ALEXIS KYRIAKIS
ALEXIS KYRIAKIS is the owner, founder, and artistic director at DANSER. She has been dancing since the age of 4. During childhood, up until she was 15 years old, she focused on ballet, with training under Mary Beth Cabana from Ballet Arts (now Ballet Tucson) in their Nogales, AZ location. She continued with ballet training, and also began exploring other dance styles like jazz, modern and hip hop. During college in Monterrey, Mexico, she took various classes from the Dance Program at “Tec de Monterrey”, and after her second year, she joined a hip hop dance team, led by Jason Cisneros from HipFunk Estudio. With her passion for dancing, Alexis started a Dance Camp in her hometown, Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, teaching hip-hop and jazz during the last 2 summers of her years in college. She enjoyed working with children and teens so much, that in 2007 she moved to San Diego, CA to join a teacher training program at Eveoke Dance Theatre. During her time there she participated for Eveoke’s Outreach Program as an instructor. Her experience there taught her to build a sense of confidence, strength, passion, joy, growth and many other abilities to all her students and to portray the knowledge and feeling that dance is an art form that projects emotions through the expression of the body. The philosophy and the people in Eveoke’s community inspired Alexis to continue to grow and express herself through movement, and more importantly share this by teaching as much as she could. By 2009 she had strong feelings about opening her own dance studio, and after working in various companies and even ventured into other business industries, Alexis decided to form DANSER in March of 2012. She believes that a dancer can learn discipline and tools in the dance floor, which can be applied in many other aspects of life. Her biggest goal is to help bring out creativity, voice, and a healthy and positive attitude towards dance and being able to communicate all these attributes to the community to be able to make a difference.
AQUIL JOEL HAMEED
Axé Capoeira Tucson was established in 2009, when student Aquil Joel Hameed, AKA "Sombra", came to Tucson with the goal of sharing the martial-art, dance, and culture of capoeira and expanding the Axé Capoeira group. A direct student of Jay "Camara" Spain, and under the instruction of Mestre Barrao, Sombra has developed and implemented a kid, teen, and adult curriculum to provide the community an alternative means to develop self confidence, encourage health and fitness, and promote cultural awareness and experiences through interactive and challenging capoeira and Brazilian dance classes.
Sombra was first exposed to capoeira in 2002 at a neighborhood community center. After taking a few classes, he eventually looked for an organized and established academy to learn capoeira. After researching many different schools, he decided that Axé Capoeira best fit his understanding of capoeira. Since then, Sombra has trained under the instruction of Mestre Barrao and Professor Camara. He has participated in many workshops, batizados, performances and events locally, throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and abroad.
Sombra has over 17 years of martial-arts, fitness and performance experience. He compliments his capoeira instruction with personal fitness weight, strength, and conditioning training.
Sombra was first exposed to capoeira in 2002 at a neighborhood community center. After taking a few classes, he eventually looked for an organized and established academy to learn capoeira. After researching many different schools, he decided that Axé Capoeira best fit his understanding of capoeira. Since then, Sombra has trained under the instruction of Mestre Barrao and Professor Camara. He has participated in many workshops, batizados, performances and events locally, throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and abroad.
Sombra has over 17 years of martial-arts, fitness and performance experience. He compliments his capoeira instruction with personal fitness weight, strength, and conditioning training.
CLAUDIA CASAL
CLAUDIA CASAL began dancing when she was 10 yrs. old at "Academia de Hilda Maria" in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. During high school, she continued her dance training in "Karla's Studio" in Nogales, Arizona. Claudia moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she began her training at Pima Community College and as well as taking additional dance classes at the University of Arizona. She graduated from the Dance Program at PCC in December 2011. During her studies there, she joined the PCC Dance Club for a couple of semesters and participated in the various performances for the Dance Program. More of her dance experience came from performances for the University of Arizona pep rallies, when she joined the University Dance Project. Claudia’s strongest dance background is in modern and Tahitian styles. She is also certified in Zumba Fitness and is currently the process of getting certified for Fletcher Pilates.
