Comments (4) Best Dance Teacher - 2007

Amara Tabor-Smith

Amara Tabor-Smith is one of the few people in the Bay Area who can start teaching a high-powered dance class at 8.30 in the morning and have the entire room shaking their booties with wild abandon five minutes later. As one of the instructors at Rhythm and Motion/ODC Dance Commons, Tabor-Smith brings an audacious attitude and a sassy sense of humor to her Fusion Rhythms dance workouts. She may crank up the speed on all the routines, causing mass exhaustion and sweat among those present, but her clear explanations and extreme physical energy somehow enable even the most club-footed class members to keep up. On occasion, this 20-year veteran of the San Francisco and New York professional dance scenes lays down some of her own moves mid-routine. Whether leaping onto her hands or kicking her torso into a backbend, Tabor-Smith is a hot mover. More than that: She inspires her students to feel like they're hot movers, too.