Sylvie
This Beauce native quickly fell in love with the folk music of the region. Coming from a family where music and dance were allowed only on weekends and holidays, she enjoys every musical moment and actively participates in family social dances. This innate passion for rhythm led her to broaden her cultural repertoire and she discovered Latin dances. Few years later, in 2010, she then discovers Kizomba.
In her beginnings she had to travel back and forth between Beauce and Montreal to finally move into the latter multicultural city. She joined the Afrolusodance team, and for a few years, with strong perseverance and tenacity, she helped promoting Kizomba in few cities of Quebec. In December 2016, she decided to collaborate with Moussa, Katharina, Charlotte and Rachid to create Sem'N'Kiz na rua.
Sylvie is known for her good mood and warm welcome of students; she is always attentive to participants needs.
Moussa
Passionate dancer since his young age, it is with hip-hop that this Mali native develops his passion for dance. A music lover in his spare time, he was part of an orchestra of classical music and jazz for 2 years in high school. Curious by nature, it was when he met Yvon in 2011 that he started being interested by Kizomba. He then devotes himself with passion and determination to this new dance and in order to excel in it few years later. He also particiapted in all kinds of parties and festivals in the following years.
Moussa is passionate about history and it's not only the dance technique that interests him, but also the whole cultural aspect that revolves around it. With him, students feel very confident, he cultivates a passion for teaching and is always looking to improve his teaching of Kizomba and Semba. His strength lies in his great ability to listen and his deep interest in others. Anxious to respect the personal advancement of each student, he directs his courses with a firm discipline that's appreciated by all participants.
In December 2016, he decided to join forces with Rachid, Charlotte, Sylvie and Katharina to create Sem'N'Kiz na rua, the "ambassador" school of the Afro-Portuguese culture in Montreal.
Katharina
It is with Salsa and Bachata that this Franco-Austrian made her first steps in the dancing word, more than ten years ago. Her father stimulated her the love of music in different forms, showing his daughter various musical styles from an early age. Deeply passionate about Latin dances, she devotes herself to learning them in Vienna and Montreal for many years. She seek to continueously improve her level and particularly loves the Cuban style of Salsa, which she learned few tricks while dancing with many great dancers she met. After an incursion into Zouk, she discovers Kizomba in 2014 and has not stopped dancing it since.
By joining Afrolusodance in 2015 she learned some refinements of Kizomba and Semba. By practicing with Moussa, she develops a true love for Semba which goes in pair with her energetic and happy character.
It's just natural for her to join Moussa, Sylvie, Rachid and Charlotte who also share the same teaching values when they decide to create Sem'N'Kiz na rua.
Rachid
Originally from Niger, Rachid has been dancing zouk, hip-hop, dancehall, and many others in his childhood. He arrived in Montreal for his university studies in 2001 and discovered Kizomba at the same time as his friend Moussa in 2011. Together, they evolve quickly and are passionate about this dance. A few years later, Rachid passionately perfected his pedagogy talents.
In 2014, Rachid meets Charlotte. From then on, they form a fusional tandem and become partners. They leave Afrolusodance in 2015 and few months later, they decide to create their own Kizomba school: Danses Sans Frontières. In late 2016, Danses Sans Frontières joined forces with Moussa, Sylvie and Katharina to give birth to Sem'N'Kiz Na rua.
His experience as a teacher is strong and recognized by many students. His motto ? Non-stop evolution, to share better!
Charlotte
Born in France, Charlotte began ballet dancing at the age of 3. She did it for more than 13 years. She spends all her childhood and adolescence discovering different styles of dance and is very passionate about contemporary dance. She is so passionate that she decides to continue by studying it. After brilliantly obtaining a literary diploma with a dance specialty, she also passed the "Examen d'Aptitudes Techniques" test that allowed her to become a state-certified teacher of the contemporary dance. She continued her studies at the Faculty of Strasbourg for 3 years in the "Performance Arts". In 2014, she arrived in Quebec to study contemporary dance performance.
In parallel to her studies, she discovers couples' dances (waltz, tango, cha-cha, Dominican bachata, Cuban salsa, foxtrot, ...) and it is by meeting Rachid that she is trained in Kizomba at Afrolusodance. They then decide to create their own dance school. Since then, she has been committed to bringing precision, subtlety and softness to her practice of Kizomba.
Both, Rachid and herself decided to collaborate with Moussa, Katharina and Sylvie to create Sem'N'Kiz na rua at the end of 2016. Her motto? Passionately share her dance knowledge with students!
