Alex Arizpe

Swingtown Jitterhoppers

Uptown Street Dance Co.

A native Houstonian, Alex Arizpe is the co-director and choreographer of both the Swingtown Jitterhoppers and the Uptown Street Dance Co. His unique combination of jazz and street dance gives an energetic, theatrical style to social dances of the past and present like lindy hop, jitterbug, disco, country and western, and hip hop. Competing in the 70’s and 80’s, Alex received numerous awards in jitterbug and disco and the title of National C&W Dance Champion for three years. His career began in 1984, dancing and choreographing for the Delia Stewart Dance Co.  Alex has choreographed for projects such as the MGM film Rush, commercials, fashion shows, award ceremonies, dance concerts and more. He is currently involved with the Houston Metropolitan Dance Center’s In Motion, an education through dance program touring Houston area schools. He has over 20 years teaching experience and currently teaches Street Jazz at the Houston Met. Alex is proud to be a Houston Fire Fighter, husband, and father of two wonderful children.

Victoria Arizpe

Swingtown Jitterhoppers

Uptown Street Dance Co.

A native Houstonian, Victoria Arizpe has over 20 years of dance training specializing in jazz, ballet, and modern. She began her professional career at the age of 15 when she joined the Delia Stewart Dance Co.  Since then, she has performed in many Theater Under the Stars and Houston Grand Opera productions, making a name for herself in Houston’s musical theater and opera scene. She has also danced in feature film, commercials, and television. A former principal dancer with the Houston Metropolitan Dance Center, Victoria is now on faculty and involved with In Motion, the Houston Met’s education through dance program. She and her husband, Alex, are co-founders and directors of both the Swingtown Jitterhoppers and the Uptown Street Dance Co. Their energetic company performs at corporate events and concerts in the Houston area. Victoria is also the proud mother of two wonderful children.

Mestre Cafu

Grupo Cafu Capoeira Association

Mestre Cafu was born and raised in Brazil. He began practicing Capoeira at the age of six and has been teaching Capoeira for fifteen years. He is the first master of the art of Capoeira to live in Texas. Mestre Cafu is the Artistic Director of Grupo Cafu Capoeira Association, a performing school with locations in Brazil, Hawaii, California and Texas.  Mestre Cafu is a talented artist, positive role model, and reputable community member. Recently he co-founded J.U.M.P. (Juvenile Uplift Mentorship Program), a non-profit corporation dedicated to exposing the youth to multicultural arts. He currently teaches at Project Row Houses, The Children’s Museum, the YWCA, St. John’s Academy, St. Thomas University, Kick Sport, and Houston area elementary schools.

Gary Conner

Planet Funk™ Slam Squad

Gary Conner has danced professionally for 8 years and studied across the U.S. in places such as Orlando, Dallas, Austin, L.A., and Colorado. Gary has his Associates Degree in theater and is currently earning his BFA in theater. Gary has done features such as the “MC Hammer Story”, and the “37th Chamber”. As a dancer for Planet Funk™, Gary has performed for the Debra Duncan Show and the Houston Children’s Festival. He has toured with LFO, N’Sync, and Digital Underground, and has also choreographed for numerous music videos in Dallas and Houston. He has been a director for Planet Funk for over two years and loves the art of dance. His intricate, urban hip-hop style along with his great sense of humor will leave you breathless.

Kenneth Epting

Exclamation Dance Co.

Kenneth is a native of Chicago, Illinois, residing in Houston for the past fourteen years. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Purdue University, and his Masters in Counseling from Prairie View A&M University. He is also a certified secondary mathematics teacher and counselor. During his years at Purdue, Kenneth’s activities included: Jahari Dance Company, Purdue Repertory Dance Company, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity. In addition, he also received the Louis Sudler Award for the Arts and the Delta Sigma Theta Arts and Book Scholarship.

