Karine Morgan 
A mix of reggae, tahitian music, and 80’s hip hop caused an eclectic divergence of taste, the

common thread being great music to dance to! Karine Morgan’s earliest memories of dance was the witnessing of the Tahitian Tamure at a hotel in tahiti at the age of 8; another early memory was being enamored by Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up” music video on MTV which in turn gave her aspirations of being a Fly Girl or a Laker Girl. In 2001 Karine was 8 months pregnant and thought the opportunity to study dance had passed. In reality it had only just begun. While attending a West African drum workshop with Ursa Drums, she was pulled by the rhythms straight into the dance segment. That is when she met Kimberly Gladysz and exclaimed “I want to do this every day!!!!”. Immediately after she studied West African drum and dance with Kimberly Gladysz in Charlottesville, performing at cultural events at UVA and various elementary schools around Virginia. In the meantime she has also studied with Ezibu Muntu in Richmond, the Dance Place in Washington DC, as well as Alvin Ailey in New York City.

 

In 2003 Karine met Aniseh Burtner who recently moved to Charlottesville and was a part of a Tahitian dance troupe in California. Aniseh began to teach tahitian dance on a regular basis in Charlottesville and also created a Tahitian dance performing group named Mou’a Vahine, in which Karine would perform and also assist in choreography. Mou’a Vahine led various performances at the Charlottesville Cultural Festival in Lee Park, the Polynesian Cultural Festival in Virginia Beach as well as multiple shows on Charlottesville Public Access TV.

 

Karine’s most recent obsession is the style of dance known as dancehall which is

most prominent in Jamaica, Europe, and South America. Karine has been given the opportunity to study under some of the best dancehall teachers from all over the world by attending various classes and workshops in NYC.

 

Karine has taught African dance by leading a performance group for Man Ray Day at UVA

Fralin Art Museum. She also taught Dances From Around the World at Charlottesville

Homeschool Enrichment Center. Karine has taught Tahitian dance at various workshops in

Charlottesville, was a guest teacher for the Modern Dance Class at UVA, and has taught

Tahitian dance to the Green County Girl Scout Troop this past summer. For dancehall, she has taught at Illumination Dance Studio in Richmond VA, as well as the What Moves You event at the IX Art Park.

 

Karine loves the explosive expression of African dance; the mystery, form, and strength from

Tahitian dance; and the attitude and sharing of spirit dancehall brings. She loves to further her exploration, practice, and improvement of all of these dance styles. Karine has goals of

travelling Europe and the islands to continue her studies of the dance forms so that she may

bring them back to this wonderful community of Charlottesville and beyond!!!!!