and offers online Samba classes. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to move your body elegantly, powerfully and gracefully.

with Julia DiVerdi

Join Julia in the virtual realm for a step-by-step guide on how to apply beautiful “witchy” themed makeup application for the stage, a photoshoot, or a fun party! You may follow along and apply your own makeup or watch and take notes.

Julia will show you her favorite products as well as tips and trick to creating beautifully blended, glamourous makeup that stays put all night. Primers, highlight/contour, blending, liquid liner and glitter ombre lips will also be covered. Julia has been a performer and model for over 20 years and is well known for her easy yet polished approach to makeup application. Great news this workshop goes from 1-2:30 pm so you can go out for a fun evening with your makeup already done! This workshop will include a hand-out from Julia outlining all of the products she will be using and where you can find them!

• About Our Instructor

  Julia Di Verdi has been teaching and performing for over 20 years in Northern Colorado and across the nation. She owns an alternative dance studio in Fort Colllins, Starlight Studio, and directs the Cupcake Cabaret Burlesque Revue, and Sumatra Belly Dance. When Julia is not dancing she enjoys modeling and painting her face!

with Bella Fire (Shelly Ray)

Enter and exit with purpose while dazzling them in between.  The moment you take the stage your performance begins.  Whether starting on or off stage, it is crucial to capture the attention of your audience and own your stage until you exit.  We will work on some struts/bumps/grinds, explore options with musicality and props, learn a short choreography that will contrast on and off-stage entrance/exit.

NOTE: IF YOU WANT TO ATTEND THIS EVENT IN PERSON. BELOW IS REGISTRATION - ONLY 12 TICKETS AVAILABLE.

• About Our Instructor
  This hot little number is lighting up stages near and far.  Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Canada and was selected to perform in New Zealand before covid hit.  She launched into the scene in 2018 as a member of Blue Dime Cabaret (Boulder), then joining Peaks and Pasties (Colorado Springs) soon after.  She is also a guest performer with Stripped (Mr. Valdez in Colorado Springs) Ooh La La Burlesque, Make You Blush Burlesque, Punk Rock Burlesque and Bad Ass Burlesque (all in Denver) She has graced the stage of the Midwest Burlesque Festival, Kansas City Burlesque Festival, ABurlyQ!, the Saskatoon Burlesque Festival, and the Colorado Burlesque Festival.  She is the Utah BurlyPicks Master of Tassels 2019. Bella has also been part of the Golden Legends Champion Challenge. She applied in 2018 to see what she was capable of as a relatively new and unknown performer. She was a showcase performer in 2018, a protégé for 2019 and 2021 placing in the top 5! 

   

  Bella has a PhD in Mathematics Education and retired this year to pursue her love of performing and modeling to a fuller capacity.  

   

  She’s Your Professor of the Provocative.

with Bella Fire (Shelly Ray)
In Person at NoCo Ballroom - 6718 W. 67th St. Loveland, CO

LIMITED TO 12 ATTENDEES
Enter and exit with purpose while dazzling them in between.  The moment you take the stage your performance begins.  Whether starting on or off stage, it is crucial to capture the attention of your audience and own your stage until you exit.  We will work on some struts/bumps/grinds, explore options with musicality and props, learn a short choreography that will contrast on and off-stage entrance/exit.

• About Our Instructor
  This hot little number is lighting up stages near and far.  Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Canada and was selected to perform in New Zealand before covid hit.  She launched into the scene in 2018 as a member of Blue Dime Cabaret (Boulder), then joining Peaks and Pasties (Colorado Springs) soon after.  She is also a guest performer with Stripped (Mr. Valdez in Colorado Springs) Ooh La La Burlesque, Make You Blush Burlesque, Punk Rock Burlesque and Bad Ass Burlesque (all in Denver) She has graced the stage of the Midwest Burlesque Festival, Kansas City Burlesque Festival, ABurlyQ!, the Saskatoon Burlesque Festival, and the Colorado Burlesque Festival.  She is the Utah BurlyPicks Master of Tassels 2019. Bella has also been part of the Golden Legends Champion Challenge. She applied in 2018 to see what she was capable of as a relatively new and unknown performer. She was a showcase performer in 2018, a protégé for 2019 and 2021 placing in the top 5! 

   

  Bella has a PhD in Mathematics Education and retired this year to pursue her love of performing and modeling to a fuller capacity.  

   

  She’s Your Professor of the Provocative.

with Caitlin Brozna-Smith

This class is open to all skill levels but basic knowledge/experience with belly dance is recommended. Her goal is for you to have a blast as you dance your way to becoming a Bollywood star – from the comfort or your own home. Inspired by the high-energy music from Indian films, Bollywood is a dance genre that combines Indian folk and classical dances with Hip Hop, Jazz, Latin and more recently Belly Dance!

