The Vibe Dance Academy is a family oriented studio that is diverse in learning. We provide high quality dance training along with an inviting and friendly staff in a clean and safe environment. We strive to support our local community as well as our dance community by being an active contributor of providing entertainment and community service.
The mission of the Vibe Dance Academy is to instill the love of dance by providing quality dance instruction and building confidence in a safe and nurturing environment. Our vision is to create confident, respectful, and self-disciplined dancers that continually strive for excellence. The Vibe Dance Academy’s goal is to provide quality dance instruction while developing our dancers to their fullest potential and appreciate the art of dance.
OUR INSTRUCTORS…
Director / Owner
Denise began dancing at the age of 12 at Danceworks in Kaimuki. Under the direction of Cathy Izumi, she became a member of the Honolulu Gurlz Dance Company in the 1980s which eventually became Honolulu Dance Studio in the 1990s. At the age of 15 Denise started teaching the pre jazz class and as time went on became the director of various company divisions from the Keikis-Seniors. She taught at Honolulu Dance studio for 32 years. During that time she’s won numerous awards at Jump Dance Competition and Spotlight Dance Cup. In 2020 she opened up The Vibe Dance Dance Academy Hawai’i. Besides being a dance teacher, she has also been an elementary teacher for the past 23 years and currently teaches 2nd grade.
Taylor is currently a student at Mid Pacific School. She started dancing at the age of five and trains in hip hop, jazz, and contemporary. Taylor has had the privilege of training locally with Honolulu Dance Studio, Hypersquad Dance Company, Vibe Dance Academy, and currently at 24-7 Danceforce. She also trained in Los Angeles with Immabeast Dance Company. At 10 years old, Taylor’s talent of dance opened doors to the professional arena. She’s had the opportunity to dance professionally for Nickelodeon and other entertainment companies. Her professional career led her to be a performer on shows such as Nickelodeon’s Lip Sync Battle Shorties, Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards, The Greatest Showman Live Musical Commercial, Jane the Virgin, and Nickelodeon Live Broadway Spectacular in New York City. She’s had the honor of meeting and working with renowned celebrities such as Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Zendaya, John Cena, Nick Cannon, and Jojo Siwa to name a few. Taylor embarked on her teaching journey at the young age of 13 at The Vibe Dance Academy. She is currently the Hip Hop Director for the Vibe’s “Shorties Dance Crew” and had the opportunity of leading them to multiple 1st place wins in 2022 and 2024 at Jump Dance Competition and obtained multiple “Best of Jump” Awards for her hip hop routines. Taylor finds joy in teaching dance and aspires to inspire young dancers for as long as she can.
Madison was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Her dance journey began at the age of 4 at Queen Emma Ballet. Her love of dance began with ballet, but she also grew to love many styles like pointe, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and lyrical. Her passion for dance followed her when she moved to San Fransisco to pursue a degree in Psychology at the University of San Fransisco. There, she was on the contemporary and hip hop dance teams. With a majority ballet background, it was here that she learned the fundamentals for both contemporary and hip hop. During her junior and senior years, she was the president of the hip hop dance team, VarCity SF, where her love for hip hop flourished as she became one of the main choreographers and leader of the team. After graduating, she returned home where she started teaching at the Vibe Dance Academy and is currently on The Bounty, an adult hip hop dance team. At the Vibe Dance Academy, she teaches hip hop for ages 5-7, ballet, and K-Pop. She loves teaching her students and it has given her a new and exciting way to share her love and passion for dance. She hopes to inspire young dancers to find their own love for the art and support them through their dance journey.
Zoe began her love dance at 3 years old at Page Dance Academy, doing ballet and tap. Throughout her childhood, she explored various sports and pursued competitive cheer for 4 years, before returning to dance. Her competitive dance career started at Honolulu Dance Studio at 7 years old where she was versed in various styles such as jazz, contemporary, lyrical, ballet, hiphop, and more. Around 14 years old, Zoe started dancing and competing with Destination Dance Hawaii and continued to focus on a well rounded skill set. She graduated from Mid-Pacific with a dance certificate from the Mid-Pacific School of the Arts, studying ballet and modern contemporary for 6 years. During the summer of 2023, she furthered her understanding of contemporary while training with Open Space Dance in Portland, Oregon. Zoe feels fortunate to have begun teaching at Vibe Dance Academy.
