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Links:
Dance:
"Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery." ~Martha Graham
“While I dance I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. That is why I dance"
~Hans Bos
Christina King, owner and instructor:
Versatile and dynamic, Christina King is recognized and respected in the Midwest as a proficient performer and instructor whose appeal is spreading throughout the nation. Christina has the rare ability to successfully cross styles, with expertise in Egyptian belly dance, tribal improvisation, and tribal fusion. She is a founding member and co-director of the nationally acclaimed fusion troupe, Blue Lotus Tribe and has been teaching weekly classes since 2003, opening her Elgin, IL studio, Eastern Groove, in 2008.
Christina's primary instructor of Egyptian style dance has been Jasmin Jahal, with whom she began studying in 1996. She added tribal to the mix in 1999 with Stephane Barto of Read My Hips and sought out many workshop instructors in both styles. Her greatest influences include Rachel Brice, Dalia Carella, Deb Rubin, Jim Boz, and Karim Nagi. A lover of tribal style, Christina never forgets to honor the roots of belly dance and can often be seen performing traditional belly dance as well as her funky fusion creations.
As an instructor, Christina is highly regarded as being knowledgeable, creative, and challenging, all the while delivering her material with an approachable sense of humor. She has been honored to teach at such events as Tribal Fest, Elevation, 3rd Coast Tribal, Folk Tours Camp, TribOriginal, Northern Lights Festival, Tribal Dreams Festival, and the Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive.
Monica Herdrich, hip-hop fusion instructor:
Monica started dancing at the tender age of 4. Her styles have included ballet, jazz, tap, and a major in modern dance at a high school for the arts in Providence, RI. Monica has been belly dancing in the northwest suburbs since 2006. Starting out as a student of Laura Rieback, Monica worked on technique for over a year before starting classes with Christina King of Elgin. While studying under Christina, Monica learned the ins and outs of tribal improv, and then moved onto tribal fusion. Monica performed in Christina’s student troupes Eastern Bloom, La Groove Fatale, and the Orient Express. More recently, she has taken on an apprenticeship with nationally recognized Blue Lotus Tribe. Monica has taken workshops from many teachers and is inspired by the likes of Unmata, Rachel Brice,Heather Stants and Onca O'Leary.
Over the years Monica’s style has changed and grown while working on her own choreographies. What has emerged is a combination of tribal fusion mixed with a slinky style of hip-hop dance set to music with a funky beat.
Teaching choreography is one of Monica’s great joys and her teaching style is noted to be personal and tough, pulling the best out of her students. Her new student troupe Style M fuses Monica’s style of hip-hop bellydance and traditional bellydance in new and unique ways. Monica and Style M are thrilled to be a part of the Eastern Groove family!
Zoh'ra, ZUMBA instructor: BIO COMING SOON: