OUR TEACHERS

Chris Banks

(Bboy Bank-C)

PART TIME NINJA

Chris has been involved in Martial Arts and Dance for 28 years. He began Tae Kwon Do at the age of 7 with Shabir Akhtar and has loved Martial Arts ever since. Having studied many styles of Martial Arts and learning from two Power Rangers (yes Power Rangers), he eventually ended up holding many titles, including European Champion in fighting and forms. Due to learning from Mike Chat, he was also amongst the first Martial Artists to do Tricking in the UK. His family now have a Martial Arts school in Wakefield called Nactics Family Martial Arts where he continues to help with flips, tricks and kicks.

His love for dance began when he was introduced to by his brothers to Bboying and Locking at high school. After his initial meeting with dance, he chose to go study dance at Higher Education level where he learned, Ballet, Contemporary and Jazz dance. Since then he has performed alongside various contemporary dance companies such as Random Dance Theatre and Ascendance Dance company. Without forgetting his roots of Bboying and Locking, he continued to perform at events for larger companies on stage and television such as the Gadget Show, Bench Clothing, Monster Energy, Sky Television, Desperado and more. He is currently a principal dancer in Breaking Tradition Dance Company and continues to tour with them around the UK.

‘Knowledgable, passionate and full of laughs’

Marie Mathias

(Bgirl Petit Filou)

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Marie has been dancing for 12 years. She began her passion by dancing Salsa in Nancy (France) and has since learned and performed many dance styles. Marie’s preferred way to Bust-A-Move is Bboying (Breakdance). She learned this style whilst travelling around Europe. Picking up skills and movements from Spain, France, Sweden, Estonia before coming to England. She is currently one of the principal dancers in the dance company, Breaking Tradition which tours theatres and festivals around the UK. She also loves to teach and has taught people of various ages for the past 5 years.

‘Cheeky, smiley and full of positive energy’

Marie-Claire Mathias

DANCE COACH

Marie began her dance career with a love for Salsa and has since expanded her vocabulary of movement. After her initial start with Salsa she decided to move on to studying Classical dance in a dance centre called James Carles school of dance in Toulouse (France). There she learned how to dance Ballet, Contemporary and Jazz. Once she graduated she moved to the UK where she returned to her roots to Bust-A-Move in her favourite style, Salsa. She is currently the Artistic Director of a Salsa lady-styling group called Las Conquistadoras de Cuba, a member of Solar Flare lady-styling dance company and continues to teach classes of Salsa in Leeds.

‘Stylish, imaginative and full of life’