Amanda Wagner is one crazy, cool chick! She has been teaching hip hop dance in the area for 5 years. She loves anything from old school (think Breakin’ 2 Electric Boogaloo!) to new school. She also teaches 1st grade and coaches the Middleton High School Dance Team. Amanda loves people to get down and enjoy class in their own style!

Ayperi turned to Middle Eastern dance in 2001 after years of traditional Ballet training. She has extensive experience with both the educational and production aspects of dance, including UW Bellydancing Club, El Genneyya Bellydancing Troupe, Bristol Renaissance Faire, Bellydancing Event Coordinator for the Casbah Restaurant, and Ashar Dance Company. Ayperi is currently completing her certification in education through the UW-Madison School of Education. Ayperi’s training and performance experience include traditional Turkish, Rrom (Gypsy), Egyptian, American Caberet, Tribal fusion, and in many other fusion styles. She teaches and performs sword dances, cane dances, veil dances, candle dances, and is currently learning to fuse Bellydance techniques with poi, or fire dancing.

Güzel Allaire, part-time dance instructor and full-time mother of two. Güzel began her Middle Eastern dance training in 1989. She began teaching overseas and has been teaching in the Madison area since 2000. She has traveled all over the United States to study with internationally acclaimed dancers. She is the director of Madison dance troupe Banaat al Jazira and is a member of Sadira and the Riad Middle Eastern Dance Company.

Jeanne Kolker is an ACE-certified fitness instructor who teaches Yoga Remix, Zumba and Hip Hop Hustle. She’s a full-time journalist and fitness fan who recently decided that teaching classes is the best possible justification for her fashletic clothing addiction, and her classes are easily accessible for any and all fitness levels.

Heidi Hakseth was a ballet/tap/jazz studio kid from the time she was three years old until she was sixteen. She then turned to theater and served as dance captain for musical theater productions. When she was eighteen, Heidi discovered Irish dance. With no Irish dance studios, Heidi studied at Irish community events and in the basement of an Irish pub in the Twin Cities. Her early teachers formed a very successful Irish dance school in St. Paul, but not before she had moved to Madison and started teaching her own classes. Today, Heidi incorporates a variety of Irish dance techniques in her classes. Heidi also teaches through UW Continuing studies and MSCR.

Heidi Gentry started dancing at age four or five and has continued ever since! Formally trained in ballet, tap, modern, jazz, pointe, lyrical, and some partnering, Heidi danced in Springfield Ballet Company and Springfield Muni Opera, Springfield, IL. As President of 3 Spot Dance Troupe at the University of Illinois, Heidi choreographed and performed in semester showcases and various other shows while learning and performing many other dance styles, including Salsa, Irish step dance, Stomp, Hip Hop, Swing, and Character. Since moving to Madison, Heidi has remained active in the local dance scene, performing in The Nutcracker with the Madison Ballet and has attended open division ballet classes at the Madison Ballet studios.

Lyn Pilch is not a dancer. However, Lyn describes herself as Janey Glenn did in Girls Just Want to Have Fun: “I love to dance!” Bummed that her dance class was going to be no more when the “Art of Dance” studio closed, Lyn decided to stop pouting and do something about it—thus you have Dance Fabulous, LLC. Lyn’s belief to “never stop dancing” drives her desire to teach the “Kirstie” class. It doesn’t matter what size you are, how much experience you have—if you want to dance, you should. And Lyn’s just the person to guide you.

Cody Rose Jussel began her dancing career in Santa Cruz, California, at the age of 14. In 1997, she began dancing professionally with the Brazilian percussion and dance group Fusão, directed by J’Ann Reins. Fusão performed with the some of the biggest names in Brazilian dance. Cody was also part of a Santa Cruz based hip-hop group under the guidance of the internationally known choreographer Joy Smith. In 2004, Cody traveled to Brazil to study with some of the most accomplished dancers in Brazil. She has taught at the University of California Davis and now teaches here in Madison.

Otehlia Cassidy is a vibrant and energetic dancer who has been studying West African dance for over 12 years in the U.S. as well as Guinea and Mali, West Africa. She is dedicated to bringing the dances and music of Mali and Guinea to the Madison community through performances, school programs, and public and university classes. Otehlia is a patient and talented teacher, who offers classes in a non-competitive and fun environment! Otehlia co-directs and choreographs dances for a Madison-based performance group, Wadoma (West African Dance of Madison).

Chandrika Mahdeva’s mom started teaching her Classical and Indian Folk dance at age 5. She started Ballet, Tap and Jazz lessons around age 8 and continued throughout high school. She has learned classical and folk dances from different parts of the world, but has concentrated on Bharata Natyam, training in Chennai, India. In 1995, Chandrika opened a school in Calgary, Canada, teaching Indian dance. She built a troupe of 20 dancers and has performed professionally (also for free in many school gyms and community centers).

Jessica Boggs, while a massage therapist by trade, music has always been an underlying element in Jess’s life: her memories are rooted in music, there’s often a soundtrack to her life playing in her head, she trained as a vocalist, married a DJ, and you can frequently catch her grooving along to supermarket musak- it’s only natural that it would physically move her. While never having the opportunity for formal training when young, Jess spent a good portion of her adolescence dancing at every chance she got; primarily as part of a nationally ranked dance team, but also in musical theater and immersed in club atmospheres. As life went on, dance fell to the wayside, but thanks to D-Fab, Jess was reminded that dance is like oxygen to her, and she hasn’t stopped since. With classes firmly rooted in street style, Jess’s primary goal is to have fun and see where the music takes her!

Tiffany Green fell in love with salsa at the first sound of the clave, but it wasn’t until her second year in graduate school when she got more serious about learning New York style mambo (in North Carolina!)    Exposure to this style of salsa made her realize that salsa is the ultimate fusion dance, borrowing from and reinterpreting dances such as hustle, swing, jazz and more.  In addition to being an avid salsera, Tiffany has trained in several other dance styles including, but not limited to, swing, Afro-Cuban rumba, traditional West African, Middle Eastern and tango.  She has also been a certified ACE Group Fitness instructor since 2003, currently teaching Les Mills Body JAM, Zumba, and body sculpting.  Tiffany is completing her pilates mat and equipment certifications through the PhysicalMind Institute.  Her greatest joy is helping her class participants realize that their bodies are capable of infinitely more than they ever realized.

Amy Kruger was introduced to yoga in the 1970’s. Yoga asanas were fun for the young dancer/gymnast wannabe to play around with. Fast-forward twenty years: Back pain and pregnancy caused her to discover the amazing benefits of a regular practice. Amy practices Ashtanga yoga. A physical practice sometimes referred to as Power Yoga. Her classes are dynamic and because she plays popular rock music, the practice feels like a dance. Amy also teaches yoga at Gold’s Gym and dances with the West African drum and dance group, WADOMA. She has taught aerobic dance and women’s strength training at UW Sports Medicine.