Aretha Marques; a passionate dance teacher and Pilates instructor with extensive experience in the use of movement and remarkable background in a variety of styles: Jazz, Tap, Street, Contemporary, Freestyle and Ballet. As an educator, leads structured classes with focus on strong technique development, discipline, body awareness and momentum. As choreographer, uses creativity and dancers abilities to explore its body movements to create original pieces. As a dance lover, her goal is to continue on sharing her dance passion with her students, dancers and spectators.

She began dancing at age 2. Graduated from Rose Ballet School's Dance College in 1999, where she acquired the DRT Dance qualification. At 14 years old was already teaching and choreographing Jazz and Tap Dance. During the completion of her Bachelor’s degree in Tourism Management she was honored a scholarship for becoming a member of PUC University Dance Company, where she performed for 4 years. During this time she also performed as a Rhythm Tap dancer for Christiane Matallo Company and Jazz dancer for Open Jazz Company. In 2002 worked for Walt Disney World parades at the MGM Studios in Florida. On the following year was an Activities Coordinator teaching Jazz, Tap and Salsa for children and adults at Vistana Villages Resort, The Fountains Resort and Silver Lake Resort, in Florida. While in America, she studied with several artists like Ayodele Casel, Derick Grant, Barbara Duffy, Michele Dorrance, Jason Samuels Smith, Sheila Barker, Suzy Taylor and Tracy Sanfield. She has also attended several workshops at Steps on Broadway, Broadway Dance Centre and Alvin Ailey School in New York. In 2008 she performed Tap at the Symphony Space Theatre on Broadway, New York. Since she moved to the UK, she became IDTA qualified, performed for BBC, music videos, festivals and has been teaching Jazz, Tap, Street, Ballet and Freestyle.

Her favorite dance quote is: “Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion.” Martha Graham
 


 

Sara Beatrice Larsson, qualified IDTA Associate, has trained in Jazz, Ballet and Contemporary for many years. She begun working as a choreographer in Sweden in 1996 and continued her work throughout her education at San Diego State University (SDSU) where she gained a B.A. in Dance in 2005 after presenting her own dance concert together with a colleague; ‘All in a Moment’. Sara’s teaching career began in Sweden around the age of 16 when she begun to run her own classes in her local community, teaching at Secondary school and for the local skating team. She remained at her post for four years producing many choreographies with the children at the school and presenting them in a final show every year.

In the year 1999 Sara moved to California, U.S.A where she begun studying and training with different companies. Sara trained with the Palomar Drum and Dance Ensemble 1999-2001 which is a company presenting live traditional drumming and Afro-Brazilian Dance. At Palomar College in San Marcos Sara took part of the Student Choreography Show each year where she presented a solo piece and a group piece. In 2002 she went on to join the University Dance Company (UDC) at SDSU where she remained until 2005. With UDC she toured California, Mexico and Europe.  At SDSU apart from UDC she also took part in a number of different student shows as a dancer along with her studies at the University. Following her graduation she went on to teach dance full time in Sweden specializing on young children from 2005 to 2007. Sara has taught in Sweden and in America, and now in the U.K. She came to the U.K. in 2007 with her husband and has been working around London teaching children, teenagers and adults ever since, she also performed in a final Choreography piece at the Laban School in Greenwich in September 2008. Sara is looking back on her experience living and working in different cultures and is now happy to be settling in to yet another culture, she is looking forward to meeting people and working in the U.K. in the future to come.