Jazz/Lyrical/Tap/Creative Movement/Pre-Ballet/Competitive Dance Team

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Ms. Kim has worn dance shoes since before she took her first steps! She trained in her mother’s Alexandria, Virginia dance studio, and her grandparents were early vaudeville and radio personalities who eventually settled down in Shenandoah, Iowa to raise a family. There they owned and operated a local movie theatre, where dancers, comedians, and musicians performed live before and during the movie reels. Ms. Kim’s mother studied dance with renowned teachers in the Midwest and California, was a faculty member of the Chicago chapter of NADAA , taught at major dance conventions, owned and operated studios in Iowa, Colorado and North Dakota before moving with her family to Virginia in 1963.  She owned and operated studios in Virginia for 35 years. Her dance legacy lives on through her daughters, Kim and Kay, who both own private dance studios.

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Ms. Kim graduated from George Mason University with a B.S. degree in health education.  For the last 40 years, she has pursued a dual career in dance and movement education.   Ms. Kim works with children of all ages, as well as adults and seniors. As a teacher with skills in many disciplines, she continues to study dance and movement education by attending classes, workshops and teacher conventions taught by master instructors and luminaries of the dance world, such as Savion Glover, Mia Michaels, Tommy Alexander, Beverly Fletcher, and the late Gus Giordano, Frank Hatchet & Luigi . Ms. Kim performed as a member of the George Mason University Dance Troupe, and at many local events including the International Children’s Festival at Wolf Trap, musical theater, recitals, and community events during her earlier career.

Ms. Kim spent more than six years as a health educator at the Alexandria Hospital and is a former adjunct faculty member in the Health/Fitness/Dance department of Essex Community College in Baltimore County, Maryland. She was director of fitness programming in both nonprofit and private fitness clubs as well as a personal trainer and group fitness & aquatics instructor.  She was one of the original staff instructors hired for GMU’s Freedom & Aquatics Fitness Center in Manassas when it opened in1999, and she continues to teach several classes a week at FAFC.  She has held ACE (Gold) Certification in Group Fitness, with specialty certifications in Older Adults, Personal Training and Aquatic Exercise, Pre/Post Natal programming, and Teacher Training Certification from Dance Masters of America. Kim recently completed course work at Towson State University in Functional Awareness: Anatomy in Action for Movement Educators and Practioners, and is a current member of National Dance Educators Organization (NDEO) and other dance professional/studio owner organizations, and maintains active certifications in aquatic & fitness education.

"Ella is very lucky to have such a great dance instructor like you! You are WONDERFUL!! "  Gina Burner

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