Briana Helaine is a Los Angeles native, who started studying dance in high school. Though she has been “classically” trained in genres such as ballet, her passion is in African diasporic dances. She first studied under African dance professor and choreographer, Peter Abilogu. She went on to join his company, Obliyanko Dance Troupe, and performed for schools and cultural events before leaving for college in Seattle. Once in Seattle, she continued studying dance and took classes from Beninese dancer, Etienne Capko. After sometime, she was asked to join the African All Stars and took the stage at events such as NW Folklife Festival.

 

     During her junior, Briana helped found an African dance troupe on her campus, Ekene African Dance Ensemble. She choreographed several pieces for the group, which performed locally around Seattle. She By her senior year, Briana both created and ran a 3 class Zumba program at her university. She emphasised both health and culture, explaining origins and descent of Afro diasporic dance. She continues this focus as she dances and conducts dance workshops.

 

" I love seeing the poitive effect of sharing my joy of dance with others. Now, I share this joy as a local artist, choreagrapher, and a dance teacher.