Karen has been partner dancing since 1991, was a former Champion competitor in International Latin Ballroom from 1995-2001 and a former performer of Brazilian Samba, Salsa and HipHop. Karen graduated top of her class (High Honors) from the Teacher Certification program at Ballroom Dance Academy. She currently teaches Ballroom (American Rhythm and Smooth) for the Hollywood Dance Academy in Hollywood.

Karen is a versatile dancer and has trained and performed in many other partner and solo dances such as Salsa, Mambo, Merengue, Hustle, Cuban Casino Rueda, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian Samba, Afro-Brazilian, Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Argentine Tango, Nightclub Two Step, Lindy Hop.

Karen started dancing late in life, her first partner dance was salsa, travelling throughout the US, Europe, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Cuba to explore the various dance and musical styles of salsa and performing in San Francisco salsa clubs and local TV dance shows. In 1994, Karen travelled to Cuba and studied Afro-Cuban and Cuban popular dances at Cuba’s National School of Dance (Escola National de Arte) and returned in 2001 to train with Cuba’s top Folkloric dance group -Ban-Ra-Ra.

In 1994, a severe foot injury prevented Karen from walking for 6 months and she was left with a permanent limp. Determined to dance again, she took private coaching in International Latin Ballroom, eventually training with top coaches in the Bay Area, New York and England, competing in many Ballroom competitions from 1995-2001 (see below).

Karen’s diverse musical and dance interests has led her to study many other dances such as Brazilian samba, swing, hustle, hip hop, African, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian, Belly-dance, Flamenco, Argentine Tango, Ballet and Jazz in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cuba and Brazil. In 2001, Karen traveled to Rio de Janeiro for Carnival and trained in Rio-style Samba. On her return, she performed with a San Francisco-based samba dance troupe “Hot Pink Feathers”. She returned to Brazil in 2003 for the Bahia Carnival and trained in Afro-Brazilian dance.

Karen’s early creative expression was in Chemistry and Computer science. Karen created 15 new Chemical compounds in Australia and was published in 2 scientific publications. While in the Computing industry (Australia, Asia-Pacific, US and Europe), she was always at the forefront of technology, finding new applications for early innovations, prototyping and building teams and organizations to develop, market, sell and support the new technologies.

Karen is also a talented artist, developing her own style of spontaneous watercolors on rice-paper, holding exhibitions in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Laguna Beach. She has been featured on HGTV and was selected as “Artist of the year” by the City of Buena Vista. Today, her art is owned by 90+ collectors and she has introduced 300+ people to art.

For over 20+ years, Karen has been teaching and introducing new concepts to many people – from her days in the computing industry introducing innovative new technologies to hundreds of large corporations and thousands of people, to her life as an artist, introducing creativity through art and as a dance teacher – helping everyone express and find their inner joy through dance.

Ballroom Dance Training
•Teacher Certification in American Rhythm (Rumba, Cha-Cha, Bolero, East Coast Swing, Samba, West Coast Swing, Mambo, Merengue) and Night Club Dances (Hustle, Nightclub Two-Step, Argentine Tango, Salsa, Lindy Hop) from Ballroom Dance Academy with Michael Kuka and Natalia Lind, Hollywood.

•American Smooth (Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot and Viennese Waltz) with Natalia Lind, Hollywood -.Russian Academy of Theatre Arts and Moscow Ballet.

•International Standard (Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep) with Richard Ziola, Agoura Hills.

•International Latin (Rumba, ChaCha, Samba, Paso Doble, Jive) with
•Steve Vasco, Campbell – currently ranked #4 in the world American Rhythm
•Stephan Krauel, Redwood City – judge, former US Latin finalist and former 5 x World 10 dance representative

Specialist Coaches
•Victor Fung currently ranked #4 in the world International Standard

•Victor Veyrasset 10 x former US Standard Champion

•Victor Kanevsky – 2 x former North American Latin Champion, Brooklyn

•Nadia Eftedal – judge and former 1993 British & UK Open Latin Champion

•Wendy Johnson – judge and former New Zealand Latin Champion

•Ron Montez – judge and former 6 x US Latin Champion

•Denise Jourdaine – judge, former US Latin Finalist and former 5 x World 10 dance
representative

•Richard Porter – former World Latin Finalist, Amateur Latin Champion

•Julie Fryer – former World Amateur Latin Champion

•Johan Eftedal – former British & UK Open Latin Champion

•Jukka Happalainen – former 3 x Blackpool Latin Champion, London

•Goran and Nicola Nordin – former British & UK Closed Latin Champions, London

•June McMurdoch – International Latin Syllabus Specialist, London

Other Dance Training
•Ballet – Sallie Whalen and Candy Sherwin at Performing Arts Center (Van Nuys)

•Jazz – Joseph Malone at Performing Arts Center (Van Nuys) and Red Savage at New World
Dance (Canyon Country)

•Brazilian Samba – samba schools Mangueira and Portela (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Queenia at
Djoniba Dance Center (New York), Jackie Barnes (Oakland), Katia Vaz (Oakland) and Mary
Dollar (San Francisco).

•Afro-Cuban and popular Cuban dances – Escola National de Arte (Havana, Cuba) and Ban-
Ra-Ra (Havana, Cuba)

•Afro-Brazilian – Carlos Aceituno at Citicenter Dance Theatre (Oakland) and Mestre

King (Salvador, Brazil)

•Hip Hop – Terry Bixler and Chris Jones at New World Dance (Canyon Country) and Ronnie
Reddick at Third Wave Dance House (San Francisco)

Ballroom Competitions (International Latin) 1995 – 2001:
•Autumn Dance Classic 1st in Gold
•Galaxy
1st in Novice and Finalist in Pre-Champ
•International Grand Ball
1st in Pre-Novice, Novice, Silver Scholarship, Bronze and
Newcomer
•California Open
2nd in Bronze, 1st in Silver
•California Winter Festival1st in Bronze

Ballroom Dance Training
•Teacher Certification in American Rhythm (Rumba, Cha-Cha, Bolero, East Coast Swing, Samba, West Coast Swing, Mambo, Merengue) and Night Club Dances (Hustle, Nightclub Two-Step, Argentine Tango, Salsa, Lindy Hop) from Ballroom Dance Academy with Michael Kuka and Natalia Lind, Hollywood.

•American Smooth (Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot and Viennese Waltz) with Natalia Lind, Hollywood -.Russian Academy of Theatre Arts and Moscow Ballet.

•International Standard (Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep) with Richard Ziola, Agoura Hills.

•International Latin (Rumba, ChaCha, Samba, Paso Doble, Jive) with
•Steve Vasco, Campbell – currently ranked #4 in the world American Rhythm
•Stephan Krauel, Redwood City – judge, former US Latin finalist and former 5 x World 10 dance representative