Macau’s Dancers

Brazilian ballroom dancer and instructor 

 

 

Giovanna Leoni is an experienced Brazilian ballroom dancer and instructor. She started dancing Brazilian ballroom dance and other Latin styles over 15 years ago, and founded “The Company – Dance Production” in October 2010 aimed at bringing Brazilian dance to Macau. For the past years she has worked together with Kelson Costa, also a dancer and instructor with over 12 years experience. “In Brazil, ballroom dance includes samba de gafieira, zouk (lambada) and bolero. We also work with salsa and Argentinean tango,” she says.  Zouk is the most popular dance style in Macau.  Giovanna has around 15 students and this year is planning to open a tango class.  Last year, her company organised Latin dance parties at Hard Rock Café including the New Year´s Eve party. She stresses these events are tailor-made for her students. “We had this idea of organising Latin dance parties so our students have some options of entertainment. Dance is a social activity,” she says. Today, Giovanna is working with Walace Santos, also a dancer and choreographer, producing and directing “Salsamba Group” that performs six days a week at StarWorld Hotel Casino and Broadway Macau.  She is also co-founder and director of the Macau Brazilian Dance Association.

 

www.thecompanydance.com

 

 

Bollywood and Indian Street Dance instructor

 

 

Victor Kumar teaches Bollywood dance, an Indian modern dance form, and Indian Street Dance. He started teaching in Macau in 2008 as a dance instructor in a fitness and yoga centre, but now he runs his own studio.“Both kinds of dance are energetic, powerful and full of acting inside the choreography,” he says. It can be storytelling, a celebration song or love song with upbeat music. “The difference between them is Indian Street Dance is originally from South India while Bollywood Dance – Indian traditional dance moves with little modern touch of world dance style moves – is from Mumbai, where the film industry is based,” Kumar explains. V Studio is located in the northern district and offers regular dance and yoga classes from Monday to Saturday. The price range is MOP50-100 per class.Victor has over 160 students, mostly Chinese and mostly female. He says the rhythm of the Bollywood songs is quite different from other kinds of Asian music and this attracts his students. “Bollywood music has a very strong and clear beat to let people to get involved in it,” he says. Kumar has successfully organised some Bollywood parties and is also the president of the Indian Culture Association of Macau. “I hold some cultural events such as the Diwali Party, Holi Festival to promote the arts and culture of India, to allow people to know more about India and our association.” 

 

www.facebook.com/vstudiomacau

 

 

Artistic Director of Stella & Artists 

 

 

Stella Ho is one of the best-known Chinese classical dance teachers in Macau. She has been practicing this dance style since the age of six and has trained as an instructor for Chinese Dance Graded Examination since 1995. In 2012 she established her dance company “Stella & Artists” with the aim to promote and develop the art of dancing in Macau. Currently, Ho’s company has around 50 students, with the majority of them being children under the age of 10. She notes that for those students who are really young, it is usually their parents who want to send them to “Stella & Artists” to see if they are interested in dancing. But for the more mature students, usually above the age of 10, they are more likely to have a genuine interest in dancing. From a teacher’s perspective, Ho thinks that it is now easier to teach dance, given that many teaching materials are available on the Internet. “However, if you are discussing the teaching itself, it is still not easy, because you have to come up with many different ways to teach the students, since children are less attentive nowadays. As a result, we have to try harder to stimulate their interest and motivate them to practice,” says Ho. “Stella & Artists” is a frequent participant in local and international artistic events such as the International Youth Dance Festival, Macau Arts Festival and Macau City Fringe Festival.

 

www.stellanartists.wordpress.com

 

 

 

Vice-Chairman of The Dancer Studio Macau

 

 

Popeye Huang graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy in 2005 as a professional modern dance choreographer and director. He later earned a master degree in modern dance from the Case Western Reserve University in the United States. Huang is a modern dance teacher at the Macau Conservatory. He later became the Vice-Chairman of The Dancer Studio Macau (TDSM), which is a local dancing association that was established in 2006. While TDSM offers dance classes in an number of genres, Huang says that many go to the association for street dance, with most of the students being teenagers. Since the studio focuses mainly on the education and promotion of street dance, Huang says students already have a clear idea about what kind of dance they want to learn and thus are self-motivated in terms of practicing.   Huang believes that dancing has become increasingly popular in Macau, an alternative choice for those who want to acquire an artistic skill but who are not interested in playing musical instruments or painting. Apart from participating in the annual event “Parade Through Macau, Latin City,” TDSM has also performed onstage in the Macau Cultural Centre and appeared on TDM. 

