Dancer
Kiana has always been a lover of dance, music and athletics. Born and raised in Midland Michigan, at age four she began training as a gymnast and simultaneously studied ballet to improve her flexibility, balance and technique. Her favorite gymnastic events were vault and floor exercises. As a music composer one of her favorite memories is creating her own floor music because she didn't like any of the available music selections. Throughout her years as a junior athlete she won multiple state, national and world championships in gymnastics, trampoline, tumbling, track and field and Tae Kwon Do. Kiana attended college at the University of Michigan where she studied Industrial and Operations Engineering and competed in the 400 meter hurdles for U of M’s track team. Go Blue!
In graduate school, Kiana was inspired by a fellow classmate to attend the University of Michigan’s “Fire and Ice” Argentine Tango festival. She was so moved that she immediately became a very active member of the Ann Arbor tango community and began studying tango intensively. While on a work assignment in London, Kiana traveled to seven countries in Eastern and Western Europe to observe and dance tango, which continues to be one of her most memorable life experiences. After moving to California she continued to dance tango before being introduced to the world of Salsa. She immediately fell in love with this style of dance and joined the Alma Latina Dance Company in San Diego where she studied with Gaby Equiz-Jasso, one of the most distinguished Latin dancers in the country. In her spare time, Kiana loves to share her love of dance through social dancing. Dancing continues to be one of the most powerful and positive influences in her life.