Serpentine Studios opened its doors in September 2011. Our beautiful studio is in the heart of downtown Halifax on historic Barrington Street, featuring floor to ceiling windows, brick walls and hardwood floors. We offer quality instruction in 3 styles of bellydance taught by Halifax's top bellydancers, as well as Hula Hoop and Flexibility classes. We also offer Registered Massage Therapy and infrared sauna sessions in our treatment room for your tired muscles. Laura and Monique have spent years dreaming this space into reality, envisioning a space where people come to explore movement, discover bellydance, and join a vibrant community. Join us and try a class for yourself!

Instructors

Monique Ryan Co-Founder
Tribal Fusion Bellydance, Hula Hoop, Yoga and Acroflex Instructor
Monique's passion for movement started at an early age, taking gymnastics classes, skipping rope, and holding her very own cheerleading practice in her basement. She began studying bellydance in 1998, and was soon performing with several local troupes. Her love of dance led her to pursue a BSc degree in Kinesiology, yoga teacher training and study circus arts with Atlantic Cirque. After being introduced to Tribal Fusion bellydance, Monique sought out training from the art forms greatest stars including Rachel Brice, Sharon Kihara, Mardi Love, Ariellah and Amy Sigil of Unmata.

A popular local instructor, Monique is at the forefront of the tribal fusion bellydance and hula hooping movement in Halifax. With her latest project, Serpentine Circus, Monique has produced large scale shows that include tribal fusion and traditional bellydance, hula hooping, fire acts, hand balancing acrobatics, contortion, burlesque, gogo-dancing and more. Read more on Monique's site.

Laura Selenzi Co-Founder
Egyptian Style Bellydance Instructor
Drawing from experience in Turkey, India and Canada, Laura has over fourteen years of training in this art form. Having learned from some of the world's best including Aziza, Rachel Brice, Suhaila Salimpour, Aida Nour, Randa Kamel, Sahra Saeeda, Tito and Hadia, she credits her mentor Yasmina Ramzy of Arabesque Dance Company for the majority of her professional training. Performance highlights include dancing in Istanbul nightclubs, the Raganath temple in India, the Miss Pakistan World Competition in Toronto, Canada's MuchMusic, and in Arabesque's original productions ASALA, EGYPT and OUM, which toured across Canada. Laura is a sought-after solo performer for many events in Toronto and Halifax.

A dynamic instructor, Laura strives to inspire people of all backgrounds to truly connect with their own bodies by combining her in-depth knowledge of anatomy, technique and learning methods with a sense of humor. In addition to her dance training, Laura holds a bachelor of Fine Arts and is a Registered Massage Therapist. Read more on Laura's site.

Elinor Crosby
American Tribal Style ® Bellydance Instructor
Elinor has been belly dancing for fifteen years, performing for thirteen years, and teaching for ten. A firm grounding in traditional Middle Eastern dance styles and their history, classical music training, and a Fine Arts degree concentrating on textiles serve to inform her creativity, style, and technique. She routinely takes workshops with internationally respected dancers and instructors, in styles ranging all over the belly dance spectrum. Her current passion is American Tribal Style Belly Dance, an improvisational troupe dance vocabulary. Elinor's intelligence and uniqueness contribute to her captivating presence, her mesmerizing dancing, and fantastic form. She has been a feature performer in professional dance shows, as well as having both organized and stage managed for others. Elinor firmly believes that anyone can dance, and that bellydance looks beautiful on anyone's body; and that there are as many styles of belly dance as there are people who perform it. As a teacher Elinor believes in nurturing and encouraging students of all shapes and sizes to find their inner grace and power, as well as strengthening and training their bodies. Read more on Elinor's site.

Caitlan Anthony
Circus Fit Instructor
Coming from a mother who worked on stage and a father who worked behind it, Caitlan was born to perform. Starting dance lessons at just the age of four and gymnastic classes in the same year; Caitlan switched to Rhythmic Gymnastics at age 10 and quickly made her way in the sport, going to Nationals and even to the 2003 Canada Games. Looking for something different, Caitlan joined Atlantic Cirque at age 13 and never looked back. Caitlan has been an instructor at Atlantic Cirque since 2007, Head Coach since 2009, and Cirque Siana Troupe Coordinator since 2010. Specializing in Aerial Silks and Contortion, she has been performing professionally for about 7 years, and has never been happier.

Erica Schmidt
Ashtanga Yoga Instructor
It all started over ten years ago when Erica's mother bought 15-year-old Erica a yoga video, hoping that her daughter would ease off on her neurotic exercise routine. Erica was immediately intrigued both by the instructor's serenity and his ability to go upside down. Then her mother sent her to an Ashtanga Yoga class. Mesmerized and invigorated, Erica vowed to learn enough about Ashtanga to be able to practice every day. In 2007, Erica ended up at Sattva Yoga Shala, the studio of senior Ashtanga teachers Mark and Joanne Darby, located in Montreal. Here, her daily practice of Ashtanga Yoga truly began. Darby encouraged Erica to complete her teacher training and to keep practicing, no matter what. Though she has recently relocated to Halifax, Erica remains immensely grateful for the Darbys' and the rich community of practitioners at Sattva Yoga Shala. She is delighted to be teaching at Serpentine Studios and looks forward to sharing the gift of Ashtanga with as many Haligonian yogis as possible. Erica's class will embark upon the beautiful and dynamic sequence of Ashtanga yoga. By learning to integrate breath, posture and gaze, students will grow towards increased strength, flexibility and inner clarity.

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