Amina

General Bio:

Amina Vohra teaches 5 Week Sessions (meeting once a week) every Mon., Tues. and Wed. evenings. Amina has performed her fusion dance at such venues as the Kennedy Center and has been a judge for local dance competitions. She has 21 years of training in dance and has been training and performing since early childhood in many kinds of dances. She loves to teach dance and has developed a fool proof method of teaching seemingly difficult steps to any level student including the slowest of beginners in a fun and safe environment.

Judging Experience:

Amina has been invited to be a judge at dance competitions including the Indian National Competition Boogie Woogie shown on Sony TV in India and America. (It’s an Indian Show similar in popularity and format to the American show “So You Think You Can Dance”.) She has also judged the Macdonald Dance Competition as well as the Muqabla 2008 Dance Competition and the Muqabla 2009 Competition. Contact Amina to apply to be in the contest.

Performance:

Amina has performed at such prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center, the World Bank, University of Maryland, Image-in-Asian Television, as well as charity shows and cultural programs. She has also acted and danced bellydance in the Independent Film Terror in the Pharaoh’s Tomb. She danced bollywood dance in another Independent film called Sangamam (she’s listed on imdb.com for these movies). She is also an elegant and classy solo fusion dance performer and cultural educator at Corporate events and Family parties (including children’s parties). ( Click here to see a description of her performance and pictures.) (Contact Amina to book a solo performance.)

Dance Training & Certifications:

Certifications:

* CPR & AED Certified for Adults, Children, and Infants

* Zumba Certified (Zumba is a Latin fusion cardio dance)

* There are no certifications or universities for Hip Hop, Dance Hall, or Indian Dance, as these are all considered folk dances or street dances

* Amina has been attending all kinds of dance lessons and performing since the age of 3. As far as she knows, none of the classes she took or currently takes teach the same kind of curriculum.

To read more about Amina’s Dance Training and see her childhood dancing photographs click here

Teaching Experience:

Amina’s classes are small and students are encouraged to get to know each other in class as we also have club night out(s). Amina has been teaching since she was a teen as a volunteer and even in college as a volunteer. She has been professionally teaching now for 4 years and has been at the studio for almost 2 years. Amina is a writer, painter, designer and webmaster of this site, as well as dance performer, teacher, and choreographer.

Amina is a College Graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a double degree in Human Computer Interaction and Creative Writing as well as a double minor in communication design and multimedia authoring. In college she taught for one year and took part in the University’s performance group for 4 years.

Personal Note from Amina:

Why I do This:

I went to college all set to have an office job . . . that was before I hurt my ankle and had a boot cast for 3 months. The most painful thing during my recovery was that I couldn’t dance anymore and for the first time in my life I realized it was something I couldn’t live without. I had been taking many kinds of dance classes since I was 4 years old and was even in my college dance team. But I had taken it for granted. After I graduated, I decided to make less money, and just do what I loved, teaching dance!

My Inspiration:

As a teenager I was constantly going to nightclubs (I started going when I was 17!) and high school dances. So I knew what it was like to not know what to do when I was out in public freestyling. I felt so awkward when I first started going! I realized that the choreography I’d learned in my hip hop classes wasn’t going to do me any good at the clubs. I figured out on my own how to dance at clubs by observing how other people danced when I went out. I never could find a class that actually taught how to hip hop or dance to international music casually at clubs or parties and I felt there was a need for it. My classes are for those who want to build up their dance knowledge, confidence, and coordination and learn how to actually apply these moves in a club or party setting. And I mean casual dance that could even apply to dancing at a wedding or family party, not grinding or dirty dancing though we learn a little about that in level 2.

How My Class is Different:

My class creates a safe environment for students with little to no experience in dance to feel that they can be friends with each other, and have fun while learning steps and getting a workout. I have a set (uni-sex) curriculum which I developed using my own methods as well as methods from some of my current and past male and female assistant teachers. But at the same time I want my students to have fun while learning just as I have fun while teaching. I have taken classes growing up where the teachers were so mean and serious that they made me (and other students) actually cry! This class is meant to be happy experience! My two main goals for my students are 1.) For them to look so good after they finish the course that people ask them where they learned to dance and 2.) For them to like the class enough to take Level 2!