Andrea Osman
Teaches at BDASL:
• Beginner and Intermediate Ballroom
• Salsa Rueda
• Nightclub Salsa
Bio:
Andrea has been dancing since the age of three. Her early dance experience comes from ballet, modern, tap and jazz. Andrea later received her BA in Dance from UNCG--University of North Carolina at Greensboro along with a degree in deaf education.
After graduating from UNCG, she taught school during the day and ballroom dance in the evening in Fayetteville, NC. During that time, she performed professionally for events across North and South Carolina, and competed in the ballroom circuit across the United States. Andrea moved to St Louis in 2005 to pursue a master’s degree. Shortly thereafter, she accepted a position at CID—Central Institute for the Deaf and began teaching for Washington University School of Medicine’s Ballroom club as well as performing with a salsa performance team, Grupo Azucar. In addition to her work for BDASL, Andrea also teaches partner dance classes for COCA and Kitchen Conservatory. She specializes in teaching and choreographing all styles of partner dance and was recently honored with an Artist Fellowship Grant from the Regional Arts Commission.
Tavi Karpilow
Licensed Physical Therapist,
former Bern Ballet Prima Ballerina
Teaches at BDASL:
• Ballroom Ballet
Bio:
Tavi Karpilow is a Physical Therapist and Certified Hand Therapist (CHT). Ms. Karpilow has also been a professional classical ballerina with companies in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. She was a prima ballerina in the Opera House (Stadttheater) in Bern Switzerland and a guest soloist at the National Theater in Prague during the Spring Festival. She was a member of an international delegation to Tashkent, Uzbekistan where she performed and appeared in a documentary representing the continued tradition of Russian Ballet training in the USA. Ms. Karpilow was also an invited guest of the Bolshoi Ballet Theater in Moscow. She is involved with several charitable performing arts organizations in St Louis.
Tal Stein
Teaches at BDASL:
• Argentine Tango
• Swing
Bio:
Tal started his dancing journey learning Swing dancing with one of the original Lindy Hoppers, Frankie Manning. While traveling around the nation, Tal also picked up other dances like Blues dancing, Collegiate Shag, Boogie-Woogie, and Balboa. He brought his knowledge back to St. Louis and has been teaching classes for many years. At some point, Tal added Argentine Tango to his repertoire, and after a few years started teaching Tango at COCA (Center Of Creative Arts), the Jewish Community Center, and other studios around town. Throughout the years, Tal has been teaching, organizing, and DJing events around St. Louis. He also participates in many events around town hosted by the Salsa, Zouk, and West Coast swing scenes. His goal, as always, is to grow the dance community and spread the love of dancing.