JARA GREENFIELD
JARA GREENFIELD was born in New York City, and began her ballet training at the age of three at Ballet Academy East. She continued her schooling at The Manhattan Ballet School, where she danced the lead role of “Clara” in The Nutcracker, and interpreted many solo roles in original ballets. At the age of eight, Ms. Greenfield entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of the New York City Ballet (NYCB), where she studied under the tutelage of Garielle Whittle, Darci Kistler, Peter Boal, Marina Stavitskaya, and Olga Kostritzky. As a student, Ms. Greenfield performed at Lincoln Center in NYCB’s productions of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, Coppélia, and A Midsummer’s Night Dream, as well as Jerome Robbin’s Circus Polka. She also had the privilege of originating a role in Christopher Wheeldon’s Scènes de Ballet. As a teenager, Ms. Greenfield continued her training abroad in Cannes, France, where she studied at the Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower. Though ballet is her passion, she also enjoys jazz and modern dance, which she studied through the performing arts program at Belvoir Terrace.
JOSETTE WEIBRECHTJosette Weibrecht was the owner and artistic director of “a Tucson dance company” (TDC) from 1993 until 2010. She started this as a small competition and performance team in order to allow students to learn multiple forms of dance, perform for the community and build confidence and self-esteem, but grew into a prosperous and well-known studio. Overall TDC was designed to help children and teens develop their passion for a form of expression that would allow individual growth while simultaneously providing an atmosphere conducive to team bonding. The result was a wonderful family of children and teens who not only grew up together but have continued to stay in contact throughout their adult lives. Although Josette has garnered regional and national recognition and numerous awards for her choreography, this wonderful, yet unpredicted, phenomenon of lifelong friendships, is that in which she takes the most pride and finds most gratifying.
Josette attended the University of Arizona where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology, while taking courses towards a Dance Minor. Throughout her dance career, she studied with many nationally-acclaimed dance masters. During her high school and college years she appeared in film, commercials, runway and several musicals with the Southern Arizona Light Opera Company, including “My Fair Lady,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” and more. Josette has also directed the children’s cast of Moscow Ballet’s Nutcracker productions every year that they have performed in Tucson. While completing her M.D. at the University of Arizona Medical School, Josette continued to grow TDC by introducing more classes to TDC’s schedule. She continues to teach and choreograph and is excited to be exclusively teaching for Danser studio.
CHEZALE RODRIGUEZ
CHEZALE RODRIGUEZ is a professional dancer/choreographer/performer out of Arizona. With her roots out of Pittsburgh, PA and having a strong background in music, she also shares another life-long love with dance. She has studied dance in a classroom environment for just under 15 years. Her strengths are in the dance forms of Hip Hop and Jazz. She has developed her skill as a student and choreographer, belonging to high school/college dance group DiverCity for 2 years and also The Human Project Urban Dance Theatre for over 6 years.
Now, she is continuing to hone her craft and pursue her passion as a choreographer and instructor, with plans to start her own professional dance business. She has an extensive resume that she is still building upon that includes: Several teaching and performance gigs, professional dance workshops & auditions attended, dance education at both Pima Community College & the University of Arizona, and also receiving recognition and accolades for her work. Still considering herself a student of dance because of the continuous learning process, she wants to reach new heights and teach others the amazing art and culture of DANCE!
Now, she is continuing to hone her craft and pursue her passion as a choreographer and instructor, with plans to start her own professional dance business. She has an extensive resume that she is still building upon that includes: Several teaching and performance gigs, professional dance workshops & auditions attended, dance education at both Pima Community College & the University of Arizona, and also receiving recognition and accolades for her work. Still considering herself a student of dance because of the continuous learning process, she wants to reach new heights and teach others the amazing art and culture of DANCE!
SUSAN LEWIS
SUSAN LEWIS has been teaching and performing ballet in New York and Arizona for over 25 years. Certified L.I.S.T.D.(Licentiate, Int’l) Society Of Teachers of Dancing in the Cecchetti Method, she also has trained with Hilda Morales (NYCB), Elizabeth Carr (ABT),Jane Matty (Nat’l Ballet of Amsterdam) and Cecily Bressel (Boston Ballet). She has taught at all levels ranging from 2Year old to advanced ballet/pointe to seniors. She has worked as ballet instructor for gymnastics in Tucson. Susan has taught in varied environments including private and public schools, colleges, private dance studios, Adjunct faculty for enrichment programs and in charge of children’s dance for 10 yrs. at NW/YMCA. She is currently on the staff of a private studio and teaches children for City of Tucson.
