RAY, the dancer:
My education was in Jazz/Contemporary and over the years I moved into my true passion: Commercial, Feminine Dances and Heels. I had many influences during my education, such as my teachers, fellow dancers and artists; but one of the biggest was recording group The Pussycat Dolls.
It was really a full circle moment in my career when I got the opportunity to dance alongside Pussycat Dolls creator Robin Antin in Los Angeles (2019) for the music video Army of Dolls, choreographed by famous choreographers such as Aliyah Janel, Nicole Kirkland, Marissa Heart and PCD’s own Mikey Minden.
• My career really blossomed in 2012 when I was picked to be part of the cast for Star Cruises’s production shows onboard many ships of the Asian company until 2018.
• In 2017 I won a dance scholarship, chosen by Brian Thomas (USA, dancer/choreographer to Michael Jackson), to improve my education at Broadway Dance Center in 2018, New York.
• Right now I live in Stockholm, Sweden since 2020 and I am touring Europe with Frank Martini Group, dancing at Stockholm Higheelers and freelance dancing (some credits: Netflix, Little Sis Nora, Adidas, Swedish Grammy’s Awards, Sweden’s Got Talent, etc).
THE DANCE TEACHER
I started teaching as a teenager when I was in highschoool and it’s still the thing I do the most. Teaching always came very naturally to me: I love communicating, explaining things clearly and the most rewarding thing to me is seeing the development in my students’ dance and confidence. I’ve been teaching in the best schools in my hometown and now that I live in Stockholm, I’ve been teaching in the best dance schools in the area: Balettakademien, Scandinavian Dance Academy, House of Shapes, Diambra, Uppsala Danscenter and etc.
The photo on the left is a memory from a mega workshop that I have the pleasure to teach every year in my home town, a super big event called “Colônia de Férias” organized by Eladio Prados.
i’ve been dancing since i can remember!
Dance has been the one constant in my life. Wherever I go, there it is!
I started dancing when I was 6 and never stopped. The dance studio became my second home and my dancer friends became my extended family. I danced in the same dance studio back in my home town (Curitiba Brazil) for 13 years.
But what started as a hobby became a profession very early and I would like to share some details with you…
the ChoReographer:
I’ve been teaching dance for many years, but I properly started choreographing when I started my own dance company with over 40 dancers: FB Dance Company. In Brazil it is quite common to invest in dance groups, compete in festivals and submit projects to get government grants. We did all that and some of the things I’m most proud of and was achieved with the group were:
• Choreographed the piece Last One Standing, which won fourth best in Latin America (FIH2 2018), not to mention the multiple trophies in different competitions in Brazil.
• Choreographed multiple shows with State grant, including Horror Tales (in the photo) - which was a walk through all horror stories following the journey of an innocent little girl - that got the opportunity to go on tour.
• Choreographed and danced in the Christmas Show The Magic Piano which toured malls in Brazil during the Christmas season for 2 years.
Since then I’ve been choreographing dance companies both in Brazil (FBDC) and Sweden (R.E.D. Dance Collective), shows onboard the cruise company, singers and their dancers, and most recently, Vincent Vignaud’s magic act on Kölner Weihnachtscircus in Germany.
the Content creator
I always like to keep my social media updated and I truly have a passion for creating content - specially when it comes to dance videos!
During the pandemic I started my online Heels course (Projeto Raynhas (in Portuguese) and I was teaching a lot of live classes in my own instagram, which gave me some more visibility. I haven’t worked with many brands, but I’ve done some collaborations (Reebok, Burju Dance Shoes, Anua Dancewear) and I’m looking into expanding and collaborating more with brands that speak to my dancer life style, but also my personal preferences (eating healthy, confidence and mental health, skin care, self care, and clothes, make up and shoes).