This workshop will introduce foundational movements, fundamental techniques, rhythmic footwork patterns, hand gestures, arm movements, and facial expressions of Bollywood dance. The class will also provide general knowledge of Bollywood dance and culture. Students will learn how Bollywood dance practices employ traditional Indian folk dance, such as Bhangra and Garba, and classical forms of the subcontinent such as Kathak and Odissi, while also showing how contemporary Bollywood incorporates elements of Western movement and dance like Modern, Jazz, Latin and Hip-Hop. This workshop is designed to provide students with a solid foundation from which to perform Bollywood dance, including an emphasis on storytelling through movement, especially posture, strength, alignment and coordination.

• About Our Instructor

  Caitlin first had an opportunity to study Indian folk and classical dance while studying in Chennai, India (in the southern end of Tami Nadu) during the fall of 2001. Upon her return to the States, she sought out Indian dance mentors and became a performing member and instructor for Bollywood West Company under the tutelage of Rena Gupta from 2008-2011 before opening her own studio Bella Diva World Dance in 2011. Caitlin has a BFA in Musical Theatre and Dance from the University of Colorado Boulder and holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs & Intercultural Communication from the University of Denver in addition to running Bella Diva, Caitlin is an Adjunct Professor on faculty at the Denver’s Theatre Department and Lamont School of Music, instructing World Dance and Dynamic Movement.

with Allie Valtakis

Having big, fluid isolations is all about healthy hips. In Hip Repair with Allie V., I will use my R.M.S. Method to guide you through an exploratory sequence that will release stiffness from your hip joints. Mobilize the joint in all directions, and strengthen it to keep you injury free. We will also support the low back and abs to give you a complete makeover to your belly dance posture. Your mayas will be big and fluid. Your shimmies will be bouncy and consistent. Your locks will be sharp and safe!

• About Our Instructor

  I’m Allie Valtakis! I love moving bodies! There is nothing more important to me than helping clients and students feel good in their bodies. I use gentle movement pathways and exercises to help even the most timid beginner feel safe and successful when moving. I know what it’s like being that timid beginner. I came from a life-long background of sedentary hobbies. It wasn’t until I found belly dance that I became inspired by movement. Because I wasn’t shown the gentle, safe ways my body needed to move, I wound up injured and in pain. Now I specialize in helping folks rehab and prehab their pain so they can get back to moving in all the ways we love! Certified by NASM, Level 1 Dance Therapeutics, Integrated Dance, and in Movement Therapy. I’ve been belly dancing for 14 years and been a personal trainer for three years.

with Jessey Smithwick

Self-love is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows with habits, choices, and actions taken to support our own wellbeing. But what is radical self-love? It’s finding compassion for yourself in the places you once thought were wrong. It’s self-honoring, boundary-holding, personal fulfillment magic that we are each worth of. In “Radical Self-Love and Wellness”, learn steps and tools necessary for your personal self-love journey, be guided through a meditation designed to open your heart to yourself, and learn how wellness and self-love are so intimately related.

• About Our Instructor

  Jessey Smithwick is a certified Wellness Coach and Holistic Health Practitioner who specializes in women’s emotional and spiritual wellness. She’s also a belly dancer, kickboxing trainer, and fitness instructor and takes every opportunity possible to be in nature. When she’s not connecting with other amazing women, you can find her hanging with her son!

with Jennifer Secrist Goran

Looking for a fun way to exercise? This is just the thing you need! This workshop starts with a brief intro, warm up and moving meditation. After that we will jump right in with a series of mid-range cardio drills while we dance using some of our more rigorous fast steps. A fun way to get the blood circulating for sure!

This workshop will provide a very brief breakdown of each step so no dance experience is necessary to enjoy this workshop. After our cardio section we’ll transition into some slower tempo music to ground us. Here we will use a whole new family of belly dance movements to tone muscles while calming our minds. Exercising the body whole while experiencing a sublime dance style…that’s the goal!

• About Our Instructor

  Jennifer began her tribal belly dance training in San Francisco in 1989 with world famous American Tribal Style (aka ATS or FCBDStyle®) founder Carolena Nericcio, director of FatChanceBellyDance®. She was immediately impressed by the presence and poise of the instructor and by the powerful organic feel of the dance. To this day Jennifer remains a loyal student of Carolena’s and still enjoys studying with her when in the Bay Area. In addition to ATS dance form, Jennifer spent several years training and performing classical belly dance styles. She draws on this experience to help guide belly dancers from other styles (classical Egyptian, American Caberet, Persian, Tunisian, & Turkish) to quickly and easily distinguish the nuances and inflections that are so important to creating the distinct look of ATS/FCBDStyle®. Jennifer is known for her long-term experience with ATS as well as her strong movement technique, focused arm work, isolations, creating dynamic movement dialect & performance sets. She is often praised as a passionate teacher who strives to help each student, she works with reach their fullest potential!

with Mesmera

Build Strength! Add Grace! Expand Your Embrace! What are arms doing while hips are busy? Are elbows following or leading? Explore “Handle This” and “Wristy Business”! Includes posture, stance, arm carriage, timing for fluid and sharp technique, gesture, style, framing and layering with hip work and traveling combinations for beautiful expressive ARMS!

