Who is Paola Blanton?

Dance artist and movement coach Paola has been dancing her whole life, rooted in the traditions of Balkan dance, with extensive work in Middle Eastern and Lyrical Dance via Isadora Duncan.  She teaches her art at her own studio and travels regularly to present her ideas and research at international festivals. She began her professional dancing career in Brazil, where she lived for eight years while teaching Humanities at Escola Graduada de São Paulo.  She has performed in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.  A native of Macedonia, her life path took her first to the U.S., where she earned two University degrees, then Brazil, Asia, and back to Brazil, her permanent home.  Paola continues to travel and teach at world festivals, seminars, and workshops.

Her unique styles come from the merging of Oriental, Balkan, and Isadora Duncan styles of dance.  From the Balkans, native Macedonian Paola blends earthy roots, rhythms, and Gypsy attitude with the feminine hip work of bellydance for a Balkan fusion style that is catching fire around the world.  She has taught Balkan fusion in Australia, North America, Asia, and Europe and finds that many different dancers gravitate toward it: from Tribal to Cabaret, Balkan fusion offers a cutting edge style boost, full of unusual steps, patterns, and theatricality.