 

Ken started his dance training in Chicago, Illinois with noted dance schools such as: Joseph Holmes Dance Theatre, Joel Hall Dance Center, and Lou Conte School of Dance. He also received additional training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and Martha Graham School. Mr. Epting has received high acclaim for many of his choreographic works in Chicago and Houston. Since his arrival in Houston, Ken has choreographed for the following organizations: Houston Academy of Dance, Delia Stewart Dance Company, Houston Metropolitan Dance Theatre, West University Dance Center Star Power Dancers, Stratford Playhouse, Academy Dancers, Bayou City Dance Company, The Village School, Houston Illusions Rhythmic Gymnastics, and a host of other local high school dance and drill teams. He was also the resident choreographer and Artistic Director for 10 years for the Classic Dance Ensemble at Prairie View A&M University, where he successfully produced numerous concerts and special choreographic works. His evenings are now spent teaching dance throughout the city of Houston while his days are consumed with his duties as the Lead Counselor for Waller High School. Currently, as the founder and Artistic Director of Exclamation Dance Company, Kenneth continues his lifelong mission to educate, excite, and entertain audiences across the world using powerful statements made in modern and jazz dance.

Nelly Fraga

Ambassadors International Ballet Folklorico

Nancy Fraga founded AIBF 24 years ago to preserve traditional Hispanic folk dance, to promote cultural awareness among company members and the general public, and to foster goodwill between the cultures within the Houston community and beyond. AIBF’s credits include every Houston International Festival since 1980, the New Orleans World Fair in 1984, the 450^th anniversary festivities of Guayaquil, Ecuador, and the 2000 National Hispanic Journalist Conferences attended by George W. Bush.  AIBF also competes in national dance competitions and sponsors workshops open to the Houston community. It is run by an all-volunteer Board of Directors comprised of parents, leaders, and business people within the community.

Dorrell Martin

Dorrell Martin Dance Fusion

The mission of Dorrell Martin Dance Fusion is to educate and enrich the community by virtue of contemporary dance, which fuses international genres of movement to create a diverse art form that address the connection of today’s society.

Barbara King

King’s Dancing Centre

Barbara is the proud owner and artistic director of King’s Dancing Centre. For 20 years, Barbara has dedicated her work to ballet, tap, jazz, International Latin and Standard, and American ballroom dance. Her extensive background and expertise in the performing arts provide a firm foundation for a multitude of business ventures and successes. Ms. King is noted as an outstanding personality in the ballroom dancing industry for her superior work ethic – namely, her drive to develop self-esteem and social skills in children through social and competitive dancing. Having traveled the world with her dance company competing, judging and coaching, Ms. King, her two sons and three daughters hold numerous championship titles. Ms. King’s recent endeavors include working in the music and entertainment industry to groom young vocalists and dancers and developing health and wellness seminars in Houston.

Soham Mehta

Shunya Theatre

"Reincarnation", a play written/directed by Soham Mehta, depicts the story of five Indian-Americans as they transition from student-life into adulthood. The story begins with twenty-three year old Aakash Desai’s parents re-immigrating to India.  Aakash finds himself torn between his parents’ desire for him to join them in India and his girlfriend's desire for him to settle down with her in Austin. For the first time in his life, Aakash must know what he wants and make a choice for himself.  Here we join Aakash as he reaches his breaking point.

Shunya Theatre is a newly formed, Houston based, non-profit theatre troupe dedicated to providing a voice to the Indian-American experience.  Shunya literally means “zero, nothing, or emptiness” in Sanskrit.  The theatre is shunya or “empty” until we come together as artists and patrons to bring it to life with our collective imagination.

Tena Morales

Houston Hepcats

Tena Morales is a dedicated promoter and producer of dance events for the Houston Swing Dance Society. She is the chair of the Great Southwest Lindy Fest and Director of the Houston Hepcats since 2001. The Hepcats is a national award-winning Lindy Hop troupe  specializing in dances of the Swing Era. Tena is also a National Lindy Hop Champion who has placed in the top three places in numerous Classic and Master divisions. She and her students have won several 1^st place titles in the American Lindy Hop Championship Pro-Am division. A nationally renowned swing dance teacher and judge, Tena also hosts "Hellzapoppin", an international Lindy Hop competition for the Harlem Jazz Dance Festival.

