Daniela Crestani was born in Valencia, Venezuela. She began her career as an artistic dancer at the age of five in the Adagio Academy where she received classical ballet classes for almost three years. In 1986 she entered the prestigious dance academy "Alma Yolanda" where she continued with Classical Ballet, Tap and Clásico Español. She also took castanet classes, which is an essential instrument in the Clásico Español choreography. During her 15 years at "Alma Yolanda" she began classes with Alma Yolanda in Classical Ballet, Tap and Clásico Español, Pepi with "Sevillanas" and Flamenco with Javier Trujillo while she continued to develop her talents for dance. She also studied jazz dancing for two years in the academy of Judith Garcia.
During her studied she danced in different shows and presentations in various cities in Venezuela - such as Teatro Municipal de Valencia, Ateneo de Valencia, Club Hispano, Club Cubano, Club Italiano, Ascienda Country Club, Forum de Valencia, and Pro-Danza as well as appearing in an international themed dance program in Needham, Ma-USA.
Although Daniela is a professional engineer, her passion for dance never stop and in 2007 she studied Tango with the famous Argentinean teacher Sergio Vasquez, and then took Flamenco classes with "La bailadora" and wonderful teacher "Carolina León". In August 2008, she traveled to Madrid-España and studied advanced Flamenco in the well known Academy of "Amor de Dios" with the world famous Flamenco Dancer Joaquin Cortés and Sara Baras.
While studying in Madrid Daniela also studied with other recognized dancers such as La Tati, Inmaculada Ortega, La Truco, El Guito, Miguel Cañas, Alfonso Loza, Carmen la Talegona and Juana Amaya; as well as took lessons with Rafael Casado in "cajon de percusion" which is a musical instrument used in Flamenco.
Her passion for dance has included teaching various forms of Spanish Dance in Venezuela for over 6 years; Daniela is now looking forward to continuing her teaching of Spanish dance here in Canada.
Daniela is now prepared to pass along her passion for both classical and popular dance by teaching and inspiring others with what she has learned from the masters.
Giro Dance Studio offers different styles of dance which allows the student the option to choose the form of dance that they like the most. You will learn feet, body, arm and hand techniques to express yourself in dance and to develop rhythm. You will also learn to improve your posture and balance. Dance is an activity that helps you to improve your physical conditioning, self-esteem, and self confidence. The objective of Giro Dance Studio is to develop a solid foundation in dance so that students can advance into the various dance styles.
Classes are for children beginning at age 5, youth and adults from beginner to advanced. There are classes from Monday to Saturday for all levels.
The different dance styles are:
- Clásico Español: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Level
- Flamenco: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Level
- Ballet: Basic and Intermediate Level
- Tap: Basic and Intermediate Level
- Merengue and Salsa: 8 week workshop
Clásico Español
Clásico Español has its origins in the Flamenco with a fusion of the classical ballet and folklore. Classic Spanish began to be famous in the period of decadence of Flamenco in the XIX century. Great Flamenco Dancers started to change the history of Flamenco and added classical music, castanets and ballet steps to their dances. Dancers wear either Spanish dance shoes or Ballet shoes, often while playing the castanets.
In our class you are going to learn a combination of Flamenco and Classical Ballet in addition to Castanet Techniques.
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genuine Spanish art form. It exists in four forms: el cante (the song), el baile (the dance), la guitarra (the guitar playing) and las palmas (the clapping). Gypsies are often credited with the "invention" of Flamenco, and it is at least certain that they played an important part in its creation. But the popular songs and dances of Andalusia also had a major influence on early Flamenco.
The role of the flamenco dancer, also called in Spain Bailaor, is essentially to physically interpret the words - which often express the great lament of the persecuted ethnicities of flamenco's history - with light, graceful arm movements that contrast the reverberating steps as feet drill into the floor with a bewildering intensity.
In our class you are going to learn postura (posture), taconeo (footwork), brazeo (armwork), movimiento de manos y dedos (handwork), vueltas (turns), and compas (rhythm phrasing).
Ballet
Ballet is one of the oldest forms of dance in the world, with its origins in the Italian Renaissance court, further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The ballet gives us the opportunity to see the human body's highly developed, techniques, grace and precision, executed according to specific gestures and flowing patterns. Traditional ballets are usually performed with elaborate costumes and music written by classical composers.
At our Ballet Classes you will learn how to develop and transform the basic human movements such as walking, and jumping, turning into delicate artistic expressions.
Tap
The sources of tap dancing include the Irish solo step dance, the English clog dance, and African drum rhythms and dance movements. Tap Dance is a percussive footwork that marks out precise rhythmic patterns on the floor. Tap became more and more popular during the 1900's and with the addition of jazz into the mixture which made a separate art form from the others. Arm movements also began to be added, to characterize a dance and add simple little gestures to a song.
In our class you are going to learn how to do music with your feet and assemble sounds into a choreography.
Merengue & Salsa
Merengue The Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic with a two-step beat. Nowadays, it is very popular throughout the Caribbean and South America, and is one of the standard Latin American dances. Merengue is a dance that is easy to learn and essentially a "fun" dance. Come and enjoy this class!.
Salsa The Latin music we hear today has its origins in Cuba. It is a blending of different rhythms as Africans, Spanish, Cha Cha Cha, Mambo and others. Salsa is an emotional dance and its music is based in drums, percussion, and tromps sound and lyrical talk about love and happiness. It is a contagious music.
In our fun class you will learn how to dance Salsa, that you can also use in discotheques and parties.