 

www.facebook.com/tdsm.adult

 

 

Pole dancing instructor

 

 

Varie Anderson has been pole dancing for about eight years and today she is a pole and aerial instructor and performer, an author, an international competition judge, and a qualified Personal Trainer. But before she discovered pole dancing she had a very different life. “I used to be an Aeronautical Engineer and, as such, I only had male friends. I decided I wanted to take a class to help meet other women. I thought pole dancing looked really fun and challenging so I decided to give it a go. I was totally hooked after my first class! Eventually I gave up being an engineer. Taking up pole totally changed my life – for the better, of course!” Varie admits that it’s a tough discipline, “but very rewarding. We have a very structured approach to teaching, which enables students from all backgrounds to achieve their goals. We start everyone from the absolute beginning, and we have lots of tools to help people progress.” And the benefits are significant, Varie assures. “Pole is excellent for building strength and stamina, as well as helping people who want to lose weight. It’s also amazing for emotional health, stress-relief and for building self-esteem and helping people with body-image issues to overcome them.” Varie’s classes are in a transitional phase right now because she is opening a new studio in Taipa in September. “At the moment I think we have about 100 students, but its always growing. Mostly our students are women, but we do have a few men. Everyone is welcome, no matter what age, sex, shape, size they are – pole is for everyone.”

 

www.hiddentalentaerial.com

 

 

Macau Glee Club founder

 

 

Emma Seward is a professional dancer and choreographer.  She set up the Macau Glee Club five years ago, basically because at that time there was nothing like it in Macau. “There are fantastic ballet schools, but there was nobody teaching jazz dance. I teach jazz, modern and sometimes explore contemporary and musical theatre. I love dance in all it’s forms and have gained experience over the years, so I hope I can pass on some of my love for dance to the young people of Macau.” In a short period of time Glee Club has become an extremely popular place for young people to enjoy learning to dance a variety of styles and even sing. “We have two Russian ballet teachers, a Hip Hop street dance crew and even a professional opera singer.”  Two of the students have even become instructors and performers. “They have also danced with my company and with a professional crew with Katy Perry.” As well as offering classes, Glee Club has a sponsorship relationship with the Venetian which has enabled them to perform full shows at the Sands Theatre, at the Venetian Carnivale and at corporate events. “I’ve also had Glee perform at the HK Rugby Sevens at the half time pitch entertainment, along with professional dancers. In some of the bigger theatre shows I’ve interspersed professional acts, performers, costumes, singers and dancers in order to educate the children in the entertainment industry – and to motivate and inspire!” Together with partners Kathy Seto and Fiona Carrington the club is doing great things for young talent in Macau. “The concept behind Glee is to have fun, whilst getting fit and flexible, be creative and be free to express, whilst still learning technique. Some students may decide to go into this industry, many will not – but regardless I believe they have a lot of fun and it also boosts confidence.”

 

 

 

Ballet Instructors

 

 

Mr. Cheong Son Seng and Ms. Hong Peng Wa are the founders of the Hong Peng Wa Ballet School in Macau. The couple graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy in the 1960s and joined the National Ballet of China. Their repertoire included Swan Lake, The While-haired Girl and The Red Detachment of Women. After they moved to Macau in the 1980s, they found that it didn’t have a ballet school. As a result, they decided to open the Hong Peng Wa Ballet School in 1982, the first private ballet school in the territory. 

The school has moved several times during its 33-year history, and now occupies a space of 3,400 square feet in NAPE, with about 300 students learning ballet there. Mr. Cheong thinks that since their ballet school was established 33 years ago, more people in Macau accept the dance style and are interested in sending their daughters to ballet schools, as an extracurricular activity. 

“Following the economic development of Macau, people are paying more attention to artistic nurturing,” he shares.

 

www.hpwballet.edu.mo

 

 

Belly Dance instructor, Chairman of Macau International Belly Dance Association

 

 

Jessie U started practicing belly dancing around five years ago. Originally a ballet and Latin dancer for around 20 years, she wanted to practice a dancing style that does not require a dance partner. U finds that belly dancing is very beautiful and rich in body movement, which was something that really appeals to her. As a result, she and some and friends decided to establish the Macau International Belly Dance Association. “Belly dancing comes from the Middle East. The president of our association learned the dance style in Turkey and brought it back to Macau. We are all dance lovers and want to promote belly dancing here,” she shares. Currently, the association offers 8 to 10 classes each week, with around 10 to 20 students in each class. Each one-hour class costs around MOP50. U says that many of the students want to learn belly dancing because they want a better-looking body and posture.  The association has already participated in many local and international events, including the Parade through Macau, Latin City and the Chinese New Year celebration parade. 

 

www.mibdance.com