Michael Douglas

Met Too Youth Company

A company member from 1996 to 2002, Michael Douglas recently retired to direct Met Too, the youth company of the Houston Metropolitan Dance Company. Met Too performs as “curtain warmers” for many Society of Performing Arts performances, at the Children’s Museum, and at their own concert at the Heinen Theater. Douglas began training with Michelle Smith in 1987 and performed in commercials, music videos, and industrials. His credits include Chuck E. Cheese, Mary Kay, Dr. Pepper, and Texas Instruments, to name a few. Douglas was in an episode of PBS's "Wishbone" and in national publications from Fortune to Dance Teacher. He put himself through graduate school in the ‘90s performing with dance companies in Dallas including the Dallas Met Ballet and Dancer's Unlimited. He has performed in Houston Grand Opera productions and his choreography was set on the Russian Etikaterinburg Contemporary Dance Co. As a company member of the Houston Met, he helped The Met's reach new heights by performing nationally and locally, participating in strategic planning, and acting as company manager. With his passion for teaching, nurturing, and encouraging young dancers, Michael is also a national dance competition judge and a speech-language pathologist, training deaf and hearing-impaired children to listen with advanced technologies and use spoken language in mainstream society.

Amber Thornton-Stein

Clear Lake Metropolitan Ballet and Repertory Theatre

Ms. Thornton-Stein came to Royal Academy Of Fine Arts with an extensive Jazz background. She studied and/or performed with Delia Stewart Jazz Dance Co., Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Co., Clear Lake Metropolitan Ballet & Repertory Theatre, and Euroasia Ballet, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Houston Ballet Academy, Lou Conte of Hubbard Street, Broadway Dance Center, and Steps in NYC. Amber performed in the 1988 Sammy Awards with Jaime Rogers and Ben Vereen and has appeared as a guest artist for various companies including Dance Explosion in Vail, CO. She has appeared in local commercials and promotional work for Macy’s, Capezio, Matuszewski fashion productions, and she starred in the promotional film, “Bonhomme” with Zircon pictures. Amber is the Asst. Director for the Royal Academy, and the resident choreographer and Contemporary Director for Clear Lake Metropolitan Ballet & Repertory Theatre. Amber was the 1998 recipient of the Monticello Scholarship for her choreographed work “Unzipped Entropy” at the Regional Dance America Festival, where her works have been performed many times. Amber’s 2002 piece, “Portraying Picasso”, was selected for the National Choreography Plan, a NEA program that recognizes and supports artistic/choreographic excellence. In addition to her commitment to the art of dance, Amber is the mother of beautiful twins, Hudson and Savannah Stein.

Shawn Welling

Planet Funk™

With a B.A. in studio art from UT, Shawn Welling has directed and performed in NBA, NHL, & NFL halftime shows, concert openings, stage productions, music videos and TV appearances. He conducts master classes throughout the U.S. and at universities such as the UT, A&M and Towsend University in Maryland, where his choreography brought the dance team to become 3-time national champions. Shawn has toured cities outside the U.S. including Mexico City and Vera Cruz. Entertainment & multimedia giants such as Cirque du Soleil, ABC, and Warner Bros. have engaged Shawn’s choreography and performance. Many corporate giants have commissioned Shawn’s expertise, such as Compaq, NASA, AMC Theaters, Dreamworks, Penzoil, and Continental Airlines. Among his 27 appearances on ABC’s Debra Duncan show, Shawn co-hosted two hour-long dance specials, both of which ABC submitted for an Emmy. 

In summer of 2002, ABC’s Good Morning America invited Welling to perform with his company for over six million viewing audience. Host Diane Sawyer heralded his team as "the legendary Planet Funk". For the Texans’ second home game, Welling and his dancers will perform at Reliant Stadium for over 80 thousand live viewers.

Shawn’s electricity and innovative choreography place him at the forefront of the dance education and entertainment business. He empowers the leaders of tomorrow with a “can do” message through dance fitness, creativity and universal respect for each other. United Way, Second Baptist Church, Girl Scouts of America, and schools and churches call on Shawn regularly for his gift of tapping into our greatest resource, children.  In fall of 2002, Mayor Lee Brown and the City of Houston appointed Shawn to the city’s elite "Health and Fitness Council". Shawn’s ability to create, promote, perform, organize, direct and educate his own unique vision of urban dance has produced a place called Planet Funk™, founded by Shawn in 1991, and continued under his newly founded parent company to Planet Funk™, Universal Artists.

Lindi Yeni

Kuumba House

Dance Theatre

Kuumba House was founded in 1982 by South African native Lindi Yeni for the purpose of educating non-Africans about the value and beauty of African culture.