Alejandra (Alex) BuckLicensed Owner/Instructor
Hola y bienvenidos a Danceypants!
Hello and welcome to Danceypants! I was born in Mexico City, Mexico and was adopted at 2 hours old from the most amazing person in my life…my best friend, my mother. I lived in Mexico until the age of 4, and then moved to the United States to pursue a lifetime of memories. At the age of 4, I took my first dance class and knew from then on my life was dancing. I was fortunate to have been accepted into several prestige dance schools, including the Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver, B.C., Canada and Ballet Arts in Tucson, Arizona. Over 15 years, I studied Classical Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Tap, Modern, Lyrical, Hip-Hop, and at the age of 24 I learned ballroom dancing and even taught several classes in Salsa and Tango. I took some time off from dancing to go to school and had several challenging job positions, from being a vet tech, to a bridal consultant at a few high end boutiques, including Vera Wang. Although I stopped dancing for a few years, dancing has always been in my blood. My passion for dancing gives me the drive to teach anyone the language of dance.
On July 19, 2005, in Kauai, Hawaii, I married my husband, Johann Buck, whom recently received his Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas in Plant Science. During our three years in Arkansas, I had a beautiful baby boy, named Sebastian, who was born in June of ’06. After a hard few months of suffering from post partum depression, I was in desperate need to get out of my slump, regain my old self and get back into shape. So with the help of some mama friends, I was glad to have found support and an exercise program that let me get back into shape, and the best part of it, I was able to take my son with me. I ended up loosing 40lbs and never felt better with my new life, the new me! I felt sexy again while at the same time learning the up’s and down’s of how to be a first time mom. After my husband received his Ph.D., we relocated to the Naperville area in November of ‘08 and couldn’t be happier to start a wonderful future here in Illinois. My love for fitness, dance and children gave me the motivation to start my own unique business to Naperville and beyond as a licensed owner and instructor of Salsa Babies, Salsa Tots, Certified Zumba Fitness instructor, and infant, child & adult CPR Certified.
I will continuously strive to help bring out your inner sassitude while at the same time giving you the opportunity to lose weight without losing precious bonding time with your baby. So come join me and dance like you’ve never danced before, with Danceypants!
Corrine Coffindafer
Instructor
HOLA! My name is Corinne. I am a first time Mom to my little salsa partner, June. My husband and I are new homeowners in Plainfield, Illinois and are from the Midwest originally although we love to travel and have lived in five states in the last five years. I started dancing when I was four years old taking ballet and jazz classes. Eventually, I headed mostly in the direction of competitive gymnastics, which I pursued for more than ten years. My love for dance has always been strong in fact my husband and I actually met on the dance floor! In college I studied elementary education and went on to teach elementary school for several years before making the choice to stay at home with my little one. I found Salsa Babies when a friend sent me an email about a free demo class, saying “I saw this and thought of you”. It could not have come at a better time! June was about two months old and after a long winter we were dying to get out of the house and do something fun. From the very first time we tried it we were hooked!! Salsa Babies is amazing for so many reasons: it gives moms a chance to venture back into the world, get into shape again, meet other Moms and to do something truly unique while bonding with their baby. I am so glad to be given the opportunity to be a part of such a wonderful program! Muchas Gracias, Alex!
Jennifer Hannah
Instructor
I was born in Seoul, South Korea and adopted into a loving family when I was 2 1/2 months old. I am the oldest of six children and grew up all over the United States from as southern as Georgia to up north in Wisconsin. Growing up, I started young with my love for dance. I began when I was 3 years old and danced until I was 16. My main love was ballet and pointe, but I spent some time learning tap, jazz, modern, and baton. When I moved to Illinois at 16, my love for playing music in band and teaching piano took up most of my time, so dance was put on the back burner. I went to college at Franciscan University of Steubenville, a small private college in Ohio, where I was able to take a few dance classes on the side. There I learned a little hip-hop, ballroom, and salsa dancing. I spent a lot of time enjoying both salsa and swing dancing with my friends. I graduated from college with a bachelor of science in accounting in 2006. That summer I married the love of my life, Scott, who I met in college. We moved to Naperville and 9 months later we had our first son, Matthew. In December 2008, we welcomed our second son, Mark, into our family. After both sons, I have struggled with getting back into shape and am so excited to be a part of a way to lose the baby weight and incorporate my love of dancing with it! Being able to have my children along and have them participate is so much fun as well and makes it more feasible for me to exercise and enjoy myself!
Tanya RobinsonInstructor
Hola a todos! I am a first time mom to my very active daughter, Amartya, born September 2008. Running after her all day is a workout in itself, but now we have a way to work out together, doing what we both love to do. DANCE!!! I have been dancing Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata for over 10 years, so when I was introduced to Salsa Babies by Two Left Feet Dance Studio, I was very excited. I actually started Latin dancing when I was in the Air Force, stationed in Phoenix, AZ. From there, I took my Latin dancing feet overseas and while I was stationed at Osan AB, South Korea, a bunch of us would get together a couple of times a week to dance, even if it meant traveling up to Seoul. When I separated from the military, I finished up school, getting a B.A. in Political Science/International Relations from Northern Illinois University in 2002. After graduation, I left Illinois and lived in Miami, FL, Owings Mills, MD, and Pikeville, NC, prior to moving back to Illinois. During my pregnancy, I completed my Masters in International Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University in 2008 and right after my daughter was born, I decided to get a certification in Marketing from Nova. Going to school with a new born is not that easy, but we made it through; however, not without adding on some weight and fighting through some sad days, so now that I am working out again, the sad days have greatly diminished and the weight is in the process of coming off. My daughter is such a “mama’s girl” that Salsa Babies offers us the opportunity to add some mother/daughter fun into our schedule. BAILA! BAILA! BAILA!!
Update (11/09) Tanya recently became a Certified Zumba Fitness Instructor! What an accomplishment...Congrats my fellow Zumba Mama!
-Alex
Danceypants operates under license of Salsa Babies, Inc.
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