The first time Tina Bo’Bina tried a sexy dance class, she couldn’t stop giggling.
A professional dancer, who has performed in countless shows and taught dance and fitness classes for years, Tina, 36, attended a “sexy Santa Baby” dance class with her lifelong friend and colleague, Portia Favro, in Kelowna in 2012.
“It felt weird at first, because it was sexual in nature and it meant dancing in high heels,” she recalls. “We were on the floor, rolling around and sticking our butts in the air, and we felt a bit silly. It was such a different style of dance for us!”
Little did she know that she would go on to open her own sexy dance studio classes, teaching hundreds of new and experienced dancers those sensual moves.
Tina grew up in Smithers and moved to Kelowna 20 years ago. Like many children, she started off in dance classes. But while many youngsters quit early on to pursue other hobbies, Tina was hooked. She learned and competed in modern dance, jazz, tap, hip hop and ballet. In her high school years, she became an apprentice teacher, subsidizing the cost of her own classes by assisting with lessons.
The path forward after high school seemed straightforward for a young dancer passionate about dance and movement: she would perform as much as possible and open her own studio where she’d teach a new generation of children to dance. Tina did both, but also instructed adult fitness and dance classes. Quickly, she realized she much preferred teaching adults to teaching children.
“When you see us on stage everyone looks polished and sexy – but it was a journey to get there."
In 2014, Tina purchased Oranj Fitness in Kelowna, offering dance, yoga and fitness classes for adults. But that first sexy dance class was an awakening for her. Noting how quickly the sexy dance trend was catching on in North America, Tina saw an opportunity, and that same year, she opened Femme Fatale Dance, a program for 18+ adults.
Femme Fatale offers 12-week classes to adult students, with eight levels of classes catering to beginners up to experienced dancers. All the programs culminate in a recital, where the costumed groups perform for their family members and friends in various venues – nightclubs, event spaces or theatres.
Each year, Tina and her colleagues teach hundreds of students a range of dance moves, some provocative, others requiring major flexibility. All the classes have one thing in common: the students participating have the time of their lives.
“Our dancers are mostly women over 30 who come to us because they want to feel sexy again,” Tina reflects. “Many of them are moms, getting back into things after having a few kids or going through a life or career change. They’ll tell me, ‘We’ve given our bodies to creating life, breastfeeding, and now we’re ready to do something uplifting for ourselves, surrounded by awesome, positive people.’”
Watch any of Femme Fatale’s videos on YouTube and it’s easy to tell that the dancers, who vary in size, shape and ability, are thoroughly enjoying themselves. Clad in costumes appropriate to the theme of their performance, and sporting heels anywhere from two to four inches high, they are clearly having lots of fun.
“When you see us on stage everyone looks polished and sexy – but it was a journey to get there,” Tina says.
Her classes are filled with learning, but they’re not strict environments; instead, they are places where she ensures participants are having a good time. And beyond learning and performing new dance moves, Femme Fatale dancers glean another valuable opportunity: to make new friends in Kelowna.
“Unless you’re involved in something, this can be a tough town to meet people,” Tina admits.
She’s learned over the past 11 years of teaching sexy dance that class members often arrange gatherings to practice outside of their weekly 75 minutes of class time, and make social arrangements, too.
Femme Fatale Dance now has groups in Vernon and Penticton as well. Like Kelowna, these classes can be attended on a drop-in basis or via a 12-week paid commitment.
“We’re all adults and our lives are different, with different limitations,” Tina says. “Our participants find us when they need to find us – and that’s just fine.”
As a dancer, Tina is in her element. She loves teaching recreational dance, but is still an active performer, doing solo and group performances all over North America and mentoring other dancers, too.
And dancing in heels no longer fazes her.
“We’ve found the right shoes that make it more comfortable,” she said. “These days I’m so used to dancing in heels, that dancing without them feels weird!”
Check the website at femmefataledance.ca for a list of upcoming shows and classes.
This feature appeared in the Winter edition of Boulevard Okanagan.