Shane started his dance training relatively later in life, at the ripe old age of 21. Originally starting at Hypersquad Dance Company, then eventually adding Studio 808 DanceProject, 24-7 DanceForce, and Vibe Dance Academy to the list. His choreography/teaching journey started in 2004 at Studio 808 DanceProject. He is now also teaching at Destination Dance Hawai’i, and of course Vibe Dance Academy. He’s also worked with numerous other studios, groups, and organizations including Diamond Head Theatre, UHRWD, and Dancer’s Deelite just to name a few. Within his 20 years of teaching, he’s been blessed enough to teach dancers of ALL ages. Dancers from 4 years old all the way to dancers in their 60s. Aside from the dance community, Shane is also very involved in Hawai’i’s drag/gay community. He’s danced and choreographed for many performers for numerous show, events, and pageants.
Keiko was born and raised in the Bay Area, California. She began dance lessons at the age of three, and fell in love ever since. Keiko has been technically trained in jazz, hip hop, street jazz, ballet, tap, musical theatre, lyrical, and contemporary. She participated in competitive dance for ten years and was the Dance Captain on her high school dance team. Keiko started her teaching career at thirteen years old, where she assisted tap, ballet, jazz and acrobatics. Pursuing her love for teaching, Keiko began teaching her own dance classes in 2022 (taught ages 3-13). Having been a babysitter and elementary school tutor, she loves to give back to the community by sharing her infinite passion for helping others. Additionally, she was a member of the LA Dance Magic Company in 2020, and was a Golden State Warriors NBA Dance Team Finalist at seventeen years old. This is her second year studying Kinesiology at UH Mānoa, and is a second year member of the University of Hawaiʻi Rainbow Warrior Dance Team. Keiko teaches Hip Hop and other styles.
Boogie was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She started her dance journey as a studio competitive dance at “The Rage Dance Complex” located in Granada Hill, California from ages 5 to 10 years old. She then left the studio to pursue her dancing career in the industry realm for dance. In LA, Boogie was apart of tow major dance crews, Immabeast and ML Kids. She’s danced in Fifth Harmony’s “Anything is Possible” Barbie music video, Just Dance Kids, Zumba Kids, and Sketchers dance show. She also performed at Vidcon, World of Dance, Buildabeast, The Pulse, and more. She’s won several hip hop scholarships for conventions such as Monsters of Hip Hop, Debbie Allen’s Hip Hop Intensive and Camp Pulse Counselor for the Pulse on Tour. At 18 years old, she moved to Oahu Hawai’i to attend UH Manoa. In Hawai’i, Boogie started teaching classes at the Vibe then later joined Fam.ilyco’s dance crew.
Gabriella, or Ella for short, was born and raised in San Diego, CA where she found her passion for dance. At the age of 4 years old she fell in love with dance and a few years later attended Center Stage School of Dance. She trained in multiple styles including Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Modern, and Lyrical. She joined their competition team and their Aerial program and trained on Aerial Silks and Aerial Hoop (or Lyra). When it was time to go to high school she attended San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts as a Musical Theatre major with a focus in choreography and directing. Through the years she was featured on a few TV shows and music videos including Dance Moms and local San Diego and Los Angeles artists. She has also danced with a few Alvin Ailey members at her high school SDSCPA. After graduating in 2020, she attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and obtained her Dance BFA in May of 2024. She has now gone back to UH Mānoa for her MFA in Theatre with a concentration in Lighting and Scenic Design but still focuses on her love and passion for all styles of dance!
