Amara Tabor Smith has been teaching R&M dance workout since the mid 1980s. She is the artistic director of the Oakland based dance company, Deep Waters Dance Theater. Dance is her passion, religion and true love! She is an aquarian whose favorite color is blue. Be warned that she will encourage your wildest self to be unleashed during her class. Be booty positive!
AMARA TABOR SMITH
Dudley Flores has been an R&M instructor since 2000. His teaching is informed by his rich training and performance in modern dance, jazz, hip hop, ballet and musical theater. He currently works with the The Printz Dance Project, RAWdance and Janice Garrett and Dancers. He believes in creating an environment where dance is a therapeutic release from the day to day. His classes are explosive, high energy, and a place to learn movement and work deep, make mistakes - fearlessly, have fun, let go, and enjoy the process.
DUDLEY FLORES
Elizabeth Soberanes started dancing at R&M in 1985 and began teaching Fusion Rhythms Workout in 2001. She holds a BA in Dance Ethnology and has studied Dunham Technique, Afro-Haitian, Brazilian, Cuban, Modern, Hip Hop and Jazz Dance. She has performed with several local ethnic dance companies, and was Queen of Carnaval SF in 2001. She believes dance is a healing force and hopes to inspire students to lose themselves in the joy of dance.
ELIZABETH SOBERANES
A Vermont native, Emma Manion brings to her teaching a colorful background in dance and fitness. With a B.A. in Dance from Bennington College ('06), she has studied Contemporary, Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet, West-African Dance, and Musical Theater since age five. The ODC Commons has been a great sanctuary for her in the Bay Area as she has worked and played there since 2007, finding instant admiration for the infectious Rhythm & Motion program. Her own Fusion Rhythms classes are filled with inspiring energy and cheer with a groovy flair.
EMMA MANION
Dancing her way to the West Coast, Esmeralda is a new arrival to the Bay Area. Her dance background covers modern, improvisation, African, ballet, jazz, and hip hop. A recent graduate from the University of Colorado at Boulder’s BFA Dance Program, Esmeralda has performed in numerous productions in the Greater Denver Area, Chicago, and in San Francisco. A passionate and fiery mover, she brings a strong energetic presence to her work out classes, and focuses her teaching on opening, releasing, and letting the spirit fly high.
ESME KUNDANIS-GROW
Eyla Josie Moore is a San Francisco native who grew up playing music and dancing. She is the current Queen of SF Carnaval 2011 and the recipient of an Isadora Duncan Dance Award. Eyla's dance training includes dances of the African diaspora, Dunham, Cunningham, Horton, Limon, hip hop, belly dance and many Latin styles. Eyla holds a B.A. in Dance '08 from SF State and she currently performs with Deep Waters Dance Theatre directed by Amara Tabor-Smith. Eyla has been teaching Fusion Rhythms at R&M since 2005.
EYLA MOORE
Iddy Richardson is in her element on the dance floor. She started dancing to 80’s tunes as a kid and has been movin' & groovin' ever since. In October of 2008, Iddy fell head over heels for Rhythm & Motion and shortly thereafter trained to become an instructor. In her spirited Rhythm & Motion classes, she combines her loves: dance, music, yoga, Pilates, and even swimming! Iddy received her BFA in Dance from Saint Mary's College of California and is a certified Pilates instructor.
IDDY THOMPSON
Janet Roitz has been a teacher at R&M since 1991. She studied ballet at the Zena Romette school in New York City to which she credits (almost) everything she knows. In addition to Fusion Rhythms, she has also taught Musical Theatre Performance workshops. Janet is an actor and a singer and the mother of two great boys. She also loves to swim and is a long time student of Yoga.
JANET ROITZ
Jessica Lutes has been teaching with R&M since 1994 and was part of the team that developed the Modern Rhythms program. She created work and performed throughout the 1990s with Paul Benney as a director of OnSite Dance Company receiving the SF Bay Guardian Goldie Award for dance in 1993. She has also worked with Knee Jerk Dance Project, Gravytrain, and Squad. She lives in the Mission with her ever-growing family and continues to hold teaching with Rhythm & Motion in the highest regard.
JESSICA LUTES
Katie Clay originally hails from Michigan, where she grew up tap dancing, swimming in lakes and reading voraciously. After studying dance and literature in college, Katie taught dance in Detroit public schools and then headed west in search of better weather and new adventures. When not dancing, Katie can be found working on films, playing alto sax or teaching second grade. Katie believes that the sweaty exuberance of dance can help people find a kinder, more fulfilling and more fun way of life.
KATIE CLAY
Having come from a strong ballet background, Ken Scott has had the opportunity to study with the San Francisco Ballet School and Pacific Dance Academy in Los Angeles . Since then he has performed in various shows in the Bay Area ranging from modern and contemporary dance to Broadway, jazz, and hip hop. Ken has taught for R&M since 2003, and his approach to class centers not taking oneself too seriously. He believes an overly-analytical approach to dance is like an overly-creative approach to algebra... It just doesn’t work.
