Our Instructors - Dance Teachers

Mandy - Belly Dance

Mandy is the owner of House of Hips, as well as an instructor. She teaches contemporary belly dance - a modern American style of the art form that fuses traditional belly dance movements with flamenco, Indian dance, hip hop, and more.

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 and Indian Dance

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 13+ years of camera/stage choreography & teaching experience in India, Canada, & the USA. He is currently also associated with Buffalo’s hip-hop dance company - Verve Dance Studio - and gives workshops throughout the WNY area and beyond.

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.

Erico - West African Dance

Erico Ansuade is a professional performer from Accra, Ghana. He began performing at the age of 8 and made a name for himself at 19, after winning the title as Ghana's 2009 National Dance Champion. Since then he has traveled internationally, performing throughout Africa, China, Europe, and the USA.

Having won multiple dance competitions, he received a scholarship to attend Wuqiao Acrobatic Art School, China's most prestigious school for acrobats and circus performers. While there, he mastered the art of contortion, fire-eating, juggling, bowl spinning, hat tricks, unicycling, and gymnastics.

He is currently residing in Buffalo and teaches regular classes in West African dance styles, as well as performing for schools, universities, festivals, and cultural events.