Meet The Team

 

Eleanor

Founding director of Shimmy Shows and Shimmy School

Eleanor started her belly dance journey at just 10 years old in an after-school club. She then went on to learn from Jenny Muhlwa at age 14 and started teaching Belrobics classes for Jenny at age 16. Eleanor found a passion for performance and began to perform belly dance professionally in local restaurants at aged 18.

During her time at university and and whilst still performing in restaurants, Eleanor started teaching her own class. This class became popular and Shimmy School was born!

When Eleanor graduated university in 2015, Shimmy School moved with her to Sheffield where classes grew and the number of sessions in the week exploded! Today Shimmy School teaches an average of 110 people per week from all walks of life!

Shimmy Shows is a more recent addition to the CV! Eleanor has been performing professionally since the age of 18 and has gone on to play the lead in Sleeping Beauty the Belly Dance (2012), dance on ITV, BBC and Sky1, dance in music videos, work on board cruise ships for HAL and TUI, dance and corporate events, weddings, festivals and much more! Eleanor is very dedicated to her ongoing training having weekly private classes at Hype Dance in Ballet and travelling the globe to gain knowledge from the world’s best teachers. Eleanor recently won the first Scholarship to train at Cairo Festival in Budapest with Mercedes Nieto, she also has been working in Cairo yearly for Randa Kamel at Raqs Of Course where she takes lessons from the leading teachers in Belly Dance as well as continuously taking fitness courses to better her teaching.

Eleanor’s most recent achievement is directing and choreographing the 90 strong cast production of Aladdin the Belly Dance. The motivation behind the production being Eleanor’s desire to raise the profile of belly dance, to develop the community of dancers here in Sheffield and to connect with different groups who would not otherwise have the chance to work together.

Natasha

Natasha

Shimmy Shows Performer and Shimmy School’s Principal Choreographer

Natasha is a founding member, teacher and choreographer for Shimmy School.
She has been dancing for 12 years and has studied a wide variety of styles in the UK and internationally including whilst working in Cairo for Raqs of Course festival.

Julia

Shimmy Shows Performer and Shimmy School Instructor

Julia is an experienced teacher and performer at Shimmy Shows with 15 years of dance under her shimmy belt!

Dancing as part of Shimmy Shows, Julia performs in restaurants, weddings and other performances as both solo and as part of the troupe enabling her to connect with her audience through energetic and entertaining dance. Her love of Oriental dance has blossomed over the years and she continuously works on developing her dance style and technique through 1-2-1 private sessions, attending workshops and being inspired by other dancers across the globe.

Rebekah

Shimmy Shows Performer

Rebekah Moon has been dancing for just over two years, and working as a dancer for about a year.
Within this time, she discovered a true passion and dedication for it. It has been a source of great healing for her, and she was drawn to how expressive and joyful this dance can be.
She loves belly dance because it is beautiful, challenging and so emotive, and when dancing it is profoundly freeing. Having studied other creative paths, such as art, music, and writing, Rebekah feels that dance is truly something she was always meant to do.

Nat

Shimmy School Instructor and Online Coordinator

Nat began belly dancing for fitness in 2016, she had always loved dance and used to enjoy social Salsa and Ballroom dancing in Woodseats. She fell in love with Belly dance and since then she has joined the Shimmy School community dance troupe and began performing with them in 2018. Nat says “Being on the bigger side, I’ve never felt like I fit dance ideals. Belly dancing and Shimmy School have helped immensely in building my confidence, after all you need a belly to belly dance!” Nat loves the confidence that Belly Dancing gives her and wants to help other people feel the same so has recently begun to teach.

Nat is an incredibly important cog of the Shimmy School team and keeps us all in check with her fabulously organised ways.

Helen

Shimmy School Instructor

Helen Caballero’s love of dancing began with her first Salsa class in 2003. She especially enjoyed Cuban style and joined the salsa team ‘Amigos de la Rueda’, with whom she travelled to Havana, Amsterdam and Gothenburg to study and perform. Helen then added Tango to her repertoire whilst working in Buenos Aires in 2007.

Helen moved from Latin dances to bellydance in 2010 and has worked as a professional bellydancer in restaurants for several years. Helen especially loved teaching her own classes and choreographing performances for dance festivals. She has now retired from bellydance performance but is delighted to be able to contribute to Aladdin by writing and performing the script as the Narrator. The highlight of her bellydance career was dancing on the same stage as Didem at Sultana’s in Istanbul!

Lina

Shimmy Shows Performer

Originally from Lithuania, Lina started belly dancing when she was 18 years old. She started studying Turkish and Egyptian styles and belly dance became part of her life, who she is and she feels happiest when she dances. She has won scholarships to Denmark, competed in Budapest and performed in Art In Motion in Barcelona. Lina regularly performs in restaurants and as a Shimmy Shows performer. Lina recently began teaching belly dance to Cardiff University Students and loves every minute of it. Lina takes her dance education very seriously regularly travelling the world to better her art and having one-on-one sessions with some of the biggest belly dance names in the world.

Sarah

Shimmy Shows Performer and Instructor

Sarah ‘SHE’ Hobson is a professional dancer, choreographer and tutor. Originating as a Hip Hop artist, Sarah has spent a great deal of time honing her craft; training in styles such as contemporary, jazz, commercial, dancehall and now, Belly dance. Sarah holds a BA (Hons) degree in dance and still regularly trains to stay knowledgeable within her field. Working as a freelance artist Sarah spends a great deal of her time choreographing for different companies and events across the UK, as well as performing regularly within the theatre and commercial industry. She has created award winning choreography and has worked with many people in the industry. Her credits include Jonzi D, Boy Blue Ents, DecaDance, Rationale Productions, Balbir Singh Dance, MTV, Corinne Bailey Rae Britain’s Got Talent, and The Clothes Show. Sarah’s biggest passion comes from being able to share her love of dance through the joys of teaching, which she has been doing for over a decade now. She is eager to encourage children and adults to become dancers at any age!

    Gwenny

Shimmy School Instructor

Gwenny Rose grew up in Derbyshire and began dance lessons at the age of four and she has not stopped moving since! Participation and performing experience continued through her school years, studying Cecchetti Classical Ballet during further education.

Her professional training took place at London Contemporary Dance School and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, gaining a Postgraduate Diploma, followed by an apprenticeship in the same year.

Over the last eleven years Gwenny has collaborated, choreographed and performed in a variety of settings; from fashion shows to flash mobs, festivals and film. She has worked both independently and with numerous dance and theatre companies across the UK.

Having been exposed to a range of art forms from world music to fine art and costume design through to physical disciplines, such as, capoeira, Acro yoga and classical Indian dance, Gwenny found an ever-increasing enthusiasm and necessity for fitness, health and well-being. With a view to share her knowledge and enjoyment of movement creatively, her work within the fitness industry also plays an important role to sustain a demanding career path.

Gaining wide experience delivering sessions in primary and higher education, teaching for commercial outlets and mental health charities, Gwenny made a natural progression to fitness instructing. She holds a level two gym certification and is personal trainer qualified.

Continuing to choreograph, collaborate and perform, yoga styles and Pilates are an integral part of her practice. With this knowledge Gwenny has adapted classes for specialist groups such as postnatal exercise, fitness for older people and sessions for the MS society. She currently freelances in dance fitness, ballet-based classes and is a Les Mills Barre and Body Balance advanced instructor.