Education & Community Engagement > DANCE This

Ana Montes and Flamenco Danzarte

Ana Montes and Flamenco Danzarte is a changing group of Ana Montes with her students, accompanied by guest musicians or recorded music, performing in many different venues. Going from class, to rehearsing, to performing is a fantastic life experience. Flamenco imbues confidence, courage, belief in one's own personal power and beauty. Every body type can dance flamenco, because what is important is the "Art" and inner spirit that each individual expresses.

Ana Montes is considered to be one of the finest female flamenco dancers in the U.S., and beloved flamenco teacher and choreographer to both adults, children and youth. Ana's students learn musicality, discipline, focus, the importance of setting a high standard of excellence in both their dance and everything in life, and just expressing the pure joy and fun of dance! Ana studied flamenco in Sevilla and Madrid, with many famous flamenco artists, including El Ciro, La Tati, José Galván, El Guito, and then performed in Spain and around the world professionally in flamenco dance troupes for 7 years. Ana now has been teaching and performing in the Seattle area for decades. Ana is known for her powerful and charismatic presence onstage, her graceful and elegant arms and hand movements (which in part defines the female flamenco dancer), yet still containing that tension and passion which makes flamenco so exciting, her incredible rhythm in both her footwork and her "palmas" (percussive clapping) .... she has been called "a master of rhythm" , and has many times brought audience members to tears and unexpected emotion. One audience member wrote to her, "that was the most *#! awesome thing I have ever seen! It brought chills to my spine!" , and another wrote "Ana Montes' dancing was, as closely as I can describe, nearly transcendental and had an effect on me that I could never anticipate or understand. This is surely the height of performance dance." Olé Flamenco!

Grupo Folklórico Herencias Mexicanas

Grupo Folklórico Herencias Mexicanas was formed in 2009 in Lake Stevens, WA. Over the years the group has gained more members and increased its repertoire. We accept people of all ages, regardless of their dance experience. Our only requirement is that they are interested in representing and learning the traditional dances of Mexico and take pride in presenting them the community. We are happy to be another extracurricular option for all residents of Washington, but especially our younger generations. Herencias Mexicanas is under the direction of Cecilia Garcia Gutierrez.

The Hiyas Dance Troupe

The Hiyas Dance Troupe is a group of Filipino American dancers based in Seattle, Washington whose mission is to increase awareness of Filipino culture and heritage through traditional folk dances. We are proud of our culture, our values and traditions and have made it our goal to share broadly with our audiences. Hiyas is under the direction of Lyrma Santodomingo

Malicious Vixens

Malicious Vixens is a Seattle-based dance collective of Asian American women that reside on Coast Salish/ Duwamish land. Through their art, they take great strides in creating work that both honors their ancestors and histories, but also honor the African diaspora and cultures that they are guests of. Through movement, sharing of stories, and action, they seek to positively impact and empower their communities.

The members of the pack are Tracey Wong, Alyssa Oyadomari, Zahra Masaoka, and Grace Masaoka who are all the co-directors. Each member is a vital force to the pack -- bringing their individual skills and experiences to share and build with one another. The Vixens have performed globally and internationally and are excited to continually grow in their collective art-making.

They believe in the power of collaboration, the power of action, and the power of collective creativity. Built on a foundation of love and trust, they continually work towards challenging and holding one another accountable to do better for themselves and for the community.

Northwest Tap Connection

Northwest Tap Connection (NTC) is a race and social justice dance studio that was founded and deeply rooted in rhythm tap. In addition to tap, NTC cultivates a broad spectrum of dance styles, such as African, jazz, modern, ballet, swing, ballroom, and hip-hop into its curriculum and performances. NTC is dedicated to developing the whole dancer through a love of dance, personal discipline, respect for the community, respect for fellow dancers and artists, and a knowledge of the history of various art forms. NTC fosters an environment where dancers can grow artistically and technically, while also developing self-esteem, leadership skills and social responsibility. Northwest Tap Connection has been partnering with STG for over 18 years.

Melba Ayco (Ms Melba) spent the majority of her life in an environment where she was familiar with three types of people—"black, white, and foreigners." A not so easy journey, marked by segregation, the defense of her self-identity, and the redefining of her destiny, landed Ms Melba in her current chapter of life in Seattle, Washington. The determined Louisiana native, who decided in 7th grade to never be "The Help," dedicates her life to closing the gap for underserved youth, especially youth of color in Seattle. Melba Ayco received the District 2, 2017 MLK Medal of Distinguished Service from the Metropolitan King County Council and 2017 Celebrating Our Queens Community Builder Award from the Africatown – Central District.

Ellie Sandstrom and Etienne Cakpo

Ellie Sandstrom, a Seattle Magazine "Spotlight Award Winner" and Velocity Dance Center's "2016 Dance Champion", is originally from Minneapolis, where she began her movement training with Minnesota Dance Theater and later BalletArts Minnesota. She has studied various forms of dance technique, body conditioning, composition, improvisation and performance at dance festivals and schools across the country including Cornish College of the Arts, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance.  

Ellie worked and toured with dance companies locust and Scott/Powell Performance from 2000-2010. Her choreography, under the name SANDSTROMMOVEMENT, has received funding from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and from Artist Trust. Her work has been produced locally and nationally by organizations such as On the Boards, Velocity Dance Center and Perpich Center for the Arts, and commissioned by Seattle Dance Project, Creative Dance Center and Washington Ensemble Theater, among others. She has been teaching contemporary styles and dance performance to middle school and high school students at The Northwest School in Seattle since 2006 and was the Dance Department Chair from 2013-2018. She has been a Teaching Artist for STG's Dance This programming since 2007.

Etienne Cakpo is an award-winning professional dancer, choreographer and musician from Benin, West Africa. He is specialized in instruction and performance of traditional African dance from Benin as well as contemporary African dance styles, and has been building his dance repertoire for nearly thirty years. He is director of Gansango Music & Dance, a dance company registered in Washington State. Gansango works closely with public libraries, schools and independent arts agencies locally and nationally to make performance of dance and music from Africa available to a wide range of audiences, including young children. This year Etienne was honored with the 2020 Dance Educator of the Year Award from DEAW (Dance Educators Association of Washington).

Kirsten Barron Kinney

Kirsten Barron Kinney graduated cum laude from the University of California, Irvine where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Choreography and in Dance Performance. While attending UCI, she was a member of Donald McKayle’s modern company Etude Ensemble and Fresno Ballet. She has taught, choreographed, and performed in the Seattle Area for the past 20+ years. Currently, she teaches full-time at Gotta Dance and is the director of the performing team. Kirsten has enjoyed being a part of STG programs Dance This Intensive, Camp and Performance, as well being a teaching artist for the STG Dance for PD ® program. Kirsten's dance background includes Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Lyrical, Jazz, Tap and Hip Hop.