Music & Dance Lessons in St Petersburg FL
Music & Dance Lessons in St Petersburg FL
My mission is to open your artistic heart in a spiritually supportive and safe environment, by elevating your skill level with quality music and dance instruction that fosters your creative expression. I strongly believe that living from an open heart is the key to creating a more fulfilling life. I also believe that every human being is extraordinarily unique and inherently creative. The writer, Brenda Ueland, best captures my sentiment:
You are incomparable. What a powerful statement! I believe that our incomparability extends to our creative expression. It is not a matter of trying to be like someone else, but rather acknowledging, cultivating and celebrating of our own uniqueness and creativity.
Sadly, the world focuses on the negative, and says that true happiness comes from something outside of ourselves – like materiality – and that we are lacking somehow in who we are, driving us to compare ourselves to others and to be someone other than who we truly are. For me, not only is this unacceptable, but it’s impractical and unsustainable. I know that I am much happier when I am freely being myself, and I wish this for all my students. And when we are expressing ourselves freely, my vision is that we can lift the planet out of the mundane into a higher loving creative consciousness.
Sadly, the world focuses on the negative, and says that true happiness comes from something outside of ourselves – like materiality – and that we are lacking somehow in who we are, driving us to compare ourselves to others and to be someone other than who we truly are. For me, not only is this unacceptable, but it’s impractical and unsustainable. I know that I am much happier when I am freely being myself, and I wish this for all my students. And when we are expressing ourselves freely, my vision is that we can lift the planet out of the mundane into a higher loving creative consciousness.
Well, let me share a little about myself. I was a very creative, artistic, yet very quiet child. You would never see me on stage, I was way too shy! My father, having been a semi-professional jazz musician himself, was wise enough to start me on piano at age 7, where I could practice alone to my heart’s content. I only performed in the safety of my bedroom and shower, maybe sometimes for my family at Christmas parties.
I struggled for years (and sometimes I still do) with being a creative introvert, yet having this desire to express out in the world.
My creative drive and exploration has shaped my performing and teaching experience, as well as my approach to teaching. It has given me a strong, well-rounded background in many styles in music, dance and theatre. If you have the yearning to express yourself creatively, together we can open your creative heart!
I began teaching in 2005, and since then I have worked with many students – with children as young as 4 years to adults in their 80s. I have sincerely loved every minute of it. I have taught private and group piano, trombone, voice, theatre and dance lessons, as well as performance workshops in theatre improv, musical theatre, auditioning techniques, and ballroom dance.
I have taught from my private home studio, music studios, community centers and public and private schools, as well as private modeling and acting schools. I have worked in after-school creative arts and language immersion school programs for many years and supervised and designed music, dance, musical theatre and foreign language programs for children K-8th.
I began teaching in 2005, and since then I have worked with many students – with children as young as 4 years to adults in their 80s. I have sincerely loved every minute of it. I have taught private and group piano, trombone, voice, theatre and dance lessons, as well as performance workshops in theatre improv, musical theatre, auditioning techniques, and ballroom dance.
I have taught from my private home studio, music studios, community centers and public and private schools, as well as private modeling and acting schools. I have worked in after-school creative arts and language immersion school programs for many years and supervised and designed music, dance, musical theatre and foreign language programs for children K-8th.
Being mixed-raced and bilingual myself, I highly value multiethnic and multicultural education. Teaching is one of my greatest joys and I am so blessed for all the teaching experiences I have had in the past 15 years!
I have had the honor of serving as the Co-Creative Director of the SF Young Dancers Program, providing Ballroom dance classes and performance experience to low income and underprivileged youth of SFUSD. I have worked with non-profits such as SF Juvenile City Hall Youth Now providing dance for incarcerated youth, and Saint Ignatius College Preparatory programs for minorities in the arts and higher education. I was also the San Francisco site manager for I-Immersion Institute, where I managed the Mandarin and Spanish after school full immersion language program.
My formal education includes a BA in Classical Music, a BA in Dance with a focus in choreography, and a minor in Multi-Cultural Theatre from San Francisco State University. I received my Masters in Spiritual Science from Peace Theological Seminary and College of Philosophy in 2015, and I am completing my Doctorates in Spiritual Science from the Seminary.
As a vocalist, I have studied classical voice since I was 16 years old, I trained at SFSU, and abroad at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. I have a strong classical foundation, but always explored other styles, so I trained in pop and musical theatre styles for several years.
My formal education includes a BA in Classical Music, a BA in Dance with a focus in choreography, and a minor in Multi-Cultural Theatre from San Francisco State University. I received my Masters in Spiritual Science from Peace Theological Seminary and College of Philosophy in 2015, and I am completing my Doctorates in Spiritual Science from the Seminary.
As a vocalist, I have studied classical voice since I was 16 years old, I trained at SFSU, and abroad at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. I have a strong classical foundation, but always explored other styles, so I trained in pop and musical theatre styles for several years.
I’ve sung with gospel choirs, Afro-Cuban and Standard Jazz Ensembles, classical music choirs, musical theatre productions, and recently as a cantor and music director performing services, masses, funerals and weddings.
As a pianist, besides learning to read music from my dad and starting at age 7, I am mostly self taught. I received more formal training at SFSU in music education classes, yet I credit my skills more to my own drive to learn and practice. The same applies to playing trombone. I instantly fell in love with it, joined the marching band and jazz band in high school, and haven’t stopped playing since.
As a dancer, even though I have always been athletic, I was a late bloomer and didn’t start formally taking classes until I was in college. My formal dance training includes modern in Graham and Cunningham technique, jazz in Dunham and Horton technique, Afro-Cuban, Haitian and Brazilian Folkloric, Hip Hop, East Coast Swing & Lindy Hop. I also trained in Latin Ballroom such as Salsa, Bachata, Merengue and Cha Cha with Ava Apple in SF, and Rodrigo Guzman in Los Angeles. I absolutely love sports and fitness, and have been teaching Zumba dance fitness classes since 2012.
I’ve choreographed and performed with multicultural and bilingual Latino theater companies such as El Grupo Arco Iris, SF, La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley, and El Teatro Campesino, San Juan Bautista, as well as theaters companies such as the Magic Theatre, SF, Shotgun Players, SF and Brick House Theatre, LA. I currently work as a music director for a Catholic Church, and work on arranging and recording my own songs.
I often get the question, “why do you teach?” I teach because I love connecting with people, heart to heart. There is something about the creative arts that makes me open up and drop back down into my heart. I love supporting my students in opening their hearts and expressing more of who they truly are. I am very insightful, sensitive, flexible, and patient. I love to have fun with my lessons and I love to laugh a lot. Joy is so key!
I love to see students have fun, to open up, try something new, expand into new areas of their expression, and to see them shine! Because I am very focused, I can work with students in areas that may be challenging for them, or areas in which they may need to persist – then I get to be that person who gives them a little gentle push to keep moving beyond their comfort zone! I get to be that supportive person who celebrates their wins, and that is so amazing as a teacher! Having students walk away from a lesson with a sense of peace and a smile on their face – which I relate to tapping into their own spiritual essence – for me, that is the best reward.
