Irina Akulenko

Irina Akulenko is a New York City-based performer, teacher and choreographer with a burning passion for arts of all genres. Although she discovered Middle Eastern dance purely by chance, her interest in expression started at an early age and was channeled into ballet training, in addition to piano and voice lessons as well as drawing. Since 2001, Irina explored Egyptian Cabaret and American Tribal style belly dance, Flamenco and Classical Indian dances (focusing mainly on Odissi) and now enjoys fusing these styles as well as everything in between. Today, Irina performs on various New York stages and tours nationally and internationally as a soloist and as a member of various stellar projects. She released three instructional DVDs with World Dance New York and has two instructional series of videos with the popular website “Howcast.com”. She is currently Artistic Director and Creative Advisor of Kenji William's multimedia show Bella Gaia and principal dancer and choreographer with the internationally renowned Bellyqueen Dance Theater. Furthermore, she holds a Bachelors degree in Political Science, and has strong interest in women's issues and visual arts. www.DanceIrina.com