Our Instructors - Dance Teachers

Mandy - Belly Dance

Mandy is the owner of House of Hips, as well as an instructor. She teaches neo belly dance - a specifically American style of belly dance that fuses traditional belly dance movements with Western dance styles and music.

Mandy has been belly dancing since 2004. During that time, she studied with Kadri of Heartbeat of the East, Nedra of The WNY Bellydance Association, and many other top belly dancers in Buffalo, WNY, and throughout the world. She holds a BFA from Daemen College where she learned to express herself visually through art. Always learning and looking for new movements to add to her belly dance repertoire, Mandy takes her inspiration directly from the world around her; from video games, sci-fi movies, martial arts, football, and anything else.

She enjoys pushing the boundaries of what belly dance can be and strives to make her classes and performances unique. You can see this showcased in her solo performances, as well as in her performances with her dance troupe, Zuut.

Abhi-Shake - Hip Hop, Bollywood, Bhangra, and Bolly-Hop

Abhi-Shake is an avid dancer and choreographer who has entertained in a gamut of dancing styles including Bollywood and Bhangra, with a forté in Hip-Hop. His dance experience extends to choreographing dance reality TV shows, music videos, and national stage events. He has proved his mettle by being 2nd runner up in a major Indian TV dance competition. He holds 20+ years of camera/stage choreography & teaching experience in India, Canada, & the USA. He's currently associated with various Buffalo dance companies and also practices as an independent choreographer.

He believes in ABCD - Any Body Can Dance!

Tori - Modern and Jazz/Heels

Tori has been dancing since the age of 9. She has taken many classes locally here in Buffalo, as well as workshops in Los Angeles, Hollywood, and San Francisco. Her main focus of study has been in modern, jazz, heels, and hip hop.

Tori feels very strongly that dance should be fun and liberating. She caters her classes to the way her students' bodies move naturally. Her classes are designed to be a safe space for you to just be and enjoy yourself.

Tajáe - Dancehall, Twerk, and Afrobeat

Tajáe is the owner of Whine & Workout Buffalo - the first and only Dancehall, Afrobeat, and Soca dance classes located in Buffalo. This is the place to let them hips do what it do! She loves being able to teach women of all backgrounds simple dancehall moves while having fun.

Tajåe helps you on your fitness journey by having fun while you workout!

Cassie - Yoga

Cassie has been dancing since the age of 8. She has a dance minor from Buffalo State College, and has been belly dancing since 2004. She has always been enthralled with the relationship between movement and music and enjoys many styles of dance.

Cassie eventually found herself devoting more and more time to her yoga practice in order to further her dance. In 2019, she decided to undertake yoga teacher training at the Himalayan Institute. As a certified yoga instructor, Cassie's goal is to spread the health and wellness of yoga in a body-inclusive environment.

Maia - Belly Dance

Maia Alexandra is an acclaimed instructor, multi-award winning performer, and enthusiast of the arts. She has won multiple first place awards, is an event producer, a bellydance instructor, acclaimed workshop teacher, a performer with the fire performance collective Pyromancy, and founding member of belly dance duet Darkly Sparkly as well as a soloist.

Maia is known for her sense of humor as well as great dramatic flair,
instantly putting all audiences at ease.

Teaching the art of dance since 1999, Maia has a deep love and respect for all forms of movement. Maia loves teaching, and lives for those “lightbulb over the head” moments when a student comes to life in class. When was the last time you learned so much when laughing? You owe it to yourself to experience this!

Vanessa - Burlesque

Vanessa (aka SugaTush) is a burlesque dancer/performance artist from Buffalo, New York. She is the creative director of the burlesque troupe The Glam Vamps.

She produces many local events and features a variety of performers including burlesque dancers, drag performers, musicians, hula hoopers, comedians, etc.

Other burlesque troupes she has performed in as a featured artist include The Stripteasers, the Trash Can-Cans, and Femme Noire.

DJ - Hip Hop

Dajoel Polite (DJ) is a Harlem Native who grew up throughout different parts of NYC. Growing up he suffered from societal structures of what and how a male is supposed to present themselves. Dance was an outlet to get away from those structures as he would put every emotion into movement and choreography.

Dajoel always wanted to be a dancer. He grew up participating in many different dance programs and was captain of many of the teams he was on. From dancer to choreographer, Dajoel coaches many people young and not so young in dancing from Hip-Hop to liturgical.

Dajoel's current goal is to have his own studio and dance company as well as have the opportunity to have his choreography presented at well known award shows such as BET & MTV.

Nay - Twerk

Jainaja Thomas (Nay) is a passionate dancer who has been dancing for some time now. Her experience stems from attending dance school, dancing on her high school dance team to eventually coming to Buffalo and joining a dance team in college.

Jainaja has dance experience from hip-hop, Afrobeat, reggae to jazz, contemporary dance and the list goes on. Not only does Jainaja have dance experience but she also has experience choreographing dances as well.

Siobhán - Yoga

Siobhán is a dancer, visual artist, and yogi born and raised in Buffalo. Starting with ballet at age 4, and eventually making her way to bellydance, Siobhán found yoga through her dance practice, ultimately receiving her 200 hour certification through Yogis in Service in 2021.

Siobhan’s main focus in yoga is accessibility to all demographics and a trauma informed practice. Over the summer of 2022 she was one of two local yogis hosting a class series specifically for BIPOC individuals, bringing outdoor classes to different parks around the City of Buffalo.

Most of Siobhan’s practice is done out of her big old house in Buffalo that she shares with her husband Sam, her daughter Isa, and their sneaky cat Panini.