KEN SCOTT
Maggie Connard has been sharing her love of performing for over 20 years. She graduated with a BA in Modern Dance from Point Park University, and since moving to the Bay Area in 1999 has performed with EmDance, Leyya Tawil's Dance Elixir, Deborah Slater Dance Theatre, and Printz Dance Project among others. More recently she has taken to dancing and singing in Musical Theatre productions, go-going with SFs Sweet-hearts, the Devil-Ettes, and becoming a mother!
MAGGIE CONNARD
Mika Banks, a native Chicagoan, is overjoyed to be teaching at R&M. She brings to the table a spicy sense of humor, a goofy persona, strong teaching background and a relentlessly genuine smile that could melt the heart of the staunchest grinch in the room. Mika has a BA in Dance and Acting from Beloit College, a minor in Geology, black belt in Seido Karate and is a Nationally Certified and Licensed massage therapist. Her classes are exciting, thoroughly taught and designed to celebrate that insatiable desire to move your body.
MIKA BANKS
Nancy Rubin has been a member of the R&M family for over 25 years. She was originally trained in Jazz dance and taught and performed in Los Angeles, Marin and San Francisco. Nancy is highly regarded for her ability to translate dance movements to all levels of students-be it beginners or seasoned dancers. She is a firm believer that dance enriches and enhances life, and works to make it available to all.
NANCY RUBIN
Peter Rothblatt has been teaching for R&M since he moved to San Francisco in 1987. He’s been dancing, performing and teaching since 1981 and loves sharing his passion for dance and the “how to” of dance with his students. As a musician and lover of music, he loves dancing to all of the musical styles in Fusion Rhythms classes. In his class, you’ll dance deeply, laugh a bit and connect to the wisdom of the human body. In addition to teaching, Peter has a thriving bodywork and massage practice. For more information: www.peterrothblatt.com
PETER ROTHBLATT
Rami Margron has been teaching Fusion Rhythms since 2003. She receivedher training in various clubs and studios in the Bay Area, Haiti, Cubaand Indonesia. Her dance background includes swing, salsa,Afro-Haitian, bellydance, modern, circus and many others. She is aformer member of Group Petit La Croix, Blanche Brown's Haitian dancecompany and Project Reconnect, an African Diaspora dance-theatercollective. In addition to R&M, she works as an actor, director,choreographer and drama teacher.
RAMI MAGRON
Rebecca Porteous finds joy and peace through dance and is the proud mother of two sweet, energetic sons. She has been teaching Rhythm & Motion since 1995. She started dancing, as so many, with ballet as a child. She has studied, jazz, african based dances, tap, flamenco, contact and modern dance over the years. Partner dance has been her love for the past 12 years, starting with swing and lindy, salsa and two step, and her true love, Argentinian tango. She has since danced and studied Tango all over the world.
REBECCA PORTEOUS
Rena Marie Guidry spent years as a gymnast and track runner, yet has always found joy in dance. Rena studied ballet, tap, and jazz, hip hop, modern, salsa, liturgical, and Samba. Rena Marie has performed in several self-produced dance theater productions in the bay area. Second to dance, she loves theater and film acting. When not dancing Rena can be found teaching and counseling youth. The most important aspect of life for Rena Marie is her family, and she shares her love of dance with them.
RENA MARIE GUIDRY
Ryan Smith started teaching at R&M in 2007. His early history with dance involved sequins, MC Hammer style pants, and early 90s hip hop. After classes in jazz, modern, and the rare foray into ballet, he has settled into a career as a contemporary dancer and choreographer. Currently he performs with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and co-directs RAWdance, a young Bay Area company known for its athletic formalist style. In daily life, and especially in class, he encourages sweating, singing and all sorts of silliness.
RYAN SMITH
Stephanie Forster has been dancing routines of all kinds since she she was a small child in her living room. She's been sharing her love of dance here at R&M since 2000. She has an M.F.A. from Mills college in Dance Performance and Choreography. She is also the founder of Preggo Pilates and the Director of Pre and Postnatal Education at EHS Studios. She has been a Pilates, dance and yoga practitioner for over 15 years. When she is not busy in a Pilates or dance studio you can find her chasing after her small children Julian and Teya.
STEPHANIE FORSTER
Susan Tobiason started teaching at Rhythm & Motion in 2008. She has been a dedicated fan of the dance workout program for many years. Her earlier training began with many joyous years of ballet, modern, and jazz, and later blossomed to incorporate hip hop and brazilian. Her approach to class focuses primarily on developing core strength while engaging in a heartfelt experience, shaking some booty, and transforming the class into an all out dance party!
SUSAN TOBIASON
Wendy Rein has been dancing since age 3. After throwing off the shackles of ballet early on, she began exploring all the dance forms she could, and currently performs as a professional dancer with several local contemporary artists. She also co-directs RAWdance, a young company with a focus on athletic movement and intricate partnering. Wendy fell in love with Dudley’s Fusion Rhythms class shortly after moving to SF in 2003 and and began teaching in 2008. Wendy is so excited to be able to share a passion for movement and bring loads of energy to her classes.
WENDY REIN
