GLENIO OLIVEIRA
(Founder)
Glenio de Oliveira has been teaching Brazilian ballroom dancing for 15 years. He has performed on many TV shows, theater productions and fundraising events in Brazil.
Glenio started dancing at the age of 12 with ballet classes in Brazil. Soon after he began performing in front of audiences throughout Brazil. Glenio continues to study dance with many famous Brazilian professional dancers such as Jaime Aroxa, Carlos de Jesus, Carlinhos de Jesus, Juliano Andrade, Vinicios Da Costa, Anderson Mendes and many others.
Now in Boston, Glenio has been teaching for 6 years at many different studios and clubs such as the Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge, MAPS (Massachusetts Association of Portuguese Speakers, MIT University, and Brookline Community Adult Education Center. Currently Forro takes place every Tuesday and Thursday at Benfica in Cambridge. And starting Saturdays in January at the BCAE in Back Bay.
Glenio specializes in Brazilian ballroom dancing such as samba de gafieira and forro, but he also been teaching samba no pe (carnival samba), bolero, salsa, zouk, merengue, bachata, cha-cha, swing, and tango. Come take a class and see for yourself how fast you will learn! Click here to see Glenio and Inna dancing Bachata.
INNA GRANT
(Owner and Instructor)
Inna is originally from Moscow, Russia.
Dance has always been her passion and she started with Ballet and ballroom dance classes as a young child in Russia.
After moving to United States for College in 2001, Inna became interested in the Latin dance styles such as salsa, bachata, cha-cha and tango. She joined MIT Tango Group and trained in salsa with Metamovements Dance Co in Boston. Inna met Glenio Oliveira (founder of Moves n’ Vibes Dance Co) at the Tango Social at MIT University in 2005.
Since then Inna fell in love with Brazilian dance and culture and started training with Glenio professionally for 3 years. Soon, Inna and Glenio’s became dancing partners and began teaching together Samba No Pe, Samba de Gafieira and Forro classes.
In, 2010 after attending Juni Shimuzu Zouk Class in NYC Inna has discovered Brazilian Zouk Lambada. She has since then trained with my international zouk instructors such as Rodrigo Oliveira, Karina Carvalho, Anderson Mendes, Vanessa Jardim, Pablo Schmoller and Mari Hodges., Patrick Carvalho ,Adriana Lima & Sofie Da Silva.
Inna has also traveled to Brazil to get further training in all the different Brazilian Styles. She currently trains samba carnival performance dance team in Boston called “Samba Divas”. Together with Edwin Johnson, who joined the company in 2010 they have choreographed and performed zouk at many social & dance events to create awareness about the dance in the city of Boston. Here is the latest student performance.
Inna currently teaches weekly classes in samba, forro, brazilian zouk, salsa and bachata. Available for private lessons upon request.
CLICK HERE to see Inna and Edwin dancing Zouk.
CLICK HERE to see Inna and Glenio dancing Samba de Gafieira.
EDWIN JOHNSON
(Instructor)
Edwin is a Zouk instructor, performer, and master-body-roller who has been part of the Moves n’ Vibes Team since Fall 2010. He adores teaching, especially enabling people to find and express themselves through dance and loves social-dancing with people of all levels. He has brought lots of energy, passion and a unique urban-flair to the dance scene in Boston.
Edwin has a long and varied background in dance and human movement, having taken tap, jazz and ballet at a early age while growing up with Salsa, Merengue and Bolero in his Costa Rican household. Edwin transitioned to Hip Hop dancing and Karate in his teens before moving onto studying modern and West African Dance in College. After graduating from Tufts he joined his cousin Seemore’s company Hips On Fire and performed salsa with them until heading off to the West Coast for Divinity School.
Edwin returned to the Boston area summer 2010 where he dove back into the local Salsa and Hip Hop scenes. It was at this point that he saw a random facebook invite for a zouk workshop hosted by Moves n’ Vibes. Three late-night-youtube-hours later he knew he had to give it a shot. Shortly after beginning classes in the Fall of 2010 Inna invited him to perform with her and the rest is history. His zouk-philosophy centers on musicality, fun, and taking really good care of your partner. In addition to Zouk, Edwin continues to study, perform and teach salsa, kizomba and other types of dance, even digging into his lyrical background to dance the part of Jesus at Boston College.
Edwin (known as some as Fr. Edwin) is an Episcopal priest during the day currently serving St. Mary’s church in Boston. He also spends a lot of time with his family, including his Wife Susan (also a zouker) and their 6-month old son Francisco. Word had it that Francisco is already rivaling his dad’s body rolls so the dance world better beware! CLICK HERE to see Inna and Edwin dancing Zouk.
Aristofanes Zapata (Instructor)
Originally from the Dominican Republic, Aristofanes (Aris) Zapata brings a wealth of experience and passion for dance. With over 15 years of experience, specializing in Bachata and Latin Dances, he is known for blending traditional techniques with modern styles to create a unique and engaging dance experience.
Aris will be assisting us with our dance teams and will be teaching our Beginner Bachata Classes. In addition to working with us, Aris runs his own Bachata and Salsa workshops locally and internationally which will occasionally be featured in our events.
GUSTAVO ABATH
(Instructor)
As a dance instructor, performer and choreographer, Gustavo has over 15 years of experience dancing and teaching Brazilian partner dances. Gustavo specialized in Brazilian Zouk and has been teaching Zouk in the US since 2014. Originally from Brasilia, Brazil, Gustavo had the opportunity to be part of Pedrinho Santos Zouk company and Alex Gomes Company.
For many years, Gustavo was a teaching assistant at Alex Gomes Dance Studio and Estilo e Dança Studio where he had the opportunity to assist and teach classes from beginner to advanced levels and perform in local and regional festivals. Since he moved to the US, Gustavo has been teaching group and private lessons, performing and choreographing zouk pieces that were presented in DC, Boston and New York.
Gustavo focuses his classes on the importance of respectful connection, zouk flow, and usage of dance patterns as examples on how to apply important dance techniques and concepts.
