Veronika St Gilles, originally from Belarus, discovered the world of dancing in 2011 when she decided to take her first salsa class in Charlotte, NC. Her love of dancing and exploring different cultures brought her to discover Kizomba in summer of 2014. After her first Kizomba workshop with Kizomba RDU, she went on to receive more training attending different Kizomba festivals around the US, including Washington DC, Miami, Las Vegas, Houston, etc.
Her dance style has been influenced by different Kizomba instructors including training with Oscar BA, David Campos and Guida Rei, Eddy Vents and Lucia Noguiera, and Brinca (TBoy and Ashby). She has completed over 100 hours of intensive Kizomba/Semba/Tarraxinha instructor training with Lucia Noguiera (Portugal), Miguel and Susanna (Portugal), Maria Maluca (Germany), Sonja KiKizomba (Belgium).
Since March of 2015, Veronika has been co-teaching weekly classes locally in
Charlotte, as well doing workshops at local Charlotte and Atlanta kizomba dance
festivals in "Kizomba Charlotte", one of the first kizomba schools in
the area. July of 2017, Veronika went on to establish “Kizomba Alegria Dance
Company” where she teaches weekly classes and does bi-weekly dance social
events to promote kizomba dance culture in Charlotte and surrounding areas.
Veronika is also the co-founder and organizer of “Kizomba Open Air” initiative
– free outdoor kizomba dance events in Charlotte. She got the idea after she
visited Minsk, Belarus and saw local kizomba community of dancers there dancing
outside in local parks and plazas.
Currently, Veronika and Claude St Gilles of Kizomba Alegria Dance Company are committed to promoting Angolan style of kizomba dancing in hopes to preserve and educate more people about the beautiful culture and African roots of Kizomba/Semba dancing.
For additional details and other events, follow:
Facebook page www.Facebook.com/KizombaAlegria Instagram page www.Instagram.com/Kizomba_Alegria
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