• About Our instructor

  
  Mesmera’s Lifetime Achievement Award honors 40 years of professional success as a dynamic performer and gifted instructor who passionately share her expertise and love of dance. After 5,000 Livewires Bellygrams to warm-up, she began booking Hollywood event and private parties. Her mesmerizing Classic Arabic style, fiery Zambra Mesmera Fusion and Snake Dance won her many Film/TV credit, along with articles in “Time” Magazine, “In Style” and “L.A Weekly’s Best of L.A.” An esteemed 25 year BDUG Judge, Master Teacher Mesmera’s keen eye for refinement has coached Celebrities and mentored rising Stars and Superstars. She’s provided a solid foundation for students, generated dozens of teachers and inspired countless performers. Producing Award-winning Videos, Live Music Events in Los Angeles, Fab Friday Dar Maghreg Dinner Showcases where she reigned for 30 years, plus decades of Drum Circles, sponsoring Seminars and directing her Troupes, has made her a Legend. Mesmera’s classes on Zoom are a fulfilling way to stay connected through the current health challenges for safety and make the distance vanish! “Freedom of Movement is a Birthright: Let’s Dance! Mesmera

with Christine & Tim Torrez

An informative 2-hour hands-on workshop around situational awareness, practical approach, and application of self-defense strategies. In this world, you will always be your first line of defense. REMEMBER, you ARE the weapon!

All levels of previous training accepted; no experience necessary. After verifying all waivers have been signed and introductions are made, we will start by dedicating the first 30 minutes of our workshop to developing strong, situational awareness skills, discussing theoretical situations, and building new tactical thinking techniques to help recognize and avoid dangerous scenarios that may arise at any given moment in a woman’s day to day life. Thereafter, for the next hour and 15 minutes, we will begin putting bodies into motion in a “crawl, walk, run” way of training techniques that are strictly gross motor skills and immediately street ready. Our focus will be not just strikes, kicks, grab releases, and stomps, but also very much centered on distancing, footing, and vocal control. All of which are extraordinarily important in a serious situation. The last 15 minutes of class will be used for cool down, questions and answers, and open discussion or anything that may have arisen during the class.

• About Our Instructors

  Christine M. Torrez, Owner and Chief Instructor of Quest Academy of Martial Arts, Fort Collins, CO
  5th Degree Black Bel Aiki Jujitsu
  4th Degree Alemany Kempo Karate
  1st Degree Black Belt American Kenpo
  
  Tim Torrez, Head Instructor and Co-Owner of Quest Academy of Martial Arts, Fort Collins, CO
  5th Degree Black Belt Aiki Jijitsu
  3rd Degree Alemany Kempo Karate
  1st Degree Black Belt American Kenpo

with Sandy Shakti Myers and Troupe Sidysaan

Join Sandy Shakti and Troupe Sidysaan in a choregraphed dance journey empowering each of us in the art of personal growth and community development. Upon signing up and committing to this Journey you will find out the theme and costumes we are working with this year.

We will have our first gathering in the Zoom Room to chat about logistics, see the finished choreography and learn the first combo. Sandy will create a private Facebook group and post combo videos for you to learn, and it’s a wonderful community to share the journey. We have ways to work around if you are not on Facebook too! In mid to late July 2022, we will have a crafternoon to work on our costuming and dance together. The day of SWAY will have an in-person blocking and run through the dance in class and on stage to perform that evening for SWAY! We look forward to dancing with you!

with Mesmera

Create techniques for musicality and innovative presentation using tempo changes, accents, turns, level changes, laying and more.  Develop precision skills and transitions for “Dancing in the Details” from serpentine undulations to dynamic drum solos!  

• About Our Instructor

  Mesmera’s Lifetime Achievement Award honors 40 years of professional success as a dynamic performer and gifted instructor who passionately share her expertise and love of dance.  After 5,000 Livewires Bellygrams to warm-up, she began booking Hollywood event and private parties. Her mesmerizing Classic Arabic style, fiery Zambra Mesmera Fusion and Snake Dance won her many Film/TV credit, along with articles in “Time” Magazine, “In Style” and “L.A Weekly’s Best of L.A.”  An esteemed 25 year BDUG Judge, Master Teacher Mesmera’s keen eye for refinement has coached Celebrities and mentored rising Stars and Superstars. She’s provided a solid foundation for students, generated dozens of teachers and inspired countless performers.  Producing Award-winning Videos, Live Music Events in Los Angeles, Fab Friday Dar Maghreg Dinner Showcases where she reigned for 30 years, plus decades of Drum Circles, sponsoring Seminars and directing her Troupes, has made her a Legend.  Mesmera’s classes on Zoom are a fulfilling way to stay connected through the current health challenges for safety and make the distance vanish!  “Freedom of Movement is a Birthright: Let’s Dance! Mesmera