Aloha! My name is Lexy Freitas, and I teach tumbling here at Vibe Dance Academy. I got into tumbling/acrobatics through cheerleading when I started at seven years old. I cheered for a pop Warner team, Kalani Falcons, for a few years before attending elementary school. I am a graduate of Sacred Hearts Academy (class of 2020), where I began attending elementary school. I cheered for the Lancers cheer team since the seventh grade and cheered on the Varsity Squad for four years. During my cheer career, I was fortunately able to participate in and win the ILH (Interscholastic League of Honolulu) and HHSAA (Hawai’i High School Athletic Association) cheerleading competition three times (2018-2020). I was also fortunate to win the JAMZ cheer and dance Grand National Championship two times (2019-2020). Outside of teaching here at Vibe, I also help coach my former cheer coaches at their all-star club, HIA (High-Intensity Athletics). Besides cheerleading, I also do dance, primarily in hip-hop and contemporary. I did dance in high school as well and love the performance aspect of dancing and cheering. Currently, I attend the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, where I’m getting my BA in Art and looking to get my degree in Business and Minor in Dance. I enjoy teaching children and love their reactions and support of their friends when they get new skills. Getting to see them get stronger and able to apply the things they learn to their routines is something I appreciate.
Born and raised in Waialua, Oahu, Pawehi’s passion for dance began at the age of three at Applause Performance Academy, a small family-owned studio in Wahiawa. Over the years, she has studied an array of styles including ballet/pointe, contemporary, hip hop, modern, lyrical, tap, jazz, and more. Throughout her journey, Pawehi has had the privilege of learning from various teachers and studios across Oahu, enriching her artistry and technical skills. At 14 years old, she began her studies at Pas De Deux Hawaii and joined their Senior Jazz Company at 15. While there, she honed her leadership skills, mentoring young dancers aged 6–14 in ballet, jazz, and acro. In 2022, Pawehi joined FAM-ily Co. as a member of their competition crew, where she competed for two years before expanding her role to include teaching contemporary and heels classes in 2023. Pawehi’s dynamic talent extends beyond traditional dance genres. She is a proud member of Hawai‘i’s first Ballroom Kiki Haus, The Kiki Haus of Zamora, where she has made her mark in the vogue scene. Traveling worldwide, Pawehi has competed in multiple competitions, also known as balls, earning recognition and awards for her captivating performances.
Zoe began dancing at the age of 8 in jazz and hip hop. She then joined the Honolulu Dance Studio where she trained in all styles including jazz, contemporary, ballet, hip hop and lyrical. Not only did she do showcases and concerts she also competed both in and out of state. At the age of 14 she joined Vibe Dance Academy when it opened in 2020. She was a part of the Mid Pacific School of the arts where she was introduced to modern and continued her ballet training. In 2023 she attended the high school school dance festival in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania where she was able to take numerous workshops in styles like African, broadway, commercial jazz, musical theater, and house. She is currently on the University of Hawaii Rainbow dance team. Zoe teaches all levels and styles.
Maggie is from Washington who has moved to Honolulu since graduating from UH Mānoa. She grew up competing, attending conventions/intensives, and dancing in various studios across Washington, Idaho, Utah, and California and has won numerous titles, awards, and scholarships. Before pursing her degrees at UHM she was a company member of the Inspirada Dance Project and created multiple screen dances for them. Now when she isn’t performing you can normally find her teaching at The Movement Center, Vibe Dance Academy, and Mid Pacific. When she’s not on island she is normally back in Washington working for either the Admiral Theater in Bremerton as their Dance Captain/Dance intern or with the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts in Leavenworth as both a counselor and assistant teacher. She has also previously worked for Stagekids WA, The College of Southern Idaho, Dance with Shari (The Elite Dance Force) and the Orpheum theater in Twin Falls.
Indigo is from Phoenix, Arizona. Her dance journey started at her home studio Versatile Edge Dance, when she was 2 years old. She has been a competitive dancer since she was 4 years old, and is trained in hip hop, ballet, contemporary, tap, and lyrical. Indigo was on her high school’s varsity pom team for all 4 years and was a captain her senior year. As well as their performance dance team and was vice president her senior year. Indigo moved to Oahu Hawai’i to attend the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and study astrophysics. And she is currently dancing with The Bounty, an adult hip hop team.